I spent the last year of my life trying to figure out exactly what I wanted. I was a teacher who wasn't rehired, for reasons unknown to me. (that is a whole other discussion that frankly, I'm tired of discussing). I wasn't sure where I wanted to move to, and the options were endless. I had zero money and no job prospects (since finding a job from a remote location is damned near impossible..) so I moved back in with my mom. I spent a lot of time thinking about my life, not liking my situation, and taking steps to improve it all. I budgeted more carefully than I had ever before, I paid off as much debt as a could, I started a retirement account, and I started to turn things around. I realized that if I wasn't in control of my money, I wouldn't ever have choices in life - my options would be limited by what I could afford. I never wanted to NOT be able to do something because of money.
Fast forward nine months. I was teaching kindergarten with the most awesome group of women ever, but I wasn't rehired. Again. FML. The school year was winding down and I was again scrambling to figure out what to do. I had already planned on going to live with my cousins in SC for the summer to try out a different city and get away from the everyday that was bringing me down. The third day that I was in South Carolina I went on a hike. I came to a mountain lake and was blown away by how pretty and serene it was. I realized that I never wanted to go back to my life again. Not that I wanted to run away or kill myself or anything like that, I just didn't want to stay on the same path I'd been on. I didn't want to trudge along and settle down and do the same thing I'd been doing and just wait for something to happen. Shortly thereafter I logged on to the Peace Corps website and filled out an application.
That was on July 14th. Two weeks later I received an email and a package in the mail saying that my initial application looked good and that I was being sent onto the next round. I got fingerprinted, filled out FBI checklists, hounded people for recommendations, and sent in my college transcripts. Two weeks after that I sent an email checking on everything, got a phone call in return and had an interview scheduled. That was two days ago and when we were done, I got a nomination :) As of now, I will be moving to Africa in February 2011 to live and work for two years as a primary teacher trainer. The next six months will be spent getting medical tests done, x-rays taken, giving my things away, eating at all my favorite places, and seeing as many people as I can before leaving. It sounds really weird when I say it outloud, "I'm moving to Africa for two years."
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