Peacekeeping Job #2

There is a new advertisement up for a project officer in Montreal with the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre. It pays well and it offers the potential of traveling all over Africa training peacekeepers from various African nations. I want this job! I just sent off my application and this time I didn't spend endless hours writing and editing my cover letter. I wrote what I thought was good and sent it off. I didn't even ask a friend to edit it. The last time I applied to the PPC they didn't even acknowledge receiving my resume. With my recent application, I asked for them to respond to let me know they had successfully received the attachments. Let's hope I hear from them.

Two other girls that I know of applied for this position. One is a great girl who got short listed for the last PPC job I applied to. I expect that she's got the position already if she's not working for some other organization. The other girl is a friend of mine who is the most pessimistic person I've ever encountered. I don't know if she would get hired after an interview. Was that wrong to point out her pessimism? I take that back, she's not pessimistic she's... very realistic. Anyways, whatever happens I hope one of us gets hired. I won't lie, I hope it's me. Frick that would SO rock! I would get to live in Montreal. I could move away from Toronto and be one of those exciting people who are going through "transition time".

Stupid transition time (grumble grumble). I think I have a bad case of the "poor mes" today. I have been going on and on with myself about how everyone has moved away and I'm stuck in Toronto working for International Justice Mission and the Centre for Social Justice. It seems like all those close to me are moving to foreign lands or new places to pursue their dreams. Just yesterday I counted all the foreign friends I now have; friends in Tanzania, Kenya, Goa, Sri Lanka, Cairo, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Bali, Maui, Korea, the Dominican Republic and countless other places. I have friends who aren't even in development who are going to the Philippines, Mozambique and Holland to do mission training. I say good for them. I should not be envious or bitter. I should rejoice. When I eventually get money I will have tons of places to stay for free!

That is not sufficient to cheer me up.

Life is not entirely bad here. And even though I am not traveling somewhere my life is in a transition period too, it's just not as exciting as other people. My volunteer position at the Centre for Social Justice may end up turning into a real job. My boss wants me to help him coordinate and organize a national pre-election campaign for civic engagement. Once funding is given for the campaign he said he would pay me a working wage. This opportunity appeals to me, except for the fact that I have to work with the most scatter-brained person on the planet. My boss is so ADD it's impossible to get him to focus to even map out our campaign strategies and general deadlines. Part of last week was spent attempting to fix up his founding documents to present to the Working Committee of union heads/leaders and it took us two days (and countless hours of my frustration).

I also got a call from IJM telling me my contract is still a go. I am back working on a proposal and should be done in the next three weeks to a month. I also got a phone call from AWID (a women's rights organization) to do an internship. I had applied for an internship with them in June and was interviewed with two other people but did not get the job. Apparently the person they did hire was terrible and left early. Phht, serves them right for not hiring me. Jerks. Ahem...the point is they want me to work for them, for free of course because no one ever pays people in my field unless they have an MA or gazillion years of experience. Man, this poor me stuff really has to go.

In some relatively good news, I started doing practice LSATs and I am getting questions right. I am so smart! Yes, be impressed people (if anyone indeed reads this blog) I do have some level of intelligent thought and according to the people of the Princeton Review, I will be on my way to law school any day now. Of course I believe them and why not, they're from Princeton and Ivy League schools are always right; at least in my estimation.

So you see life is not so terrible. I potentially have a job with the PPC, I have two internships with two relatively good organizations (one which will eventually pay me), I still have a contract with IJM and I am on my way to LSAT glory and success.

So why do I still feel bad?