The Next Big Step

For almost four years now, my life has been Peace Corps.  What does that mean?  It means that I never know what the day will hold for me.  It means that you have to be flexible and 'go with the flow'.  It means that you have to learn to laugh at yourself and be prepared to be the center of stares and whispers.  It means that you are out of your element but learn to fit into other peoples.  I have not known what my day would be like, let alone my week, month or year.  I will be finishing my service with PC this year and that means change.  Finally, I know what that change will be.

I was accepted into Alverno's Adult Education and Organizational Development graduate program!  I will be coming home in time to do all the 'grown-up' things that I have been putting off all these years.  I will have to find a job, an apartment, sign a phone contract, pay for health insurance, car insurance and think about my future by opening up an IRA, just to name a few.  Not to mention I'll have to adjust to having a set schedule again.  It's overwhelming and entirely exciting!

When I was getting close to finishing my service in Albania, I wasn't sure yet what I wanted to do with myself so I signed up for 2 more years.  When I arrived in Morocco, I was pretty sure that what I wanted to do was social work.  I still love helping people but what I think I love more is helping people help themselves.  One of the expressions that you hear a lot when working on sustainable projects is "it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish".  By earning my MA I will be able to do just that.

I am so happy that I finally know what my next big step will be after PC.  I still have seven or so months here in Morocco and I have many things planned for that time.  Grad school is something that I've known I wanted to do for awhile but it took me awhile to find the right program.  This is my next big step.  This will be my next adventure.  This will be the start to my 'real world' life and I can't wait!