People have been saying for years that it helps to have connections in the job search process. Well, today, I believe it with all of my heart. After TWO MONTHS of sending out resumes and cover letters into the abyss, meeting with hiring managers and principals, agency heads and teachers, I received a call yesterday from a former supervisor of mine from my corps member days.
"What are you doing these days?" asks he.
"I am actually looking for full-time work at the moment." says I.
"When are you available to start?" asks he.
"Immediately, the teachers would love to have you back." he replies.
So yeah, I basically got a job because I knew the teachers that were looking for an assistant. The job was never posted, and I had my name and number in the hands of the principal and AP. That's sheer job-search luck folk, and a timing issue. But am I complaining? Heck no. I'm happy for the opportunity, and more than THRILLED to be going back to my AmeriCorps school site. It's like going home all over again. Seriously, these are the people that welcomed me in to the state of Minnesota when I was such a newcomer. I feel like they are my second family. It will be great to work with all of them again. It will be great to see and work with these kids (all grown up now as fifth graders!) again in a different light. I am pumped.
I know for sure on Monday what the details are. Until then, be at peace!
Showing posts with label life after AmeriCorps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life after AmeriCorps. Show all posts
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Can you believe that there was a time I wrote this much?
This is another one of the posts where I take a look back to NCCC. This is actually getting quite fun to do, believe it or not.
8/12/06
I suppose everyone needs a lazy day now and then. That's exactly what today was. And it did feel good. No PT, no ISP, no any other useless acronym loved by our wonderful federal government. We are now in Waveland, MS enjoying a few days off. A bunch of us are going to a block party in Bay St. Louis tonight, and they are ready to go now, so I am going to sign off for now and complete the entry later...
8/13/06
So our team has arrived in Waveland, Mississippi and has enjoyed a weekend off settling into our Quanset huts and cots, going to the "block party" in Bay St. Louis, and seeing Taladega Nights today and going to the bookstore. I think we are eagerly awaiting our first day of work at Harrison County Long Term Recovery Committee for our orientation tomorrow. I don't know how I feel about office work either. Half of me says I'd rather be doing the physical labor work that so desperately needs to be done down here, but the other half of me says that I'm smart to be avoiding the heat and if there really is work that needs to be done in this office than maybe we are the people that need to be doing it. And it did occur to me recently that it might be nice to "hide behind a computer" and appease my introverted side for a few weeks.
I'm trying to tell myself so frequently to take days one at a time and soak up every moment possible from that day. I might come out with some pretty sweet skills at the end of this (volunteer management, data entry, office database stuff, etc.) but I can't let me get ahead of myself. There is so much to absorb her, starting with our drive to our housing on Friday (our month anniversary as a team, btw, of which we celebrated with a gov't.-funded dinner at the local Chinese buffet, yum!)
But driving to our housing we continued on the road we turned onto after turning of I-10 until said road (I can't remember the name now) come to a T-end with a road running parallel alongside a beach. the beach is unswimmable due to debris in the water, a sign warns. I don't really see the debris from the a car, though. we drive a few mils along the beach before turning right at a church (or what used to be a church but is now a quanset hut not unlike the ones that comprise our current living/dining quarters for the month.)
A sign reads "Katrina was big but GOD is bigger." Running along the beach today (Sunday morning) I marveled at the traffic coming to and from the hut that makes the sanctuary of the church. It's still going strong, with no physical permanent structure, almost a year after the Great Storm. The "camp" we're staying is called "Camp Sunshine" and was created as classrooms to the church, but the church is letting AmeriCorps members use them for the time we are here. They feel like tents, w/air conditioning, and I am slowly getting used to the cots. I had to assemble cot #2 after the first night of squeaking and almost impaling myself on one of the springs.
Cot #2 is much sturdier and w/the matress pad it's rally not much worse than the tent beds at camp that I slept in for 6-weeks running during any given summer. Good Stuff. I just can't move much while I sleep. I'll learn to adjust. I actually like it a lot BECAUSE it reminds me of camp. No e-mail or cell phone to worry about, clothes sprawled out beside my cot and only my book and journal and letter-writing stuff to worry about. It's great. I just hope our work matches up and is equally fulfilling.
I find myself getting into moments where I have to stop and think "who knew last year that in a year I'd see myself living in a 15-passenger van w/10 other people having amazing experiences helping fix whatever ails the country?" and then I have to pinch myself for fear of this all being a dream. But it's not, and so I have to stop and admit that this is the happiest I've been in a year. No matter how nervous I am or can get around my teammates, I really can't ask for a better opportunity. So I am about to embark upon 9 more months. Of learning. Of fun. Of happiness and responsibility. Of wonder. Those are some hefty expectations.
This is my journal. This is my journey. I don't know where this journey will lead, but I'm going to let my gut lead me, metaphorically. This is my journey...I'm excited!!!
8/12/06
I suppose everyone needs a lazy day now and then. That's exactly what today was. And it did feel good. No PT, no ISP, no any other useless acronym loved by our wonderful federal government. We are now in Waveland, MS enjoying a few days off. A bunch of us are going to a block party in Bay St. Louis tonight, and they are ready to go now, so I am going to sign off for now and complete the entry later...
8/13/06
So our team has arrived in Waveland, Mississippi and has enjoyed a weekend off settling into our Quanset huts and cots, going to the "block party" in Bay St. Louis, and seeing Taladega Nights today and going to the bookstore. I think we are eagerly awaiting our first day of work at Harrison County Long Term Recovery Committee for our orientation tomorrow. I don't know how I feel about office work either. Half of me says I'd rather be doing the physical labor work that so desperately needs to be done down here, but the other half of me says that I'm smart to be avoiding the heat and if there really is work that needs to be done in this office than maybe we are the people that need to be doing it. And it did occur to me recently that it might be nice to "hide behind a computer" and appease my introverted side for a few weeks.
I'm trying to tell myself so frequently to take days one at a time and soak up every moment possible from that day. I might come out with some pretty sweet skills at the end of this (volunteer management, data entry, office database stuff, etc.) but I can't let me get ahead of myself. There is so much to absorb her, starting with our drive to our housing on Friday (our month anniversary as a team, btw, of which we celebrated with a gov't.-funded dinner at the local Chinese buffet, yum!)
But driving to our housing we continued on the road we turned onto after turning of I-10 until said road (I can't remember the name now) come to a T-end with a road running parallel alongside a beach. the beach is unswimmable due to debris in the water, a sign warns. I don't really see the debris from the a car, though. we drive a few mils along the beach before turning right at a church (or what used to be a church but is now a quanset hut not unlike the ones that comprise our current living/dining quarters for the month.)
A sign reads "Katrina was big but GOD is bigger." Running along the beach today (Sunday morning) I marveled at the traffic coming to and from the hut that makes the sanctuary of the church. It's still going strong, with no physical permanent structure, almost a year after the Great Storm. The "camp" we're staying is called "Camp Sunshine" and was created as classrooms to the church, but the church is letting AmeriCorps members use them for the time we are here. They feel like tents, w/air conditioning, and I am slowly getting used to the cots. I had to assemble cot #2 after the first night of squeaking and almost impaling myself on one of the springs.
Cot #2 is much sturdier and w/the matress pad it's rally not much worse than the tent beds at camp that I slept in for 6-weeks running during any given summer. Good Stuff. I just can't move much while I sleep. I'll learn to adjust. I actually like it a lot BECAUSE it reminds me of camp. No e-mail or cell phone to worry about, clothes sprawled out beside my cot and only my book and journal and letter-writing stuff to worry about. It's great. I just hope our work matches up and is equally fulfilling.
I find myself getting into moments where I have to stop and think "who knew last year that in a year I'd see myself living in a 15-passenger van w/10 other people having amazing experiences helping fix whatever ails the country?" and then I have to pinch myself for fear of this all being a dream. But it's not, and so I have to stop and admit that this is the happiest I've been in a year. No matter how nervous I am or can get around my teammates, I really can't ask for a better opportunity. So I am about to embark upon 9 more months. Of learning. Of fun. Of happiness and responsibility. Of wonder. Those are some hefty expectations.
This is my journal. This is my journey. I don't know where this journey will lead, but I'm going to let my gut lead me, metaphorically. This is my journey...I'm excited!!!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Delving into the past, part 100
I realized yesterday that the THIRD anniversary of SILVER 7 AmeriCorps*NCCC Class XIII is quickly approaching, and to honor that I got out my journal from July 2006 and began looking at all the entries from that first week on campus. Oh how far I've come as a human being at the mere age of 27. (I was only 24 then, after all!) But seriously. It's my own cringe series, thanks Tigi. Enjoy!
This entry is from a journal I started on July 11, 2006, my beginning of my AmeriCorps*NCCC adventure. The idea in reliving it is to look at old patterns of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks (since this program is where I learned of my struggle with all three) and to see how far I've come since then and determine where I need to go from there.
7/11/06
11:05 pm
I'm here. Nothing very exciting yet though apparently I'm so tired I can't even get the right endings on my verbs. (I crossed off exited before writing exciting.) My room looks like college part II, though I think these rooms are in slightly worse condition than Creswell Hall's if that's at all possible. Ha! My roommate hasn't actually shown up yet, so for tonight I have the room entirely to myself. Which is nice. I had a nice time unpacking and fixing things while listening to music on my mp3 player. Its sort of like summer camp. I met my team leader, and she seems sweet and smart. A bit on the energetic side, but I guess that's what one wants in a team leader. My feet HURT from the day. I wore my cheap flats with my skirt, and they absolutely tore my feet apart entirely, so for the first couple of hours I'm here I was kinda glazed over.
I'm also trying to remember to take this experience ONE day at a time and not get ahead of myself or worry about events too far in advance. I introduced myself to my team today as OCD and organized. And then later in the meeting someone asked for the address and I just shot it out. Some guy on the team said "we're giving everything to her to remember from now on." (Or something to that effect, which made me feel good that my neurotic tendencies might actually be put to good use and appreciated here. Maybe.
Flight here was delayed, so we didn't actually get here until 6:30ish, giving us enough time to throw luggage in room and grab a PB&J for dinner and get on to meetings. Met several nice folks at the airport, but I haven't actually seen them since stepping off the van. Tomorrow's a long day of intro stuff, and I'm really tired and would like to read my magazine before drifting off to sleep, so I think I will sign off and revisit feelings tomorrow, whenever. (I'm loving this new journal, it actually has lines!) And while I am aware that I still have some of my sketchbook to finish off, I'll be doing most of my WRITING writing in here for obvious reasons. I maybe flipping back and forth between the two out of guilt and a OCD need to finish one journal before starting another.
Is it too soon to tell if I'm the loner yet? I have such loner tendencies, I don't want them, but I fear I'm going to develop them and fall into the same patterns I'm used to. Must remember to take life one day at a time. Indeed. Signing off for the night! Good night! :)
Is that not the most pathetic piece of writing you've ever read?
This entry is from a journal I started on July 11, 2006, my beginning of my AmeriCorps*NCCC adventure. The idea in reliving it is to look at old patterns of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks (since this program is where I learned of my struggle with all three) and to see how far I've come since then and determine where I need to go from there.
7/11/06
11:05 pm
I'm here. Nothing very exciting yet though apparently I'm so tired I can't even get the right endings on my verbs. (I crossed off exited before writing exciting.) My room looks like college part II, though I think these rooms are in slightly worse condition than Creswell Hall's if that's at all possible. Ha! My roommate hasn't actually shown up yet, so for tonight I have the room entirely to myself. Which is nice. I had a nice time unpacking and fixing things while listening to music on my mp3 player. Its sort of like summer camp. I met my team leader, and she seems sweet and smart. A bit on the energetic side, but I guess that's what one wants in a team leader. My feet HURT from the day. I wore my cheap flats with my skirt, and they absolutely tore my feet apart entirely, so for the first couple of hours I'm here I was kinda glazed over.
I'm also trying to remember to take this experience ONE day at a time and not get ahead of myself or worry about events too far in advance. I introduced myself to my team today as OCD and organized. And then later in the meeting someone asked for the address and I just shot it out. Some guy on the team said "we're giving everything to her to remember from now on." (Or something to that effect, which made me feel good that my neurotic tendencies might actually be put to good use and appreciated here. Maybe.
Flight here was delayed, so we didn't actually get here until 6:30ish, giving us enough time to throw luggage in room and grab a PB&J for dinner and get on to meetings. Met several nice folks at the airport, but I haven't actually seen them since stepping off the van. Tomorrow's a long day of intro stuff, and I'm really tired and would like to read my magazine before drifting off to sleep, so I think I will sign off and revisit feelings tomorrow, whenever. (I'm loving this new journal, it actually has lines!) And while I am aware that I still have some of my sketchbook to finish off, I'll be doing most of my WRITING writing in here for obvious reasons. I maybe flipping back and forth between the two out of guilt and a OCD need to finish one journal before starting another.
Is it too soon to tell if I'm the loner yet? I have such loner tendencies, I don't want them, but I fear I'm going to develop them and fall into the same patterns I'm used to. Must remember to take life one day at a time. Indeed. Signing off for the night! Good night! :)
Is that not the most pathetic piece of writing you've ever read?
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Learning to love my life after AmeriCorps
For the past three weeks, I have been substitute teaching at day care centers around my area as a way to make a few extra dollars while figuring out my next big move. It's not the most glamourous work out there, nor is it the cleanest. I have been spit on, peed on, bitten, clawed, tugged, pooped on, and the list goes on from there. Sure, there are the moments when you get to actually play with children, but those are few and far between. I can't help but think this whole thing would be easier if I just got up and moved to another country. Even if I was working the daycare scene, it would be OK because I would be in FRANCE. Or Spain. Or England. Well, you get the picture.
I've had such a great two years in AmeriCorps it seems like doing this is such a let down from that. I'm not growing or challenging myself in the ways I need to be productive. But at the same time I am in school again, and that feels good.
Does any one have any tips for surviving this transitional stage of my life? What next? Can anyone relate? Share your stories now. Was there a time in your life when you thought you were being stifled creatively in your career? What did you do about it? I'd like to hear from the HUB world about finding your dream job.
Let her rip!
I've had such a great two years in AmeriCorps it seems like doing this is such a let down from that. I'm not growing or challenging myself in the ways I need to be productive. But at the same time I am in school again, and that feels good.
Does any one have any tips for surviving this transitional stage of my life? What next? Can anyone relate? Share your stories now. Was there a time in your life when you thought you were being stifled creatively in your career? What did you do about it? I'd like to hear from the HUB world about finding your dream job.
Let her rip!
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