As I walked through our business facility in a tribal sweater, these are the words an associate dean told me.

Oh, the strange coincidences that life throws at you. Little did this dean know, I was on my way to my favorite advisor’s office to tell her how much I resented certain aspects of the college of business, and how the things I’m truly passionate about aren’t really common or heard-of, so to speak. One of these things: the Peace Corps. How did she know what I was thinking? HOW??????

To many, the Peace Corps sounds like a glorified dream. You get to go volunteer in a foreign country and take pictures with foreign little kids and travel all the time…right? Who wouldn’t want to do that?

The truth is this: life isn’t always the picture-perfect idea that you thought it was. The Peace Corps is far from the idealist’s dream. It is not at all for the faint of heart, for the scared, for the ones who want their lives to move in a straight line. It is not for the glamorous, for those who can’t bear a week without a cell phone, for those who aren’t open to experiencing lower standards of living.

Instead, the Peace Corps is a 27-month assignment to an unknown place. One can preference their location and area they volunteer in, but ultimately, their fate is chosen for them. I recently met with a business student who’s headed out to volunteer in Cameroon this September, something that I admire, respect, and aspire to do someday. Over coffee, he mentioned that he is unsure of his access to technology as well as to electricity while serving…for 27 months. All of which he turned down a job offer for.

Where does one draw the line? Between crazy and beautiful? Between stupid and smart? Between selfless and selfish?

Or do the lines even matter? Who is one to judge the Peace Corps or my life decisions, as long as I know how right they are for me?

The Peace Corps is something insane, but it is also something that holds so much power. It holds power in the form of the unknown, which is one of the most beautiful things that life has to offer us.

So, are you ready? The 27-month leap of faith awaits you.