The Peace Corps Story

My story begins way back in the middle of the last century, when I was a teenager and John Kennedy was President. The Peace Corps had just been formed and it seemed to me like something both exciting and useful.  But my path took a different direction and after three years of college, I married and had children.

 

Fast forward to September 2009. I was unemployed, like several million other Americans and started to wonder how best to use my time. I started to think about the Peace Corps again and how Jimmy Carter’s mother had joined when she was elderly and had been very successful. 

 

So, I filled out the lengthy online application, got three great references and soon got an interview with a recruiter in Raleigh. He thought that I would be fantastic, despite the fact that I didn’t have a college degree. He felt that I had valuable life experiences, and plenty of them, after raising four children for twenty-five years. He said he would refer me and let me know the outcome. About a week later, I received a call from him to tell me I would be assigned to English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa in January. He knew that I had been to Africa and wanted to go back, so this was great news.

 

He advised me to begin taking my medical exams immediately. The Peace Corps will reimburse for some of the expense of medical exams, but not all. So, when I went to the eye doctor for my vision test, I said “I’m unemployed and don’t have insurance. But I’m applying for the Peace Corps. Could I have a discount?”  And I got one. Then I saw the dentist and repeated my request. And I got another discount. But when I went to my GP for my physical, blood tests, etc., and asked for a discount, he declined. However, when he wrote up my bill, he entered the wrong amount and “accidentally” gave me a 50% discount!

 

After I mailed each test to the Peace Corps reviewer, I would go online to see if I passed.

• Eye exam – check!
• Dental exam – check!
• Physical exam – check!

These teeth have been approved by the government to represent the United States of America in sub-Saharan Africa and possibly other countries, as well.

• Psychiatric test – check!

Finally, when all my tests had been approved and all the boxes checked, I started looking for my plane ticket to arrive in the mail. By now it was near the middle of January and I hadn’t heard anything. I started emailing my Peace Corps reviewer, then phoning and no one returned my calls or emails. I called the Director of the Peace Corps in Washington, DC, left a message and got no response.

 

Finally, I called my recruiter in Raleigh. When he answered, he said, “Why aren’t you in Africa?” I said, “You tell me!”  He said he would check and let me know. More days went by and finally he called and said I would not be going after all. When I asked why, he said it was because I didn’t have a college degree. I said we had discussed that when I applied and it was clearly stated on my application. Then he told me the application is the last thing check.

 

In 2015 I got my college degree, so I will never be rejected for that reason again!