"...He prayeth well, who loveth well, Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best, All things both great and small;
for the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all..."

The Rime of the Anchient Mariner -Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Friday, January 29, 2010

Legal Hold

2.2-
I added this blog to PeaceCorpsJournals.com under the Applicants section!
My audience will now include other Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) hopefuls, who like myself are anxious to share our experience with the long and ellusive PC application process, and who try to decipher what is happening to us based on other people's experiences.

For those just tuning in, I'm an environmental education nominee for a project in Latin America with a Sept 2010 departure. I submitted my medical paperwork on 4DEC09 and was cleared on 24DEC09.

I have noticed that there is remarkably little information on the Legal review process of the PC. They take fingerprints the old fashion way, so I guess they run our prints against the FBI's NCIC database. They probably run credit report on us too.

In my case, my military obligation won't be complete until May 2010, so Ill be on Legal Hold for a while.

In the meantime, I'm trying to sell my home as a short-sale (so I won't have that burden during my PC service); as far as I can tell it should not effect my credit report, and therefore should not effect my Legal elegability...right?? In a worst case scenario I'll just keep my home, but we'll see. Ahhh, financial times like these.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Transition

Chapt 2
I'll be on this chapter for at least the next six to eight months! I alluded to my future plans and wanting to use this blog to chroncicle my life and future, but I'm guilty of being vague.
To be specific, I want to use this blog to chroncile my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

I've been wanting to join the Peace Corps for several years now, but it was more or less a crazy idea I would blurt out, but no one believed I would actually do. Admittedly, I didn't think I would do it either...until doors started opening for me.

I started my application process in May 2009 and finished it in late August. Three letters of recommedation (from a work supervisor, volunteer supervisor, and gracious friend), I interviewed with a Peace Corps Recruiter in Arlington VA. It was my first interview (ever). Up until I walked out of the interview, I still doubted my intentions. When the interview ended, he nominated me to an Environmental Education Project in Latin America departing in September 2010. For the first time, I had a clear idea of what my passion in life was...the environment.

After a few months of serious thought and weighing my options, and talking about it...I was convinced that I could not turn down the opportunity to live out my dream.

The anticipated change and opportunity gives me entirely positive outlook. Besides the permanant smile on my face, the wheels are in motion in preparation for a new career.

I put my house on the market a few days ago (my first showing was today). I started my paperwork for separation from the Coast Guard. I gave a lot of my things away, auctioned things off on eBay, selling on Craigslist, and will soon figure out what exactly 'consignment shops' are. Timing is everything...so I hope my house gets sold in God's perfect time.

I hope to be out of the Coast Guard by the first week of June, which would leave me 90 days vacation before departing as a Volunteer. The Peace Corps will not officially invite me to serve in a specific project and country until I can provide official military discharge papers (DD214).

That being said, I probably won't have much a Peace Corps update until after June...meaning this blog might be a little dry.

Based on web resources, I have narrawoed down the countries I might serve in if I depart in September: Paraguay, Peru, El Salvador, or Mexico (if I even get sent to a Spanish speaking country). In retrospect, I should have requested a Marine Resource managment Project in Fiji...so I could finally use my degree!!

Regardless, Envrionmental Education can be a variety of things. It could include grass roots projects promoting environmental awareness in small village, working with EPA-type govt entities, working with non-govt organizations in national parks or preserves, planting trees, finding ways to help farmers employ green farming practicies, and the list could go on.

I would be proud to be a steward of the earth at the grass roots level, which invariably would lead to improved quality of life and society.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

The Journey of a Thousand Miles...

Let me preface my first blog with this:

I start this as a way to document my life over the next few years. As my friends know, I don't spend a lot of time on the phone, so I don't want to use this blog to isolate myself. I realize some use Facebook as a blog, but I use my Facebook page as a homage to my sweet dog: CLEO.

Chapt 1 The Beginning
I should note the beginging with the very begining, and state that I was born in Miami, FL. I am the youngest of four children. I was blessed with a unique family. I graduated from high school in Lewiston, Idaho. I graduated from the Coast Guard Academy & served a two-year tour of duty on the CG Cutter VALIANT out of Miami Beach FL. My current assignment is at the CG National Maritime Center in West Virginia, where I have a home and a dog.

Today I delivered my resignation from the Coast Guard to the 'front office'. After much prayer and thought I know that this is the right decision; we only have one life to live & at the age of 27 I already feel my 20's slipping away. I believe we all have a purpose in life. Like Esther from the Bible, who knows that I have been brought here except for such a time as this.

We are given special gifts and talents and desires, and we should be so lucky to endevor to use our talents to make the world a better place.

My talent(s) have been honed over the last 9.5 years in uniform, but I sincerely believe my life's purpose lies outside of the Coast Guard.

I sit here, watching the Commander and Chief, President Obama as he gives his State of the Union about how the US needs to be at the forefront of green/clean energy and healthcare reform. He is whitty. He is persuasive. The transformation to a Green Collar economy and healthcare starts with one step. So too, my journey started with one step...like all journies, like all change.

I will write a lot about God, people, coincidences, destiny, purpose, the environment and the cosmos.

I invite you to walk with me.

Followers