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On I Joined the Peace Corps to Keep From Becoming an Asshole (It Worked, Mostly)
Hey, I think I see what number 2 (real original asshole) is getting at and I don't think its looking down on you for not finishing your service. Actually,I was honestly surprised that the tone of your article was pretty positive. I think the frustration comes more from a few different things; 1. You don't mention anywhere in the article that your service wasn't finished. That is misleading. 2. You say yourself that you're service was rocky and outside the norm, which in itself should at least require a disclaimer. I Feel in general every volunteer should disclaim everything with "Everyone's service is different" 3. You call yourself an RPCV, but if you get ISed or medsepped before the one year mark you don't get that status. You said yourself you left in January of your first year. 4. Some volunteers wonder whether your previous Op-ed piece was just trying to cash in on the publicity of ABC expose. 5. The timing of this article just lines up perfectly with the CoS dates of volunteers in your group that did finish, which almost makes it seem like you're trying to make it seem like your service was finished. 6. I know there are some Medsepped volunteers who were forced out who would have given anything to finish their services. 7.You mentioned you were offered a site change but didn't take it. 8. This is just rumor and conjecture, but volunteers from your group claim that you made it obvious before even arriving in country that you didn't plan to stay longer than one year. As early as the airport in Istanbul. Like I said, the last one is just rumor, and we all know how bad rumors can get in service.
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On I Joined the Peace Corps to Keep From Becoming an Asshole (It Worked, Mostly)
Interesting remarks. How long was your service?
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On I Joined the Peace Corps to Keep From Becoming an Asshole (It Worked, Mostly)
I like lists. I'm just trying to establish the truth out of the facts and rumors I do have. I don't claim to know what statements, if any, you made a year before my service even started. All I can say is, multiple volunteers from your group attest to the same thing; that you didn't plan on spending more than a year in service. I even acknowledged that it was a rumor that could be baseless. It was just another thing to add to the list that made this article frustrating for current volunteers. I agree that no matter the outcome, anyone who steps on a plane and manages to scrounge up the courage to go to a foreign country with noble intentions deserves some praise. The problem is, I honestly don't believe 2 months of training and 7 months of site service is enough to put clear, honest, and unbiased information out there in the world wide web that future volunteers could potentially stumble on and affect their decisions in applying for or accepting an invitation. Like I said, I was surprised at how positive your article was. It just seems so misleading though. Two years of volunteer service isn't exactly a long time when compared to other types of service (maybe military for example). If someone was discharged out of the army at year four of an eight year contract you could make the argument that they still experienced enough to get a valid opinion on it. That said, I think PCVs across the world generally come into their stride at about the one year mark. Projects start coming together, students start showing more motivation, committees are filled with new volunteers, and staff relationships become more profound. Straight to the point, I think flooding the internet with articles about a service that didn't even reach the year mark is irresponsible. I don't know how hard you had it, and I do know some that some women have it incredibly rough. Someone in our group was sexually assaulted, forced to move Oblasts, and then insisted that she be moved back to her previous Oblast where she was happier. no one would have faulted her for leaving early if that's what she chose to do. She probably wouldn't have written articles about her very short experience in country though. Maybe its good you got out before a year. Maybe that's the jaded asshole point.