Conspiring to conspire...or aspire

So the best part of the whole Peace Corps invitation is that you're paper work isn't even close to done yet. Awesome. Also, I had to pull off a feat that I really haven't since college: writing an aspiration statement (I actually did have to do this sort of back in college). So, in order to help out everyone (like me) who googles the words "peace+corps+aspiration+statement" here's mine (don't feel obligated).

Aspiration Statement

Samantha Dillman

Dominican Republic

August 18, 2009

Expectations

No one said life was supposed to be a cake walk. I expect that my service in the Peace Corps will be one of the most trying and rewarding experiences in my life. I have been looking forward to this service for years but I’ve never looked at it through strictly rose colored glasses. I expect that learning a new language, adapting to a new culture, and being—for the longest time of my life—in the extreme minority will at times test my faith in humanity and in my self confidence. However, I also expect to find rewards I never expected through becoming fluent in my second language, meeting people from a culture far from my own who can teach me what living means, and gain perspective on the global story, not just the American story or the Peace Corps story. I expect to experience pain and pleasure, happiness and frustration, tears of sadness and tears of joy. I’m not just volunteering my time, but my whole self.

As a Youth Development Promoter I expect to be working with children and young adults to foster an environment of education and recreation. I expect to teach youth skills that will help them throughout their lives whether that education is formal or experiential (i.e. information technology, home economics, crafts, sports, or English language learning). Life skills learning is often forgotten as an important subject in comparison to reading and mathematics, thus I expect to help youth to learn proficiency in all aspects of what will make them productive and learned adults.

Strategies and Adaptability

As a Peace Corps volunteer I plan to pull in many aspects of my personal and professional life to fulfill my duties and serve my host country. I think the most important professional skill that I will bring to the Dominican Republic is the ability to motivate and self start with limited resources and instructions. I have experience in non-profit and fundraising in an arena where there were no instructions, and I had to come up with the business plan, the game plan, and the process on my own. Additionally, I have years of experience working with youth of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds teaching, coaching, and lending an ear for stories and a shoulder to cry on.

In order to work effectively with host country partners I think it is important to have great flexibility, adaptability, and communication. I enter this assignment with tremendous respect for the people I will be working with and who have come before me in this process. No one knows the Dominican Republic like the host country partners and nationals, and the first step in this process is listening and observing. Further, communicating my ideas for moving forward and remaining open and flexible to changes in idea will hopefully foster an open environment for the exchange of information and mutual respect.

In addition to gaining a fluency in Spanish I hope from pre-service training to gain perspective on what Dominican youth face. There is only so much one can read in history books and news stories, and these just don’t speak to the individual human experience. Thus, from training I hope to realize the unique challenges of growing up in the Dominican Republic and help foster a safe, enjoyable, and productive environment for all youth from all backgrounds and experiences.

Professional Goals

I have always been interested in foreign diplomacy as well as the difficulty children face throughout the world. From this experience I hope to gain insight into the plight of youth throughout different regions of the world—not just the United States—and apply that knowledge to helping foster an attitude that children deserve childhood as well as education to become contributing adults. I think all too often, adults forget that they were once youth and whether or not they had an “ideal” childhood doesn’t mean they didn’t want one, and certainly doesn’t mean they didn’t deserve one. Kids grow up so fast in this world of war and politics that the adults they become often lose sight of what being a child means. Additionally, education is not inherent, but is essential and the more educated people are the more peace can and will spread. I plan to take the skills I gain in the Peace Corps as a Youth Development Promoter to the world at large (including the U.S.) and teach, travel, and foster. It would be my ultimate goal to work with an international NGO that serves children such as UNICEF or Sesame Workshop.