Medical clearance cont'd...

Well, I’m still stuck trying to get re-cleared medically. The medical hold has been removed and a soul crushing 8-12 month deferral has taken its place. My doctor wrote an appeal for me, but I’m not counting on that working. I’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the next two weeks with my appeal.


Sometimes it feels a little like:

Fears

I'm jumping on the bandwagon! Below are some of my fears regarding Peace Corps service. Also, I'm really bored at work today so I decided to draw them, since afterall a picture is worth a thousand words....

1)They don't mess around- they will F you up!





2)I hope I don't get seriously ill!





3)Total lack of privacy.



*Note: those are eyes, not boobies!


4)Seeing lots of death and disease is going to be tough.





5)Being bored all the time

Two steps forward... one major step back

Well it’s been an eventful couple of weeks! First, I graduated with my MPH [cue pomp & circumstance!], and I’m continuing in my internship position with the board of health for the summer. I’ve been excited-if-not-slightly-anxious waiting for an invite, or rather any word from placement. I’ve been medically cleared for 5 months and legally/dentally cleared as well. I’m just humming along excited about life.

*Here I am with my new red hair:





Then it happens.


A new medical [minor] issue arises. I inform my PC nurse & fax in paperwork. That’s when my plans and dreams are dashed, or at the very least delayed by several months. So, now I am back on a medical hold, will most likely be deferred [AGAIN] for 4-6 months or more and will definitely miss my departure date.




Furthermore, everyone at work knows I just graduated and they've been asking me what I'm going to do next and I've had to play it vague and cool since I didn’t want to tell people until I was invited. I’m really glad now that I didn’t say anything. My lease is up on August 31, and I really don’t know what I’m going to do or where I’m going to live. At least I have a good job and will not become a hobo. I am trying to look on the bright side, but after being in the application process for the past almost 11 months it is hard. Very hard. I am disappointed, but will continue with this process. I hope when a placement officer finally looks at my file to issue an invite they're like "wow, she must really want this".... and I do!


P.S. My next post will not be so gloom and doom.

Happy Public Health Week!

Happy Public Health week to everyone out there! Wow I can't believe it's April already!! Lately I've been really busy at work helping plan a conference we hold biannually. The last one we held in 2008 was really great and I'm hoping that this one turns out well too. I get to meet Alice Walker since she's one of our speakers, which I am realllllly excited about.

I've been getting a little peace corps journals obsessed so I've taken a little step back to keep my mind from going crazy in anticipation of an invite or any word from Peace Corps. And by little step back I mean that I don't check this site or the wiki more than once per day. And by once per day I really mean like once and a quick peek, so like one and a half times per day. Okay, okay, it's more like twice a day. The first step is admitting the problem, right?

I can't believe in 3 weeks I will be graduating. I have so much more school work to do still.... it is going to be a whirlwind of papers, tests and presentations. Au revoir until May!

9 months!

It has been 9 months since I first started the application process and 4 months since I received medical clearance. And not a peep out of placement in all this time. No emails, no phone calls, not even a mass email saying "it'll be X weeks until we get to your file... wait in line yada yada" NOTHING. I am aware the process takes time, but goodness it is difficult just waiting for placement to get to my file. I think this is the hardest part of the process by far! I got medically cleared quickly and I highly doubt I'll be that lucky again and get invited quickly. I'm guessing that I will have a few more months of silence since I am not slated to leave until September (which is only 6 months away).


While I wait to hear from Placement I thought I'd talk a little bit about why I want to join Peace Corps. Here are my biggest reasons:

1) I strongly believe in service to others. I first started volunteering when I was about 13. That's pretty young, but I was a very independent child. I used to ride the public bus a few miles downtown and volunteer as an usher for a performance arts theater. I had to wear a very silly bow tie and vest, but I loved it. I enjoyed being immersed in the arts and getting to see performances for free was a major bonus.

2) I enjoy learning about other cultures. PC would give me an opportunity to get fully immersed- to learn the language and work with individuals at their level. PC offers the ability for cultural exchange unlike other service organizations.

3) I want a career in international health. While I have skills in public health education and disease surveillance, I do not have the international public health experience that PC can offer. I'd love to eventually work at the CDC or USAID and many of their staff members are RPCV's.

Legal clearance

More good news... I got the check mark back on mytoolkit this morning so I guess that means I am legally cleared [again].

Two down... one to go!

This morning I was greeted with my favorite email again- the Peace Corps application status update email! I was granted dental clearance! My legal still hasn't cleared yet, but I'm not worried. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas... right???

For a while I couldn't figure out how to get that nifty screen shot of mytoolkit like all those hip bloggers out there have (since I am a bit technologically challenged)... but I finally figured it out today!