What Am I Really Doing Here?!

With My Thai Counterpart and some Co-Workers

Sawatdiika Tuk Kon!


It has occurred to me that though some of you who are reading my blog may be enjoying the anecdotes I have to offer you, nevertheless, may be wondering all the while what the heck is she really doing there?? Yes, the cultural exchanges, spontaneous experiences, and wonderful discoveries are good and well but you are hoping that I am working towards even more than that, right? In some way helping to improve the livelihood or leave some sort of positive impression, right? Otherwise, I would just be a traveler, a wanderer, a seeker of culture floating around the world. Okay, I get that. Well, don't worry, I am doing more than just soaking it all in! In a separate area of my minds' eye, I am analyizing and discerning it all.

Let's Start From the Very Beginning... (a very good place to start)

To understand where I am now, let's take a quick look back into the past to see how all this came about...

I originally applied to Peace Corps in March 2007, back when I planned to join the Corps directly after undergraduate school. I grappled with either going into the Peace Corps or going to graduate school. Then, I discovered the Peace Corps Master's International (PCMI) Program which, to me, was the best of both world. This program allows Master's students to earn a degree and work in the Peace Corps to supplement their learning. A number of graduate schools in the U.S. offer this joint program and candidate students have the opportunity to choose specific areas of interest--programs involve health care, agriculture, environment, education, international policy, development, business, sociology and so on and so forth. From there, I selected programs I thought would interest me and I ended up enrolling in graduate school less than one month after completing my Undergraduate Degrees in December 2007. 

If you know what you want to do, why wait?! I wanted to keep the ball rolling. I started the Master's of Public Administration Program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies(MIIS) in Monterey California in January 2008. Actually, it should have taken me over a year to complete courses in the program before I went into Peace Corps but, I decided to take on the 'accelerated' plan (getting through grad school faster also saves money!) and ended up taking 46 credits of graduate school courses in 2008. Prior to Peace Corps, I took courses in Public Policy, International Economics, Research Methods, Statistical Analysis, Non-Profit and Public Organization Management and Finance, Grant Writing, Introduction to Development, Program Evaluation, Spanish (being and international policy school, MIIS requires a level of second language proficiency) and more.

All the while, I was moving my Peace Corps application along so I would be ready to depart in early 2009. I planned my studies in such a way that by the time I left for Peace Corps, I would have 14 credits left to complete before completing my degree--of which, I would complete in Peace Corps. During this time, correspondence with Peace Corps continued as I updated them on what I was learning so they could place me in an area that was relevant to my studies/expertise. Then, early in October 2008, I received the invitation to be a Volunteer in Peace Corps Thailand with the CBOD (Community-Based Organizational Development) Program. The program was a perfect fit for my graduate studies and my desired emphasis in Development. (despite the fact that I had been taking Spanish classes the whole year and more or less anticipated a placement in Latin America).



So, you can see it's taken lots of work and careful planning to get to where I am now! (Sigh) Sometimes it's hard to switch gears to a more 'relaxed' work pace since I have been studying and working non-stop the past few years.

Completing a Master's Degree in Thailand

The CBOD Program has been great for me because it has really helped me grow and expand upon all the competencies I learned while in graduate school last year. Our training has provided me a good review and strengthening of the skills I learned in Development Project Management Institute at MIIS.

Like I said, before I left school, I had 14 credits left to complete in Peace Corps--8 of which were completed by the end of the school semester in early May. While I was in training, I was also researching and writing papers through directed studies courses with my professors at MIIS. I wrote papers on development topics in Thailand such a development history, influences, and sufficiency economy. I also had to complete written and oral assignments in Spanish since it was my second language of study at MIIS and it would have been harder to try to get credit for speaking Thai. By the grace of all things good, I finished these assignments and passed these courses (whew).

As for the remaining 6 credits, that is what I am working on right now. Since being at site I have been using project design tools that I learned at MIIS (and from training) to develop a portfolio of sorts that illustrates the development I have encountered in my local community and how I can contribute to it. It includes all the information I have collected at site-- current projects, social issues, health care, demographics, education, occupations/occupational groups, and potential projects I plan to design and implement with my community.