My Life a Year Ago - Pre-Peace Corps

It's crazy to think that a year ago I just accepted my Peace Corps invitation. One year ago, I was sitting in my comfortable living room in my unnecessarily nice apartment trying to figure out if I wanted to stay comfortable or explore the unknown.

I guess I'll start with a little background. Around the time that my invitation was supposed to be sent, I really didn't think I was going to join the Peace Corps. I wasn't like other soon to be volunteers that anxiously awaited their invitation. I had started applying for other jobs, thinking about going back to school, looking at Peace Corps alternatives. Hell, I bought a new car a month before I got my invite!! I really didn't think I was leaving. But it's funny what happens when you just kind of let things fall into place.

The other night I was looking back at old journal entries. I was ripe for change but was too scared to do something about it. I longed for a life that felt meaningful, challenging, and more than anything I was incredibly eager to learn again! Fear of the unknown impeded my progress. It's one thing to talk about change, it's quite another to take that step.

There were a couple of influential pieces of advice that I thought I'd share in case there are other people in the decision phase that are trying to figure out what to do. What stands out the most is what a former professor told me: I was a little nervous about living in a small rural town and my professor simply told me that it was because I was scared that I had to go experience it. Looking back, it's incredibly humorous that I was worried about living in rural Guatemala. Small town living here is absolutely wonderful and even by just visiting some other PCVs who have larger towns (10,000+) it's overwhelming! I wouldn't want my service to be somewhere that big. Another piece of advice came from an RPCV referring to the time commitment. He assured me that nothing was going to change, I won't miss that much, and when you view life on a longer term spectrum, two years is a blink of an eye, but the impact it will make is remarkable. And finally, after telling everyone that I decided to join, a woman who has always given me advice said "you're doing what I wish I had done".

I know now that I'm where I'm supposed to be and the feeling is incredible. Sure I have my days, hell, this Monday I was pretty down in the dumps, but if I compare how I felt a year ago with how I feel now - my life is much more satisfying now. Sure, a year ago I had friends, family, nightlife, pretty much anything I wanted at my fingertips but I felt trapped and under utilized. Here, I make a lot more material and comfort sacrifices but it's rare for me to wake up and not want to go to work. Even if I'm not productive, I enjoy spending time with my co-workers or my host family or my sitemate.

So if you're thinking about the Peace Corps...JUST DO IT! I'm so glad that in a year and a half I can say "I did the Peace Corps! It's a trip!" instead of "Oh yea, I've always wanted to do the Peace Corps"