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Grad school vs Peace Corps?

pdx87 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:50:35 -0800

Graduate school vs Peace Corps? I have about 6 months to decide what I am going to do after graduation...Grad school or Peace Corps? Graduate schoolers, do you wish you started right after undergrad or do you wish you had more life experience before you started? How much more difficult was your life if you had to pay for your own graduate school?

I've always wanted to be in the Peace Corps. I also want/need to go to grad school.

Pros to going to grad school next fall...

1. Parents have agreed to pay for grad school, but it's a now or never type deal. I am on my own if I don't start next year.

2. Will help me get a better job.

3. I'll be done with school FOREVER in 2 years.

4. Learn more about what I am passionate about and get more expierience in the field.

Cons to going to grad school next fall...

1. I have great non-profit work experience for my age, but I don't have any legit experience in the field I am going into. I will be working in the field at least part-time through grad school though.

2. No fun time if I go right away. I'm 21 I've worked A LOT through college and never really had down time. I've never had the typical college experience so I would be going straight into the real world. People generally think I am 10 years older by the way I act...this is the only chance I have to be young and not worry so much about the future.

3. I want to learn Spanish in the Peace Corps, learn about myself, become a better person, and have more life experiences before I become an "adult"

4. If I go to grad school right away I may never go into the Peace Corps...but maybe that's okay?

I just don't know what the hell I am doing. I know that I want to do one or both of these things. I just don't know which is the right thing to do now. The thing that sticks out is that my parents will pay for school right now...that's about $35,000 that I will never have to worry about.

I'd love some advice from people who went to grad school right away, paid for their own grad school, or were in the peace corps and/or went to grad school. Oh, and of course I've thought about the possibility of not being accepted by either-but let's pretend that isn't possible ;)

Gracias!

A Peace Corps that doesn't suck?

loquacious — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:39:56 -0800

I'm looking for a Peace Corps that doesn't suck. Does it exist? I recently applied to the Peace Corps because I heard they were looking for IT workers of a particular sort, which I am.

But I've been warned off by a handful of people that have either been in the Peace Corps or who have had relatives or close friends in it.

Their complaints describe an agency that's hindered by bureacracy, unsupportive of their volunteers and otherwise not all it claims to be through shiny advertisements.

What other options are there? I can do IT work, I can teach IT and general computing, I do graphic design and I can teach that, too - and I can do office work, construction work and grunt work.

I'm interested in two levels of volunteering:

1) Committed, destination-based engagements like the Peace Corps with nominal material and transportation support from the organization.

2) Local hands on volunteering in SF - hopefully as free of bureacracy as humanly possible, but more formal and less ad hoc than the sorts of things I'm used to. (Soup kitchens, clothing distribution, etc.)

In both cases, I want to stay away from government or religious organizations as much as possible. I don't want to volunteer my time to promote a religion, nor do I particularly wish for it to be in the name or authority of any given country.

Doesn't anyone in the NOAA Corps blog candidly about it?

crinklebat — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:58:11 -0800

What's it like to be an officer in the NOAA Corps? I'm somewhat intrigued by the idea of serving in the NOAA Corps on a lot of levels, but I wish I could find some accounts of how it is day-to-day that weren't on NOAA's website. I've found a blog or two that mention the writer's being an officer in the NOAA Corps but they don't tend to give any opinions on what it's like. Can anyone recommend any books, blogs I've overlooked, or relay personal experiences, or those of friends? Even if I don't decide to sign up I really am curious about what it's like culturally. It seems like that sort of life would be great blog fodder, and the biographies on the NOAA Corps homepage make the officers sound like smart, interesting people, so I'm surprised and dismayed by the dearth.

I want to save the world ... with my pills.

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:07:06 -0800

Will the Peace Corps disqualify me if I have to keep taking my antidepressant during my assignment? I have completed the interview process, received a nomination, and have now moved onto the medical clearance stage.

I have recently begun treating a persistent, low-level depression with 10 mg of Lexapro. My prescribing physician is a psychiatrist, and he does not believe therapy is necessary (in me, the depression manifested itself as a kind of "emotional numbness" rather than sadness and feelings of worthlessness--now that I'm on the Lexapro, I feel much more engaged and take more pleasure in things). I feel great and am confident that my psychiatrist will clear me for service.

Lexapro is approved and available in the part of the world where I have been nominated, although I don't know if it's available in every country in that region.

Mefites, what are my odds?

If you were doing the Peace Corps, what reading material would you bring with you?

jordanian2 — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 22:46:51 -0800

Hypothetical Question: You're going to Africa for the Peace Corps, and your luggage space is extremely limited. What reading material would you bring with you to last you, oh, let's say a year? And remember that the Peace Corps is a very disorienting process and can probably get depressing and lonely, so your book or two would probably have to be comforting. Your reading material will probably have to be something that you could read over and over again, too, and not get tired with it.

So what reading material would you bring with you?

What are the Marine Corps Daily Dozen

annabkr — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 12:12:20 -0800

I would like to know what some of these Marine Corps calisthenic exercises are. These are the USMC's "daily dozen:"
1. Side straddle hops (jumping jacks)
2. Marine Corps Push-ups
3. Cherry pickers
4. Rowing Exercise
5. Side Benders
6. Flutter Kicks
7. Toe Touchers
8. Crunches
9. Trunk Twisters
10. In-Place Double Time
11. Standing Leg Lifts
12. “Six Inches” (Lying leg-lifts)

I get jumping jacks, push ups, flutter kicks, crunches - what about the rest of them? Has anybody tried using these as a workout routine (in or out of the USMC)? Any advice?