Almost Done with Medical as Life Continues

Oh Peace Corps Journal, let me tell you about the last week and a half.

     Thursday. It took me two hours to get a Hepatitis B shot. Thus making me miss my dentist appointment.
     They let me come a little later in the day. After getting my teeth cleaned, the office told me that the dentist isn't even in today. So I have to make another appointment, come back, and sit with the actual dentist as he looks at my x rays and fills out my PC forms.

     Friday. Teacher clothes shopping. blech. I had to trade in my sunglasses, sweatshirts, skinny jeans, and converse for something more collared, woolly, and ruffly. I hate ruffles.

     Tuesday. First day of student teaching at the elementary level. I am so awkward and shy in new situations. So the first day was pretty awful. But as the week progressed, I just really tried to put myself out there. I found that I needed to be interesting in order for the other teachers to be interested in me being there at all. Of course I brought the Peace Corps up, and I think that's when I was finally respected by the other teachers. Also, I've started teaching some of the violin, viola, and cello lesson groups. I think I've done alright and I've gained the trust of my cooperating teacher with her students. As of now, the hardest thing about student teaching is I have a very different teaching style and method than my cooperating teacher. But of course I have to do it her way, or at least close to her way. And that's okay. I will occasionally slip in something different, but I'm sure she will be okay with that. Who knows, this might be good practice for the Peace Corps. I definitely cant expect that wherever I go, they will just allow me to change the system. I will have to work with what I have, make compromises, and just always do my best with what is allocated to me.

     I went back to the dentist Tuesday afternoon (had to cut class to do so). I sat down in the dentist chair. The dentist came in, looked at my x rays and said "ok, you have some cavities so make another appointment and I'll see you then." I don't know WHY i had to be there as he looked at the x rays. It was a waste of an appointment, and now I have to cut ANOTHER class to go get my cavities filled. This is not okay.

     Oh, and then on Tuesday night, one of my favorite singer/songwriters Julia Nunes (youtube ukulele player) discovered a youtube video of mine where I covered one of her songs! She facebooked, tweeted, and youtubed about it saying she was honored and she loved it! It was really exciting! I never expected that to happen. It is SO COOL to get feedback on a cover song from the original artist! Here is the video I made:

my youtube page

     Then on Thursday, I cut class again to go to the endocrinologist. This is for my biggest problem that I am afraid Peace Corps will dismiss me for. The endocrinologist was SO nice and totally understood that we didn't want whatever this is to be a cause for delay or limitations in the Peace Corps, especially because I've had this problem since I was 12 and have had no complications because of it. My tests point to a mild case of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Unlike my other doctor who wouldn't even hear me out, this doctor took time to think about it and decided I didn't need medication or follow-up until AFTER the peace corps. YES! Now, I hope the Peace Corps agrees with that. Yes, I am diagnosed with POS, but it is so mild that treatment is not necessary until later in life.

    The very last thing I need to do is get my cavities filled. I am going to have to miss a few hours of student teaching to do this. I am really not supposed to miss, but I have to. I've read all over the Peace Corps journals that there are too many volunteers and too few jobs. The jobs are filling up quickly. So if I want to go on my July/August departure, I need to get these forms in ASAP! Then I can put all my focus on student teaching, classes, rehearsals, work, and tutoring. ahhh who am i kidding my focus is still spread too thin..

     Anyway, I've finally reached the weekend, where I can actually grab a couple hours here and there to breathe. Unfortunately I'm sick. A cold of sorts. Hopefully I can kick it before Monday.

     Next week I have a training class for tutoring, and I should be having a meeting with someone on campus to get started tutoring there. I'll feel so much better once I start clocking in my 30+ hours of experience.

I'll make them see, I have confidence in me!

     I'm really glad I'm doing this blog thing through Peace Corps Wiki. I spend lots of time reading blogs, and I love getting in touch with Peace Corps applicants and volunteers. Thanks to everyone who reads this and has commented and whatnot. Correct me if I'm wrong... but I don't think there is a way to reply to comments on my blogs, right? I wish there was.

     I should clarify real quick just that my last name is not really Lele. Diana Lele is a sad attempt at a cute and clever mix of my name and ukulele. It is currently serving as an alias so that my students have a slightly more difficult time finding me. Although a google search of my name, or any combination of Diana and ukulele still lead right to my youtube page. Ah well, I tried.

     I went to the eye doctor. Just like at all my other appointments so far, the receptionist was rude to me because my insurance changed, and then was even ruder when I mentioned I had an additional form that needed to be filled out for the Peace Corps. The actual doctor was fine though. He was interested in my plans with the Peace Corps. However, he somehow managed to convince me that I could not POSSIBLY live in the Peace Corps without transitional glasses to act as both glasses and sunglasses, thus raising my bill about 100 dollars. After all, it is really sunny in Cambodia! lol, Then when I was driving home sense came back to me. I thought: wait.. what? I hardly ever even wear my glasses and I have sooo many pairs of sunglasses that I actually enjoy wearing. So, I made my mom call the doctor :-P and cancel the transitional part. Discreet, sturdy, regular glasses are all I need.

      I'm glad I didn't schedule any appointments for today because Long Island is buried under more than a foot of snow. Yaaay snow day!

     These past few days I've been feeling... almost helpless. I have SO MUCH to do, between finalizing all my medical forms, getting tutoring experience, and getting ready for student teaching. But the thing is, I can't really do anything right now. My doctors appointments are all scheduled. So I just have to wait for those to happen. I'm signed up for an ESL training workshop, but that's not until January 29th. Student teaching starts Tuesday and I just kinda have to wait for that to come. Classes start next week as well. Right now I'm just waiting for everything to happen, which I hate, but I have no choice. Next week is going to be like a bomb hit my life because everything will be happening all at once.  Sometime before Tuesday I have to pick up some confidence. I can't help but think of the scene in the Sound of Music where Julia Andrews (LOVE HER) is going to her first day at work, running and skipping down the streets of Austria, convincing herself through song that she has confidence. I think I might try that. It seemed to have worked for her.

     I am trying to enjoy myself occasionally. You can't be a serious Peace Corps applicant without the idea that you might be gone in a few months constantly in the back of your head. I'm graduating at the end of this semester, which is exciting, but also really sad. I loved college. I loved studying music more than anything. I spent just about every waking minute of the last 3 and a half years with the most amazing friends anyone can ask for. Regardless of whether or not I go into the Peace Corps, we are all going our spearate ways after graduation. So I'm definitely feeling like I need to spend as much time as possible with these people and doing the things I love. After all, there really is nothing more exciting and unpredicatable than a cluster of music majors.

Did I ever think that I would "sing for a Goodyear Tire commercial? No, but that just happened two days ago.
Did I ever think that I would surprise Christmas carol for a dozen diners and bars? No, but we did, and got free food out of it!
Did I ever think that I would sing at a professional hockey game? No, but we did.
Did I ever think that my most talented friends would allow little old me to perform (and turn pages) with them at their senior recitals? No, but they did.
Did I ever think that I would want to break into the music building after hours, just to practice with my friends until it's almost time to be there for class the following morning? No, but we've done that.

I guess I'm just trying to make whatever time I have left in this last leg of my undergrad career count. I love what I'm doing and I love the people I do it with. I'm glad we still have a couple more months (not to mention our performances in ITALY, something else I thought I'd never do). So pardon me, friends, that I keep mentioning the end of the road when we hang out, but just know that it's because you have made this journey amazing.

Wow Diana, stop typing. I know you can keep going on and on, but this is not the time.
ok.

Just (in)sane enough to work for the Peace Corps!

First things first, I misread my nomination. I was nominated to serve in Asia as a secondary English teacher, but my tentative departure date is between late July and late August (not just July). So, after checking out the timeline, it looks like it may either be Cambodia or the Philippines. I’ve looked up Cambodia quite a bit and I would be very happy to go to Cambodia. I’ve been throwing in “I’m moving to Cambodia” into conversations whenever I can, just to get a feel for how that sounds and I like it! If it’s Cambodia, I’d be one of the first teams to go there, which would be so awesome! So I’m kind of hoping it will be Cambodia. I haven’t looked up the Philippines quite so much, but I will start to do so more. I wanna see if I enjoy saying “I’m moving to the Philippines” as much as the other one.

            And as of January 3rd, the craziness of filling out the medical forms has begun! There is so much to do, and I really feel pressed for time, partially because I want to get it in to the placement officer as soon as possible and also because when I start student teaching on Tuesday the 18^th, I will have NO TIME for doctors appointments. So the next two weeks should be very exciting..

            One of the questions in the initial medical health survey asks whether or not you have had mental health counseling in the past ten years. I have, so I checked yes. In my medical packet, there was a large section of paperwork for me to take back to my old counselor. I also had to write a personal statement of my own. I had counseling for a few months back in 2008 after a bad break up of an even worse relationship. I was in pretty bad shape at the time, and I suffered bad anxiety and depression, so I was pretty nervous going back to my counselor and seeing what she would write on my forms. However once I got there, I realized I had NOTHING to worry about. My counselor was so excited! She spent a good half hour just talking to me and seeing what I have been up to and she was so impressed. I guess I really am some sort of a success story for her. She couldn’t get over all the greater things that I have gone on to do since she last saw me. It felt pretty good being given the opportunity to brag! She is going to fill out the forms (with wonderful things, she says) and mail them back to me. I also finished my personal statement. It’s very basic, but it makes it clear that my depression was purely situational and that my experiences have only made me stronger. So the first one is done! I guess I have been deemed sane enough to do the Peace Corps. Although, I think a certain amount of insanity is still necessary.

            Now for some not good news. Without giving you too much detail, my bloodwork is all screwed up. If anything was going to cause me medically to not be accepted, this would be it. I really hope the Peace Corps can accommodate this.

            I took a trip to my regular doctor as well. I had a physical back in September, so I figured that would be recent enough. I hope. So I just gave the office my packet, and got a prescription for some additional blood tests. Hepatitis and HIV (never thought I’d ever get tested for HIV). Then I had to go to 2 different labs to find a lab that takes my insurance, waited for almost two hours, and finally got the blood test.

            Now I have a break from Doctors’ visits for a few days, which I am very glad about. For some reason, everywhere I went, besides to my psychologist, medical professionals were yelling at me and talking down to me. I think it’s all a conspiracy with the doctors, receptionists, and the Peace Corps to force me to practice patience and develop a thick skin.

            I mentioned in my last post that I am not really qualified for the job I was nominated for. I have to get 30+ hours of tutoring experience ASAP. I have been looking everywhere and have found two options, and I hope that will be enough. First, I got in touch with someone at my college, who says when next semester starts she can try to team me up with an asian exchange student to help them with their homework and practice their English. I also found a non-profit organization called Literacy Nassau. This one is perfect because you have to go through a 15 hour training period, and then they team you up with a student in your area. Quite frankly, I need the training! I’ll admit I don’t know what I’m doing. So I’m signed up for two training days in a month, and then hopefully I can start with a student soon after that.

            I’m back to work this week after the holidays, so things are starting to pick up again. I am a music teacher at a private music studio. I’ve started working on finding a replacement for me when/if I leave. This is so important to me because I really care about my students and I don’t want them to have just any old teacher. Many of them I’ve taken so far in the last 3 years and I don’t want to just flat leave them. I’m going to miss teaching them, but I think I’ve found a replacement that I feel comfortable with.

 And so, it is now 2011. The year I student teach. The year I graduate college. The year my performing ensembles in school go on tour to Italy. The year I turn 22. And, more than anything, I hope its the year that I start my Peace Corps service.

Fingerprinting to Interview to Nomination

Very quickly after I finished my application I got the fingerprint form in the mail, along with some other stuff. The fingerprinting was uneventful. I went to a police station. The guy was very nice and when he read that I was getting fingerprinted for the peace corps he waived the fee! In that packet was also some information about programs I could be qualified for. There was also a form asking for more information about my teaching experience, particularly in the field of English. Unfortunately the only “experience” I have is that I used to tutor a kid in high school..

I sent that all in and was in touch with my recruiter for a few weeks about what she needed from me and the people who wrote recommendations for me. Finally right before Thanksgiving my recruiter invited me to come in for an interview in the New York City office the following week. I accepted, set up a time, and started preparing!

The truth of the matter is.. I don’t interview well. I never have. My interviews for colleges were comical to say the least. Some of my answers were just like… where the heck did that come from?? I also had an interview earlier that month for student teaching and THAT was a DISASTER! I was just rambling on and on and not saying ANYTHING. My interviewer just looked at me, and at the end of it all actually made me write down answers to the questions that I just couldn’t answer cohesively out loud. So, I was EXTREMELY nervous about my Peace Corps interview. I actually spent hours preparing. I looked online for sample questions (which were pretty much dead on with what they asked). Then I wrote down a response to each question. I ended up with a packet 7 pages long single spaced! This is NOT something I would recommend doing, unless you are like me and you have issues with interviews.

               So finally came the day of my interview, which was the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. I scheduled it for 10AM hoping to make it back to Long Island by 12:30 or soon thereafter so I wouldn’t have to completely miss my 12:30 class. In case you’re wondering what to wear, I wore simple dress pants, a sweater, and flats for city walking. I took the LIRR train into the city, got on a subway, and walked to the office building. I’ve navigated through the city before, but never by myself, so I gotta admit I was a little nervous. I made it with no issues though, took a deep breath, and walked in the building. I had to go through security first. One of the security officers asked me what I was there for. I told him my Peace Corps interview and he said “the Peace Corps? Wow, you must be VERY brave. I would never ever do a thing like that, not in this day and age.” He was trying to be nice and flatter me… but that was actually the first time that I ever though “oh my god.. what am I doing??” I am not brave and have never considered myself to be a brave person. And here this big strong security guy is telling me that he would never do what I was doing.

I was actually almost an hour early, so I went up to the top floor of the building to a little café. I sat there sipping water and drawing silly pictures of me and ukuleles. Then I made my way back down to the 10^th floor for my interview. I made a fool of myself again. The elevator opened up on the 11^th floor to let two police officers in. I thought it was the 10^th floor so I got out, ignoring the huge sign right across from me that said something about immigration court haha. The cops saw me looking confused and said  “uhhh… are you looking for immigration court?”

“No.. the Peace Corps?”

“That’s down one more floor..”

“oh.. hehehe”

Finally I made it to the right place, waited a bit for the interview, and was called in after a few minutes.

The interview was not as scary as I had originally thought, largely because my recruiter, Kim, was totally on my side. She genuinely wanted to help me look good and to find a place for me in a peace corps. It was a little weird because she needed to type my answers. So I had to speak slowly and concisely. Even though I had written out and studied answers I still struggled sounding intelligent in the interview. Kim was super nice though and tried really hard to get me to say the right thing. This was my favorite exchange:

Kim: In the Peace Corps you might have a lot of down time and might have to deal with loneliness and isolation. How will you handle this?

Diana: I am planning on bringing my ukulele and I can play when I have downtime.

Kim: What if your ukulele breaks?

Diana: umm I could read a book?

Kim: What if there are no books?

Diana: ummm I like to run. I can go running?

Kim: What if you don’t have sneakers?

Diana: ….um….um….

Kim: You mean you would make friends and relations in the community and get involved?

Diana: OH yeah! Of course I would do that!

Haha. If nothing else, this interview pointed out how often I use the word “um”. Every time I said the word, I heard one of my Professors in the back of my mind chanting “She’s buying time…” (he does that all the time in class). Toward the end of the interview the tables sort of turned and I was asking her questions about the Peace Corps and about her experience serving as a Peace Corps. She was extremely helpful. Then despite my awkwardness, she said she was going to find a place to nominate me and I should hear back from her by Friday.

The commute back to Long Island was a lot less scary and I’m sure there was a much bigger bounce in my step.

I did not make it back to class in time. Bummer.

Friday came. And went. Nothing.

Monday. Nothing.

Tuesday AHHHH! Nothing.

WEDNESDAY! I got an email from Kim with a nomination! It was for a Girls Empowerment project in Sub Saharan Africa and it sounded PERFECT! But I had to hurry up and respond because there was only one spot left. I responded within the hour she sent it, and spent the next two days telling EVERYONE who would listen!

Then Thursday evening I got another email from Kim saying I missed it. The project was closed and she would try to find another one. I was CRUSHED. That project and location was exactly what I had been picturing for months.

The next day I got another nomination, this time for Secondary English Teaching in Asia to leave the end of July. I wish I could say I was just as excited for this one, but I wasn’t. I never envisioned myself going to Asia. I pictured myself anywhere BUT Asia. I don’t really know why, but I just didn’t really have an interest in it. But I accepted, and kept a positive attitude. I managed to convince myself that maybe it’s for the best and that I could end up really enjoying it and really helping some people in Asia.

                There was one stipulation. I was not really qualified for this project. I have TONS of teaching experience… but it’s all music teaching. I had to promise to get 30+ hours of English teaching experience. That’s a lot harder than it sounds, considering I will be student teaching next semester, AND participating in choral and orchestral ensembles AND teaching more than 20 private students AND working on my medical evaluation stuff.

But, I’m working it all out. And I’m almost caught up to present time in this blog. In my next post I’ll fill you in on my medical forms and my plans for getting English teaching experience.

First Time Blogger

Ive noticed that a lot of Peace Corps volunteers and applicants keep a blog and I've decided to jump on the bandwagon. So this blog will be used to
1. Keep my friends and family updated
2. Help myself sort through my thoughts
3. Give insight to other applicants on the process.

Today is Christmas, and it's been a good one. I spent hours today online reading volunteer blogs. I wanted to see what the volunteers were doing for Christmas. Many were able to receive gifts from home and some were able to share some "Christmas spirit" to their interested community members.

I am currently in the Medical Review portion of the application, which I'd say is about halfway there. Things are getting more and more realistic the farther I get in the process, and not gonna lie, it's messing with my mind a bit. I'm definitely not regretting my decision to apply, but I am wondering if it's the right choice as far as my career goes. But I'll unload all of those thoughts in a future blog. For now I think I'll go back and start from the beginning.

What made you decide to apply for the Peace Corps?
I can't pinpoint an exact moment that I decided it was a good idea. It's kind of been a progression. I've been on a number of overseas mission trips that got me addicted to volunteer work and to living in other cultures. However, I'd say the main pushing factor for me was just finally growing up and maturing. Suddenly moving away from home wasn't scary anymore, and having a real job with real prerssures wasn't scary. I wanted to move away and experience something very different. I started thinking long term about everything including grad school, getting a job, and even about the freedoms I would lose to do something like this once I settle down in a job here one day. So basically, once it entered my mind as an option, I did TONS of research, and the more I saw, the more I believed that the PC was a perfect opportunity for me.

The Daunting Application
I think I took way longer than most to do the application lol. I guess I was just nervous and I really wanted to make sure everything was perfect. I started the application in June and finally sent it in mid to late September. Most of the application was not hard, but was tedious. You need to provide information on any job preferences you might have, language skills, licenses and certificates, employment history, volunteer activities, marital status, education history, and legal history. You also need to provide a resume, responses to two essay questions, and three references. Put everything that you think might help on your resume, because it might help determine if and where you get a nomination. Your essays are extremely important. During the interview, a lot of the conversation will revolve around what is in your essays. I actually took my essays to an English professor of mine at college. She was very helpful in focusing my ideas and in making sure that the reader can get an idea of who I am through the text. Finally, you have the 3 references, and they should be an employer, a friend, and a volunteer supervisor. I substituted my volunteer supervisor with a professor, only because she was excited to help and actually offered to write a recommendation. The recommendations are pretty easy, but take some time and focus. One thing I did that I would recommend is giving the three people a list of your activities and volunteer projects. That way they have examples in case they draw a blank. The references are done online and submitted through email, but you can provide a paper one if you choose. (I had to because my boss doesn't email...)

Then... You submit! And you celebrate cuz you think your done!
Then right away they send you more stuff to fill out online! Lol. But don't worry, it's just a basic medical survey and should only take 15 mins or so. Just be honest and thorough.

That's good for now. I'll continue with the catch-up (ketchup) in another blog.

Merry Christmas!