I have actually been asked an awful lot about what the application process was like for me when applying to the Peace Corps. My experience was different than most, and I can't speak for anyone but myself. However, I can try to give you a small perspective from people that I have talked to that are also in the Peace Corps.

I somehow decided to apply for Peace Corps on a whim. I wanted to move overseas, and I couldn't figure out the best way as to how. My best friend was currently in the Peace Corps, and she told me I'd be perfect for Peace Corps; so I decided to apply. Now, I need to explain a little bit. I had spent the past five years going to a specific country for the past five years so when I applied, I applied for that specific country. On paper, I was more than qualified for this country, and it had been my dream to one day live there. I started the application process about a week before the deadline, submitted it a few days before, and began waiting to see if I would be accepted.

A few weeks after I applied, I got accepted for an interview for the country I most desired to live in. When you send in your application, you pick three potential countries you want to serve in--or you choose "send me anywhere". I did not pick "send me anywhere", but I did choose two other countries on top of my number one choice. Anyway, I had my interview a few days later, didn't know how it went at all. Which from what all my Peace Corps friends had said is very common, most of us thought we didn't do very well and was surprised by our acceptance after our interviews. The lady who interviewed me kept saying it is common to not get accepted your first time applying, and I thought crap, I am not getting accepted. Well a few weeks later on May 5th, one month before we were supposed to hear back, I got my acceptance letter, and I had three days to decline or accept the invitation. Obviously I accepted it. I was moving to the country I had most long to live in for the past five years. My family and I celebrated my acceptance with Margaritas because it was Cinco De Mayo.

After talking to other Peace Corps volunteers they had been applying for months, some even over a year, some had applied a few times before being accepted. How I applied and was accepted within a month I will never know, but I am so thrilled.

If you desire to apply for the Peace Corps just go to the Peace Corps website and begin the process. The application was easy, you need to write a small essay on why you want to join the Peace Corps, you need a few references who will fill out an online form about you and write a small letter of recommendation, and than you submit and wait to hear back.

After you get accepted you have to go through medical clearance which basically means you have to get a bunch of lab work done, a physical, and all of these things cleared in order to say that you are fit to live in your country of service. This took me several months to complete and was honestly the hardest part about applying to the Peace Corps. I made it through though and I am living in my country of service so excited about what's to come. I have officially been here for nine months and I have eighteen more months to go with the possibility of extending.

If you have ever thought about the Peace Corps I highly recomend you looking into applying and seeing what happens. I haven't regret it thus far.