So, I Met My Recruiter Last Night

…And she wasn’t a mighty dragon!  In fact, she was really, really nice!  So nice, in fact, that it permeated her very presence!

My recruiter, by the way, is April Conway.  She’s fabulously intelligent and experienced and I was so intimidated going into our little “info session” that I almost forgot my questions.  Good thing I had some written down, or I wouldn’t have been able to ask any of them!  But she was so helpful and had answers to nearly all the questions I meant to ask, before I even asked them!  I hope I can work with her in the future.

Not only did I meet April, but I also met 2 other RPCVs!  One of them, David, was part of the first PCVs in South Korea!  He was an English teacher for both a middle school, and a college!  It was exciting hearing about what the Peace Corps was like back in the 60s!  He was part of the program 5 years after it started, and had amazing stories about what it was like.  The other one was really nice and let me chat her ear off (both did, really) but I forgot her name.  I did manage to get her email address, but now I can’t email her!  What a waste…  She was so nice.  It’s a good thing I know her last name. ;D  AND!  She’s a grad student here at the UofA!!!!  Talk about access!  She has a similar personality, too.  She talked about all the research that she did before she applied and left, etc.  I’m so happy to have met all three of these people.  They were so nice, and very helpful.  I even got the information for the RPCV group around the area from David!

I’m so lucky to have so many great resources in Fayetteville, and around the country.  I just want to thank everyone that has been so wonderful and has shared tips, information, and their experiences with me.  It really means a lot to me.

PEACE CORPS PEOPLE ARE AT MY CAMPUS AND I’M A WRECK! AHHHHHHH!

Tests, Tests, Tests… And Resume building?

Hello there!

In case you forgot I existed, I’m Lisa!  And I’m writing about my journey researching, applying, and (hopefully) entry into the Peace Corps!  This past week, I’ve been snowed in, yelled at, and about as bored as someone can get!  And you know what I forgot about?

School.

So, these past two days have been filled with studying for two exams I totally forgot about.  To make matters worse, I haven’t updated my resume for the Peace Corps Recruiters coming to my campus tomorrow.  Yikes!  At least I have a Keurig, because I’ll definitely be using it tonight.  I mean, because why not do it after I get home from all of my various activities instead of right now?  That totally makes sense, right?  XD

To be fair, I am using my time to learn about grant writing.  Apparently, there’s a little grant writing involved after you’ve made it to the Peace Corps.  How else are you going to finance a secondary project?  😛

Also, my mom found another great resource for me!  Apparently, one of the patients in our clinic just got to the medical part of her application!  So my mom, being the awesome woman she is, mentioned that I was looking for more information about the process!  The wonderful person left her business card with my mother, and now I can contact her!  I’m so nervous and excited!!!

Anyway, I’m off to study econ!  I’ll set the date and tell you how it goes later!!!

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

And this hot chocolate is actually pretty lousy. My little sister spoils me, so of course I’m not satisfied by any creation that isn’t her’s… Now if only I could convince her to open a cafe with me…  I mean, I know how to run purchase orders, and do inventory.  She can just whip up her magic.  Sounds like a really good time. 🙂

So, it’s day three (is it really!?) of Snowpacalypse 2014, the sequel, and I’ve run out of things to do. I’ve studied all I can study, I’m slowly working my way through the first page of Cien Anos de Soledad, and I’ve cleaned (which is desperate, even for me). I’m so bored, and there’s absolutely nothing to do from home. There are no “Service Projects” to complete with my brothers or “Fellowships” to attend… Well, in all actuality, there are. I just can’t get to them, and I’d rather not have one of my friends lying dead in a ditch because they were trying to pick little miss me up. And, honestly, tomorrow isn’t going to be much better. Even if I could make it out of the house, all of my classes are cancelled. I guess this means I’m going to have to read ahead, and risk being called “Hermione” or “Eager Beaver“… again. Trust me, nothing’s worse than being singled out by your professor. I mean, most of the time, it’s a complement, and I get that. It’s a fact of life for me, though. I kind of stick out.  It’s not every day that you meet a studious girl who doesn’t really have an interest in the dating scene… Oh, and some of it probably has to do with me being under 5 foot… Regardless, I have to deal with unwanted attention anyway.

By the way, I think I’m getting better at this blogging thing. I haven’t exactly got my rhythm yet, but I’m getting close! Soon, I’ll have all sorts of cool things up! It’ll be easier once I start my application in October? November? We’ll see. I was supposed to be able to start in May, but now that I’ve been told my 3 years of Retail experience, and my two years as an “Administrative Specialist” don’t count towards a measly 500 hours of hospitality experience (even though, technically, retail sort of counts as hospitality… And I helped plan and put on a banquet, and updated a 40 page brochure…) But, when things go awry, you have to adjust your sails and battle on! So, while I’ll still be able to walk in May, I will have an internship over the summer. And I don’t think it will be very easy to have an internship and then just hop in a plane without having time with my family and friends. I think that would be a terrible thing to do! They’re already worried about me to begin with! To just dump and change like that… It’s just not my style.

Anyway, I’m still working on that template so if anyone has questions that they think would be great to ask an RPCV, shoot ’em at me! I think it would be a great resource for fellow people interested in joining! Think of the great service you would be doing. ;D I’ll just be here, waiting… Drinking a little hot chocolate… Eating some more of those darn maple cookies… >.<

I’ll keep in touch. You all just be the cool little troupers you are.

Snowed in with Maple Cookies

The snow keeps falling… We’re running out of supplies.  All that’s left, Van Houtte’s Vanilla coffee and Dare Maple Leaf Creme cookies.  All hope is lost.

Actually, the snow stopped falling, my family is pretty well stocked on all of the essentials, and the snow is melting.  Of course, that’s just going to make it more dangerous for tomorrow.  Arkansas loves to do the whole snow/melting/ice combo most winters.  You get used to it after a while.  I bet you my little brother and sister are out for a week, lucky ducks.  However, the University is open!  I’m not going, though.  I live on a steep hill, so… No can do.  Oh well.

But, on to business!  I’ve been writing a list of questions to ask RPCVs and Recruiters!  I’m so excited!  Finally, I’ve narrowed down at least some of the questions I want to ask!  Don’t ask me why it’s so hard to find the right questions, I don’t even know.  I’m just an oddball.  You should accept it.   Anyway, I’m planning on posting the template later… or maybe just the interviews!  Which would be the most helpful for y’all?  I mean, if I have to suffer this strange desire to know everything about something, someone should be able to benefit from it, right?  I think I’ll post the interview questions on a template page, and post the interviews in a series.

I can’t think of anything else to write today.  This is just an update.  Hopefully I can fall into some sort of rhythm?  If you want to listen to some cool music, definitely listen to “Crayon” by G-Dragon and “Fantastic Baby” by Big Bang.  I’m totally getting into K-Pop.  Who would have thought, right?

The Weekend

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone on the internet is staying safe and warm!  I know I’m at least trying to!  Of course, y’all probably don’t have 4 inches of snow (and counting!) everywhere you look.  Oh well, it’s a good day to write, study, and try to translate Cien Años de Soledad… Which, yes, I did buy in Spanish.  No, I did not realize that this was going to be hard.  You’d think that having had four years of a language would make it easy to pick back up!

Anyway, I told y’all that I was going to be going to this place called TriCycle Farms on Saturday!  I wish I could have (we got rained out, which later turned into the snow we’re experiencing now) but at least I’ll tell you what I know about the program.  TriCycle Farms is a volunteer run ‘community garden’ type of thing in town.  Everything that is grown there is split three different ways – 1/3 is sold at our famous Farmer’s Market, 1/3 is given to food banks, and the final third is given to the volunteers.  I don’t know how I feel about the food being split this way, but I am so excited to be getting my hands dirty!

Well, I’m off to go read that book.  I’ll let y’all know how it is, alright? 🙂

Toodles!