Sorry I posted this in the wrong section the first time around:

Hello,

So I am considering after graduating with my MA in Special Education next year applying for Peace Corps. I am currently an American Graduate student studying (as in living here for at least two years) in Australia. I have travelled extensively, but never to the extent that I would be away for two years under a government program, that amongst other things has the final say about where I'd be going and what I would be doing. I don't need to have exact control because I do believe eveything happens for a reason but that being said I am not sure if I should apply for PC or not. My only preference would be somewhere in a Spanish Speaking Region and involved with education---preferably teaching.

I have no precise goals that I hope to achieve out of Peace Corps, except to completely master Spanish (I am a Native Speaker but out of the loop since moving to Australia.) As far as career goals are concerned I hope to eventually repatriate to the US and work in the realm of Special Education/Bilingual Education.

Should I consider Peace Corps or is there another alternative, in particular for certified teachers, that I should be considering?

That being said....I do have some questions about the application process.

Would it be wise to apply now even if I have no ability to go on assignment until December/January 2011? If I did the online application now is it possible I would be able to take care of interviews and medicals during a three month visit with my family starting in November? I don't have the financial means to return to the US periodically or met in person with an advisor every couple of months so I am not sure if now is the time to do even consider doing an appplication.

Thanks in advance for your advice

Okay. I'll answer your specific questions and refer you to the "search" function for the rest...

Yes. Apply now. It took me almost 2 years to go from application to placement. Not everybody gets the quality of care I got, but some do. Best not to chance it.

They won't let you apply from overseas. Maybe you can work it out anyway, maybe you can't. But I did ask that specific question and there was no gray area - they told me that I would not be able to go through the application process from outside the USA. Maybe they lied. It would have been par for the course in my experience with the Peace Corps. I wish you better luck than I had.

Yes, there are probably THOUSANDS of different opportunities for a certified teacher that don't involve the Peace Corps. I don't know what you're looking for or why you'd consider the Peace Corps as something that looks attractive, so I'm not sure what else to tell you, but the answer regardless is YES, you can find another thing to do with your skills around the Spanish-speaking world.

And I'll leave it at that. Best of luck to you