Essays

Peace Corps Volunteers must be open to ideas and cultures different from their own and may need to modify their appearance or behavior appropriately. Give an example (between 250-500 words) of a significant experience that illustrates your ability to adapt in an unfamiliar environment. Please highlight the skills you used and the perspectives you gained. You may draw from experiences in your work, school, or community in the U.S. or abroad. Please list the date(s) of your experience.

Democratic National Convention
August 17-29, 2008
Denver, Co.

“Look at Dorothy here. She must’ve blown in straight from Kansas!” Two visibly intoxicated men in cowboy hats gave life to my initial impression of Denver, Co. when they loudly noted my glitter-coated magenta shoes in the airport. Completely alone for the first time in my life, slightly terrified and extremely overwhelmed, I reminded myself that Denver International Airport connects hundreds of flights, and these men shouldn’t shape my views of the entire city. People in Denver should be just like people in Kansas City, my parents had told me. They said people were pretty much the same everywhere. They were kind of right…and kind of wrong.

In February 2008, my college newspaper editor offered me the opportunity to represent our school in a three-week program that would take me to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and place me in media-related internships at each. I jumped on the chance, but the reality of living on my own in a new city for so long didn’t sink in until I stepped off the plane.

The adjustment period was non-existent. For two weeks, supervisors and events had me sprinting all over Denver, usually solo. I learned how to take a taxi, how to safely conduct interviews amid a protest and how to navigate the city in the expensive company car – no pressure.

I learned that my parents were correct in the sense that people have the same basic motivations and behaviors everywhere. But when you put people from all over the world in an energy-charged arena like Denver last August, everything changes. The rush of working a full-time media job aside, my typical ways of dealing with people didn’t work anymore. In the weeks I spent in Denver, I gained a completely different perspective than I would have during any other visit there. My norm was protestors handing me condoms on street corners and three security checkpoints on the way to work daily.

Every moment in Denver had me evaluating my surroundings and adjusting my behavior accordingly. Extreme politeness, professionalism, persistence and a mellow attitude when necessary became my most useful skills as I maneuvered through huge protests, convinced security to grant me clearance to film video blogs and cleared tables at media headquarters when the busboys fell behind schedule. Nothing ever slowed down; every person had a story, a place to be and a million things to do other than deal with me. I had to find ways to respect those demands while also getting my job done.

My experiences in Denver helped me grow more in two weeks than I did during the three and a half years I spent in college. I learned to relax in unfamiliar environments, and to be open to trying new approaches based on what works best for others. I am much more confident now, able to maintain my individuality while still taking in the experience and assimilating appropriately. In the end, everything always comes together, and I enjoy learning new ways of living.

Peace Corps service presents major physical, emotional, and intellectual challenges. You have provided information on how you qualify for Peace Corps service elsewhere in the application. In the space below, please provide a statement (between 250-500 words) that includes:

1) Your reasons for wanting to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer; and
2) How these reasons are related to your past experiences and life goals.

Simply put, I love people and I love serving. To expand that, I find learning about others to be important. I want to know the stories of others: where they have been, where they are going, why they believe what they do and how they think about abstract concepts. I don’t mind performing the tasks that go unnoticed; large projects and changes require the work of many, and the bigger picture matters much more than the work contributed by any individual.

The Peace Corps provides excellent opportunities to focus exclusively on these two passions, without the distractions and obligations we must normally battle, such as work, extensive technology and the media. In the Peace Corps, an individual has the opportunity to turn his or her entire life into service and a chance to help improve the lives of others. While other programs offer the opportunity to serve, few allow participants to live completely submerged in a new culture, which grants an incredible chance to truly step outside oneself and away from one’s own ethnocentricities.

The best experiences I’ve had so far all come from the moments when I put others ahead of myself, whether by listening to and learning from others or by serving in any way needed. For example, last fall I took a service learning class in which I worked with two other students to organize a bicycling awareness group for our college town, Kirksville. Though the project was based on the needs and interests of town citizens, in the end I became very passionate about it. As I grew into a true community member, Kirksville changed from a temporary place to live into my home.

The acts of learning from others and serving them open an honest way of communication and create strong bonds of trust, which are necessary if we are to live peacefully with one another. I believe that all people are basically the same; that said, when we truly connect with others, such as through showing we want to serve and care for them, we learn that no way of living is necessarily better than another.

Our weekend homework for an entire year of sixth grade history class was to “do what’s right.” To me, what’s right is putting others first and remembering that the way I live is not the only way to live, and isn’t necessarily even the right or best way to live. I’m not sure I can count that as a life goal when my “List of Goals” tends to include things like becoming fluent in French, running a 10k and shopping more often at the local farmers’ market. Serving and understanding others aren’t things to be put on an itemized list, but are ways of life. My life goals themselves might not change the world, but I hope that as I meet those dreams, I do so in a way that reflects something greater and encourages others.

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I would take me. Probably.