Jason Pearce

On a similar topic, I recently received an Internet phone call from one of my good friends in Guyana. We gaffed (Guyanese for “spoke”) for maybe a half-hour sharing old stories. Naturally, we also discussed a few rumors.

Though I have no idea if it is true and don’t really care, I’m told that the Peace Corps office is listing my website as a resource in some literature they send to incoming volunteers.

That’s right. The Peace Corps is allegedly telling prospective volunteers that my website is a good place for them to visit if they want to learn more about the Peace Corps in Guyana. Yep. This very site. The site that the Peace Corps kicked me out for developing.

Oh the hypocrisy.

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.