Peace Corps application essays

Essay 1:  Reasons for wanting to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer,  How related to past experiences and life goals,  How expect to satisfy the PC 10 core expectations (not all 10, most challenging and how will I overcome them

When I first heard about Peace Corps, I instantly thought “That is the perfect program for me”.  For much of my life, especially since I’ve been in this country, I’ve been a volunteer.  I’ve volunteered in church events, school events, and even on my own.  Being taught that, “to whom much is given, much is expected”, I developed a love for volunteering during my pre-teen years which has continued to the present.

            I would like to be a Peace Corps volunteer because I would like to not only help people where they need it most, but to also partake in a cultural exchange.  My goal in becoming a Peace Corps volunteer is to become a member of the community in which I serve instead of imposing my culture onto the community.  This experience will enable me to join a new community and learn about a culture different from my own and be able to take it on as my own.  Also, throughout the world, the United States is often viewed as the country that forces themselves into countries where they are not wanted or who ruins the lives of many by imposing values different from those of the people within the country. I would love to promote a different impression of America.  I would love to go into the country and give myself in whatever way I am most needed as opposed to the going with the assumption that I will go to fix things that may not need to be fixed.

            The core expectation I believe will be the most challenging is the one stating that volunteers should “prepare [their] personal and professional life to make a commitment to serve abroad for a full term of 27 months”.  Although I am willing to make the commitment, I have never been away from family for such a long period and it will be a new, and in some ways frightening experience to be away for that long.  I will overcome that challenge by fully integrating myself in the community in which I serve and maintaining regular contact with my family at home as much as possible.  By doing these, I will be able to serve to my full capacity without becoming overwhelmingly homesick. In spite of this challenge, I am willing to fully commit myself to all the core expectations.  I realize that to be an effective volunteer, these expectations are necessary to have the greatest impact on those members of the community I will serve.

            In closing, I would love to be a volunteer because this opportunity will assist me in determining what career path best suits me. I believe that with my life experiences from volunteering in homeless shelters as a child to travelling to Haiti to help families recover from the earthquake, Peace Corps is a logical next step in my search to find out how to become the best me I can be.

Essay 2:  Describe in 250-500 words an experience where you have had living or working in a social or cultural environment different from your own.  What specific challenges did you face concerning trust, confidence, and/or integration?  What did you learn from this experience that you will bring with your to your Peace Corps service?

One experience where I had to live in an environment different from my own is moving to the United States.  Although Jamaica and the United States are both English-speaking countries, the transition was still one that taught me a lot.

            I moved to the United States when I was 8 to live with my mother.  Although an exciting experience for me, I left most of my family behind since only my mother and father lived in the country.  Coming from a place where I could easily get to any family members’ house, being so far away from them was very hard for me.  When I started school, I sounded different from most other kids because I had a heavy accent.  As a result, I was teased and lost confidence in myself and who I was because I couldn’t be like all the other kids in my class.  Also, I didn’t make friends quickly since I sounded and acted a lot different from the other children.  This lowered my confidence and made me pull away from the group and become more reserved. Many times, I missed the comfort of being in Jamaica, from the weather, to having all my cousins who also served as my best friends when I was growing up.

            Throughout the years of being in this country, I learned to adapt to my new environment.  I learned that in order to make the most of your time in a place that is different from what you are used to, you must learn to adapt to the norms of that country while continuing to stay true to yourself.  In the time before I came to this realization, I tried to become like everyone else in order to fit in instead of being myself with influences from my environment.  I tried to become a stereotypical American child namely in the way I spoke.  I attempted to mask my accent and, therefore, my identity to simply conform.  I learned that this was not healthy for my identity and I began to appreciate my individuality more.  This would be relevant to my Peace Corps service because although I will be entering a culture different from what I am used to, I must still remember that I am still unique and can’t be anyone but myself.  Although I may adapt to the cultural norms of the community I will serve in, I wouldn’t be true to myself, or the Peace Corps expectations to represent my home country, if I try to be someone other than myself.  Therefore, I will use my experience in learning to strike a balance between integration and being an individual to be the best volunteer the people of the new culture could use.