Wet and Wild

The Internet wasn’t working so this post is from yesterday.

Day 27: I am thoroughly exhausted. I haven’t had much time to gather my thoughts. River 6 and 6 other teams from our campus just returned to campus after a rainy weekend in New Orleans, commemorating the 5-year anniversary of Katrina. The weekend was not as successful as we hoped it would be because it has been raining since Friday night. The 100 corps members that traveled to New Orleans were split into several groups at many different sites in the Gentilly area. Working with Rebuilding Together was a great experience; they are extremely organized and have made a huge difference in the New Orleans community. The difficult part of the weekend was the rain. Much of the work that we were assigned was outdoors, painting or working with power tools. It was frustrating to feel a bit useless and unaccomplished. Yesterday afternoon we worked as a team to plant 22 trees at various houses in the area. It was very wet and not the most fun activity, but we felt as if we had made a difference at the end of the day, unlike the day before.

This weekend I really struggled with some of my own preconceptions and stereotypes associated with members of my team. Because AmeriCorps NCCC is a national program for men and women 18-24, there are automatically divides among the wide range of ages. This is going to be an issue for me because there are many times where I feel as if I am a mother figure or “too serious” because of my age in comparison to many people on my team. I remember what I was like when I was 18 and understand much of what they are going through, but I still find myself getting frustrated and not being receptive of their perspective. It’s going to be a challenge for me in the next few months.

I also got to have some fun in New Orleans with friends. We stayed close to the garden district, so we took the trolley to the French Quarter and walked around. Friday night we went to Café Du Monde, which was delicious as always! Also, had some really great traditional New Orleans/southern food and of course, a few Abitas! It was really nice to be back in a city that I love so much, but strange to not be there with my family or with Emerson students. It made me miss home, and start to think about not going back to Emerson this fall and how strange that is. I knew that I would miss Emerson and Boston, but not as much as I do right now. This whole AmeriCorps program has felt like one big vacation/summer camp, but it is finally hitting me that I am here for a while. Scary.

This week will be primarily spent getting ready for our first spike. We have a clearance meeting tomorrow in order to be able to leave campus and Induction on Tuesday. We should be leaving on Wednesday for our project. So exciting! I can’t wait to be on an actual worksite and settled into a new home as opposed to mini spikes for a couple days at a time.

Day 23: Lately I have been way too tired to go to the computer lab and update this. Getting up before the sun and working until sunset is starting to have an effect on me and I’m interested to see what happens when we actually have to work for 8 hours in the heat. My tan is starting to fade because I am stuck in a classroom all day being talked at and looking at PowerPoint slides. We are all excited to be done with training and leave for our projects.

This past weekend was pretty relaxing, which was nice since it will be our last free weekend for a while. Saturday morning, River 6 (my team) went to the local YMCA, (we have free membership on Friday and Saturday) to work out. It was nice to get back into the gym and do some weight lifting instead of working out in the grass. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and doing a few things and then later that night went out to dinner and drinks with a few friends from the corps. It was nice to see everyone in normal clothing instead of pajamas or uniform. Sunday I slept in and relaxed most of the day which was nice. At night we had a rehearsal for the AmeriChoir. We will be singing the national anthem at induction this coming week and am really excited. I’m happy to be singing again in an organized group, with harmony.

This week’s training focused heavily on member development, meaning our personal growth, health and goals through this program. We talked about substance abuse, personal development (scholarships, awards, goal setting, etc), diet, diseases, and specialty roles. Each member of our team is assigned to one of five specialty roles. I have been assigned as the project outreach liaison and assistant team leader as I mentioned in my last entry.

Tomorrow we will be leaving to go to New Orleans (Nawlins) for 4 days to commemorate the 5th year anniversary of hurricane Katrina. We will be working on a project called Rebuilding Together: 50 in 5. Along with many other volunteers and service members, we will be helping to build 50 houses over the course of 5 days. I am really excited for this opportunity because I think being part of such a life changing event in our country’s history. I have been to New Orleans and helped with Katrina relief in the past, but this effort to rebuild is so big.

We will be staying in apartment-style living with several other NCCC groups. We will be able to sight-see a little bit which is exciting, hopefully I can go to Pat O’Brien’s and get a hurricane. ☺

Below are some pictures from the YMCA camp, will update again on Sunday when I get home probably!

Surprises around every corner...

Day 17: It’s been a long time since I last updated, but I have been quite busy! This past weekend I went to visit the wonderful Mississippi Elser clan. It was really nice to get away from campus for a couple days and relax. They fed me really well (as uncle David always does with some sort of protein, but aunt Jackie made really great potatoes too!) Aunt Jayne and I went for a long run on Sunday morning, which felt great but was pretty difficult for me and aunt Jayne kicked my butt. We all went on the boat on Sunday morning. It was so nice to just lay in the sun and swim in the warm but refreshing water!

Monday and Tuesday of this week we traveled to the Warner-Tully YMCA to camp and do a series of hands on training. Monday we arrived at 8am and immediately jumped into a full day of training.

1.Low ropes course. We spent 2 hours working as a team completing a series of team building activities. It was a very telling display of our team dynamic and the challenges we may face in the next 10 months. Our team seems to be full of impulsive and over confident people. At times it was frustrating to see our team fail at many tasks instead of being patient and coming up with a plan about how to accomplish the task well.

2. Trail blazing. This was really difficult but fun. The camp was adding a mountain biking trail so we were asked to clear the path for more preparation of the trail. We worked with some fun tools including: fire rakes, joe blades, loppers, and axes. It was extremely hot and muggy, but really satisfying to see the progress of our work.

3.Power tools. We were taught how to use all the different saws that we have to use (saws all, skill saw, table saw, etc) We then did a whole lot of nothing for 2 hours except tear down and put up a wall of the pool house, and sweating like crazy.

4.Roofing. At the end of the day we began to learn about how to put up shingles, but shortly after it began to downpour. It was a bummer to not learn how to roof because that is most likely what we will be doing on our first project.

We were stuck in the rain for about an hour. The power went out and we ate dinner in the dark. Once the rain stopped we set up tents in the mud and walked out to a clearing in the middle of the woods where we put on skits about training and tried to start a bonfire with wet wood (it was a failure.) It was extremely hot to sleep in the tents, but we made it through.

On Tuesday we had a less strenuous and more fun. Although it was wet and hot, we were excited to get to work.

1.Painting. We worked some more on the pool house painting the rafters, trim, and touching up the walls. We were able to wear our sweet coveralls! I have to admit it’s pretty hot in them though, despite the fashion statement you make ☺

2.Low ropes course. We did another series of team challenges that showed more personal challenges than team struggles. We had a few people get really frustrated at the challenge of not being the most physically fit. I hope that in the future we will be able to take into consideration the thoughts of others and support each other when one of us feels week.

3.High ropes course. This was the BEST part of the whole trip. It started raining as we were walking over there, but it was still so fun being so high in the air. Right as we all finished it began to downpour again and we rushed to take cover in one of the cabins. I haven’t done a high ropes course in a long time and it was fun to get across from tree to tree. And of course the zip line was great!!

Overall it was a fun couple of days, but we all were very exhausted and ready to get out of the rain and home. Once we got home I cooked tacos and we ate dinner while having a team meeting. We found out our specialty roles for the next 10 months. I will be a Project Outreach Liaison (POL) which will involve me planning community events on each project as well as putting together resources for Individual Service Projects (ISPs.) It is going to be a challenge, but Alyse (my team leaders) asked me personally to do it because she didn’t see anyone else on the team being able to do it, which was pretty flattering. I also am not supposed to tell anyone this, but I am going to post it here. Alyse also asked me to be the Assistant Team Leader for this round of projects. She chooses one person per project round to be the ATL, so I feel honored to be chosen first. She said that she thinks that I will be a great support system and leader on our team. ☺

As for today, we had PT early this morning and had Red Cross disaster services training all day, which was pretty boring. I was nominated by several people in the room (they started chanting my name, ugh) to be the shelter manager for our simulated shelter setup. When the exercise was over, our trainer told us that in the 4 years that he has been teaching this course, this was the best simulation he had ever seen. I felt proud to be the head of directing the activity and that it went so well.

We have PT early tomorrow morning and I am already exhausted, so I am going to go to bed!

OH! Other GREAT things to mention: got the most adorable dog today! Happy birthday dad! Burmese Mountain/Golden Retriever mix ☺ ☺ Welcome to the family buddy! Also, we found out that we are going to New Orleans next weekend for the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. It will be fun and very moving to be there.

Ok, that’s all!

keeping an open mind.

Day 11: So it’s Thursday. Another week almost come and gone, it’s amazing how fast time has been going by. It has been a lot harder to update my blog and have free time to unwind because I’ve been so exhausted and busy. Since I am on the fire team, we are required to do PT (Physical Training) 5 days a week. Our days that are already 10 hours long are even longer because we are waking up at 6am. I am getting very good sleep at night though, so that’s a benefit. Also, have a set eating schedule is great for my body, especially when I’m eating healthy, home-cooked meals.

Last night we found out our permanent teams for the next 9 ½ months. We have a pretty young, lour team, which should be interesting. We have 5 recent high school graduates, and 5 college graduates. We’ll see how it works out. I’m excited to get to know them all and start to learn our working styles. I found out today we will be moving into a residence hall with the other fire team, which will be pretty fun. It will be helpful for getting up for PT, cooking, and doing training together.

Today we found out where I first project will be! We will be working with Habitat for Humanity in Lafayette, LA for 7 ½ weeks. Our team is going to be working on building homes in low-income areas in Lafayette where many people relocated to after Hurricane Katrina and Rita. More than likely we will be roofing and working on exteriors of homes, which will be a fun new skill! Lastly, we will be staying in a home built by Habitat for Humanity by college volunteers. There are 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, washer and dryer, and full kitchen appliances. When I get more details I’ll definitely keep you updated. We need to read through the project application that goes through all the details, so I will have more to report this weekend probably.

Our trainings have been pretty long and boring the last couple days. Hazardous materials, child-friendly spaces (working with Save the Children to create spaces for children in time of disaster to feel safe), specialty roles (each team member has a specific role on the team: media, service-learning, individual service projects, vehicle/safety/trainings, or recruitment), project transition (what we need to do in between projects), etc are some examples of what we have been learning about. Much of this week is about the logistics of spikes (projects) and working with NCCC.

I’m starting to feel the difficulty of being so far away from home. It wasn’t until yesterday that I started feeling homesick and wishing it would be easier to be home. I think I’ve finally started to feel out of my comfort zone, and that this isn’t just a vacation or ASB (alternative spring break) trip. The feeling of excitement and anxiousness has worn off and the reality of this experience has started to set in. It’s scary.

PT early tomorrow morning again, we are challenging the other fire team to a game of basketball. Should be interesting.

Silence is tolerance.

Day 9: So the last few days have been pretty intense with training. Yesterday we had a long day filled with lectures/presentations about service learning, project sequence, and equal employment opportunity. The explanation of service learning was very similar to my understanding of alternative spring break and my understanding of service through education. Our next session was almost 5 hours long, filled with a detailed understanding of the process by which projects are determined and assigned. Although this session was long and dense at times, it provided a lot of information about what I will be doing here (not the specific projects, don’t get too excited).) After this we met with a woman who was employed by the equal opportunity office. We discussed what is considered discrimination and sexual harassment, which was pretty dry but necessary.

Today was a much more riveting as we spent 8 hours discussing various aspects of diversity. I am feeling extremely emotionally drained. We spent a majority of the morning getting to know each other on a pretty basic level. One of the activities/ice breakers we did was based on the effects of different aspects of everyone’s lives on our personalities and personal history. We were told to choose 4 pipe cleaners and put them together however we pleased. We were also told that each pipe cleaner should represent an aspect of who we were (race, ethnicity, religion, education, sexual orientation, etc.) and then discuss what the final shape represented. It was interesting to see what each person chose as the main categories that were the most important or substantial in their lives. Mine were education, sexual orientation, family, and physical/mental ability. We were then asked to take away the pipe cleaner that meant the least. This was very difficult for me because I felt like each other these things was extremely important to who I was and how I defined myself. We also talked about particular categories we wish we could have added after hearing what everyone had to say. To me I wish I had added geographical location and religion because both have had a huge impact in my outlook on life as well.

After this activity we took a break for lunch. When we came back we had the most intense and emotional part of the whole day. Many of the Emersonians reading this will know what I am talking about, but we did an activity called the privilege walk. We were all told to stand in a single line, shoulder to shoulder. We were then read a series of statements followed by a direction of “take a step forward” or “take a step back.” If you were asked to step forward after the statement and you did, it meant that you had had some sort of privilege. If you were told to step back after a statement, it was an example of disadvantage. For example: If your parents took you to see theater or performing arts when you were growing up take a step forward. OR If you were ever required to skip a meal or go hungry because there was not enough money to feed your family take a step back. The questions varied in severity and complexness but they were all distinct. After you took a step you were asked to stay there until the next question, so eventually everyone in the room was spread apart throughout the gymnasium we were in. At the end of the activity some people were in the middle, some very far forward and some very far back.

Every time we are required to do this activity, at the end I feel a strong sense of sadness and anger at the same time, and I’m not really sure why. It may be that I feel guilty for how lucky I am, that I am angry about the systemic structure that is broken in our society, or the sadness that people go through as many struggles as they do. Once we were done with this activity we split into 2 groups of about 40 people each. In these groups we were able to debrief and discuss our reactions to the activity as a whole. It was an inspiring, depressing, and moving discussion hearing about where people have come from. A few people in the group shared that at the end of the activity they never took a step forward during the activity. This was jarring and upsetting to me because I can’t imagine going through the things that many of the people in the same room as me have. Other spoke to assumptions that had been made about them because they were in the upper class or because of the way they looked. There is such a wide spectrum of people here in all topics of diversity.

I feel proud and lucky to be in a place where there are so many people I can learn from. The next 10 months are going to be not only learning about myself but primarily about learning about other people and where they have been and where they are going.

The best part of today, after all the emotional draining stuff, was finding out some important news. After training I was handed an envelope labeled with my name on it by my team leader, who had a pretty serious face on. When I opened the envelope there was a letter from my until leader saying that there had been an alleged incident this weekend and that I should meet him in room 10 at 5:30pm tonight to discuss. I found out that 3 of the other members in my group had received the same letter. We went to room 10 and waited. When Neal, our unit director entered the room he told us the alleged incident was the pack test. He then congratulated us all for passing and handed us another envelope. Inside the envelope was a picture of a firefighter and a message stating “congratulations, please meet in room 2.” We went down to room 2 where there were several other people. We were then congratulated for being chosen as the members of the FIRE TEAM! I was so excited! ☺ I am now an official member of the first ever, Southern Region Fire Team. It was such a funny way to tell us, but was entertaining.

I’m excited to find out which of the 2 fire teams I will be on, but that will have to wait until tomorrow when the whole corps finds out which permanent teams we will be placed on. We will also at this time be told what our projects for round 1 will be! So be excited and patient!!

Pack Test!

Not much more to update about except the Pack Test that I took yesterday!

Drumroll please..........

I completed the test in 38:15, so 7 minutes under the allotted time! AND I was the fastest girl, and 5th person to finish overall! I Was so proud of myself, but my body is feeling it today. It was on a square cement "track" at the YMCA that was partially in the shade but mostly in the sun. We wore 45 lb. weighted vests over our clothes, that after wearing for a few minutes you really started to feel. It was not as hard as I imagined, but today my hips, ankles and shins are in a lot of pain. The weights in the vest also continuously hit the front of my hipbones, so I have pretty bad bruises on them. I'm really happy that I did it, and proud that I did really well...but it is NOT something that I would want to do on a daily basis.

So, they will announce our permanent teams on Wednesday after dinner, so I will update this as soon as I find out!

Time to enjoy my lovely day off.

:)

Life is never what you expect...Day 4 and 5

Day 4: Today was the best day so far! Our training was extremely thought provoking and interesting. We went through several long trainings about the south. It is amazing to me how quickly the day goes by when you spend it doing things you really enjoy or are engaged by.

First we spent the morning going over policies and procedures. Instead of sitting and listening to a lecture, we put together skits about different sections in the handbook. It was amusing to see people come out of their shells a little. Once that was over we spent the first part of the afternoon meeting with an environmental specialist and then the Vicksburg police department. It is refreshing to know that there are so many people concerned about my safety. After these logistical meetings we had an enlightening lectures and conversations that reminded me of why I do service.

We had a very interesting conversation with the Region Director, Gary Turner about several different things relating to life and the issues going on in this country. We talked for a long time about how technology has changed the way we communicate and the opinions we form about our surroundings. This conversation rose a lot of questions for me, as I began to think about the past and the “when I was young…” stories that I often hear from those around me. How did we come to be this way? What significance does the state of our country have on the work that I am doing? How do we make change? How do we keep up with an ever-changing world of technology and other advancements?

These are all just things that I’ve been thinking about.

After this intense conversation, we went upstairs and heard from a woman who studies Southern Food. Across the southern states there are several colleges and universities with whole departments dedicated to the study of southern culture and traditions. This was extremely fascinating to me, because the South is full of traditions unlike the rest of the country. This lecture was really interesting because she touched upon several different areas of the South that carry long-standing traditions: food, religion, politics, family, etc. It is amazing and mysterious to me that the South continues traditions in all these areas without change or evolution in comparison to the North and West. This woman gave me her card so that she could send me the title of some books that I may be interested in reading. I have been wondering of the studies that have been conducted surrounding religion and family values along with technology and advancement. These seem to be some of the most important and drastic differences between the North and South and I would love to understand, or attempt to understand why each region is the way that it is.

This is why today was so great, so many ideas and thoughts running through my head.

An unexamined life is not worth living-Socrates


Day 5: Such an exciting day! I passed my driving test and learned how to drive a 15-passenger van! Also, passed the drug test (phew!) and the pregnancy test (big sigh of relief ☺) FUNNY. Also, checked out the photos from JoMandas wedding! SO GREAT. Showed them to my Team Leader and he said that I have a VERY attractive family. Not much else to report from today, pretty easygoing day.

The Pack Test is tomorrow at 6AM so, everyone, wish me luck! I really hope that I pass it, as I would love to be part of the fire team. For those of you that don’t know, the requirements of the test are: walk 3 miles in under 45 minutes with a 45-pound vest on. It is going to be pretty exhausting and difficult, but I am excited for it. I am doing it with a few other friends and there are about 35 Corps members total attempting it. There are 2 fire teams with 10 people on each. At the meeting last night they told us that they are going to try to make the teams as evenly spread in terms of gender, so they may consider candidates who come close to finishing the test in reasonable time and who have a good letter of intent, which I sent in last night.

I guess we’ll just have to see….

Day 3: Settling in

So day 3 is complete. Today was the first day we wore our uniforms, let me tell you, they are SOMETHING. It is nice to not have to think about what I am going to wear everyday, but if I were going for looks, this is definitely not what I would be wearing.

Today we went through several different trainings and activities. I was drug tested and given 2 shots, which wasn’t so bad. We had our pictures taken, played some really fun and silly games, and found a poisonous little lizard in our bathroom. We haven’t named him yet, but I will report back when we do. I also had to take out my nose ring for good, so dad, you can rest easy knowing there are no longer holes in my face that shouldn’t be there.

Today we went over our PT regiment for the next 10 months. We will be required to exercise at least 3 times per week for 45 minutes each time. We will also be required to do a baseline test every time we return to campus which consists of a 1.5 mile run, 1 minute of sit ups and 1 minutes of pushups. I don’t think that any of this will be much of a problem for me as my roommate thinks I am crazy for getting up early every morning to go running in the heat.

As a whole our group learned about the history of the AmeriCorps program as well as the various branches and organizations associated with the AmeriCorps today, which was really interesting. I feel honored to be part of a program that has been around since 1933, especially one that is modeled after the original program, the CCC. One interesting fact that I learned today was that the AmeriCorps pledge was written by someone who remains a mystery to all of us, yet it has stuck with the AmeriCorps since it’s early days. The program originally started during the Depression as a military training program and became useful when World War II began. The program only had men at the beginning, and didn’t incorporate women until pretty recently. The program also had more members during the early years (1933-1942) than it has total since then. All of this was just really interesting me, along with learning about the meaning of the pledge as well as how important this program is to all of us who have been accepted.

As with many of the things that I have done in the last 4 years, I feel that the AmeriCorps is about being part of something bigger than yourself and those around you. It is amazing to me how a group of people can come together and make such a huge change. My only hope is that at the end of these 10 months I will feel that I have made a large impact on this region and the people who I come in contact with. I have already met some very amazing people here, including one team leader who said something very meaningful to me. She said, “it is amazing to me how easy it is to get caught up in meaningless priorities and spend our time thinking and talking about things that are pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of our lives when there are much more important things going on in our country.” This really hit home to me today when we were reading the pledge and going over its meaning to us and the work that we are doing.

I will get things done for America,
to make out people safer, smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done!

Day 2: Initial thoughts

Hey ya’ll from Mississippi! I made it! The flight went very smoothly and I am all unpacked and settled into my new home. The campus is great. It is a beautiful old campus that used to be a women’s college but is now rented by the Americorps. The buildings are 100 year-old Colonial buildings with large white pillars and brick exterior. There is a ton of outdoor space to run around in, a pool, tennis courts, and a gymnasium with a weight room. I’m excited to be active! The weather here is SO hot. Yesterday and today it was over 100 degrees, with a heat index of about 112 and high humidity. I went for a run this morning at 6am and it was about 85 degrees already. It is impossible to be outside for more than 5 minutes.

The most exciting part of today was the issuing of our uniforms! We look so great and professional. HERE is an example:





I am so glad to be settled here. The trip here, although it went smoothly, was an emotional rollercoaster. I knew that it would be hard to say goodbye to the place that I’ve called home for the last 4 years, but the emotions kept coming in waves. One moment I felt so sad, the next I was anxious in scared, and then I would start to get excited about what this experience would be like. The day was definitely an emotionally and physically draining day. I was thankful to see family when I landed in Jackson. Jayne, Michael, Maria, Kristen and Emily came to the airport just to say, “hi” and take me out for some much needed frozen treats! It was really great to see them, even just for an hour.

The next four weeks will be filled with intense training called CTI (Corps Training Institute) along with getting to know the fellow Corps Members here (about 160.) I am really excited to meet new faces and get to know people from a wide variety of backgrounds. So far I have met some really wonderful people that want to change the world, even at the smallest scale. We have been told several times in the last 48 hours that NCCC Members are considered the upper echelon of Americorps volunteers. I am so honored to be surrounded by many like-minded individuals who are as eager and nervous as I am to start this adventure.

I will update later this week as our training gets more in depth. Side note: Pack Test at 6am on Saturday morning! More information on that will come on Thursday or Friday. Another side note to the Elser clan: I taught a few of my group members how to play Dutch Blitz tonight and I already have them hooked! ☺