Way Back Home (SOON TO BE PUBLISHED- 2024)

Chapter One: SAMANTHA

Joining the Peace Corp was sort of a family tradition. My mother, my grandmother, and my great-grandmother have all been a part of it. It all started when my great-grandmother joined the war effort at only eighteen years old. That led to the next generations to join the Peace Corp. I was taught about it my entire life, and not only would I get the opportunity to travel, but I would also be doing a wonderful service. I loved helping people in any way that I could.

Growing up, my family often volunteered at soup kitchens, fundraisers, and charity events. When I reached high school, I began to join these services on my own. I was a member of SADD and a Catholic student group that would do much volunteer work on the weekends. I did so much that it was a miracle that I was able to keep my spot at the top of my class. I was even selected as my senior class's valedictorian.

My future was laid out on a pedestal in front of me. I could see it clearly. I was going to do my services before going to college where I would study to become a Special Education teacher. I hoped to eventually get married and have children, but only after everything settled down. I put my life on a schedule, and I planned to follow through with it.

Colleges had already showed interest in me. Not for my academic advancements, but for my participation in clubs and school events. They were especially interested that I was the founding member of my school's HO club. HO stood for Hands Off and it was created for feminist students who wanted to stand up to sexual assault and harassment.

Four months before the end of my senior year, my high school had a career fair. It was held in the gymnasium during the entire school day. Students would go there on their free time and learn about all the options they had following high school. There were booths for the military, Peace Corp, and even cutlery.

Compared to the military booths, the booth representing the Peace Corp was wide open. There were only a couple other students in front of me. Both of them were members of my Catholic group.

When I reached the front of the group, I was greeted by a woman, no older than twenty-five. "Hello," she began her greeting, "are you interested in the Peace Corp?"

"Yes, I am," I answered her. "My mother has told me everything I need to know about the Peace Corp. Is there anything I should highlight?"

She interlocked her hands on the table and smiled up at me. "Much of the information will be sent to you in the mail if you get accepted. All we need to know is your age, medical history, and any other eligibility."

I nodded in understanding. "What kind of medical history?"

"Any illnesses we should be aware of," she answered. "For example, diabetes, epilepsy, or pregnancy. Since you'll be away from your usual care provider, it's best that we know what to expect."

"I can tell you for certain that I am none of those." I paused to pick up a form and pamphlet from the table. "What kind of form is this?"

"It's an application," she told me. "You will fill it out and send it in the envelope provided." She pointed at a small tray of already marked envelopes. "You will receive a reply within a couple weeks."

"Thank you," I said with a smile. "I am really looking forward to this."

She gave me an award-winning smile. "It's an amazing experience, for everyone. You won't regret it."

"I'm positive that I won't."

The woman continued with her smiling and handed me a clipboard with a paper on it that had already been filled out by several people. "If you could leave your name, address, and phone number with us, we will be sending all applicants information packets."

She handed me a Peace Corp labeled pen and I took it, scrawling my name on the dotted line. When I finished, I handed her back the clipboard and pen. "Feel free to take any of our brochures and pamphlets that seek your interest," she told me.

I thanked her and grabbed one of each of the pamphlets and brochures.

I planned to leave the career fair and go to the library to read over the brochures and pamphlets, maybe use the school's computers to go on the websites listed on them. But I was stopped mid-way through the gymnasium by my best friend Leah. I knew she planned to take a gap year or two so she could also go into the Peace Corp. We met at Sunday school when we were very young. She was like me in many ways. Always wanting to help people. We were in the same clubs and volunteered at the same places. We were like Batman and Robin. Only we were more of a united front, so we were technically both Batman.

"Did you see how many seniors are looking at joining the military?" she asked me almost immediately, pointing towards the military booths. "Is there something going on in the Middle East that I don't know about?"

"There's always something going on in the Middle East," I told her. "And I guess this many seniors looking to join isn't a bad thing. Their services are desperately needed."

"Are you still going to serve at the soup kitchen this weekend?" she asked, changing the topic. "They said that they expect a full house."

I nodded as an answer. "Of course. We have to be there before noon to start preparing the food."

She looked down and pointed to the pamphlets and brochures in my hand. "Are those for the Peace Corp?"

I looked down at them absentmindedly. "Yeah. Who knew that you needed to be as healthy as a horse to join."

"I'm not surprised," Leah said, taking a glance at the Peace Corp booth. "You'll be overseas with new doctors, medications can take forever to ship, and if something goes wrong, they need to know how to handle it."

She was right. Lucky for me, the only medical issue I had was seasonal asthma which usually occurred during the winter, like now. The climate differences overseas may be well enough that I wouldn't need an inhaler at all.

"That makes sense. Are you going to check it out?"

She nodded. "I'm actually heading over there now."

Leah and I shared a lot of the same attributes. We wanted to help people. We had the same beliefs and stood for the same things. Especially feminism. We had talked about going into the Peace Corp together since we were kids. Go on the same mission. That plan seemed to finally begin to come into fruition.

"They're very nice," I told her. "I'll see you at lunch?"

She snapped her fingers. "Yes, you will. See you later, Sam."

"See you later, Lee."

She left, going straight to the Peace Corp booth, having to navigate through the endless line of people interested in joining the military. It amazed me how many people wanted to join the military. I wondered if there was some chaos that I didn't know about.

I took a look at all my pamphlets and brochures. There were many websites that I needed to check out. One of the websites leading to an online application. One brochure was about health and wellness while another one was about what to expect. Most of them simply went into detail about what the Peace Corp was.

In crowded areas, I needed to learn to watch where I was going, because I found myself bumping into someone. My brochures and pamphlets scattering all over the floor.