As per your requests...

So we've been out of town for a few days, so I hadn't even had a chance to post about my Peace Corps interview. Thanks for askin'...

So my interview went pretty good. It lasted for two hours, and I think I did a fair job of answering the questions the interviewer was asking. And there were alot of 'em. I was trying to give really deep, thoughtful answers- the kind that would bring a tear to the interviewer's eye and make her jot down in the margins of her notebook "THIS guy is PERFECT for Peace Corps!!" But had I known exactly how much she was gonna be asking, I would have realized how succinct I should have kept my answers. She actually asked me to make my answers shorter. HA HA. No surprise to anyone that knows me. But overall I was honest, I was myself, and if that is a hindrence to the process, then I am not meant to be in this program.

A few points of concern: My experiences relevant to the Peace Corps come primarily from three places: The Madison County Cultural Center (where I was Programs Coordinator for 2 years), Americarps*NCCC (1 year), and Americorps VISTA / Communities in Schools of the Midlands (where I was a VISTA for year one, and part-time employee for year two). She asked a few questions that I had a real problem coming up with experiences that sufficiently answered the questions in a manner that was what they were looking for. Second concern: the NCCC is comprised of 5 different and distinct experiences, and VISTA is also a unique program with an entirely different focus than other AmeriCorps programs. So in totality, these two years give me 6 unique experinces to pull from, yet I feel my interviewer was not differentiating the experiences. She kept asking for me to answer questions with experiences other than AmeriCorps, even though I was using many different examples of organizations with which I worked over the course of my time in the Corps. So I fear that what I consider to be my varied work / volunteer resume will not look so varied after she translates my answers onto whatever form they'll end up upon.

But again, I feel confident that I gave a good interview and that I'm still a competitive applicant. And by going first in the interviews, I'll be able to coach Katie a little on what to expect for HER interview, which will be this Friday. After that, we'll schedule a "couples interview" and then...we wait. It could be a while before we hear more, as they'll be looking at where our skill sets fit in order to make a match. (Hopefully, Africa somewhere. Say it with me: Africa Africa Africa...)