Motivation Statement-More PC Essays

MOTIVATION STATEMENT
Peace Corps service presents major physical, emotional, and intellectual challenges. You have provided information on how you qualify for Peace Corps service elsewhere in the application. In the space below, please provide a statement (between 150-500 words) that includes: Your reasons for wanting to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer; and How these reasons are related to your past experiences and life goals.

There are so many intangible benefits that the Peace Corps has to offer, despite all the benefits I am a firm believer that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” That is my primary goal in serving with the Peace Corps: to give all myself to a community for two fully absorbed years. During these two years I plan to first learn about the community in which I will be serving, by developing relationships and understanding differences and similarities between our cultures. This would enable me to serve them according to their needs and at the same time, fulfill my desire to learn about the intriguing world outside of the US. It was three years ago that I realized a life full of servitude is my purpose. I saw an ad on television asking for money to end world hunger that I had seen many times before. It brought me to my knees in tears with a hunger for justice, wanting so desperately to cure their hunger. My heart swelled with compassion and love after having seen the pain within the children’s eyes. I felt I couldn’t possibly live the rest of my life without trying to help the “less fortunate” (or economically less fortunate). I soon met a Peace Corp recruiter at an information booth, picked up a flier and decided this was the first step I wanted to take in aiding international development. Since then I have devoted much of my life to service-learning, leadership, problems associated with developing countries, appreciating complexities of other cultures and befriending those who are foreign to this land.My passion for culture and understanding began in the summer of 2001, with my first exposure to life outside of my Colorado bubble. I found it difficult dealing with forms of racism while working in the south, so I began and am still searching for explanations behind the hatred I saw and felt. Even though the explanations do not justify certain behavior, it allows me to dig to the roots of the problem instead of touching the surface. I firmly believe that the help one can offer is greatly restricted by the lack of understanding of the others background, values, and beliefs. As a Peace Corps volunteer I will be allowed the opportunity to develop relationship enabling me to recognize their needs on a deeper level, thus, causing a greater change. In my heart I want to change the world and cause an end to all suffering, but I know that this cannot be done over night or two years in the Peace Corps. Each step I take brings be one step closer towards that goal.