Back in 2009: Part 2

This is the second post of a series intended to retroactively document my decision and application process leading up to my invitation to the Peace Corps.

Easter weekend 2009 my parents drove to New Jersey to visit my grandfather in the hospital. My brother was working all day so I took my little sister to Easter dinner. I decided it would be a good time to talk with her and let her know what I was working on. I started, "Shannon, I have something serious I need to talk to you about." Her face lit up with excitement as she asked, "Ryan! Are you gay!." I explained that I thought I was going to apply for the Peace Corps, what that would mean, why I was doing it, and much her disappointment... that she still didn't have a gay brother.

About two weeks before my last day at the project site in Columbia, I spent a weekend in Brevard, NC, one of my favorite places on earth. As always the place just brought a certain calmness over me. My next day at work I had no fear me. First thing in the morning I walked into a mentors office and asked what I needed to do to get a letter of recommendation to work for another company. We talked about who to ask, how to ask, and by the end of the day it was done. Suddenly things were moving very fast. Within 2 days I'd ask for the other two recommendations.

The next weekend I told my little brother what I was up to. I don't remember if I told him at the time, but there was never a doubt in my mind that what I was going to miss most while away was being with the people I loved on the happiest day of their life. Along with a handful of lifelong friends, my brother was probably going to get married while I was away. I don't remember a lot of the conversation but think it was in my convertible driving home from church.

Steven's girlfriend Nichole heard about it shortly thereafter. I believe she mentioned it to me later that night.

I wrote my cross cultural essay on my blackberry during my brother's college graduation.

At this point I could have finished my application but they were still looking for folks to depart in the 2nd quarter of 2010; I didn't even want to be considered until fall because of the commitment I'd made to my next project assignment. Based on what I had seen of the schedule it looked as though we would peak in the summer, start commissioning, and be in the finishing stages by early fall. I'd continue working on the application but wasn't going to send in until June. In the meantime I was packing up my apartment, finalizing the purchase of my condo in Texas, moving to Texas, flying to California, and getting acquainted with my new job assignment.

My first weekend in California was a 3 day weekend, I was turning 25, and all my friends were 2000 miles away... so I drove Vegas. I had fun, but overall found the town a little disturbing. Just too much consumption of vices. The stock market had crashed in the past year; the country was in the middle of what we now call 'The Great Recession.' I had recently read a great article in 'Time' entitled 'The End of Excess: Is this crisis good for America?'; it examined craziness of how we had lived and how we were finally now learning that we could not keep living at that pace. I don't condemn letting loose and having a little fun, but the setting did provide me an opportunity to let the calling I'd been feeling contrast with the values of much of our nation.

Over the next week I finalized my application, and in the first week of June 2009 I sent it in.

The Cat's Out of the Bag

Well I quietly broke the news to my department at work last Monday that I had resigned and would be leaving the company. Yesterday the news got around. Today someone asked me to send them a baby Cheetah in the mail. Other questions included, will you live in a tent? will you live in a hut? are they paying you more? are you following a girl? are you following a boy? and my favorite... can you bring a gun?

Face Palm.

Back In 2009: Part 1

This is the first post of an intended series to retroactively document my decision and application process leading up to my invitation to the Peace Corps.

I've written this article 5 times, with varying lengths, documenting varying experiences, with varying people. It just hasn't worked. I can't really put on paper why I'm joining the Peace Corps; it's too convoluted.

The only thing that comes close is saying that it was the sum of my experiences in Columbia from August 2007 to May 2009. The people, places, and events from my time there had me primed to make a major change in my life.

I started reconsidering where I was going and why I was going there. I wasn't satisfied with my job and instead of sticking with it for my future, I just felt like doing whatever I wanted to do now, and letting my career work itself out later. In passing I had overheard some chatter about the Peace Corps. I looked up the website one afternoon, the requirements, the projects, the lifestyle and liked everything I saw. I was qualified for this, I was willing to live like that, and I could use these experiences to build on my foundation at my company. Looking over the 20 pages of forms in the application, I didn't see anything that would disqualify me. I needed 3 letters of recommendation, one from an educator or supervisor, one from a volunteer coordinator, and one from an old friend. The volunteer coordinator and old friend would be easy, the supervisor would be more complicated.

I started filling out the application but tentatively. There weren't any educators that would write me a recommendation because none of my professors from Clemson could pick me out of a lineup. I'd been out of school 3 years and had barely attended a class in 6. I wasn't going to use my boss from when I was an RA at Clemson; too small a job, too long ago. So I decided that if I was going to go through with this, I was going to have to ask a leader from my company to help me leave it. I wasn't going to waste the other two's time if I wasn't going through with this. I was deadlocked until I was ready to broach the subject at work.

Condo Has Sold!

The condo has sold and the folks who bought it are wanting to talk about furniture now! Unfortunately another offer came in for $3000 more about an hour afterwards. But the objective was met. Got part of my down payment back, am going to get rid of some of the furniture, and will get to stay here until my last day in Texas and then make a clean exit. Learned a lesson here, a furnished condo is worth a lot more than an unfurnished one, and never buy a place you will only own for a year unless its a bargain, closing costs kill.

The condo was my biggest financial liability. Now just have to get rid of the car. Worst case scenario I take a loss at CarMax.

Also good news on the Visas. The Kenyan Visa can be done on the internet and might not be required.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

I resigned from the work today. Even though I was unsatisfied with my job, leaving is bittersweet. In the past year I finally started to think that I might have a real future there. I saw two people from my department become project managers including my mentor/ former boss /the guy who hired me. I still believe that this move can be better for me AND the my company in the long run, but it's hard right now when there is uncertainty as to how many bridges I am burning.

But the basic conclusions that brought me to the decision (from a career perspective) remain my honest opinions. The experience I will gain in Africa will be more valuable than the experience I would have gained working for here; I will be happier in Africa than I am at my current employer; had I stayed with my employer I'd likely not be meeting new challenges because we have limited opportunities in this economy; and finally, I will be able to return to my company afterwards. All my opinions, but all honest ones.

Here's to hoping I'm right.

BTW- Two very interested buyers are looking at my condo.

Paperwork and other preparations

Yesterday I went into town to get some passport photos made, an oil change, and see Iron Man 2 while the car got worked on. Today I got up early and did about 7 hours of paper work including my Passport application, Visa application, Aspiration Statement, and final Resume for the in-country staff in Uganda. I have a green form that says I need a Visa to both Uganda and Kenya, but only a Uganda Visa application came in the packet. The instructions said that I needed to send the Passport application in immediately, and it has been sitting on my desk for a week, so I decided not to wait. Dropped the UPS envelope off today and will sort out the whole Kenya Visa mess sometime this week. It appears that I no longer have any immediate paperwork due!

My condo is now on the market. I found out my downstairs neighbors looked at it the other day. It'd be great if they were interested because then I could almost certainly dictate the move out dates; unfortunately i think they are just nosy and wanted to see my place.

Found out this week that my legal clearance will be a whole lot easier than expected. I have two outstanding loans, my mortgage and my car payment. I thought that this was going to be a mess with me not selling my car until July and my moving out of the condo (which may or may not sell) just 2 weeks before leaving for Africa. But it looks like I'll be able to remove the legal hold without any issues in June regardless of whether the condo sells or not.

Overall things seem to be coming together neatly. Up this week, visiting executives from our California office who I just told a week ago that I'd be leaving the project early! Fun.

I think next weekend I'll try to start to retroactively document the pre-invitation phase.

So it begins... my self loathing, that is.

I despise blogs. I rarely rarely read 'em and up until now have not written one. I like what they represent, freedom of publication, but in practice I see them as self indulgent rubbish. I have become a bit of a Facebook status addict ever since I got my blackberry, but never really treated my status like a blog. I rarely put anything substantial in my status. I'm just as likely to post a favorite song lyric as I am what beer I had with dinner; BTW I'm having a Deschutes' Hop Henge IPA right now, very smooth for an Imperial. And very rarely will my status really reveal any details or pertinent information on what is really going on in my life. The reasoning behind this is simple. My philosophy in life revolves around the position that I am not special and that my life is not that interesting, but rather typical. But now I am faced with an experience that is arguably special, and almost certainly interesting.

On August 3, 2010 I will depart for Uganda to spend two years and three months in the US Peace Corps. Due to both a desire to document the experience, for my purposes and others, and to maintain regular communication with any who find interest in my journey, I am starting a blog; despite my previously mentioned discontent for blogging. Over the next few months I will document my preparation and make some reference to the application process I have lived in for the last year plus. (I had hidden my application process from many in my life for various reasons, but future applicants may find my application experience helpful, so I will try to retroactively document it) Once I depart I will try to regularly update the blog, but will have a better sense of how feasible that is once I am in my final location.

So... if you find this interesting, stay tuned, otherwise, I'm not a big fan of blogs and don't encourage reading them, so ... peace out.