Essay: ASPIRATION STATEMENT (Peace Corps service)

ASPIRATION STATEMENT
3.12.2019
A: Three professional attributes that you plan to use during your Peace Corps service and how these will help you fulfill your aspirations and commitment to service.
My first professional attribute as a PCV that I plan on utilizing during my service is my ability to communicate well, both in writing and in speech. As an educator, this will be one of the most important qualities that I can bring, since it will be my job to clearly explain material to the students. My past students often praise my ability to explain things, both in written direction and in spoken explanations. Additionally, to go along with my communication skills, I am also a good listener. I think that this is one of the most important qualities to being more than just an educator: this will help me to be a mentor, a confidant, and a friend. I want to try and change as many lives as I can in the country that I am placed in. I believe that educators have the potential to interact with students at all stages of development and from all walks of life. I want to help students along this path and to play a part in shaping the person they will ultimately become. Essentially, this will help me take part in shaping the next generation.
Another attribute that I can bring is my experience as a youth development worker. I have worked with young people on many levels, including facilitating, tutoring, mentoring, and leading small groups. Additionally, I have developed programming for youth in leadership growth, workforce development, and positive choices. My experience has primarily focused on youth development. During my time in Jamaica, I hope to use content-based English learning to build relationships and ultimately develop young people into strategic leaders with transferable skills that can contribute to their community, country, and the world.
My last attribute that I will bring is long-term Strategic Thinking and Capacity-Building: I will bring a mindset that enjoys learning, research, think through probable opportunities, and heavily involve outside voices before outlining creative solutions to situations that arise. I can envision how seemingly small opportunities fit into a long-term puzzle that contributes to community sustainability, which occurs best when people are empowered to change the systems that block upward mobility. Although short-term fixes (such as teaching a class) can be a necessary first step, my goal is to build capacity within the individuals of Jamaica, so that when I leave, they have taken ownership of projects that I helped to develop and are committed to positively impacting their community, country, and the world.
B: Identify two strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs
In order to work effectively with my partners in Jamaica, one of the most important strategies that I will bring is being an active learner and a good listener. I believe these qualities will help me acquire and understand the community in which I live, its strengths, and its problems. This will also help me to build long and meaningful relationships along the way. By studying from my counterparts and the people of the community, I will also be able to help them find solutions more effectively. I know that I have a lot to discover from my Jamaican counterparts, and I hope that I can give as much knowledge as I will take.
Additionally, it will be important to be optimistic, creative, adaptable, and resilient. As a guest in Jamaica, there will be many times where I will try to meet the express needs of my host country partners, but find that what I thought to be the perfect solution did not meet the necessary priority. When this occurs, I will not only be humble in my missteps but adaptable to finding different ways to help support their needs. Depending on the available resources, this may require creativity in how I execute the projects I am designated. I know bringing a smile and being open to new experiences will help me make friends, gain trust, and work effectively with my partners in Jamaica. I believe that when they see that I am eager to understand, help, teach, and immerse myself in their lives and culture, working together will be easier and more enjoyable.
C: Your strategy for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background.
Taking the time to listen and understand cultural norms is crucial when it comes to adapting to a new culture. Saying this, I believe that I will be able to relate to some of the people and their struggles that come out of Jamaica. For most of my life, I lived in a poverty-stricken area, where violence and a lack of resources overcame my neighborhood. I want to be that sense of reassurance that the people in Jamaica have when it comes to making it out of a “bad neighborhood”. I believe that it is vital to have a good sense of humor and not take anything personally with regards to experiencing something that is not the same as what you are used to. I’ve had a great deal of good-natured individuals say things that can appear to be hostile, hence, I’ve figured out how to respond with a grin, and if suitable, I would allow them to comprehend the circumstance from a positive perspective. I’ve also already started to research the Patois language because I know that the first step is being able to communicate with the locals. By the time I get to Jamaica and finish the pre-service training, I hope to be able to have simple conversations with people, or at least make them smile at my efforts. I learned over time that it is important aspects to adjusting to living in a different country. Such as; asking questions, having conversations, and tagging along with my host family. Feeling like I belong with my host family will help me to understand their culture.
It is also important to have an open mind when adjusting to a new culture. I know that there will be some things in Jamaica that will be difficult to adjust to at the beginning, such as the lack of privacy and curfew, but reminding myself that this different lifestyle could be fun is going to help. I know that in the end, I will end up loving the family-oriented lifestyle that my host family will provide. With an open mind, I will come to learn that I am going to enjoy their way of life just as much as I enjoyed my own back home. While experiencing a different culture, I will be careful and mindful not to rush to judgment about situations that I may not understand. Humbleness, open-mindedness, and the willingness to try new experiences are vital to cultural acculturation. Ultimately, I strive to see each society in multi-faceted lenses, in which various cultures create a mosaic of a beautiful world landscape.
D: The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training and throughout your service to best serve your future community and project.
There are three main skills that I hope to gain during my pre-service training. First, I hope to build on my teaching skills to become a more effective educator. I hope to learn more about how Jamaicans learning gap with reading, how can I help to improve that. After having experience with teaching reading and literacy to children that comes from many different backgrounds and different ages, I’ve come to realize that each child has its own quirks when it comes to learning literacy and retaining information from reading. I hope that my Primary Literacy Advisor training during my pre-service training will not only greatly improve my skills as a teacher, but will also launch my success as an educator for Jamaican readers.
Second, I hope to learn a lot of the patois language, both from the lessons and from my host family. I know that it will be important for me to learn as quickly as possible, and I hope to have memorized some of the most used patois word by the time I begin language training.
Lastly, during my pre-service training, I hope to learn as much as I can about the basics of Jamaican culture, or at least enough to keep me from making too many embarrassing culture-related mistakes once I get to my site. I hope to spend a lot of time with my host family, observing, asking questions, and learning in order to become culturally sensitive by the time I arrive at my site. This task is equally important to me as learning the language or improving my teaching skills, since this is something that will help my counterparts and my community trust me and respect me.
E: How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends.
During my time of being a Peace Corps Volunteer, I know that I will change as a person and I know that this change will be for the better. I hope that I will become a more resilient and stronger person; somebody who can face challenges with a smile and see good in even the toughest situations. I hope that my confidence will grow as I become more involved in a different community and culture. I also hope that I will become more thoughtful and have a better understanding of other people and their cultures. I’m sure that I will come to appreciate the little things in my life even more.
Professionally, I believe that the Peace Corps will give me a chance to broaden my horizons, when comes to me having a career in the United States, and not be stagnate with my career choices and location. I hope that the Peace Corps will give me a good base to start a career that involves helping others and working with different cultures. I hope that my leadership skills will flourish and that my communication skills will improve even more. I also hope that the Peace Corps will steer me in a more solid direction for graduate school. I hope that this journey will help me choosing what career path I want to go down and help me a have a better understanding of why.