Ask and you shall receive...whether you want to or not. I sent off the email to placement, as promised in the last post, and was got a reply in quite the timely manner. My placement person let me know that my original nomination project has been filled and then proceeded to forward on an email that is going out to all people who are in the process of clearing their medical portion of their applications.
Here is the email that they are sending out:
Like all federal agencies, Peace Corps is looking at its operations in light of budget reductions. This will result in fewer service opportunities available overseas in 2011 and 2012. Unfortunately, it is too soon to tell what impact this will have on the program you were nominated to as Peace Corps is currently reevaluating our needs for the upcoming months. Please note that these changes may affect your potential placement. If you are not placed in the program to which you were nominated, your Placement and Assessment Specialist will conduct the final suitability and skill review to determine if we can match you to the next available program that best fits your skills and qualifications. Please note that this may mean a pushback in departure date, perhaps until January 2012 or later. We will be in touch with more information should this be the case and anticipate that we should be able to provide you with more information once you have been medically cleared and we have completed the placement review of your file. Please also keep in mind that a final invitation is contingent upon the completion of a final suitability and skill review.
She then went on to say that it is very likely that my region will be changed and there is even a possibility that my actual sector (health extension) will be changed depending on where there are spots and what my skills are.
So you know all of that calculating, and trying to figure out where I was going and when I was leaving...yeah...that was a big waste of time. I have to say though, I'm not insanely surprised, based on what I have been hearing around/ reading on other people's blogs. The budget cuts have made for some serious changes, and I am kicking my own butt right now for not turning in my medical paper work sooner (though in all honesty I don't know if it would have made a difference.)
But let us not dwell on the negative but highlight the positive! I get to have that "where am I going to be going in the world" feeling again, since the placement officer said there was "a large chance" that my region location will be moved. Another positive note is that last I checked I am qualified for health, community development and education, so there is a chance that I may be placed more quickly due to this, since I am more able to fill a position than someone who is only cleared for one of them.
Please do not take this the wrong way, I am not happy about the idea that me not going to Africa or being moved from the health sector are now all major possibilities. Health sector was actually my top pick for jobs, and though I really do mean it when I say I would go anywhere, I decided on an internship and a thesis topic based around the idea that I should learn more about Africa in order to prepare for my placement. But I don't think there is any use crying over spilled milk, and it didn't even cross my mind that I would pull out until someone asked. I have every intention of being a Peace Corps volunteer, whether it happens now or in 7 months or in a year.
I would encourage those of you that are going through medical right now (since the email included will only come to you after you have been cleared since it is from the placement team) to talk to your placement and pre-service people and also to think about the opportunities you might have that will enable you to fill any extra time IF you don't leave in the fall or early winter. I would also encourage you to stick with it; if you have wanted it this much this far, a few months aren't going to be anything.
For now I'm going to sit back and wait to hear from medical, continue working on my thesis about AIDS in Uganda, hang out with the wonderful ladies at my internship and love life for what it is right now, and the possibilities that the future holds for me down the road. :)
Love and Smooches,
Claire
Thanks so much for posting this! I just go cleared yesterday. I also just cut back my hours for my job... ugh. I am nominated to leave in Sept 2011 so I am sure this will be a big game changer. Keep posting this good to know kinda stuff- it really helps.
ReplyDeleteThanks again! Miranda
Hey Claire- well I took your advice and emailed placement to ask if I am on track for my original nomination, and I got the same lovely form email you posted above. Sigh. Like you, I am trying to go to Africa, and like Miranda I am nominated for Sept 2011. I have put in notice at my job so I am REALLY hoping I get to be one of the lucky few that gets an 2011 invite. The thing is, you can tell from the Wiki that there are departure dates in Sept/Oct, so SOMEBODY is going! Also, I submitted my application in Feb 2010, deferred it till last fall while I took the French test, and then was medically cleared a month ago. So I feel like by sheer length of my process, I should be able to go this year! Ok, rant over... keep up the posts so we can all commiserate. :)
ReplyDeleteEmily, I feel like your chances of going should be a lot better than mine since you have already been cleared. I would be over the moon for an October departure but I just don't know if its going to happen. So are you hoping for West Africa since you took the French test? Feel free to rant all you want, I don't know anyone else who is applying and so it is nice to go crazy with people via blog. :)
ReplyDeleteMiranda, I'm going to try and get as much of this type of information as I can without making all of the office people want to tear my head off. I will post as I get info.
Thank you both for commenting, it lets me know I'm not just freakin out on my own. :)
Thanks... sigh... I sure hope so. Yes, I'm trying to go to West Africa to utilize my French language background. I put my application on hold while I started a new job last year and also studied for/took the French test (it had been more than 6 yrs since my last college French class), and THEN I had to appeal a medical deferral, so I feel like being deferred again will kill me. It will turn my application process into a 2 year ordeal.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame about these budget cuts, but it's kind of sad because I feel like the people who actually wanted to leave in the fall are being punished. From the other blogs I am reading it seems like all the people getting these Sept/Oct spots were applicants who were actually trying to leave in spring/summer. So essentially it seems like the budget is being used up on those people. It's too bad, because I requested a fall 2011 nomination for a reason-- it's not like I can just pick up and go whenever-- and I am sure a lot of other people are in the same boat.
I replied to the budget cut email I got and said that while I can be flexible if it means that's my only shot at the Peace Corps, I would strongly like to leave this fall, and I listed some reasons why (i.e. my job found out about my application so essentially I am being kicked out in September). I haven't heard back, but I'm not expecting anything for another couple of weeks.
I guess the good news is that I *didn't* get an email (knock on wood) saying that all business positions are full for this year-- some other applicants are getting emails about NGO and IT positions all being full for 2011. So hopefully that means I still have a shot.
On a brighter note, I hope you get Gayle as your nurse in the medical office because she is WONDERFUL! She was so helpful and very kind.
Sorry for the long comment. Thanks for commiserating!