Navigating the US

Santa brought me a GPS for the holidays.  Used it for the first time yesterday...  I tend to have trust issues with technology, and after gritting my teeth awaiting the inevitable misdirection and dreaded "Recalculating" voice, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself at the destination without any trouble.

...Perhaps it's time to reevaluate my tech relationships and take a chance.  Garmen, you've come into my life and changed me for the better.  With the travel time we'll be putting in throughout the states next year, you'll become pretty handy.  I think I'm ready to commit.

Tic-Tock

Team Green is what we'll come to be known as.  Until then, a wide mailing has shipped our way, consisting of some reading materials and a "Team Leader Toolkit" focused on preparing us for different aspects of the team leader position, each booklet dedicated to a specific role, including Coach and Mentor, Team Captain, Project Manager, Trail Boss on Spikes, and a booklet on Project Areas.  I'm delving into the rest of the reading this week.  I've also a received a copy of the schedule, and as expected, we hit the ground running as soon as we get there, similar to last year, at the start of my Corps Member year.

The schedule starts on January 7th.  My plane from Logan Airport leave early that Thursday morning to arrive in Baltimore an hour and half later.  From there I'll head over to Perry Point for in-processing and the start of TLT (Team Leader Training).  Meanwhile, the attempted regimen continues of eating well (most of the time) and exercising... I'm sure physical training will be no less intense than it was last year.


Which reminds me... time to adjust to waking up early again.  My internal alarm clock has gotten and later and later on this well-needed break.  Guess I'll have to start using a real one.  Here we go!

AmeriCorps NCCC - Part 2: Team Leader

The journey hasn't ended. After an incredibly exciting, challenging, eye-opening, and rewarding year of service with the National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) of AmeriCorps, I have been offered and have accepted a position as a Field Team Leader with the program. I'll be coordinating the activities of 8-12 corps members on a team of people, aged 18-24, in service projects that typically last around 6-8 weeks in the areas of disaster relief, environmental and energy conservation, education, and urban and rural development, and unmet needs. Throughout, I'll be traveling with my team to various places in the country to strengthen communities.

I know I've got a busy year ahead of me, but it's the opportunity of a lifetime that I can't wait to begin. I hope to keep as consistent of an account as possible considering the inevitably crazy schedule that's coming my way. As a Corp Member with NCCC last year, I was able to reflect on my experience weekly for 10 months, and I'm so happy I did as a part of Class XV. I plan share my experience as a part of Class XVI with this blog, so feel free to follow along.

The AmeriCorps experience continues on January 7th, 2010. What have I gotten myself into? Well, a year later, I now have a much better idea, and I can barely wait to get going...