I've been wanting to write this post for quite some time. I have hesitated, because how could I know what it takes to be a Peace Corps volunteer? Just because I am one doesn't mean I am necessarily a good one. Maybe I'm doing it all wrong, who knows. At a year and 7 months, I still question every day what it means to be here and what my purpose is here. However, I have seen a lot of volunteers come and go at this point. Happy volunteers, angry volunteers, productive volunteers, lazy volunteers, disillusioned volunteers, and most people who were a combination of all of the above at any given moment. I've gone through all of these phases as well. I feel qualified at this point to give advice.
Many people may disagree with me on what you need to be good at this job and I would appreciate comments if you have constructive additions. Keep in mind that this is influenced by my country's program, my sector (health), and my region. I think this is an especially poignant time to write this post, as it was the time I considered Peace Corps service, starting my senior year in college. If you are reading this and thinking about applying, I hope it helps.
Forget everything you thought you knew
This is the first rule of joining Peace Corps. I don't care if you were a CEO for 10 years, if you were the smartest kid in your graduating class, if your uncle is the president of UNICEF, or if you started your own NGO in Uganda at 15, this is different. When you arrive here, you are a baby. You know nothing. You can look back to your previous experiences and use them here, sure, but the less preconceived notions you have about your service the better. Some of the volunteers I've known who had the most difficult time with their service were the ones who had dreamed about it since they were 10 and had all sorts of ideas about what Peace Corps was supposed to be. No matter how much you (think) you know about Peace Corps or about volunteering, you don't know it. No matter how much you (think) you know about your country of service, you don't know it. You have to take time to experience it in order to know this place, this thing, and even then you won't know everything. Embrace the fact that you don't know and surrender yourself to learning only.
Get used to being out of your comfort zone
Whether you hate being onstage, you can't handle bugs, you hate kids, you don't take well to boredom, or you feel the need to have direction or clarity or answers, something in your daily Peace Corps life will be a constant challenge. Some things will be more on the discomfort side of things, like being dirty or having bed bugs or getting constant staph infections. For me, these were the easiest things to get over but for others they were daily plagues that bothered them their entire service. Other things will push you mentally, and I think these are the harder things to deal with. I hate being in front of people and talking, and while my job is really to act as the behind-the-scenes motivator of my counterparts, just being different put me 'on a stage' in an uncomfortable way. I have spent 19 months forcing myself to be in the limelight, where my village needed me, far outside my comfort zone. It is incredibly exhausting to live this way. For you the "out of comfort zone" experience may be the persistent doubts that haunt every PCV. It may be homesickness. It may be lack of support from Peace Corps staff, PCVs, your host community, or all three. There will be something in your service that plagues you. Be prepared for this. It will be difficult, it will hurt, but as long as you are prepared and grow to be resilient, you will be okay.
Embrace the cultural exchange
I am going to flat-out say it: if you want to join Peace Corps to do American-style productive work, don't. Just don't. You will be disappointed. Yes, I have had inspiring moments. Yes, I think I have made at least some difference in my community. But securing lasting change is something that takes time, far more time than the two years you have here. The only impact I can be totally sure of is that my community has met a kind American who made an effort to know them and their culture. All other work you do may succeed or may fail, but you will not know going in whether will be successful and you may not know even when you leave. If that is not enough for you, if you will feel defeated if cultural exchange is the only product of your service, do not join.
Learn how to be happy
This job is not easy, and sometimes long stretches of it can be very difficult. The best thing you can do for yourself is to make the decision to be happy. It is absolutely a conscious decision. This includes having a sense of humor about things, making the best of situations, and enjoying the little things while not sweating the small stuff. You will get better at this as you go along. Car breakdowns will be a chance for a nice conversation with your fellow passengers instead of ruining your day. Constant sweat will be you releasing toxins. Sunrises and sunsets and stars will mean more to you than ever, and screaming voices will roll off you more than ever. But it is a choice to go in this direction, to learn in this way. Not everyone makes this choice, not everyone realizes it is a choice or is capable of making it. If you can do it, if you can make every day beautiful in some way, it is one of the greatest skills you will learn here.
At one point, this post in my mind had a list of things that you should be- outgoing, personable, decent with languages, etc. But I don't think I believe in that anymore. I believe successful (however you gauge that) Peace Corps volunteers come in all shapes and sizes, with all backgrounds, skill sets, and reasons for being here. As much as the Peace Corps volunteer can be stereotyped, everyone here is totally unique and even those that are similar will fare differently in their PC experience. If you are totally prepared to forget everything you thought you knew, get used to being out of your comfort zone, embrace the cultural exchange, and learn how to be happy, you will be okay as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It can be a lot harder than it sounds, but it is totally worth it.
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