A Great Start

Day 1:

When I arrived at the CCC headquarters on Monday April 28, I was excited and nervous and had just stopped crying. I got to the building a little early so I did my best to prepare myself for a new job. When I walked in, I was greeted by a CCC corpsmember who told me he would call my new supervisor and that I could have a seat while I waited. The door opened and three people walked through. I introduced myself to Tony Vasquez, my direct supervisor, Craig Zeff, the former VISTA programmer and now a CCC analyst, and Susan Jones, the current VISTA programmer. Essentially all three employees will be direct supervisors of a VISTA at headquarters. Tony immediately said, “do you drink coffee because I’m taking you to get some right now.” The three of us walked a few blocks and came to a Peet’s Coffee Shop. Tony said it was tradition that he buy the new VISTA a coffee on their first day. I was excited because I had only had a little bit of stale hotel coffee before that. The three of us chatted on the way back and they got to know a little about me and what experience I have/ what I am looking forward to in Sacramento. I learned a little about them, as well. Tony is about 35 with red hair and a beard. He is laid back, but organized and very intelligent. I think he will be a good supervisor for me, mainly because he likes to crack jokes with people. Craig is about the same age and will be the supervisor for Scott, who I met at pre-service orientation. Susan is super chill and really nice. She told me we were going to be lunch buddies… we’ll see about that. Her thoughts might change when she notices that I generally pack my lunch and it’s salad, pretzels, and an apple.

Once we got back to the office, Tony showed me my new cubicle and how to sign onto the network. The previous VISTA who had my job left me with a lot of material on what she did and where I can expect to pick up. She was VERY organized, which is probably for the best for me! I’ll be sharing my cubicle with Scott for a little bit until the CCC stops making their new hires and then we should be able to have our own space. I don’t think I’ll mind having to share though, cubicles can get awful lonely- not to mention my back is towards the opening of it, so I can never see when someone is standing there.

After I got acclimated with my own personal area, Tony came to show me around the office and introduce me to people. I think I met just about everyone and remember about 5 names. One woman I met is named Trish. Before arriving for my first day, I had received a few emails in my personal account about a lunch meeting with some staff at AmeriCorps NCCC (my old campus from last year). I thought it was funny because Trish, the sender of the email, obviously did not know that I was a former NCCC team leader. When I was introduced to her yesterday, she stated that she was attempting to connect the two agencies, so I told her about my previous year. She was so excited she literally started jumping up and down. She said that she was at my NCCC graduation and couldn’t believe that I was actually a Team Leader. I hope to help her build a strong relationship between the two because both do really great work! We will be attending a lunch meeting with NCCC staff on May 5^th, but until then the CCC is keeping it quiet that I will be there. It should be fun!

After lunch time, I focused on getting more acquainted with the materials I had and trying to gain a feel for what the CCC is all about and how I can help their members. Tony came by to my office about 2:30 to help me navigate the computer and Microsoft office. I am used to working on a Mac or on a FEMA laptop equipped with an old version of the programs. He showed me how to create meetings on my calendar, gave me access to look at his agendas, and how to find people in the CCC address book. He then took me around the office a bit more, introduced me to more people, showed me printers, and a lot more. By the end of the day I was slightly overwhelmed, but still excited and motivated. At first glance, it seems that my year will be filled with meetings, emails, and building strong connections through both. Last years VISTA focused solely on apprenticeship programs, but Tony wants to revamp the curriculum and change my focus to apprenticeships AND career transitioning. Overall, I think this year will give me a better idea of how to work independently on projects and be more accountable for my own work. It should be an interesting year.

Day 2:

Day 2 started out a little stressful. I couldn’t find a parking spot and I was going to be 5 minutes late. Luckily I found one just big enough for the mini right when I was going to give up and put my car in two hour parking. Phew! Tony was out of the office for the day because his wife is sick, but he has given me tasks to do while he is gone. Not that he really needed to, I have enough learning and organizing to do! Tomorrow Scott, the other VISTA, will be beginning work, as well as the VISTA leader, Katie. I am excited to have some other VISTAs in the office to bounce ideas off of.