good news! (i think….)

Last Wednesday I received an email from my Placement Officer! It was more than unexpected; I was bracing myself to not hear any PC news for months and months, and that’s if I was lucky! Since it was so unexpected, a mental and physical breakdown in front of the poor lady helping me at Kinko’s ensued (again I will ask WHYYY do they send these emails out at like 10 minutes to 5:00??). I was shaking and crying because I was so happy, but mostly because I was so surprised! I am trying not to get ahead of myself to prevent any further disappointment, and have tried not to tell too many people about the news!

Good afternoon, Caitlin,

I am writing to introduce myself as your Placement and Assessment Specialist here at Peace Corps Headquarters.

I understand you were made aware of the potential programming changes with Peace Corps in light of budget reductions and, as a result, that we are working hard to place in an earlier program if one becomes available. That said, I am happy to say that I am able to consider you for a Math Education program departing in late September/early October, and I am very interested in considering you for it if you are still available. Do you consider yourself still available for a departure date as early as late September?

I have begun my final assessment of your application. In the event I need additional information from you upon completing my final assessment then I will contact you via phone or by email within the next 7-10 business days. If I do not need additional information from you and I can grant you placement clearance, essentially the last clearance needed to receive an invitation, then I would process your official invitation. First, however, I want to make sure you are still available.

Thanks for your continued patience, Caitlin, I definitely understand it is a unique time at Peace Corps, and your flexibility has not gone unnoticed!

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best regards, 

A

Like I said, trying not to get too ahead of myself here, and I can’t help but over-analyze every word in this email.
Happy Language: very interested, happy to say, flexibility has not gone unnoticed
Iffy Language: considering, assessment

I swear this is the only job/opportunity where you can be 6 months in, and still only be in the consideration phase, but I am hopeful and feel very lucky to be considered for a program very similar to the one I was originally nominated for. A lot of people have asked me if  I think that this has all been a test. The last email I received a month ago went on and on about budget cuts and made it clear that September was no longer an option, and January/February of 2012 is only a possibility. They gave me the option of staying with it, or withdrawing my application. I can’t help but think what if I had withdrawn my application? What about the other people who actually did this, knowing that the given time frame would not work for them? I’m not sure. Maybe it was another test of my flexibility and reaction to unforeseen circumstances, but it really doesn’t help to think about it. Either way, I’m glad I passed!