I'm on my way! (Part 1)

Well, I'm on my way to Senegal... in August, that is. I'll start with a brief timeline to orient you with where it all began:

August 2008: I realized I could graduate a year early from NYU and started to look into what to do with the "extra year" I would gain.

September 2008: I sent in my application after many reviews and revisions (thanks to all of my friends, mostly SBT, who helped) and started to wait.

November 2008: Due to some complications with my recommendations, my application was slow being processed.

December 2, 2008: My interview was scheduled and, thanks again to my wonderful friends and ML's hairbrush, I was put together and ready to go. After the two hour interview I was told I would hear back within the next few days.

December 4, 2008: I was just about to sit down in my Gender and Choices class when I received the email saying I was nominated for: Sub-Saharan Africa, French Speaking, Economic Development, leaving in August. I promptly told my family and called to accept... then the medical process started.

January and February 2009: I proceeded with medical and dental clearance.

Early June 2009: I got my placement clearance, don’t be confused though, this doesn’t mean your invitation is on the way.

June 4, 2009: 6 months, to the day, from my nomination I checked mytoolkit and it said that my invitation was in the mail!

June 10, 2009: I was in New York visiting everyone when I got a call from my mother saying the fedex package had come and, over the phone, I learned that I was going to Senegal! The plan, as of now is training August 10^th and going to Senegal August 1th. If nothing changes, I’ll be doing small enterprise development from October 2009 – October 2011.

Now that I’ve officially accepted the invitation, the adventure begins with visas, forms, and my aspiration statement! I’ll try to update this as things progress.