Member-only story

Volunteering for Peace Corps: My Motivation Statement

--

Peace Corps volunteers getting ready to make a difference in Samoa
Peace Corps volunteers getting ready to make a difference in Samoa 12/21/2012 (Creative Commons)

If you are not a Medium Member, read this story for free, here.

What The Motivation Statement Is

The Motivation Statement is one of the first steps in a lengthy application process. It is a short ~500-word essay that addresses two questions:

1) Why do you want to volunteer for the Peace Corps?
2) What challenges do you expect and how do you plan to deal them?

The Peace Corps wants everyone to be successful and since communication is hard, they offer plenty of tips to write a clear, concise, cogent and cohesive essay. 4 tips to make the most of your Peace Corps motivation statement. The Peace Corps is not simply looking for volunteers. They are looking for people who want to volunteer for the right reason(s). That makes sense, because if you’re running away from a bad situation, merely a thrill seeker, or just a starry-eyed kid who doesn’t know what you’re getting into, then you have a high probability of failure. And I can’t emphasize enough that the Peace Corps wants everyone to succeed.

The Volunteer Experience

Obviously, I don’t have any first-hand volunteer experience since I haven’t yet served. Everything I know is secondhand, learned by talking to veteran…

--

--

No responses yet

Write a response