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.