I consider myself to be a strong individual at times, but I wasn’t ready for this, this sprouting experience, this new journey I will have with Peace Corps, but if this was last year…..
May 2015 I graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Creative Writing and received a certificate in TOEFL (teaching English as a second language). The game-plan was to find a teaching job somewhere in Asia, however, what those programs/ individual jobs lacked for me was security–consistency, support, established training programs, language learning classes, salaries that includes saving abilities(in some instances)–then there was the ‘thing’ of being a black women in a space where blackness is almost entirely unknown with positivity. ( See here, and here.)
I was not willing to carry that burden.
Summer of 2015 I was supposed to apply to a lot of positions abroad for ESL jobs, I researched a lot, made up for the partying I didn’t do in college, went through lots of unnecessary drama, and had nothing to show for it.
September 2015 – May 2016 I have a temporary job as an Assistant Manager at a few of U of M’s dining halls in which I took over the position for different managers while they were on medical leave. The whole experience was god-sent, I was employed for the entire school year because there was such a big need for help in management. Through it all I had lots of growing pains, couch surfed successfully for ten months, and scrambled for stability.
In a way, where I am now, is where I am supposed to be — where I needed to be to do the experiences I craved a year ago. Everyplace has it challenges, I just wasn’t ready.
February 18, 2016 Here I am rolling, jumping, and shaking in fear, glee, anxiety and smiles as I began to piece together the coming future: paperwork, and financial crisis that Peace Corps will bring. Then there is the fact that there is sooo much between accepting my invitation and boarding the plane (courses, legal clearance, my lack of health insurance for medical clearance, money, paperwork, and realizing THIS IS CRAZY.
Did I mention packing?