I have had a lot of people tell me what I am doing is going to be amazing, life changing, a challenge. And I am not doing the PC for those types of reasons. I have also heard people say WOW! I don't have the courage to do what your doing. I also have heard...'no offense, but you don't seem like the type of person to do the peace corps.' OUCH.
Well I feel like putting into words the "why" of this whole process is kind of hard because in my bones it just feels like what should be happening in my life, and verbalizing that kind of feeling is difficult. I've read a couple of others' "reasons" and I feel a sense of camaraderie with what's being said. A list of reasons feels, to me, like justifications to other people. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it doesn't get at the heart of it quite like a couple of quotes I've found:
"I think of my reason for joining the Peace Corps as more of a feeling, a state of being, or a calling that I rationalized with words and that is something you just can't verbalize to someone."
"It's just something I have to do."
The opportunity to travel. I have been extremely lucky growing up as a child that we were given so many chances to travel. I remember going on a vacation every year for spring break with my dad to the Cayman Islands. That started when I was 8 or 9 - on our way to the airport for our first trip to an island, I asked my dad if islands could sink? I didn't know, I was young and going to a new place. I have also been lucky enough to experience Europe twice before the age of 18. I went once on vacation with my family to Italy for two weeks and then went back a year later with my school as a sophomore in high school. With my high school, we went to 7 different countries in two weeks. AMAZING. I fantasize about filling my passport with tons of stamps.
The opportunity to do something for someone else that I have never meet before.
I have been raised pretty well off. I'm not rich, but I've been very fortunate in a lot of other areas of my life. I'm pretty liberal when it comes to politics and I subscribe to the idea of "it's my responsibility to give something back." I know not everyone agrees with this, and I'm starting to be OK with that, but I want to "be the change" so to speak, so I'm starting with me. I can't afford to donate money to charities or my alma mater or start a foundation in my name, but I can give my time, my ideas, and my knowledge. I want to go to bed at night, every night of my life, knowing that I did something to help another person that day. I NEVER want to work solely for the money or for where it will get me, and I NEVER want my occupation to conflict with my morals. I know that an education is one of the most important things in life. It gives people opportunities they would never have otherwise, it unlocks and opens doors that weren't just closed before, but were invisible. I love that this is my chosen line of work, and I want to explore an aspect of it that is all at once extraordinary, inspiring, intimidating, formidable, and promising.
To take advantage of an opportunity not everyone has.
I have been very well taken care of growing up as a child and put through college without myself having to worry about taking out loans or having massive amounts of debt when leaving college. I figure why not do this amazing, incredible path in life that not everyone is brave enough to take on. That not everyone is committed to doing something for someone else. I am OK with doing something that only a select few have done in the past 50 years the PC has been around.
I'd rather do something out of the ordinary and embrace the path my life IS on than complain about the path it ISN'T on.
I can't think of a single reason NOT to do this.
