My Invitation to serve is for......drumroll please.........!

Madagascar!!!!

I received my Invitation Kit about 4 or 5 days after my call from the Peace Corps and it has a Bunch of information in it. The first of which is my assignment:

Country: Madagascar
Program: Community Health Project
Orientation date: July 19, 2010

I had to read a little booklet about my assignment which included information about the history of the program in Madagascar, primary duties, secondary projects, working and living conditions, challenges/rewards and some comments from previous volunteers. I also had to read this Welcome Book from the Madagascar staff (I believe) that is 101 pages long (I skimmed and read the important stuff, don't worry) as well as the core values of the Peace Corps. I had 10 days to review this and send an email accepting my invitation - which I did!

After I accepted my invitation the next step was to send my host country staff an updated/restructured/expanded resume and an aspiration statement to kind of introduce myself. Another step that had to be done as soon as possible was applying for a passport and a visa. The only thing was I still had this whole graduation thing to do! Haha My best friend Shannon flew in the evening that I accepted my invitation and we were pretty busy up until she left a few days later. We hung out with a few friends in Denver that Thursday night she came in, went to one of my other best friend's/roommate's (Lauren) graduation stuff the next day, Lauren and I had a graduation party on Saturday, my graduation ceremony was that evening and my sister, shannon and I went out in old town Fort Collins that night, had my own graduation party at my parent's house on that Sunday, helped my supervisor and drove a student up to the CSU foothills campus on Monday, some wedding dress stuff with Shannon that evening and then Shannon left Tuesday afternoon....whew...busy, busy! So needless to say, I had little time to do Peace Corps stuff.

I just sent in my resume and aspiration statement the last couple days and there is still a lot I have to do before I leave.

1. Move out of my place in Fort Collins and transition into my parent's house. I have lived in the place in Fort Collins ever since moving out of the dorms and I have been there with Lauren the whole time...I have been slowly taking stuff down, packing things and bringing it to my parent;s place and it's been pretty sad...I Love CSU, I Love Fort Collins, I Love my roommates and I Love who I have become in my time there...it will always hold a very special place in my heart and I don't really want to leave but life must go on and my next chapter will be exciting as well.

Now I will be staying with my parents...I love them, I love them very much but it is hard to go back to living with them after 4 years of being away...My mom and I have always driven each other crazy but that's ok, it's only 2 months before I leave. My dad does projects around the house all the time and now that I don't have a lot to do...I am automatically volunteered to help, which is fine, it's only 2 months until I leave. I am also working for my dad and his insulation business for the next couple months, which is dirty work but again, only up until I leave. Ok, ok, it's really not all that terrible. I would rather spend this time with my family and friends than be anywhere else!

2. Get everything (life) in order and tying up loose ends before being gone for two years! This means: packing up all the stuff I want to keep and selling off all the stuff I don't need, paying off debts, figuring out student loan stuff, finishing my tattoo, finishing volunteer hours for an AmeriCorps award and writing appreciation letters. I'm sure there is more but it's just so much I'll just have to make a real list for myself sometime to it all gets done!

3. Prepare for my service. There is the logistical stuff that I will have to do like filling out a bunch of forms and setting up my flight. There will also be a lot of mental preparation. I'm going to be doing a lot of reading and researching (Peace Corps has already provided me with a lot of information and resources) about Africa, Madagascar, my program and all that jazz. I need to absorb the fact that I am not going to be in the U.S., I will not have my friends or family so close, my life will Dramatically change when I do leave and I will be gone for two years. I know all this is a reality but it hasn't quite "set in" really... I am Extremely excited for this next part of my life! It is going to be a transformative experience and I cannot even image who I will meet, what I will do, the changes I will go through and where life will take me after that! Whatever happens though...I know it will be amazing and it is exactly where I want to be.

How did I get here? It's been a journey in itself

Where to start..? From the beginning I suppose!

I am not the type to really plan ahead. I feel like that is going to change anyway and it is almost limiting what I will do. Having said that, I am really lucky that I am in college because I procrastinated for a long time to apply. I only applied to one college, CSU, and luckily I was accepted. I am a first generation student so I had no real knowledge about how to navigate through it. I was part of a service-learning community my freshman year called Key Service. Being in this program laid the base for my success in college. I had a wonderful mentor, Tania Valdez, and I was introduced to community service.

I remember hearing about the Peace Corps and thinking that it had something to do with the military HA! There was a career fair or involvement fair on campus or something and I decided just to take a look around. Peace Corps was there and I asked some questions and I was pretty into service by this time and it sounded really interesting. Over the past four years I have been slowly thinking about the Peace Corps as an option after college. I went to information sessions, asked questions about how to get more information from my mentors, met with returners and on campus recruiter and all the while developing skills that would eventually boost my confidence in the fact that this was a real possibility.

I began to seriously consider going around my third year because I knew that I would have to apply a year in advance. A lot of factors played in to deciding whether I would apply or not: Was I ok with being gone for 2 years? Was I ok with being in a foreign country most likely vastly different from the U.S.? How would this affect the relationship I had at the time? What else would I want to do if I didn't do the PC? and many many other factors and questions too. I was told (and I tell people who are considering applying) that applying couldn't hurt and it may help you decide whether you want to go all the way with it. For me; I made the decision that I would have to be ready and committed for the whole sha-bang before applying. The same came after my third year and I applied.

I went to an interview and got nominated for a health program in Africa. I proceeded to fulfill the medical packet requirements... A physical exam (to any of you in this stage, the VA hospital in Denver does this for free for PCV). A dental exam/work (which I'm still paying off even after the reimbursement). An eye exam. Copies of medical records... Goodness it was a hassle, that I put off for way too long...and then played a waiting game until I was medically cleared! More waiting ensued until I got an email saying that my application was in the placement offices. Some more waiting...and then the placement office contacted my saying that all that was left was an updated resume (so they could know what I have been up to in the past year) and my final transcript. I sent in my updated resume on May 6th and literally an hour later I got a call - that I missed because I was in class.

I checked my message and went into the SLiCE office (were I work on campus) and returned the call. I spoke with Daniel and he asked me a few questions about if I was comfortable with doing a health program for my service, how I was feeling about the Peace Corps, how my family was feeling about the whole thing and addressing any of my concerns (communication home, returning for a wedding, tattoo stuff). Then he said he would like to extend me an invitation to serve with the Peace Corps.

My Reaction:

(**Shazam** !!WooHoo!! ~~Righteous~~ !Yippy! *So Awesome* HAPPY DANCE) ---------->

My Response:

"Oh that's great!"

I was pretty on top of the world at that point haha I actually had an event going on that day (REAL Award Reception) that I still needed to get together so I was not able to fully absorb it in. I actually have yet to fully acknowledge that I will be in the Peace Corps within the next few months. So where I am at now is I am anticipating to receive my invitation in the mail within the week. I think there will be more specifics once it gets here but my placement is somewhere in Africa in a health extension position and I would be leaving sometime in July. Yeah...that's July of 2010...the one that is just the rest of May and the month of June away...yeah that July..! That is about 2 months earlier than I was expecting but it's All Good!

I am currently trying to push through finals week with some integrity but my motivation has been on a steady decline since spring break pretty much. This Saturday is my graduation ceremony, Sa-weet! So needless to say there is a lot going on. My feelings are all over the place! I have been very reminiscent, stressed, excited and anxious. I am really going to miss CSU... I have met some really amazing people in my time here (Lauren Dixon, Chris Nicolas, Lori Peek, Chris Linder, Jess Burge, Bobby Kunstman, Jen Johnson - just to name a few, the list is much longer than this) and it is sad that I am leaving and everyone is going off to different places to live their lives. I am ready to get to my own adventure though!

I have no idea where life is taking me but I am So ready!