After accepting your invitation, the Peace Corps asks that you compose an updated resume and Aspiration Statement to send in electronically. These documents aid the country staff in learning what you'll bring to your assigned project and how they can adapt the training program to meet your needs.
When I was composing my own documents, it helped to look at those of other PCVs. Here are mine!
Updated ResumeWhen I was composing my own documents, it helped to look at those of other PCVs. Here are mine!
Experience
· Sales Associate Nordstrom Rack, June 2014-Present
o Listen and respond to customer needs
o Maintain active awareness of available merchandise and direct customers as needed
o Maintain department, ensuring merchandise fixtures are organized and fully-stocked
o Provide positive experience for customers
· Barton Reading and Spelling Program Volunteer La Fetra Elementary School, October 2014-Present
o Work one-on-one with students who struggle due to dyslexia or a learning disability to improve spelling, reading, and writing skills
· Undergraduate Studies class University of California, Merced, 2013-2014 academic year
o Co-taught and created semester lesson plans for class of 12+ students
· Lead/Resident Assistant University of California, Merced, March 2012-May 2014
o Developed, executed, and evaluated 10+ programs per semester for 500+ undergraduate residents targeting areas of academic success, community responsibility, health and wellness, life skills, identity and purpose, and social engagement
o Developed, held elections for, and advised undergraduate student government, “Community Council,” made of 20+ members
o Co-supervised and mentored 2 Programming Assistants
o Trained and mentored 35+ Resident Assistants
o Served on Health and Wellness Committee, identifying health-related issues within on-campus community
· Boys and Girls Club Volunteer Merced, California, April 2013-May 2014
o Guided homework, reading, and art activities for 5-10 year olds
o Participated in athletic games with children for educational and recreational purposes
· Academic Excellence Committee Member at Large for Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity University of California, Merced, August 2013-December 2014
o Helped increase organization’s average GPA from 2.8 to 3.0 by hosting monthly academic workshop and weekly study hours
o Met with GPA at-risk members weekly to discuss progress and academic goals
o Presented tips for academic success at organization’s weekly meetings
· Library Cataloguer University of California Center, Rome, Italy, September-December 2012
o Maintained accurate literary and audio records in online database of 1,000+ works
o Ordered and labeled documents weekly
o Guided students and faculty to locate appropriate documents
Degree
· B.A. Literatures and Cultures University of California, Merced
o Minors in Writing and Art
o Dean’s List, 4 years
o Senior Thesis, titled “Illustrating Differences In Structure” (2014), discusses Ray Bradbury’s choice of story structure in his Science Fiction novel The Illustrated Man
Training
· Tutor training University of California, Merced, January-May 2014 (64 semester hours, 4 units)
o Prioritized student’s needs and worked collaboratively with students to accomplish them in tutoring sessions
o Studied and applied pedagogical theories by Goldstein, Leki, Bartholomae, Freire, and others in tutoring sessions
o Generated tutoring hand-out and assisted colleagues in editing their hand-outs
o Researched and presented findings about pedagogical reflection in EFL/ESL teacher blogs to colleagues and advisor
· Lead/Resident Assistant training University of California, Merced, March 2012-May 2014
o Completed sessions on targeting university undergraduate resident’s academic, social, and personal needs to better assist them
o Designed weekly social and academic programs for residents
o Practiced how to mediate roommate conflicts and respond to emergency situations
o Learned how to manage budgets and allocate appropriate funding for programs
Foreign Languages
· Spanish
o Studied for 4 years in high school
o Studied for 1 semester in college
o Lived for 3 months in South America (Peru and Chile) speaking Spanish with my family
· Italian
o Studied and lived for 1 semester in Rome, Italy
Personal Interest/Hobbies
· Reading, especially Science Fiction literature
· Writing poetry
· Dancing
· Taking photographs and doing arts and crafts
· Trying new foods
· Traveling
· Traveling
Aspiration Statement
A: During my Peace Corps service I plan to utilize my patience, flexibility, and resourcefulness in order to meet my commitment to serve. I take pride in my ability to remain patient, even in the most stressful of moments, and know that by slowing down and not rushing things in Micronesia I will find it easier to integrate myself into my host community. By remaining flexible I will also discover more ways to do things, not just “my own way,” which I hope will bring about a sense of community collaboration and an underlying sense of trust. With fewer resources in Micronesia, I will also need to find clever ways to overcome difficulties and achieve my goals as a Volunteer, so my resourcefulness and creativity will serve me well.
B: So that I may work effectively with my host country partners to meet their expressed needs I will first listen, then encourage community collaboration. As an American living in and experiencing Micronesian culture for the first time, it will be essential that I take the time to listen to the needs of my host country before I take any sort of action. Only after I learn about their needs will I be able to have a better idea of how I can help them. From there it will be equally important to encourage community involvement so that the community becomes invested in the projects and the results are more effective and meaningful.
C: In order to adapt to the new culture I will maintain an open mind, heart, and stomach! I am a firm believer that it is important to try new things as long as you feel comfortable doing them. I hope that this mentality will guide me throughout my service and allow me to better integrate with the community. That is not to say that integration will be easy, however. I also plan to ask for help and clarification when needed. Trusting my instincts, but still willing to try and eat new things, will hopefully serve me well in Micronesia.
D: During pre-service training I hope to learn about cultural norms in Micronesia, be trained in and practice effective lesson planning, and become confident in my language abilities. I want to become familiar with the culture so that I do not end up offending members of my host community and thus lose the respect I need to accomplish my job duties. Because I have not had any formal training in making lesson plans I would also like to spend some time during pre-service training on it. I may speak and write in English daily, but it will not be the same teaching it; I would like to know the most effective way to teach it. And the part that I look forward to the most in training is, of course, the language training. I want to be as confident as possible (for the time being!) speaking and writing in the new language so that I have some sense of connection with the community I will be serving. Overall, I want to walk away from pre-service training feeling as prepared as possible for the first few months of my service.
E: While I am aware that my service will be extremely challenging at times, I hope that it reaffirms my desire to teach, while giving me a better idea of what type of literature I want to specialize in. I anticipate my experiences in Micronesia to give me the little “push” I need to pursue teaching degrees and certifications that allow me to teach domestically as well as abroad. I want to continue experiencing cultures aside from my own, while hopefully changing people’s negative perceptions of Americans. I also hope my service helps me discover what field of literature I want to further research and publish in when I attend graduate school. Most importantly however, I hope that my experiences in the Peace Corps will encourage me to continue learning and growing from even the most difficult challenges in my life.
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