From the Village to 9H

What's now been three weeks has felt like three months, with the Corps members arriving in just over a week.  We've had a variety of trainings so far, with one week left to prepare; it's time to really put everything together and hit the ground running faster now.

It's been an eventful week.  After of incredibly fun weekend with the Team Green staff, the men of the Raven Unit began the move to Building 9H, where we will live in a dorm-like setting for the year.  9H was once a hospital here at the VA, and we are gradually transforming it into the dorms that will house the Raven and Badger unit corps members once they arrive.  It's quite a change from the village, where we began, living in houses with individual kitchens, living rooms, etc.  But having been here for a week now, I can see that a sense of community will build fairly easily.  It's a lot like going back to college, with a common room and a dining hall, known here as our "dayroom" and giant "kitchen" which has several cooking areas.

The Raven Unit will live on the second floor, and the Badgers will take up the first floor (Wolf Unit is living in the village), each floor with their own dayroom, kitchen, laundry room, etc.  It will be an interesting experience; the 7 of us on the Raven Unit will essentially act as RAs, in true college fashion, as opposed to last year when TLs and Corps members had their own houses.  We're setting up a TL lounge, a place for us to congregate, or escape at times, if necessary.

The Raven TL gentlemen reside in a room on one wing of tyhe building, so the three of us will be the point of contacts for that end.  The 4 Raven ladies reside in the other wing, and will head up th eother half of the building.

Better get going, though.  We've got a lot of cleaning to do, much furtniture to move, and a good amount to inventory and label with our kitchen kits.  And launndry's got to get done at some point today.  More to come when the moment frees itself up...

Myers Briggs Test - ESFJ

So a few of us are relaxing tonight at a fellow TL's house, and we've gotten pretty engaged in a discussion on Myers Briggs, a test that's been around for a long time that determines your personality type.  A few of us have taken it before, but it has been awhile, so we all took the test respectively tonight online after searching for it.

It was interesting finding out our results, and how it compared to others.  There are a total of 16 personality types, and a couple of matches within the group.  It was particularly interesting in determining our leadership styles, considering it may describe how we'll interact and function as leaders this year.  According to the test, I am an ESFJ.

The test can be taken right here: Human Metrics - Myers Briggs Test.

MLK Day Parade in Baltimore

Baltimore City!  About 50 degrees and sunny.  As a part of the National Day of Service, we drove into Baltimore to walk in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade, representing AmeriCorps and the NCCC.  It turned out to be a blast, as there was a huge turnout from spectators and the collective enthusiasm of our group combined with that of the crowd.

We're back at the Point now, winding down to begin another week of training.  More to come soon!

Week One Update

Lots happening here at the Point.  First full week of training just wrapped up.  Some great training on supervisory skills with a lot of application to the NCCC.  Team Green has been getting to know each other pretty well, especially within our Units.

We're all exhausted, both from supervisory training and physical training, so the weekend's here just in time.  Next on the schedule is the MLK Day parade, where we travel to Baltimore and walk in the parade representing AmeriCorps NCCC.

Just received news of the disaster in Haiti earlier this week.  It's hard to fathom the magnitude right now.  Since it is a crisis outside of the US, this wouldn't be something they would deploy us for, as this is specifically National Service, but they are looking into ways we can help from here.

More to come soon.  Things are busy and happening.  Happy weekend!

Raven Pride

Raven Unit, at our "Unit Reveal" - My unit for the year, as revealed on Monday

The Point is poppin'!  And as you can see, it's been a week and I'm still as uncool as ever.  But it has been busy here, and it will only get busier as we go along.

I arrived at Baltimore/Washington International Airport last week after a brief 1-hour flight from Boston.  A shuttle to the Point brought me back to ol' Building 15 where I met up with the staff and received the keys to my house.  The first day was fairly easy-going, and ended with grocery shopping and settling into our new houses.  I've got four other roommates, all from various parts of the country, a great group of guys I've gotten close with quickly.  There's no better start than having a living space with people you get along with well.

After a laid back weekend, we were prepared for our first day of training on Monday.  It's been pretty busy, considering the hours of training, the coordination and driving of vehicles, our physical training schedule, paperwork, physicals, and meetings; not to mention, a 3-mile run around the Point last night with a few other members of staff at pace much faster than my norm. Needless to say, I'm pretty tired, as is the rest of Team Green, but it is the kind of schedule that keeps me energized.

Four weeks of solid training ahead, and more blogs to follow!

Packing, Preparation, but no Pressure for Perry Point

Team Leader Training is three days away.  I don't really have a considerable amount of packing to do, as I've stored clothing at Perry Point in November.  However, in three days' time after realizing what I need, or equally do not need but want to bring with me, that may change.  But consolidating and minimizing is my first challenge of year, one of many to come, and this may be the easiest.

I know a bit of what to expect, based on my first year of service , but I also know, and have been told, to expect this to be a fairly intense and challenging year, and I'm only going to really experience that intensity as it happens.  In other words, the hardest parts will be the unexpected: situations or issues that arise on a close-knit team working a busy schedule, traveling often, and being attached at the hips for ten months straight.  Oh, and not to mention, being responsible for the well-being and success of these 10 or so individuals in their year of service.  No pressure, right?  Fortunately, I don't find myself getting deflated very easily this upcoming year.  I know what my team can and will get out of this experience, and I know how to give it to them.  They've got to get something out of it.  At the very least, I'm sure we could win confidently in a mean game of 11-legged race.

What's next?  Well, we'll see.  The training will commence, we'll begin our traveling, and we'll help and change communities for the better.  A whole lot will happen in between and during as part of service, so all I can do now is prepare and look forward to it.

Until then, I'm posting this video as I did on my previous blog; it is called the Lost Generation, and it always puts me in that service mind-set.  It's still relevant to everyone, I think, and not just the young person's perspective.