Acceptance Timeline

I now find it comical when people ask when my departure date is and I say, "at the end of March", and they go, " that's so soon!" because I've literally been waiting for that date for nine months - so, in actuality, that day couldn't come sooner.


Using the power of GMail and my ability to never delete any emails (which is sad because I think I'm up to 25% of my allowed 7.5G of storage), I've been able to reconstruct a timeline of events that led up to my acceptance into the Peace Corps. 


The way the application process works is once you apply and nominated for an assignment you are granted access to your Toolkit (which is basically your own little homepage on the Peace Corps website). It features a series of checkpoints that chronologize the application process.


The majority of the updates to these checkpoints on your Toolkit come in the form of short emails letting you know that...

"Peace Corps has updated your Application Status account. Log in to http://www.peacecorps.gov/mytoolkit to see the lastest information." 

aka giving you zero useful information except for anxiety that the update is hopefully good news and not bad. Over time, you eventually will get through all the checkpoints and you Toolkit will look like this...

Anyways, enough rambling, and run-on sentences

• 24 May 2010       Submitted my Peace Corps application 
• 18 June 2010      Interview with Peace Corps recruiter
• 19 June 2010      Nominated for service in Eastern Europe
• 28 June 2010      Medical screen kit arrived
• 14 Aug 2010       Mailed completed medical kit
• 25 Aug 2010       Dentally cleared
• 17 Nov 2010       Medically cleared
• 10 Jan 2011        Received invitation to Ukraine
• 11 Jan 2011        Accepted my invitation to Ukraine
• 18 Feb 2011        Received staging packet
• 20 March 2011    Flight to DC
• 22 March 2011    Flight to Ukraine
• 23 March 2011    Arrival in Ukraine

For anyone reading this with interest in applying, know this - it takes a long time and a ton of patience... and shots (shots as in needles, not the fun kind).