Peace Corps Aspiration Statement

So the Peace Corps has asked me to prepare an 'Aspiration Statement' regarding my upcoming service. I have to include the following:

"A: The professional attributes that you plan to use, and what aspirations you hope to fulfill, during your Peace Corps service.

B: Your strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs.

C: Your strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background.

D: The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your future community and project.

E: How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends."

I've really struggled with this statement over the last month or so - everything I put down sounds so canned and not like myself, and I feel like it A) doesn't express what I'm trying to say, and B) doesn't give them the information they want. In the end, what's below is what I'm sending them. It's long overdue, and I feel like the format is too restricting to really let my ideas flow. I guess it's a good thing I'm not teaching writing over there :p Anyway, any feedback or questions are welcome; it would at least let me know someone's out there reading this stupid thing, ha!



"Ever since I received my nomination to be an education volunteer last fall, I’ve been trying to envision how my service with the Peace Corps is going to play out. Early musing had me thinking I’d be in a schoolhouse akin to that of ‘Little House on the Prairie’ where I’d have twenty students varying in age from 5 to 17 years old. As the date for my invitation grew near, I began eagerly anticipating my adventure, and in doing so starting to do some research. It was then that I realized how wrong I had originally been when I had slipped off to my daydreams during lunch break. I now realize my classes may have up to 100 or 150 students, and it won’t be anything like ‘Little House’.

For starters, I’m going to have to learn how to teach students who won’t have available to them the resources with which I am accustomed. No textbooks, most likely no pencils or notebooks, and definitely no calculators. I’ll be working in a classroom with no electricity, where the light is supplied through the open windows, and I’ll be teaching off of an old, cracked up chalkboard. Materialistically speaking, I’ve got a Mount Everest looming ahead of me. Luckily, I’ve never considered myself all too materialistic (although living in D.C. has taught me to dress nicer, on occasion), and I think I’ll be able to overcome this obstacle.

Professional Aspirations
Through my ‘research’, and having the luxury of naivety, I’ve been able to come up with a few, albeit vague, professional aspirations for my time spent in Guinea. First and foremost, I am going over there to teach math, and I want to teach it in a way that the students will enjoy it, appreciate it, and ultimately retain what I have taught them. Secondly, I aim to promote gender equality in schools, somehow elevating the status of female students. Lastly, using my background as an athlete and personal trainer, I aim to promote healthy nutrition.

Having taken many math classes myself, I realize that most students don’t have an inherent love for numbers. Generally, that love has to come from the teacher or through something fun or personally interesting to the student. In my experience, the most effective teachers and professors have been the ones who are able to relate to the students and engage them on their own level. I believe the general/stereotypical expectation of a teacher is that he or she will be a person who comes into the classroom simply to teach the subject and is viewed as intellectually superior to the students. When I begin teaching in Guinea, I want my students to appreciate that I’ve once been in their seat and know what it’s like to be on the learning end. As a young, athletic male, the students may not immediately recognize me as someone there to help them learn, but through the first few days and weeks I plan to win their respect by showing them fascinating ways math can be used to interpret the world around us. Using the combination of that respect for my intelligence and my age and personal interests, hopefully I’ll be able to get the students to take an earnest interest in their math studies.

One of the ways I’d like to further establish this interest is through some sort of math club. Deep down, everybody has some level of competitive spirit ready to come out, whether on the soccer field or in the classroom. Hopefully some of these students will have a desire to harness that spirit and turn it towards math. Another way to develop an appreciation for math across the board comes from a practice I learned from my high school Calculus teacher: it’s important for the teacher to realize that, sometimes, he or she simply may not be capable of visualizing the problems of a student. In this case, the best eyes usually come from another student; thus, some sort of peer tutoring could help to get students on similar levels.

As for promoting gender equality in education, I’m honestly not sure how I’m going to approach it. So far as I can understand, at a certain age females are pulled from school to work at home, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the family; education is taken off the list of priorities. Being so far removed from this situation before I’m actually there, it’s really hard to put my thumb on how I can address it, not knowing who or what I’ll have to work with, and what kind of opposition I may face. I certainly can’t just go in there shouting “Rights for women!” It’ll have to start as a whisper, with the volume turning up gradually as I proceed with my project.

Having spent four years as a collegiate athlete and earning my college pocket money as a personal trainer, a proper nutrition is something very close to my heart (and stomach). My understanding is that the Guinean diet consists mostly of rice and a sort of tomato sauce. Every American, although we certainly don’t all practice it, knows about the Food Pyramid guide to healthy eating. The basic idea is that people need certain amounts of different nutrients in their everyday diet. A diet of rice and tomato sauce doesn’t cover all of those nutrients. During the remainder of my time in the U.S. before departure, I plan to research what foods are available in the different regions of Guinea, and to consider different ways to incorporate all the necessary nutrients into the daily Guinean diet, without affecting a giant culture or economic shock. Reading back on this paragraph makes me realize what a huge goal this is, but if I can at least educate people on what a healthy diet is, they’ll be headed in the right direction.

Personal Aspirations
I don’t know if there is such a true altruist among us that would spend two years in Africa with the Peace Corps for the sole purpose of helping others. While I wish I could say that were my case, I must admit that I certainly have many personal reasons why I’m dedicating a slice of my life pie to Guinea.

The first reason is attaining fluency in another language. While I’ve taken many years of French, along with Italian, German, and Japanese, I would never pretend to be near fluent in any of them. It’s my understanding that fluency in French, and at least proficiency in the local language will be necessary for me to, one: do my job; and two, enjoy my time there. When I return home from this adventure, I’ll have an ability which will allow me to communicate in a larger part of the world, and, of course, will look good on any job application.

As an avid reader, I’ve found myself in the middle of many different cultures. However, that ‘middle’ happens to be between two pages. I’m ready for the real thing. Before I’m too old to have the chance, I want to learn another culture. I want to see things from a different point of few. While spending an evening in an Italian emergency room may have induced some culture shock, I don’t think it will be on the same level as eating my meals with my hand – my right hand – and being woken up by a giant spider crawling across me. I want to be somewhere people will do stuff which astounds me, and where I do things which astound them. Through this, I think we can all learn and make the world a little smaller, and a little friendlier.

Lastly, through this cultural exchange, I hope to walk away with a greater appreciation for the things I have, and for the people I have in my life. When I tell people I’m joining the Peace Corps and probably won’t have electricity or running water for a few years, they think I’m crazy. Maybe I am, but I also find that aspect of this adventure terribly exciting. I can’t wait to escape the grasp of the internet and to cherish the amount of time I save when I’m not taking an hour long, steaming hot shower (my showers aren’t really that long, but I’ll bet even with a bucket bath I’ll be saving some time). I’m pretty sure it’s a given that my time in Guinea will make me see me life differently and will aide me in simplifying things, but by adding it to this list, I’m allowing myself to be conscious of this effort and to appreciate it as it happens.

Co-Workers
Back to the school front, I’m sure I’m going to face many challenges when it comes to working with the native teachers and others involved in my projects. One of the hardest things may be biting my tongue when I want to tell them my way of doing things is the best way. While the methods I have been taught may be the best in America, they may not necessarily be best for my circumstances in Guinea. I’ll have to exercise patience to learn from the other teachers, and to allow them to learn from me.

I don’t know what kind of enthusiasm I can expect from my co-workers, but one can hope that there will be a few who will want to exchange ideas and theories on how best to motivate the students. If other teachers will let me, I’ll sit in on some of their classes, to see how a Guinean classroom is run. From there, I can translate that to my own methods so that my teaching doesn’t come across as entirely foreign. Perhaps some of the other teachers will also sit in on my classes. If their number one interest is helping the students learn and be happy, then we’ll be on the same page and can easily work together from there. However, there are always teachers who simply teach because it’s their job, and not because they have a real interest. Perhaps I will be able to act as the catalyst to reignite those teachers’ zeal for education. How? I don’t know, but smiling and taking an interest in the person never hurt.

Cultural Adaptation
When I’m dropped off in my village, I’ll be alone. My goal as an individual over the following weeks and months will be to integrate myself into the culture and shed that layer of loneliness. I won’t be able to do that by sitting in my room, reading American novels. Instead, I’ll have to talk to people. Luckily, that’s never been a problem for me; I’ve never had problems opening a conversation with a perfect stranger, and the strangers rarely seem to have a problem with it either.

Daily walks around town will help the people recognize me. Okay, recognizing the white guy won’t be hard, but it will let them get used to me. I’ll talk to the people in the market, learn about the local produce, and then I’ll talk to the neighbor about what she’s cooking. The easiest people to communicate with generally seem to be children, and to that end I’ve started dribbling around my soccer ball in preparation for a little foot action once I arrive.

Along with soccer, I plan on building a bridge between my culture and the Guinean culture through music and dance. While I would like to take a violin with me, I realize that may not be possible. However, I’ll definitely find some sort of substitute, because, after all, music is the universal language – no words are necessary. One fun project may involve collaborating with the local griot and his balaphone to put on some kind of public performance. Along with the music, I love to dance and learn new dances. While I’m sure I’ll be laughed at a lot, I look forward to learning the local dances and sharing that with my neighbors and others in my village.

Project Skills
In order to complete my project, I’m going to have to throw together everything I’ve already talked about. One of the most immediate skills I’ll need is a teaching proficiency in French. Once I attain that, I’ll begin to be able to acquire the other necessary skills. As I mentioned when I talked about working with other teachers, I’ll also have to learn patience when dealing with students. I’ll have to be able to accept that they may not be able to do homework because they don’t have the supplies, or they had to do work for the family the entire time they were away from school. This patience will help me develop compassion and understanding for the students which I hope will help me to see outside of myself. Walking into the classroom for the first time, I can’t expect every student to be on the mathematical level I would expect of someone their age. I’m sure, especially in the beginning, teaching will be a very frustrating process; developing that patience will be one of the key factors to my success.

I’ve read that Africa moves at its own pace, a pace much slower than in America. In order for me to be successful, I’ll have to find a middle ground where I’m not going at a breakneck teaching speed, but where the students are comfortable and I don’t feel we’re moving at a crawl. If we can learn to establish some sort of steady tempo where the students and I are both learning, I think we will all be successful.

Post-Peace Corps Aspirations
Personally and professionally, I expect my service in the Peace Corps to have a profound impact upon my life. Right now, I have no idea what I’m going to do when I return. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll have a clean slate to start on and can go anywhere. That anywhere may be going back to school; it may involve working in international development; or it may be a classroom where I’m teaching. One of my great goals for my service is to learn where I want to go with my life. Spending two years working as a patent examiner has given me the confidence to know that my future does not consist of sitting in front of a computer monitor behind a closed office door for eight hours a day, five days a week.

By harnessing the skills I acquire in Guinea, including the language skills, intercultural communication skills, and teaching skills, I’m hoping to find a career which will result in my happiness and the happiness of many, many other people. Ultimately, I think the only way I will be happy is by helping other people, enriching their lives in the best way I can, and in the end making them happy. Hopefully spending 27 months in Guinea working toward this goal will only add to my desire to make a difference."