Two pretty major things happened today.

First, I found out I didn’t make it through the second round of the Teach for America admissions process. Although I was disappointed, I wasn’t completely surprised (the surprise was really more that I got through the first round, seeing that TFA has a 9% acceptance rate), and to be honest, I was relieved. Training for TFA would have started in July, which meant I would have had to bail on my commitment to Canyonlands for the summer, as well as any potential travel plans for the next 2 years. I mostly applied because I didn’t want to close any doors, but I’ve had so many open doors to choose from lately, that I’m kind of glad one closed by itself.

Then, two hours later, Ally, my Peace Corp recruiter called.

They want me to go to Africa. Continue reading “Africa” →

I couldn’t think of a name for this very first post. But when I think about the things that brought me to this decision, this quote from Mahatma Gandhi always comes to the front of my mind. Maybe it’s corny. Maybe it’s idealistic and silly. It’s definitely a bit cliche. But it makes sense to me in this moment. It’s one of the first things that has really made sense to me in a long time. So I’ll start off my blog with that.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

I came to the decision to apply to the peace corps about a week ago. I sent in my completed application yesterday. It all happened very fast, though I know the rest of the application process will likely continue on agonizingly slow.

This blog will probably not be updated for several weeks, as I wait to hear if I have made it through the first round of the application process. I decided to create it now more as an outlet for my procrastination than anything else. Eventually I hope to use this page to keep in touch with family and friends during my adventures and experiences abroad. For now though, this little blog will probably sit here idly until the big day when I find out whether or not it has a future.

Until then,

Mariana