Why.

One of the most common questions I am asked is why I wanted to join the Peace Corps. There are some usual answers I give: I want to travel before having a full-time job, and this gives me that opportunity; I'm not paying for most of the expenses, which is not a common theme among other volunteer programs; I love math and I want to get other people to love math as well.

But mostly I joined because once I found out about the Peace Corps, and what we do, it was hard to imagine not doing it. Mostly I am a woman of logic and pros and cons and to-do lists and weighing options. But this is a lot about a feeling, sort of like a calling.

I keep an offline journal, and at the beginning of my application process, I wrote something akin to, "If your heart is screaming at you, maybe you should listen." My heart has been telling me through this year of waiting and preparation, you are supposed to be doing this. My heart has said, people will question you and they will be confused and they will expect you to do something else after school. My heart has said, you should ignore them. You know what you are. You know where you need to go. You need to be with the Peace Corps.

There is so much more to this world than the places we grow up in, but many of us never see beyond the imaginary borders of our minds. Working and living in a foreign place, being forced to be uncomfortable and embarrassed and challenged, that is a way of breaking down these borders, these walls we create for ourselves. It is a way to see others as we wish to be seen, as complex people with complex lives, motivations, dreams, aspirations. That is something which is needed in our increasingly connected world.

I have had doubts. We all have doubts with big choices in our lives. When I have had doubts, I sit, and I ask, and I wait for an answer. Some of you may call it prayer, or just listening to see if the universe has anything to say. Every time, when I have listened, the universe has said, you are on the right path. Keep going.

So I say to all of you, think of a time when you were so sure that you needed to be doing something. Or think of a time when you had made a commitment, but others were unsure. Did you look inside yourself for reassurance? Did you keep going? How did you feel afterwards? Are you still in the middle of that decision?

This is a different path than many would take. But it is my path.