Peace Corps Inivite Aspirational Statement

(my aspiration statement)

Aspiration Statement
Nathan J. Danielsen
Senegal
September 2007

A. Professional Attributes you plan to use, and what aspirations you hope to fulfill during your Peace Corps service.

First of all, my biggest aspiration is to honorably serve at least 27 months. I know that my time in Senegal might be one of the most difficult yet rewarding experiences in my life. The most important thing I can do is to be realistic about the expectations and my accomplishments. I will hardly be living in the lap of luxury. I will be living in a rural village far from 'modern' comforts such as electricity, safe running water and convenience stores. I will most likely be sleeping under a mosquito net each night, boiling my own water and eating plenty of rice millet. Everywhere I travel, people will look and stare at me for being “le grand american” at 6'2 and 215 pounds. Children will probably follow me around expecting me to do something unexpected or magical at any moment.

Aspirations
I aspire to at first survive and then thrive in my new environment. I know that my openness, patience and dedication will carry me through. My biggest aspiration is to be competent in the language and accepted in the community. I aspire to adopt the appearance and behavior of local expectations. P-service training will prepare me for my job but I know that if my word is not credible or comprehensible those I am serving will not follow my counsel. My biggest strength is my ability to motivate myself to keep taking small steps forward. I know that the development strategy of the Peace Corps is in the right place. It is a long term strategy focused on basic human needs. I know I am only part of a long term project. What I will be doing is just one baby step in the project.

As for professional aspirations, I hope to become fluent in French and develop a satisfactory knowledge of an indigenous language.

Attributes
The biggest professional attribute that I will use during my Peace Corps service will be my ability to work with little to no supervision. I will utilize my ability to motivate myself to start, continue and finish projects. I know that if I can motivate myself to complete projects in the process I can motivate others. My biggest goal is to not be “the change” in the community but to inspire community members to make the change for themselves.
I will draw from many of my experiences living in a large Berkeley student co-op. From my experiences being the garden & yard manager, house manager, maintenance manager and media/ community spokesperson, I have learned many skills and countless lessons on how to approach people and form working and friendly relationships. By living and working in a 149 student cooperative community, I have developed an incredible amount of interpersonal skills, conflict resolution skills and project management skills- just to name a few. I have developed a great deal of patience for dealing with apathetic, busy and uninterested people. I've learned to live with the people I work with; to eat dinner with them, to study with them, to not be alienated from them.

At Cloyne Court Co-op, I have worked in teams and alone to develop and execute major projects. My skills in organization, time management, attention to detail are excellent. I have allowed my creativity and imagination to guide me in planning and visualizing projects. I’ve developed a passion for working out of doors and having sweat on my brow. Most importantly, I’ve learned that “saving the world” does not require grandiose efforts, but small focused projects.

B. Your strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs.

My strategies for working effectively with host country partners are: establish creditability and a professional reputation, maintain competence in my realm of expertise, improve language skills and remain open to communication.

Entering these almost unknown circumstances, my strategy is to be patient and find out where I can add value and meaning. It will take me some time to build a relationship with host country partners so I can better work with them. I am highly self-motivated and self-starting. As such, I will be able to keeps projects and relationships on track.

My strategy is to view host country partners as just my initial resource for working. They are a great place to start but I know that the initiative will have to come from within me. They will be a resource for touching base and guide on how to do my project. But foremost, I understand that I need I need to be patient.

To be excepted into the community may be difficulty and may take some time. I will attempt to prove myself to the community by being seen and not heard. Instead of telling the community of who I am and what I stand for, I hope to show the community by what I do and how I do. I have learned many times that a person is often defined by his actions and not by his words.
Along with this I know that the children of the community often are the ultimate judges of character of a newcomer. I hope to play different games and do different activities with the children in the village.

I hope to work with other PC volunteers and organizations to create programs and solutions that impact more than just one economic sector. I have found that building and maintaining a network of contacts seems to allow things to just happen.

C.Your strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background

My strategy for adapting to a new culture is to understand it and emulate it. I plan to keep my eyes, ears and mind open while keeping my mouth closed. I need to have patience in building friendships and relationships with those at my site. I know that it will be a slow process of building trust. It might take some time while for the community to watch me and judge me and hopefully accept me.

Growing up, I moved around from school to school quite often. As a young child, I realized that I had to adapt to my new surroundings quickly. This is something that I've carried with me throughout my life. I have found myself remarkably able to adapt to different social expectations. I realize that culture and identity is fluid. I can change nearly everything about myself and remain who I am.

Understanding idioms and some of the local religious observances will be critical. I come from uniquely religious background. Although I am not very religious these days, I understand how religion fits into moment of daily life and am extremely tolerant of all faiths.

I am extremely curious by nature and have already done extensive research on the history, culture, religion traditions on the Senegalese. One aspect of Senegal culture that I have not found any fulfilling answers on is the role of men. But I expect pre-service training to fill in a lot my questions on the role of men.

D.The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your future community and project.

At pre-service training, I hope to be taught everything I need to know to successfully complete at least 24 months of service at my site. This obviously includes health and safety training. I wish to learn about the culture, history and local practices for my assignment. Also I would like to be informed about other projects in the country in order to perhaps develop synergies between programs. I would also be interested in an introduction to other NGO, organizations and resources that I can utilize. I wish to read COS reflections and end of service debriefings from volunteers that have come before me.

More specifically, I would like assistance with the local French accent. Learning the Senegalese idioms would be extremely helpful. Of course, I hope to be an expert in my assignment after service. If you teach me, I will learn it.

E. How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations your service ends.

I know that my time of service in Senegal will change who I am. I hope to personally become a more informed and knowledgeable global citizen. After my service, I hope to be fluent in French and competent in an African language. I wish to pursue graduate studies in either political economy, law, business or public diplomacy. I aspire to be a US Foreign Service officer. I know that my experiences in the Peace Corp will make me more competitive for graduate school and be vital to my preparation for the Foreign Service. No matter where life takes, I will be a member of our global community. Peace Corp is the best program for becoming more in tune with global issues and perspectives.