I'd like to break the
biggest Peace Corps taboo- I’m going to talk about going home early.
Med sep, ET, interrupted service – what do those mean? From talking to admin and reading PC Washington documents, there's very little difference when it comes to benefits. Choosing either, you are still an RPCV. You are allowed to join RPCV clubs, use the career resources, get health benefits, collect the readjustment allowance you've accrued. If you've made it through one year of service and you resign (early terminate), it's at the discretion of the CD, whether or not you get the noncompetitive-one-year as a government employee. The only real difference is eligibility for Peace Corps Fellows programs; if you resign, you forfeit that right. With that exception, there are very little changes between all the different ways to go home. If you resign, you can do Peace Corps again. You can work in the Peace Corps Washington office. Deciding to end your service early does not mean that you are forever ostracized from the Peace Corps community.
Med sep, ET, interrupted service – what do those mean? From talking to admin and reading PC Washington documents, there's very little difference when it comes to benefits. Choosing either, you are still an RPCV. You are allowed to join RPCV clubs, use the career resources, get health benefits, collect the readjustment allowance you've accrued. If you've made it through one year of service and you resign (early terminate), it's at the discretion of the CD, whether or not you get the noncompetitive-one-year as a government employee. The only real difference is eligibility for Peace Corps Fellows programs; if you resign, you forfeit that right. With that exception, there are very little changes between all the different ways to go home. If you resign, you can do Peace Corps again. You can work in the Peace Corps Washington office. Deciding to end your service early does not mean that you are forever ostracized from the Peace Corps community.
You can do whatever
you want and your decision shouldn't change that.
The reason I decided to share this is because going home should not be the big bad wolf. If you are here, because you’re afraid to go home, that is not healthy! Peace Corps is an enormous sacrifice, but it is not a prison sentence. It doesn't mean that you should be miserable or unsafe or unhealthy or unhappy. Be here, because you like your work. Be here, because you want to be.
And if you find that because of poor health, or just plain unhappiness, that you can't stay, forgive yourself. Go home. Be happy. Support your friends who stay. Support your friends who go home. Tell people about your experience here.
I'm not telling you to go or telling you to stay, but make a decision. Don't let life happen to you. Choose to be happy and choose to be where you are. Every experience is different here, even at the same post. We see everything through the filter of our own experiences and expectations. Just because something totally engages and fulfills one person doesn't mean that the next person will feel the same. And it doesn’t mean that you’re broken or wrong for not feeling the same.
The reason I decided to share this is because going home should not be the big bad wolf. If you are here, because you’re afraid to go home, that is not healthy! Peace Corps is an enormous sacrifice, but it is not a prison sentence. It doesn't mean that you should be miserable or unsafe or unhealthy or unhappy. Be here, because you like your work. Be here, because you want to be.
And if you find that because of poor health, or just plain unhappiness, that you can't stay, forgive yourself. Go home. Be happy. Support your friends who stay. Support your friends who go home. Tell people about your experience here.
I'm not telling you to go or telling you to stay, but make a decision. Don't let life happen to you. Choose to be happy and choose to be where you are. Every experience is different here, even at the same post. We see everything through the filter of our own experiences and expectations. Just because something totally engages and fulfills one person doesn't mean that the next person will feel the same. And it doesn’t mean that you’re broken or wrong for not feeling the same.
I’m leaving a great
post and postmate, a school administration that is supportive, professional and
friendly. I’m leaving, because in the 15+ months I’ve been here, I’ve had maybe one consecutive week without
sickness. I didn’t come into this thinking that I would go home early, but when
it comes down to it, this is the right decision for me.
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