Officially Medically Cleared!!!

Today I woke up to this lovely email in my inbox:

Jennifer,

I just qualified you medically to serve anywhere in the world. There’s a letter in today’s mail. Placement Office takes over now to invite you to a country.

WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

What an amazing feeling. Exactly 11 weeks after Peace Corps received my medical files, I finally have clearance. This is SUCH a relief to have prior to graduation. At least I know I am still on track for my original departure date. Now the waiting game for an invite begins. I know that this phase also varies in time - some people have an invite within a week, while others wait for several months. With less than 4 months until my possible leave date, my invite could come soon, but I know that finishing June and July programs is probably a priority over my August/September leave date.

Also, a question for PC invitees - should I go ahead an email my resume into the Placement desk, or should I wait for them to contact me? I was thinking of waiting until maybe Wednesday next week and then email it in. I should give a few days for placement to get the word from medical that I am cleared, right?

In other news, I became a member of the Order of the Engineer tonight. It was a cute ceremony, and I got a ring to always remind me to be a responsible engineer and that what I do effects others - too bad its about half a size too big!! It's so weird to think I will actually be an engineer in less than 4 weeks when I graduate. I really enjoyed the ceremony though. They spoke a lot about how an engineers job is to help others and ensure that you provide services to others who do not know the information that you do. It really spoke to me as a (hopeful) future Peace Corps member. I will really be able to apply my engineering skills to help solve problems in a community.

Senior design is close to being due, but we aren't yet done. Wish me luck with this crazy weekend I have ahead of me! I thought senior year was supposed to be fun!

Medical Clearance! (almost)

So after over 10 weeks of waiting and nervousness I am (almost) medically cleared! This morning, I woke up oddly early, considering I was planning on sleeping until noon. For some reason, I naturally woke up at 9 AM. I was a bit annoyed at first, but it turns out it was all for a good reason! I first checked my email and I saw there was an email from my nurse! She told me that she was going to start on my application today! I was so excited I started jumping up and down in my room! After over 2 months, I was starting to feel depressed and pessimistic about the whole thing and afraid I wasn't going to make my departure date. 30 minutes later I get a call! Turns out I was missing one of the hep B tests, but other than that, I was going to be cleared. Sadly, because of my allergies and borderline asthma, I am going to have a flag on my account regarding which countries I can go to. I was a little disappointed, but I know that I do have legitimate health concerns, and I appreciate the Peace Corps looking out for my safety and health. I would rather have a flag and be sent to a country where I can safely complete my 2 years of service rather than having to leave early because of a health condition.

I just went to the doctor and got the blood drawn for the last Hep B test. Turns out last time when they tested the Hep B series, they tested for the wrong surface test? antigen instead of antibody? I'm not exactly sure, but the correct test was ordered this time. I should have my results in 2 days, and hopefully clear medical by the end of this week.

I'm seriously on cloud 9 right now! Everyone stressing out about medical - it will get there!!