From "Den Misto" (City Day) in Ivano Frankivs'k. Concert held on Shevchenko Lake.
Why did you join Peace Corps?
This question pops up in my modern life at least once a day and regardless of the format I always have trouble answering this question. Not in the sense that I don’t know what to say because the knee jerk answer is a five minute monologue about A) experiencing another culture, B) helping other people and C) saving polar bears from extinction.
When I finish the monologue (which comes in all sizes, well at least two, from English to Ukrainian) I feel good about what I’ve just said because it’s all true. The difficulty comes with finding a genuine response and it’s the genuine response that’s under much debate and sometimes a lot of us feel guilty about. It’s a quandary for all of us to know how to tell the self centered version of the monologue where the answers are A) I wanted to do something different B) I hated my job C) I need help to go to graduate school D) I plot to take over the world etc.
Yes, those answers are rigid and sometimes make us look like assholes but I want to rebuttal with this; Even though a lot of us might have these responses, those answers are really just circling a bigger picture - we all aim for something better and for self improvement. Admitting to the fact that we came over here to ‘do something different’ or ‘get help with graduate school’ is not exclusive to ‘experiencing a new culture’ and ‘saving the polar bears.’ Just because we didn’t realize that’s what we wanted to do when we got on the plane doesn’t mean we didn’t, or will not, eventually incorporate those answers into our statement of purpose. Also, take into account that traveling across the globe ‘just do something different’ and ‘for self improvement’, indicates a level of self awareness and acknowledgment of something bigger that’s unique.
True Story. When I decided to join Peace Corps I was really unhappy at my job and generally pissed off at the world. I knew that I needed to do something better and bigger than selling nuts and bolts to the local mechanics. Realizing that I had the opportunity to do something else and that I could at least attempt to improve myself I turned in my resignation and hopped on a plane. In my exit interview with my three bosses (yes – three bosses just like ‘Office Space’) they seriously looked me in the face and said “Peace Corps? Isn’t that the old hippie thing? I didn’t know it was still around. Why would you go and do such a thing when you have all the management training you could ever need right here with our company?” I think I threw up a little in my mouth at that point and just politely responded with my five minute monologue. The point to this story is that those guys had been with this company for so long that they were stuck. They had no desire to ever leave or see something different. The universe only consisted of the 20 square mile radius that they never left. I don’t hate them for that because to each his own right? But I didn’t want to get stuck. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life (and still really don’t to a certain degree) but I knew that I wanted something better and not to get stuck. I wanted to do something else to keep improving myself so I joined Peace Corps because I knew that it would give me the chance for self improvement. I don’t consider that self centered because now that I’m here it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Along with teaching English, telling people about my life in America, and working with small business development - I’m also saving polar bears while taking over the world. Self improvement can also directly relate to the improvement of others. So, “Motivation is everything” and “the end does justify the means.”
This question pops up in my modern life at least once a day and regardless of the format I always have trouble answering this question. Not in the sense that I don’t know what to say because the knee jerk answer is a five minute monologue about A) experiencing another culture, B) helping other people and C) saving polar bears from extinction.
When I finish the monologue (which comes in all sizes, well at least two, from English to Ukrainian) I feel good about what I’ve just said because it’s all true. The difficulty comes with finding a genuine response and it’s the genuine response that’s under much debate and sometimes a lot of us feel guilty about. It’s a quandary for all of us to know how to tell the self centered version of the monologue where the answers are A) I wanted to do something different B) I hated my job C) I need help to go to graduate school D) I plot to take over the world etc.
Yes, those answers are rigid and sometimes make us look like assholes but I want to rebuttal with this; Even though a lot of us might have these responses, those answers are really just circling a bigger picture - we all aim for something better and for self improvement. Admitting to the fact that we came over here to ‘do something different’ or ‘get help with graduate school’ is not exclusive to ‘experiencing a new culture’ and ‘saving the polar bears.’ Just because we didn’t realize that’s what we wanted to do when we got on the plane doesn’t mean we didn’t, or will not, eventually incorporate those answers into our statement of purpose. Also, take into account that traveling across the globe ‘just do something different’ and ‘for self improvement’, indicates a level of self awareness and acknowledgment of something bigger that’s unique.
True Story. When I decided to join Peace Corps I was really unhappy at my job and generally pissed off at the world. I knew that I needed to do something better and bigger than selling nuts and bolts to the local mechanics. Realizing that I had the opportunity to do something else and that I could at least attempt to improve myself I turned in my resignation and hopped on a plane. In my exit interview with my three bosses (yes – three bosses just like ‘Office Space’) they seriously looked me in the face and said “Peace Corps? Isn’t that the old hippie thing? I didn’t know it was still around. Why would you go and do such a thing when you have all the management training you could ever need right here with our company?” I think I threw up a little in my mouth at that point and just politely responded with my five minute monologue. The point to this story is that those guys had been with this company for so long that they were stuck. They had no desire to ever leave or see something different. The universe only consisted of the 20 square mile radius that they never left. I don’t hate them for that because to each his own right? But I didn’t want to get stuck. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life (and still really don’t to a certain degree) but I knew that I wanted something better and not to get stuck. I wanted to do something else to keep improving myself so I joined Peace Corps because I knew that it would give me the chance for self improvement. I don’t consider that self centered because now that I’m here it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Along with teaching English, telling people about my life in America, and working with small business development - I’m also saving polar bears while taking over the world. Self improvement can also directly relate to the improvement of others. So, “Motivation is everything” and “the end does justify the means.”
1 comment:
Dude, you and I joined for several of the same reasons. Also, I need you to go ahead and move down to the basement.
Post a Comment