We'll All Be Free and Proud To Be

So when negativity surrounds, I know some day it’ll all turn around

All my life I’ve been waiting for, I’ve been praying for

That we don’t  wanna fight no more, They’ll be no more wars and our children will play

One day we'll all be free and proud to be
Under the same sun singing songs of freedom

Not much has changed here since my last post. Same old same old…. Oh wait, just kidding. Everything has changed. The savages aka the Corps Members (CMs) have come and they have completely taken over. They roam around this campus as if they’re the only human beings in the world; they act as though the rules and policies don’t apply; THEY’RE CRAZY!!! Okay, maybe they’re not that bad, but for real there are a lot of CMs on campus now and from a TL stand point, it’s pretty weird. Last Tuesday marked the official end of TLT and began CTI (Corps Training Institute) and thus began the beginning of one very long week.

As I have told you before, we are not put into our permanent teams immediately. Instead, we are put into temporary teams known as Pods. We had our Pods for exactly one week before we took an assessment and then were placed with other members according to our skill sets and these would become our permanent teams. Last week was full of lectures on policy and standards along with uniform issuance and boot fittings. Apparently in the week time that the CMs have been here, the Green Machine has gained quite a reputation. I believe it’s because we are the best Unit around, but the others seem to think it’s because we have an intense chant that we do at community meetings and because we always dress our CMs in the same uniform and we are (allegedly) the strictest Unit. Regardless of all these facts, my Pod ruled. We (mostly) functioned like a well-oiled machine: always getting to trainings on time- I mean, we had a few minor setbacks, but we still crushed it!- always looking super sharp in our uniforms and not a single written incident report (WAY TO GO POD 16, REPPIN!!) To be quite honest, I’m nearly positive that my Pod had the most pride… I mean, “pod 8 pod great” had their moments and Pod Team Lyly might have made their own Facebook page, but my Pod wrote me Valentines about how amazing we were and that was one their SECOND DAY. But alas, our time together had to end. :’(

And now I sit here writing after an already long day waiting for the clock to hit 8:30 when I am going to go to the grocery store for the third time this week. These past two days with my permanent team have really tested my limits and they have shown me just how much I learned during TLT. I honestly never thought I could be a strict team leader because, seriously it’s me, but since my supervisors have taught me so well, it’s becoming progressively easier to be confrontational and take control of situations. Basically what I’m saying is that Green 5 is having some struggles. Regardless of these setbacks and incidents, we push forward and I genuinely see my team coming together throughout the year and growing together and working towards a singular goal.  Some highlights of the week, (other than getting my Team) include meeting with our FEMA mentor to talk about our specific jobs and what it will really mean to be a Public Assistant at a JFO. We also got certified in First Aid and CPR, which is pretty cool because I have never been certified in either of those before. On Friday, we had a community meeting here on campus, which is the only time when all staff and corps are in the same room at once. The Regional Director gave a speech about what being on a team means and the standards of NCCC. He also gave a short talk about attitude and how important it is to have a good attitude when working with your team. Later that same day, the Green Unit was introduced to their Unit Leader and he gave a similar talk. I think these talks hit home with my team in particular because by the end of the day they were bonding and sharing stories about their lives before AmeriCorps. It’s amazing what a good attitude will change about people.

The “AmeriBubble” has captured us all and is holding on for dear life. On Fridays when the work week is done the TLs generally find a time to hang out all together because we don’t see each other much during the week. While we’re hanging out, the conversation usually starts about work, then someone will interrupt and say “let’s not talk about work or the corps” and then we move on for about 5 minutes before it always gets back to work. It’s definitely an interesting life out here, but I am genuinely enjoying it. I realize that this has not been the most informative or exciting blog post, but at this point I am so tired of talking about work that I just need a minute to decompress.

I chose this song because on Thursday I was really having a rough day with my pod and one of my friends told me to listen to it. The lyrics really struck a chord and I realized I needed to stop beating myself up about the difficulties I was having with my team. It also fits into the theme of AmeriCorps and how we are getting things done for America to better our country.

So You Sing Along

Trying not to think about turning around,

Trying not to be lost in sound but that song is always on

So you sing along

I can't live without you, I can't live without you, baby...

...The highway don't know you're alive

The highway don't care if you're coming home, but I do, I do

(The song has no relevance to anything, but it's SOOOOO GOOD and it has Taylor so <3 <3)

I know you’re all probably wondering where I have been because it’s been such a long time since I wrote anything or probably spoke to most people who read this blog. Well, let me start off by saying that don’t worry I’m fine! Everything here is going great and I’m having a ton of fun! I know what else you’re wondering:  what could I possibly be so busy with? And when do I actually do work or talk about FEMA?? Well, I’m about to give you a breakdown of all the lectures, classes, and policy reviews I’ve been going through. To start off, I should probably attempt to paint you a little picture of what my day to day life is like here in Sacramento.

There are two types of mornings around here: mornings we have PT and mornings we get to “sleep in” aka wake up at 6:30 instead of 5am. So say it is a Thursday here at McClellan Park (that’s the name of the campus, it used to be an Air Force base). On Thursdays we have PT from 6-7 in the morning, which is planned by a committee of 6 TLs who have taken on the role of PT coordinator for my Unit -Let’s back up again…. In AmeriCorps each group of members is broken up into multiple Units which are then broken up into multiple teams. For FEMACorps there are four units: Blue, Green, Gold, and Silver and each unit has 5 teams plus a Support Team Leader who will act as an extra support and service while we are out on deployment. For the remainder of the year I will be Green 5. My Unit Leader’s name is Josh and he is by far the best of the four ULs. Just to give you all the players around here my unit consists of myself, Ali, Andy, Lyly, Colleen, and Jessica. I honestly think that the Green Machine is the best Unit here and that I am going to be able to learn a lot and rely a lot on my fellow TLs in and outside of my unit.

Ok, so now that those basics have been covered, let’s get back to a typical Thursday. After PT, which can be anything from yoga to weight lifting to sprint-jog-walk , we go back to our dorms to take showers. The campus is big, but NCCC only uses four of the buildings. I live in building 946, but will be moving into building 947 on Tuesday to accommodate corps members. Both buildings are just dorms with one kitchen in them. The other two buildings are 943 and 922 (yes, we have to call them by their numerical names at all times, it gets kinda annoying.) 922 is all of the offices on campus, so I really only go there to see my UL or check mail or get room keys, things of that nature. 943 is where we have been spending the majority of our time here in Sacramento. 943 is basically just one big room that has nothing in it until we set up tables and chairs. It also has a large area in the very back that has 16 kitchens and is where we will start cooking dinners once the CMs arrive. So after I eat breakfast and shower I put on my khaki cargo pants that are 2 inches too short, my green t-shirt and/ or hoodie (making sure to tuck the t-shirt in), and my black belt and head over to 943 where the day begins promptly at 8am. Around 8am a faculty member will stroll in, read us a STEW (encouraging words on being a leader), and then our lectures begin. Recent lecture topics include: policy handbook training, team leader 201, discipline, and safety; riveting subjects as you can imagine. About once or twice a week we take a break from the lectures and have a more informal approach at teaching leadership. For example, last week we had mental health first aid and this week we had diversity training as well as corps health. These trainings all teach us a lot, but they include more group discussions and are more pertained to real life scenarios. After about 3 cups of coffee and fidgeting more than a toddler in my seat, it is usually about time for lunch. All 23 TLs walk from 943 back to 946 and make our lunches. 23 people making lunch in one small kitchen. It’s more fun than I can even put into words….not., but alas we work through it.

After lunch we head back to 943 for more discussion or lecture. Once a week we have “Week in Review” after lunch. This is just a trivia game that the ULs put on to make sure we are paying attention to the topics. The day ends around 4:30 or 5pm and the Green Machine generally has a small muster with Josh before heading back to the dorms to eat dinner and make a plan for the evening.

I just realized I haven’t explained our food routine to you! Well, now it’s about to get exciting on this blog woooo!!! There are five food groups among the TLs which are sectioned off by last name. In my food group there is Amber, Allison, myself and Chris. We go grocery shopping about once or twice a week and decide what kinds of foods we like (there is a lot of variety because we all eat everything and not one of us is a picky eater, so that’s pretty cool) then we work together to prepare, cook and clean up the meals. On a typical Thursday we will make dinner around 6 or 7 and then clean up the kitchen. Eventually we all look at each other and say “should we go to karaoke tonight?” and the answer is usually YOLO!!!! And we end up at the hotel bar which is all of 20 yards away and sing karaoke for the remainder of the night. Fridays we wake up and do it all over again except we end with PT instead of starting!

Well now that you’re all cleared up on my day to day life schedule, allow me to tell you exactly (or what the TLs have figured out to be true) about what I’ll be doing while here at FEMACorps. For a long time, we were frustrated. When I say a long time, I mean the three weeks prior to this week. Let me explain why: we all came out here with the mindset of being a FEMACorps team leader, however, while sitting in lectures and talking to staff it seemed that we had been given mixed signals. Our uniforms are green just like the Traditional NCCC and we take all the same trainings and we learn nothing about FEMA, not even when we ask specific questions. We were getting quite annoyed with everyone telling us to “be flexible” and that “FEMAcorps is a new program. We are working out the kinks” or that “it depends” and other such vague statements. Well, I think our mindsets all changed one day after having a roundtable discussion with the Regional Director of the Pacific Region Campus. He told us that we do have to be flexible because FEMACorps is a new program and they are working out the kinks, however, FEMACorps isn’t even a real thing because it is technically AmeriCorps NCCC- FEMA. That means the majority of our training will be the same as the traditional program because the “FEMACorps” is simply a branch off of it. They are the same except instead of focusing on projects only in the Pacific Region, we will be working with FEMA and going where ever a disaster maybe. So, it dawned on us that perhaps we were being too hard on this program; I mean, it isn’t even a year old and we are the very first class to experience it in Sacramento- we are the pioneers!

Eventually, the FEMA liaison and our Unit Leaders had a real talk with us and spelled out what we will be doing in the very near future and it looks a little something like this: On February 12, the Corps Members will come to Sacramento for Corps Training Institute or CTI. We will have three weeks where we prep them, get them acquainted with the program, meet their units, their teams, etc etc. In early March we will pack up our 15 passenger vans with all of our stuff and head to New Mexico for three weeks to be trained to work for FEMA. The CMs will be badged and given laptops and blackberrys (or as Dana calls it: blacktops.) After three weeks of training and badging, we will drive our vans from New Mexico to New York to start working in Joint Field Offices (JFO) or Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC). There are about 6 different jobs the CMs will have and each team will be assigned one job. For example, Green 5 could be part of the public affairs team (not sure exactly what this means, but we will learn that within the next week.) As a TL my job will be just to oversee and manage my individual team while working alongside FEMA managers. So, as it turns out we will not be mucking and gutting homes on the Jersey shore for the next 11 months, but that’s okay. At first we were a little resistant to this idea, but once it was explained out to us and we realized the opportunities that can come with working directly with FEMA supervisors, we warmed up to the idea and now are looking forward to our new jobs. I will hopefully be writing more frequently now that I have a computer I can actually use. Talk to y’all soon!