I received a phone call today from the mother of a Peace Corps volunteer who’s son is facing an early termination. She wasn’t really calling for help or for advice; she just needed to voice her frustrations with someone who has gone through a similar experience.
Though I don’t receive many calls like this one, my unfortunate early termination from the Peace Corps remains a consistant topic. Each month, I likely field one phone call and a half-dozen emails from individuals who are interested in the Peace Corps or are facing early termination.
Why do I receive so much attention nearly two years after my close of service? It’s due to my website, of course.
I like to think people are interested in my story. Actually, most are interested in learning more about early termination, close of service, administrative separation, and a whole host of other not-so-pleasant Peace Corps topics. Thanks to my well-documented experience, my website has become the top Google search result for many of these Peace Corps key words and phrases:
- Peace Corps administrative separation
- Peace Corps appeal
- Peace Corps close of service
- Peace Corps COS
- Peace Corps early termination
- Peace Corps Extension of Training
- Peace Corps freedom of expression
- Peace Corps Guyana country director
- Peace Corps Guyana Earl Brown
- Peace Corps Guyana website
- Peace Corps Letters from Friends and Family
- Peace Corps Letters to DC
- Peace Corps non-administrative separation
- Peace Corps Re-enrollment
- Peace Corps Speech and National Security
- Peace Corps Transfers
My site is the number-one hit in Google for all of these search requests — and these are just the ones I could think of.
I didn’t set out to get this much attention by any means. As a volunteer, I just wanted to provide an easy way for friends and family to learn about my experiences as a volunteer. Instead, this small section of my site has developed a greater purpose in helping others learn more about becoming an ET (early termination) volunteer.