& still dun dun dun!

...Oh by the way, I was asked why I wanted to join the Peace Corps in my application and here is what I wrote somewhere past midnight and in between 4 am:

My reason for wanting to join the Peace Corp interestingly enough began in the 6th grade. Pretty astonishing for a 6th grader to want to make such a commitment so far ahead in life! Since the 6th grade Peace Corps has been one of my biggest goals in life. No, not to say “I did it,” but because

ever since the six grade I understood the expectations and believed in what Peace Corps stood for. Moreover the journey to now and actually following through with this process brings me much excitement and anticipation. You see, my father was a Peace Corp volunteer. Every so often he would share his own adventures and lessons he learned through his time in Honduras. I was always left amazed, uplifted and inspired to one day live a story like his. As I matured in life I came to realize what is important and what I consider valuable in life. “..Leave it better then you found it,” “Every person comes with a lesson,””inch by inch it’s a cinch, yard by yard life will be hard,” “I am another yourself, you are another myself,” and so forth were quotes that inspired my everyday life and challenged me to live a life of optimism despite the pessimism so many contribute too.

Given the opportunity to serve I hope to gain knowledge of how neighboring people of this world live. I want to share what I learn with my own community as well as contribute what I can to improve the lives and community of my host country. I like to believe everything happens for a reason and is a lesson towards life. Upon challenges and/or uncomfortable experiences I am on to make light of it. You only live once right! Might as well look at the brighter side and make the most of what you’ve got. That being said I aslo believe that in order to make it from start to finish the support and help of others is key and essential to my success. I understand as a Peace Corps volunteer there will be moments of solidarity. However the connections one may makes with a host country and its people are extremely important connections that will exceed your term. These connections and daily experiences will help through other challenges in life and trigger hopefully a domino effect of helping others where one can...

And there it was lady and gents..sent! Within the week I received a call to come in for an in person interview,responded to some follow up emails and the rest there after was history :)  So for the past year and some months I followed through with the grueling medical process. Every inch, hole, molecule, atom was checked! ...and rechecked! scanned, injected, weighed, examined, you name it. This for most is the most difficult part of the process since it does take time, money, and above all patience. Furthermore once all was said and done I felt like a gosh darn healthy human being..... after addressing anemia, an abnormal white blood cell count, and upping my vitamin intake. Finally getting the a-o-k from the peace corp nurse that I was 100% ready to go forth with my process was I think one of the biggest steps forward. Pheeewwww! Now where to and when was the next expected step. Before I go onto this next step in the application process I must say there were times I questioned if this way of giving back and seeing the world was for me, and not just because my father did it. Thoughts of missing out on other opportunities, losing friends, skipping out on important events, possibilities of what ifs, could this, etc. etc, etc, passed my head. With these thoughts and doubts I decided to slow down my anticipation and take the time to really think about this commitment in the middle of my medical process. My best friend also suggested I take the time to really make sure this is what I wanted so that if it was for me I live every breath of this opportunity enjoying the hell out of it! and shoot not to mentions its a once in a lifetime experience, why not! what did I have to lose!? I don't think it was even a month, February I texted, Erika "Im doing it" right before work :) IM DOING IT!!! oh my gosh IM DOING IT!