Peace Corps/VISTA/Americorps

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Has anyone ever thought of joining , or actually been it , the U. S. Peace Corps , or Americorps , either in the " regular " or "VISTA version of Americorps ? ( Or , been in VISTA before it merged into Americorps . )
I have thought about it , but...
( These are American organizations , but , comments/insights from non-USers are welcome , too . )

sorry, thought you meant the Operating System. Not sure what you need to know. I understand it's a lot of hard work, teaching people about agriculture, technology. I'm sure they have a web site. Might be a little biased, but there's got to be some info on it out there

Nope, but I've thought about it...just in case, Travelocity has a program called "Travel for Good"...it might give you something to do similar to these groups without actually joining...

http://leisure.travelocity.com/Promotio ... in,00.html

My cousin was in the Peace Corps for a while...he loved it. Actually, he's always seemed like the type to do that sort of thing and he came back a different person...more than he already was. He lives in a "boat" in some lake in Tennessee...Not because he can't afford anything else (he actually worked with the EPA for a while as well), but because it changed his life. He was in Guatemala and loved it. My parents went to visit him once, and almost passed out when they saw where he lived. But he loved it.

If you're truly interested, I can email him and see if he can give me some info about how it was and send to you...

I'm going to join the peacecore when i get older, i almost did before i went to college, i always wanted to!

_________________
Being Normal Is Vastly Overrated

Wow, I am actually in the process of participating with the Global Volunteer Network for the 1 month Ecuador program. Been seriously thinking about doing this for the past year and now that I have the opportunity to go I'm taking it. Hopefully my application is accepted. I had a geometry teacher in high school who was in the Peace Corps. I remember a lot of inspiring stories about working with communities in South Africa. what he told us sparked my desire to help people around the world.
I know that this organization is based in New Zealand but are accepting people from all over. There's a ton of info at their website
www.volunteer.org.nz

...O)kay , first , basically , I think the Peace Corps only want people with a college degree OR a " real " skill ( fixing engines , irrigating fields , etc. ) .
Basically , their meat and potatoes for inductees are recently-graduated English majors , tho they make a show of " looking for people with skills " .
Recently , the New York times ran an op-ed piece about the PC , by a former member & recruiter , expressing an opinion...I can't quite sum it up , and , since I didn't have the time to directly re-check it before writing this , I won't quote/refer to it right now .
Americorps , IIRC , is in two divisions , a " local " one , where you stay in the area you are , this being the bigger one , and mostly-if-not-only through-25ers...That the one that ( Here in SF , anyway . ) you see people wearing a hoodie/top of...
And , the VISTA part , which merged into/with the , previously seperate , VISTA , " the domestic Peace Corps " , which send people away from home on missions .
I don't have a college (undergraduate) degree at all . ( I have no real such " skills " , either . ) I know , essentially?? , I can't get into the PC now .
More later...........

...I'd wanted , at least on a certain level , to be the idea one has of a PC/VISTA/whatever volunteer , the Blue-Jeaned , Fresh-Faced arche-sterotype ( FFBJ )...

...But , obviously , a real ? for folks here is " If one tries to join ----- To admit to AS-ness ????????? "...........

I did a little looking upo o\f them...

Right out of college I applied to the Peace Corp, but I was rejected due to a lack of volunteer experience.

Thinking back on it I'm glad I was rejected. I spent 5 months in Morocco studying Arabic for foreign exchange while in college and even though I enjoyed the experience it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. You are constantly in contact with new people, are force to interact on a very deep level and you get very little alone time. This can be very hard on someone with AS. If you think trying to figure out social norms in your home country is hard, doing so in a foreign culture is near impossible. I originally was going to spend a year in Morocco but I had to cut it short because it was very difficult for me. All of this was before I even knew what AS was.

If this is something you want to do I encourage you to do some investigation. The Peace Corp has recruitment offices in almost all major cities and most major college campuses. Talk to a recruiter and be upfront about your AS, they will be very honest with you about whether or not they can find a place in the Corps where you will fit.

I've thought about it. If they actually paid money, rather than an education stipend, I might actually do it.

no i did not, although no principled objections

the question deserves another answer:

i risked two years emprisonment for refusing to be drafted,
surprisingly to anyone
not for pacifist reasons
not for 'normal' political reasons (left v right issues)
not for.....

basically for no reason;

with two exceptions [[plus]] no-one ever really understood
young and inexperienced i aimed to protest on much wider philosophical platform
(someone who understood introduced me to Ayn Rand)

but i was aware that was not the deepdown truth -
basically, i thought, i might just be lazy -
couldn't see myself doing marathon runs heavily packed -
or carrying only a toothbrush for that matter

it wasn't even the hierarchical structure, as it wasn't the army;
i could have easily copped out & pleaded leftish pacifism and would have got out of a sentence by performing a slightly longer period of 'civil' service.

it wasn't even the fact that i would simply not accept their right to order me -
which was the basis for any further argument presented

ten years later my professor on Theory of Literature used the exact right
phrasing: it was never up to me to protest or defend,
it was up to them, the state, to explain to me how the hell they could possibly & in the name of freedom, by law i.e. by legalized force, warrant picking me up against my will, at whatever the rate of the financial recompensation might be - in your dreams

there simply was nothing for me to defend

say nothing - they will falter
your words, not mine

I'm planning on joining the Peace Corps as soon as I graduate from college. I've been wanting to do it for a long time now.

I thought Ayn Rand hated lazy people.

So, you decided to uphold her highest virtue - selfishness.

Howard Roak would of done it.