I'm a horrible blogger.

Okay, quite possibly the worst blogger ever. But here's the deal: I'm going off target for just a bit because:

A) I'm so behind on continuing my story where I last left off that it's a bit overwhelming
and
B) Politics is taking center stage these days and I wanted to make note of something I feel is important.

So for those of you (if anyone's still reading this) that saw the major party Presidential candidates speak on the subject of service a few weeks ago (it was a forum specifically on the subject), I wanted to write a response to what they had to say. Both mentioned the Peace Corps, acknowledged its importance in today's world, and expressed their support for the organization and its accomplishments around the globe. In reference to service and who is able to serve, they both mentioned that young people fresh out of college and in debt are not necessarily able to join service organizations.

Let me say that my family is not well off and I had to pay for my college tuition through student loans. I came out of school and was, yes, in debt. However, what was not mentioned was that joining Peace Corps allows a person, like myself, to place their loans on deferment during their service. Of course all loans are different and there are restrictions to deferments, and yadda yadda yadda, but I would hate for anyone to think that they are unable to serve in a volunteer organization such as the Peace Corps because they have their monthly student loan payment to make. Also, some loans (though unfortunately not mine) can be forgiven because you served in the Peace Corps. And if a person has other types of debt, Peace Corps can work with you, helping you make your monthly payments from your final readjustment allowance that you would normally receive after completion of your service.

So I would say "Buck up, American youth! You CAN be a Peace Corps Volunteer after all!" Unfortunately, I also feel the need to share the following article:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-peacecorps14-2008sep14,0,5768469.story

(I tried to link it, but I'm a failure, so just copy and paste the address if you can...)

Bummer that so much money is spent on war...

P.S. I'm an educator, and Obama was the only one during the forum on service to include teachers in the list of those serving the country. That's all I'm gonna say.