Perceptions of Peace Corps Service

I meant to write a second post sooner, but as one might expect I’ve been pretty busy lately. I have plenty to write about concerning recent events, but instead I will focus on addressing some more general, over-arching issues…

What made me interested in serving?

If you told me two years ago that I was going to serve as a volunteer in the Peace Corps, I would have been quite perplexed. At that point in my life, the title ‘Peace Corps’ conjured up images of groups of twenty-something hemp-wearing hippies planting trees in exotic locations. How could that possibly interest me?

In the fall of 2009, one of my UConn professors began waxing poetic about his experience in the Peace Corps. His description of his island home in the Philippines and work in a local school was my first realistic exposure to PC life. The idea of exploring the world and interacting with and entirely immersing one's self in a new culture and language struck a chord with me. I immediately went home to search the Internet to find out everything I could about it, including researching the official Peace Corps website and reading endless blog entries (such as this one) where volunteers detailed their adventures. It appealed to me as the ultimate life-altering adventure, something I would regret not trying, and to some extent felt I ‘needed’ to experience in my lifetime.

The interested merely gestated until late summer in 2010, when I finally began my application. It’s been a long and trying process getting to this point, and my interest and commitment wavered back and forth over the course of the past year. However, at this point I feel that God has been leading me in this direction as strongly as he has lead me towards anything else in my life thus far. It’s hard for me to argue with that.

It’s funny to think how my understanding and view of the organization has changed since that time. However, when one looks at the messages given to us about the Peace Corps in popular culture media references, it is clear that there are many common misconceptions about its purpose and practice. Over the next few paragraphs I will intermittently address several myths about Peace Corps service.

Myth #1: Peace Corps Volunteers work in extremely remote locations with intensely isolated cultures.

This isn’t exactly a common misconception I’ve encountered thus far, but presenting it gives me an excuse to share a clip from the movie Airplane!:

Whereas the level of development in-country that volunteers experience will vary greatly from placement to placement, we are not simply dropped off in the middle of nowhere. I cannot speak to what service was like fifty years ago, but as of now I am entering a country where there are established Peace Corps headquarters and offices throughout the country. I will be working in a community where volunteers have worked previously, and I will essentially be taking the reigns of the volunteer expectations for the program.

Myth #2: The Peace Corps will take anyone who signs up, and you can just join out of high school if you’re not sure what to do with your life.

This one bugs me. The application process was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever engaged in, and it’s taken a year of dedication for me to make it this far. As for applying out of high school, I can’t be too surprised to that some people still think this is possible. I mean, what does the media tell us about this?

Here’s a sample of dialogue from one of my favorite shows, “Community”:

Britta: Alright, you wanna know my deal? I dropped out of high school because I thought for some reason it would impress Radiohead.
Jeff: You’d be surprised what gets back to those guys.
Britta: I joined the Peace Corps, I did a little foot modeling, I got tear gassed at a world trade rally…
Jeff: Marry me.

Did you see that??? DROPPED OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL, AND JOINED THE PEACE CORPS??? Not possible.

According to the Peace Corps website, 90% of volunteers have AT LEAST an undergraduate degree. As for the other 10%? These people have extensive practical experience in the field they will be working in. The bottom line: Peace Corps looks for skilled volunteers with the capacity to contribute to the development of other countries.

Myth #3: People can volunteer together, and PC volunteers live and work together.

I used to think this as well, so again, I’m not surprised to hear or see it. One notable media reference is the character Barney from the show ‘How I Met Your Mother’. Before his selfish, materialistic, and promiscuous ways were established, he had planned to enter the Peace Corps with his long-time girlfriend to aid the ‘poor Nic-har-ahg-juans’.

Whereas it is true that married couples can volunteer together, friends cannot choose to serve together. It is an extreme rarity that I will be in the same country and program as a friend and classmate of mine from the University of Connecticut, and even so I doubt we will run into each other very frequently. I will be living with a host family (though in many countries volunteers live independently), and once I have moved to my final placement for the full two years I would not be surprised if I was the only American (or perhaps even English-speaking person) in my community.

What else?

The best way to learn more about the Peace Corps for yourself is to visit their website at www.peacecorps.gov. There you will find clearer and more accurate information than I am capable of offering.

When I tell someone in conversation about my upcoming service, I am met with two basic reactions: excitement from some, and confusion from others. What I have noticed about the two groups of people is that those who are familiar with what the Peace Corps is are excited for me, and the confusion comes from those who are not ‘in the know’. Although I like when others are as excited about the experience as I am, at the end of the day I’m not doing it to impress others (again, see the character Barney in ‘How I Met Your Mother, who eventually lies about leaving for the PC to pick up women at bars). I’m doing it because it excites me and is simply what I want to do with my life.

I hope people read this blog in the coming months, as it will make me feel more appreciated and less lonely. I hope to inspire prospective volunteers the way current volunteers have inspired me, but at the very least I hope it will simply function to let my friends and family know that I am doing okay.

I love you all, and feel free to ‘follow’.

- Peter