New Beginings

On Tuesday I received a call from AmeriCorp, officially asking me if I was interested in serving. I of course said yes, but was in shock. I had to listen to the message twice before I finally understood what they were asking. When I had called the day before, they had asked me if I would still be interested in serving should a spot become available. I had three days to get ready! It was pretty crazy, since I had people to contact and last minute shopping to do to get ready for this next adventure. I flew to my new home in Vinton, IA on Friday, and the chaos began. This week is what is known as in processing-getting all the paperwork taken care of, meetings to go over policies and expectations, and fittings for our uniforms. We are placed into a temporary team. We eat our meals with them and go to meetings at the same time. Tomorrow we get our official group assignments, and these are the people that we will be with for the remainder of our stay. Monday starts CTI- Corp Training Institute, where we get certifications in CPR and first aide, participate three days a week in physical training, and get the skills necessary to go out into the field and start our term of service. This is going to be an amazing adventure. It will be challenging, and I have so much to learn (and of course I'm not just talking about learning how to navigate the complex tunnel system), but I know that I am going to come away from this ten month experience with new skills, new friends, and more confidence in myself and my abilities as a leader. I will post more as things start rolling, but hopefully this post provides the reader with some information as to what I have been up to since arriving in my new home.