Dining Hall Phone Call

Today was the day I was expecting an above average phone call (in terms of positivity) from the Placement Office. I ran outside to answer the 202 phone call, possibly looking like a lunatic to everyone else eating there. It was from my lovely Placement Assistant, Imani. Yes, I've resorted to sarcasm folks. We discussed the message I left on her phone last week. I mentioned the email I sent to her over the weekend to which she responded "I was out of the office." Well, yeah, I get that, but do people not check their emails?? She works in an office..come on. She said my nomination is for early March. Yet again, I get that. I've been told this for a long time now. Let us note this, though: TOMORROW STARTS DECEMBER!! 8-week rule? Psh. She said "We're working on applications leaving in December, January, and February." 8 week rule? I tried to explain to her that I graduate in less than 3 weeks. I said "You must understand the situation I'm in." She didn't really seem to get where I was coming from. However, I am still optimistic about this week. Many of you reading this entry may see everything above and question that, but here are my reasons why that's the case. The first reason is that I have decided I'm not going to deal with Imani anymore. I never seem to get anywhere with her. The main office was more helpful than she has been. The second reason is that I will be calling my actual Placement Office, Jason, on Friday if I don't hear anything else from the Placement Office this week. One good thing that actually did come out of this phone call is that Imani is marking on my application that I can leave earlier than March. Why? BECAUSE I GRADUATE IN LESS THAN 3 WEEKS. I still have my sanity and my optimism about this week. Nothing is going to get me down.

PMA PMA PMA.

"Early" Phone Call.

So I was in bed. Asleep. It was 11:06am. I'm a college student...deal with it. I didn't sleep very well last night so when I heard my phone make noise, I assumed it was my alarm clock. I reached over to turn it off only to realize that it wasn't my alarm going off. It was ringing...WITH A 202 AREA CODE! I jumped out of bed, cleared my throat, and hoped I didn't sound like a buffoon to the person on the other end. It was the Placement Office returning my call from last week (they moved). She gave me some information about what was up and I asked her some questions, too. Ha, she was very polite. Um, basically she said the person I thought was my Placement Officer is just a Placement Assistant, I guess. This isn't the first time something like this has happened to me so I just kind of brushed it off. She did tell me that she believes my file is in the Final Review stage of things because 1. it's not infront of her and 2. because I've already been in contact with a Placement Assistant. The nice lady on the phone also gave me the extension of the person that is actually my Placement Officer so I plan on contacting him at the end of the week to discuss things (mainly that I'm graduating in three weeks and I have no invite and no job and will be unemployed for awhile and...many things relating to that).

HOWEVER, fellow applicants (especially those nominated for January, February, and March), I feel that this week is going to be a good week for all of us. I don't know why, but I just feel really good about this week. Positive Mental Attitude!!!

More waiting?

After sitting around all day hoping to get an email, I finally got one. This came as a surprise to me since it was sent at 5:08pm. So this email was from my placement officer. It was finally a relatively in-depth email regarding placement. However, as in-depth/lengthy as it may have been, it was also very vague and ambigious, like a template. One part of the email said how placement is working on nominations that have immediate departures i.e. programs set to leave in January. Since my program is set for early March, she said that she anticipates that my file will likely be reviewed in December. This email also said that I will hear from my placement specialist no later than the last week of January if I am going to be invited to the program which I was originally nominated for. Based on invites sent out for Sub-Saharan Africa, this email was a load of crap. To my knowledge, there aren't any Sub-Saharan Africa programs set to leave in March. Meaning I would have to leave before or after. March is still part of the first quarter so I hope that my program can be included into the January/February category. This is all pretty disheartening. I would hope to be contacted soon regarding an invitation. I feel like communication is key in these sorts of things. Maybe I'm just not getting the communication that I want. Then again, I guess that would prepare future volunteers for living in seclusion. I'm just going to try and stay positive about all this. An email, though vague, is better than nothing at all. Good luck, everyone/self.

Also, for all of those wondering, the email that was sent to me said the cut-off dates are EIGHT (8) weeks, not six.

Restlessness

Next week (five days to be exact) will be the one month anniversary of me being contacted by my placement officer. Funny story: haven't heard from her since. Well, until today that, is. I emailed my old recruiter in hopes of getting some help. Typically..actually..every time I have emailed my recruiter about updates, something happens. So this time when I emailed her, lo and behold, I received an email from my placement officer. This is the email:

Hi Josh,

I’ve received your updated resume; thanks!

Imani

Make note, my name is JOEY. JOEY!!! J-O-E-Y! So with that, I wonder what's worse: receiving an email being called someone else or not receiving an email at all. I would really like things to just move along. Seriously. Oh, also the email she responded to was the 3rd email I have sent to my recruiter. I understand that these people are busy, but really?? Ha, little disappointments going on right now. I would just like to see some good things come my way. Geesh.