First Post

The major reason I am writing this blog is to keep in touch with family and friends while I’m gone. In addition, writing something on a regular basis may stop my writing skills from evaporating away in the Malian sun. However, I have learned in preparation for my journey that these blogs can be an interesting read, and a great tool for future Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV’s in PC lingo). It seems fitting then to give a little bit of background on myself. I’ll start off with the basics.

I’m Jim Cave a 22 year old that is going to serve as an environmental/agricultural volunteer in the United States Peace Corps. I was born and raised in Great Falls, Montana (in the middle of the state), and just graduated from Montana State University-Bozeman. My degree is in Political Science, and I have a minor in History. I’ve worked a bunch in a bunch of different jobs including working for U.S. Senator Jon Tester and the Montana Farmers Union, but one day hope to be a lawyer focusing on labor law. The PC is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and for a number of different reasons. Firstly, I think I’ve lived a pretty good/easy life with loving/hard working parents and an extended family that are first class. I’m lucky enough to have good friends across the United States that have helped me out continually. The Peace Corps has always seemed like the way to give back. For two years my main career goal is to help others out, and that is something I could not get if I went straight to law school or began working. Additionally, PC offers a chance for a journey abroad that expands beyond a visit. This promises to take me out of my comfort zone, and truly experience another way of life currently unknown to me. All in all I think I’m a pretty normal guy that might care a little bit too much about the news. For those of you that already know me I’ll talk about a pretty busy last few weeks.

On May 17th the Peace Corps told me I was set of leave on July 1st, before this I thought I was going to leave in September. Since the news I’ve been in a frantic scramble preparing to leave the country. I have made a short list of law schools and made a trip to visit them, worked full time until about two weeks ago, went to a cousins wedding and tried to get my personal affairs in order. All while being busy with shopping, packing and filling out PC paperwork. I’m going to focus on the law school tour briefly.

I visited law schools at U of Wisconsin - Madison, U of Iowa - Iowa, George Mason, U of Richmond, Wake Forest and a few other schools in the New York/D.C. area. Though I don’t want to make a list raking the schools since they all have their own strengths, I have some points to make. Madison is the definite front-runner on the list, and quite frankly I was very impressed. I had never really thought much about the area of Madison (or Wisconsin in general), because I did not think their was much to think of. If I wanted the good things about living in a city I’d move to one of the coasts. If I want to be close to nature I’d just stay in the comfortably populated mountainous area of awesome known and central and western Montana. However, Madison was recommended to me by a professor and I am glad I went. Madison is very near two lakes, and the campus is actually directly adjacent to one of the lakes. The city is pretty large, and the local flora was pretty impressive. In addition to all of this Madison is highly ranked, and has a labor law concentration available (pretty rare).

If after spending some time in Mali I feel the need to live in the big city (or make the kind of money associated with doing so), I’d rather live in DC than New York. I have a good group of friends currently living in DC, and was more impressed with the law schools as well. However, I have a feeling I would like New York more and more the longer I was there. Richmond offers something unique and intriguing. It is only 90 minutes away from DC, and if you are from Montana 90 minutes is nothing. Additionally it is only 90 minutes away from the ocean and from the mountains. The kicker is they told me I could get a good scholarship there as well bringing the cost down. This post is getting pretty long and I have some thinking to do so I’m going to end it here