February 24, 2007

Interview

My interview with my Peace Corps recruiter Allen went fantastic on Wednesday. We were able to talk for an hour and a half, but it felt like 15 minutes. Every question turned into dozens of others and every story went back and forth between the two of us until Allen would look up at the clock and said, “Oh, wow, we’ve got to move on.” Mostly questions revolved around leadership, openness, diversity, flexibility, acceptance and whether I knew what I was getting myself into. I told stories, gave examples, answered yes and no to dozens of questions and summed up the last four years of my life into bite-size pieces the best I could. Not only did I feel like I was exactly where I needed to be, but I couldn’t have asked for the interview to have gone any better.

Finishing our conversation Allen said he would be nominating me on the spot for placement within my desired region of the Pacific Islands working in Health Extension (Assignment 155, in case I wanted to know) and I would probably be leaving around July or August of this year. Although there will be some more work ahead, such as Medical Clearance Forms and Placement, the hardest part of the application process is pretty much over. My application, two essays, resume, recommendations, fingerprints, background checks, transcript and interview forms are now on their way to Washington, D.C. and within the next few weeks I will be communicating with my Placement Officer and Medical Officer to go through the next steps.

Except for Christmas Eve, Wednesday night was the first time I can remember not being able to sleep because I was so excited.