Why I'm Serving

Many people have asked why I've chosen to join Peace Corps.  They have good reason to question.  I'll be away from my home, friends and family for 27 months (my longest period of time outside Iowa thus far was a 7 week stint in Wyoming during the summer of 2010).  I'll likely be serving in a location without the advantages I have had nearly every day of my life.  For the first time, I'll be put into a situation where a large group of people count on me.  However, I know that serving in Peace Corps will make me a better person and I'm going to explain how.

I believe human beings, and all living things, are connected through eons of evolutionary struggle on Earth.  We all come from the same source.  Through this belief of connection, I've come to develop a deep love for Earth, living things, and humanity.  This love is part of the fuel behind the firelight which has led me to teaching and PC.  I feel through this program I will be given the opportunity to help people make their lives better.  I feel love is giving a part of yourself to someone, and PC is giving me an opportunity to give a part of myself to a group of people who may need it the most (I'd recommend giving a listen to True Love by SOJA).  I look forward to meeting new people and developing relationships with them.  I don't doubt that I'll get homesick.  In fact, one of my hopes is that through this experience I can gain a deeper appreciation for what my family and close friends mean to me.  However, I plan to build a surrogate family with the people closest to me on my adventure.

I say adventure very intently.  I am looking on this entire experience as an adventure in which I will be challenged, but have the best time of my life.  During my interview, I was asked, "What would you think if you were assigned to a location where you were a 4 or 5 hour bus ride from any of the basic utilities you have here?"
I replied, "Sounds like fun."
I genuinely look forward to the mental, emotional and physical challenges I will face during my service.  I believe my experience in such a different culture, as well as the relationships I build in this unique setting, will instill a personal growth in me unlike anything I have previously experienced.


Here a few quotes that have helped construct my desire to join Peace Corps:

"Nothin’ ever came from a life that was a simple one."  ~Flogging Molly: Devil's Dance Floor


"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."  ~Henry David Thoreau, 1854

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
~Mark Twain

Tenha um bom dia,

Dylan