Looking Ahead?!

Hold on to your hats, folks, and try not to fall off of your seats! This just in from the lush tropics of Mozambique:

I, Victor J. Perez, have officially started thinking about life after Peace Corps!
(Hint- This is the part where you fall over in a state of total shock and disbelief…)


As some of you may already know, while others of you are now correctly guessing, I’m usually not one to plan very far in advance. I enjoy living in the moment, I love doing things last minute, and I have this sick passion for pressure. So when you take those things and put them together, you find me in situations like in October of 2007, starting and finishing my entire, rather lengthy Peace Corps application in the week before it was due. Granted, it may not be the best way of approaching things, but it hasn’t failed me yet (knock on wood).

‘So, what’s changed?,’ you might ask. Well, I guess it comes down to the fact that I am hopefully about to realize one of my older pipedreams: I have been asked by the University of Sagrada Familia here in Maxixe to volunteer and teach a course in Theology. That’s right, I’ll be teaching an introductory course on the Bible (in English) starting next month and, yes, I am extremely excited!

To be honest, I’m feeling lots of things right now as result of the news: excitement at the possibility of volunteering at the University, fear that I won’t have what it takes, but also the surprising reaction of anticipation for the general road ahead. Now I’m thinking things like, ‘Teaching both the business course and English have been fun, and I’m sure I’ll love teaching the Gospels; but can I see myself continuing in that arena?’ Maybe it’s too early to tell, but thus far the world of academics, while engaging and intellectually satisfying, does not seem to be the place for me. Meanwhile, even though I have for now shied away from the possibility of life as a scholar, this in no way answers the question: what am I going to do?

In response, I have found myself in the early stages of good, old fashioned Fr. Himes style discernment: What brings me joy? Well I love teaching business class, not necessarily because of the teaching, but because of the results I see… young, more confident professionals with an opportunity to develop a solid business within their community. Also, I love reading US history, but not more than I have come to love reading political speeches as well as about current events in Washington. Finally, I love my God and I enjoy working with youth, so perhaps this could bring me down the road of non-ordained pastoral ministry. Who knows?

The answers I have settled myself with are going to involve a lot of research/ testing things out in my head, as well as tons of prayer. There are many things I love doing and many roles I enjoy fulfilling, but can I see them going somewhere in the long run? Am I good at doing these things? Most importantly, how can I use the gifts that God gave me to do God’s will?

As you can tell, I’ve found myself with more questions than answers, but I’m very much ok with that. I mean, c’mon, I have all the time in the world, right? What is it… a year? Two years? At the very least I can feel secure in the fact that I’ve started asking the right questions. And even if I’m not figuring things out right away, this feels like the best place to be right here and right now.