Decide What to Be and Go Be It

There was a dream and one day I could see it
Like a bird in a cage I broke in and demanded that somebody free itAnd there was a kid with a head full of doubt
So I'll scream til I die and the last of those bad thoughts are finally out

There's a darkness upon you that's flooded in light
And in the fine print they tell you what's wrong and what's right
And it flies by day and it flies by night
And I'm frightened by those that don't see it

Let me tell you about the day Green 5 crushed life so hard. It all started at 5:30am on a cool but clear Friday morning. Green 5 awoke with fire in their eyes and determination in their hearts. We knew it was going to be a long day, but we were mentally and physically prepared. Baseline started with a bang when my team blew their previous scores out of the water. If you recall, baseline is the physical fitness testing that corps members and team leaders go through three times a year. It consists of two minutes of pushups, two minutes of sit ups, a mile and half run, and finally the sit and reach test to measure flexibility. My team crushed it; I crushed it, too on Wednesday evening when I had my second baseline of the year. I took an entire minute off of my run time! Okay, but back to Friday. I stood on the corner cheering on the corps members during their run and doing random jumping jacks and singing “Eye of the Tiger” for motivation. I saw so many CMs pushing themselves and really trying to beat previous times. It was awesome to see two Green 5 team members running together and motivating each other; especially because they were the two I didn’t think would get along very well due to conflicting personality types and what not, but they proved me wrong on Friday-  a theme that played out throughout the day.

So, after demolishing baseline we showered up and headed over to 943 for a training called ‘structured team building’ which sounded like forced team bonding aka torture. HOWEVER, we were wrong…. Sort of. I mean, it was basically forced team bonding, but it was so fun! We played Human Knot where you connect hands of the members in your group and have to untangle yourselves. The first time we did it we were allowed to talk and it was genuinely amazing to see how my team communicated with each other and who took charge. In the end, we had to interconnected circles, which apparently doesn’t happen a lot, but BOOM Green 5 did it; surprising me yet again. The second time we did it we were not allowed to talk, which was super hard and unfortunately time ran out before we were untangled. The next challenge was called Helium Stick. The facilitator gave us a very thin wooden dowel and we had to lower it to the ground, but we were only allowed to use the sides of our pointer fingers. There is no hooking fingers around the dowel and everyone’s fingers must be touching the stick at all time. I had played this game before and had not succeeded, so I was ready for disappointment, but alas I WAS WRONG AGAIN. As a team we discussed ways to get the stick lower because as everyones fingers stay on the stick it inevitably rises. Finally, we realized that if we put half of our fingers on the top of the stick and the other half stay on the bottom side of the stick we could control it better. We got it to the ground in about less than a minute, way before any other teams did. We then tried to do it again, but only keeping our fingers on the bottom of the stick and were unsuccessful. It was a great moment for Green 5 though because previous to this we weren’t known for our team bond- basically, we were the underdogs of the day. We had somehow gained the reputation of being the least connected team. After Helium Stick we went outside and played some other team building games. One included having to fit our team into a small taped area of a tarp. We also had to use string and a bungee cord to move a bucket and finally walk on a certain number of paper plates to avoid stepping on the pavement. I realize that this probably all sounds really confusing, but I am hoping you can understand what kind of activities we played that would build our team chemistry. The point isn’t the games, the point is the communication and working together. My team walked away from Structured Team Building with a better sense of conflict resolution and communication techniques, which I think we will really use when we start working at FEMA.

After team building we headed over to the football field for AmeriOlympics. Unfortunately, Green 5 did not champion in AmeriOlympics, but we are the kind of team that just wants to have fun and play because we don’t think winning is everything. At AmeriOlympics, we competed in such events as a 3-person-4-legged race, a sack race, a boot toss, an egg on a spoon race (which we did win!), and finally the team leaders had to participate in a PPE race. PPE is Personal Protective Equipment, so we ran about 50 feet and had to put on coveralls, a hard hat, protective eye glasses, and a safety vest and then run back to the start line. I did not win this event, but we still had a lot of fun. One of my corps members made up a Green 5 chant that we sang at each event and it goes “Never stop, never slow, G5 G5 G5 GO!” It’s pretty epic, to say the least. The next training we had was based on something called an ILP which is an Individual Learning Plan and it is a tool used for setting goals for the year. My team and I sat on the grass and discussed possible goals they have about education or life after AmeriCorps or PT. It was a great time for us to talk about what we are all really hoping to get out of the program and it gave us all insight into how we can work together to help each other reach our goals. It was also nice because it calmed everyone down after being jacked up from the Olympics. The last training of the day was called the Newly Team Games and yes, it was a team version of the Newlywed Game. Josh, the Green Unit Leader, asked questions such as “which team member is most likely to be found at Chuck E. Cheese?” The corps members were split in half and stood across the room from each other. They picked the name of the teammate they thought best fit the scenario, walked to the center of the room, and tried to match the other half of the team. (I’m assuming everyone knows how the Newlywed game works, so sorry for the poor explanation.) Other questions included “most likely to find AmeriLove,” “most likely to motivate the team for PT,” “most likely to be on a reality TV show,” and other such scenario questions. My team had a lot of fun playing this game and it was funny to see who they picked for each question.

Friday was fun-filled and it never seemed to stop. Post trainings, we had a community meeting where we showed off our Green Unit chant again because the Green Unit is awesome and then we had a catered BBQ dinner which was SO BOMB. Seriously amazing doof. The best part of the day came after dinner when the Team Leader Peer Helpers organized a “pie a TL” event. Allow me to preface this by telling you that on Thursday night I drove my 15 passenger van to Walmart to purchase 20 cans of whipped cream (some light, so not too much sugar!). My friend Dana and I stood in the dairy aisle for a solid 10 minutes discussing the most cost efficient way of buying so much whipped cream. At one point we had 3 other customers discussing the possibilities with us. So at 6:30 on Friday evening, we put our pride behind us, put on old t-shirts, protective eye glasses (which turned out to be pointless), and allowed our CMs to throw plates of whipped cream at our faces. It was literally the most hilarious , yet disgusting thing I’ve ever been a part of. Of course in the end it just turned into the TLs putting whipped cream on the plates and chasing each other around and pushing it into others faces. It was a great day, even if I still smell like moldy whipped cream. Last Friday really solidified my confidence in my team that I had been skeptical about prior to the activities. It was a real learning and growing experience that was necessary before we head out to our first service project.

Monday marks the end of traditional CTI training for us and Tuesday begins our FEMA specific trainings. On Friday morning we will pack up our vans with all our stuff and head down to Artesia, NM for even more FEMA training. We will drive for three days and make two overnight stops and arrive on Sunday between 2 and 4pm. It’s crazy to think that I will be leaving Sacramento because I have gotten so comfortable here. It’s also weird to think that in two weeks I will be completely alone with just my team. I think my friend Andrea said it best the other day when she said that at the beginning of TLT she just wanted to get her team and start our projects and not have to worry about all these trainings, but now that it’s approaching and after all our bonding it’s a weird feeling to leave and go out on our own. I’m still excited, obviously, and wouldn’t be out here in the first place if I didn’t want to do the actual work, but it’s bittersweet. I have made so many close friends out here and in two weeks we will be separated and scattered throughout the country. I’ll only have the seven Green 5 members to rely on at my immediate disposal. It’s going to be challenging, but I’m prepared- nervous, but prepared. I plan on writing another blog this week explaining so other details about FEMA, my upcoming trip, and maybe more about the actual Green Unit because I think it’s the most important part of my time in Sacramento and I’m sure you’re all confused as to what it actually is.

The song for this post is by The Avett Brothers who I have been basically listening to nonstop since moving to California. I first heard this song back in college while studying in the library and I stopped everything I was doing to listen to the lyrics because they are so meaningful. In my opinion, they can fit into everyone's life at some point. He writes about having hope even in the darkness. "Like a bird in a cage, I broke in and demanded that somebody free it." He sees the potential, just like I see in Green 5. I may have had a head full of doubt before last Friday, but I know now that there is a road of promise ahead of us and we are going to make these next nine months amazing. If there was still any lack of confidence on my part, my team has since proved me wrong and this song has helped.