Monday through Friday my team and I spent the week working on CodeRed. CodeRed is an automated warning service for the city of Vicksburg. If an alert of any sort is made in the city of Vicksburg (fire, police, missing persons, etc), CodeRed will issue an automated message to be sent via phone to each telephone number that has registered for the service. WeatherWarn is also can be included in the automated message. The WeatherWarn message would be issued from the National Weather service when a weather emergency is in the area. Our role for the week was verifying local business information then calling each business to see if they would be interested in signing up for the service. Throughout the week I noticed that the majority of the businesses declined the service. I was surprised by this response because the service is free, and above all the service is providing each business with a sense of enhanced security and protection. Why would anyone decline a free service? On a lighthearted note, friday afternoon my team and I played a game of softball against another team on campus. I even managed to hit the ball each time I was up to bat!! Take that Baseball Wii!! Once again I’m bummed that I did not encourage myself to play sports growing up!! Goodness I missed out on a lot of fun experiences.
Saturday was another relaxing day. No matter how hard the other days of the week may try, saturday will always be my favorite day of the week. Becca and I have gotten in the routine of watching movies while we lounge around in our pajamas for most the day. We take breaks for lunch and dinner, then normally resume to our movie.
Sunday Jocelyn, Becca and I decided to rotate churches and attended a Methodist church. Of the few that I’ve been to so far in Vicksburg, I think I liked the Methodist service the least. I didn’t really get anything out of it, but nonetheless I’m proud of myself for opening my eyes to other denominations. Afterwards the three of us partook in the weekly tradition of lunch at McAlisters. I will definitely miss that restaurant after these 10 months!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Week 7 (September 14 - September 20)
Monday morning Becca and I met up with one of her friends from church at the local coffee shop called Sugar Rush. The coffee shop was adorable and it made me remember how one of my many dreams in life is to one day open my own coffee shop. Afterwards Becca and I drove north to Montgomery to do a little shopping before we headed back to campus. Before shopping Becca and I stopped for lunch at Panera. Goodness did I miss Panera! As we were shopping I was surprised to see that each store was displaying their fall line of clothes. I didn’t expect the south to ever carry anything warmer than a long sleeve shirt! Becca however kindly reminded me that now that I have become used to the heat, I will probably be wanting to wear a sweater when it drops to 60 degrees. Goodness I’m turning more and more into a southerner! Watch out!! After our quick shopping spree we headed back to campus. Directly on our way back we passed the town where our good friend Salina is stationed for her first project. Becca and I decided that it was necessary to make a stop in the town and surprise her. Surprising her was an understatement. She literally jumped in the air when we surprised her in the kitchen while she was making dinner. It was so nice to spend an hour catching up with her even though it would have been nicer to have been able to stay longer than an hour. After enjoying our weekend thoroughly Becca and I came to the
conclusion that we need to take a mini road trip at least once each round. The weekend was a great refresher :D
Tuesday through Friday my team and I continued painting the curbs around Vicksburg. This past week the majority of homes that we painted were boarded up and abandoned. The sight of these homes definitely made me realize just how poor Mississippi is. I’m glad that there is finally an AmeriCorps campus in Vicksburg. Hopefully each upcoming class that is stationed in Vicksburg will continue to serve Mississippi and bring a sense of hope and strength with them that they can then pass on to the citizens of Mississippi.
Wednesday after work my team and I played soccer against one of the other teams that is also staying on campus. I hadn’t played soccer since gym class in
middle school yet I found myself having a lot of fun! Playing soccer made me realize that I should have joined a soccer team while I was growing up! Oh well, I guess I could join an intramural team once I figure out what I’m doing with my life.
Thursday after work the teams that are staying on campus were invited by the local theatre to see “The Best of Broadway III”. The show consisted of a variety of songs from musicals such as Music Man, Man of La Mancha, Annie Get Your Gun, and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. I felt like I was back in Michigan while I sat in the audience!! It was such a refreshing and familiar feeling that made ms so happy! I definitely felt in my element and couldn’t help myself
Friday ending up being an all around fun day! In the morning my team and I drove around trying to find more neighborhoods to paint. At lunch time my teammate Lan was surprised with an opportunity to ride in a fire truck! She was beyond excited to say the least. This whole round she has been talking about how she’d love the opportunity to ride in a fire truck. During our lunch break, my team and I headed over to one of the local fire stations and enjoyed personal pizzas that were purchased for us by our sponsor. It’s amazing how extra tasty pizzas can be when you’re used to eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day. While at the station, a few of us even tried on the fire fighter uniforms. Goodness their uniforms are hot and heavy!! After lunch our day was cut short due to a rain storm. Mother nature does work in our favor every once in awhile :D
Saturday was a typical ISP kind of a day. Instead of participating in an ISP I decided that an “Alleigh Day” was way overdue. I ended up watching a few chick flicks before going shopping with Jocelyn for “church clothes”. I ended up purchases a pair of cute wedges, and 4 shirts. What can I say, this girl likes to shop! Later on I accompanied Becca to the bar to cheer on Auburn.
Sunday I finally attended my first Catholic mass with Jocelyn. The church was gorgeous and quite large!! One whole wall was decorated with stained glass and the church had an upper balcony where the choir sang! Overall my experience was great and I was happy to feel a sense of familiarity. I hope that I’ll have the opportunity to go to the church again. Afterwards Jocelyn, Mike and I went to McAlisters for lunch. McAlisters is quite similar to Panera and is turning into one of my favorite places to eat. It may turn into a weekly place to eat lunch after church.
conclusion that we need to take a mini road trip at least once each round. The weekend was a great refresher :D
Tuesday through Friday my team and I continued painting the curbs around Vicksburg. This past week the majority of homes that we painted were boarded up and abandoned. The sight of these homes definitely made me realize just how poor Mississippi is. I’m glad that there is finally an AmeriCorps campus in Vicksburg. Hopefully each upcoming class that is stationed in Vicksburg will continue to serve Mississippi and bring a sense of hope and strength with them that they can then pass on to the citizens of Mississippi.
Wednesday after work my team and I played soccer against one of the other teams that is also staying on campus. I hadn’t played soccer since gym class in
middle school yet I found myself having a lot of fun! Playing soccer made me realize that I should have joined a soccer team while I was growing up! Oh well, I guess I could join an intramural team once I figure out what I’m doing with my life.
Thursday after work the teams that are staying on campus were invited by the local theatre to see “The Best of Broadway III”. The show consisted of a variety of songs from musicals such as Music Man, Man of La Mancha, Annie Get Your Gun, and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. I felt like I was back in Michigan while I sat in the audience!! It was such a refreshing and familiar feeling that made ms so happy! I definitely felt in my element and couldn’t help myself
Friday ending up being an all around fun day! In the morning my team and I drove around trying to find more neighborhoods to paint. At lunch time my teammate Lan was surprised with an opportunity to ride in a fire truck! She was beyond excited to say the least. This whole round she has been talking about how she’d love the opportunity to ride in a fire truck. During our lunch break, my team and I headed over to one of the local fire stations and enjoyed personal pizzas that were purchased for us by our sponsor. It’s amazing how extra tasty pizzas can be when you’re used to eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day. While at the station, a few of us even tried on the fire fighter uniforms. Goodness their uniforms are hot and heavy!! After lunch our day was cut short due to a rain storm. Mother nature does work in our favor every once in awhile :D
Saturday was a typical ISP kind of a day. Instead of participating in an ISP I decided that an “Alleigh Day” was way overdue. I ended up watching a few chick flicks before going shopping with Jocelyn for “church clothes”. I ended up purchases a pair of cute wedges, and 4 shirts. What can I say, this girl likes to shop! Later on I accompanied Becca to the bar to cheer on Auburn.
Sunday I finally attended my first Catholic mass with Jocelyn. The church was gorgeous and quite large!! One whole wall was decorated with stained glass and the church had an upper balcony where the choir sang! Overall my experience was great and I was happy to feel a sense of familiarity. I hope that I’ll have the opportunity to go to the church again. Afterwards Jocelyn, Mike and I went to McAlisters for lunch. McAlisters is quite similar to Panera and is turning into one of my favorite places to eat. It may turn into a weekly place to eat lunch after church.
Week 6 (September 7-September 13)
The week started off with a day off because of Labor Day. Definitely was nice to have the day off!! Days off are definitely not taken for granted!! A few of my teammates and I decided to check out the China Buffet in town for lunch. As I was eating I noticed that my stomach shrunk a lot! I used to love Chinese food and now I barely have an appetite for it. Nonetheless it was quite delicious and a very nice change from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In the afternoon my team and I had to come up with our personal PT goals. My goal for the first round is to be able to run a full mile and a half as well as be able to do complete sets of each exercise (sit ups, push ups, squats) without tiring out. After we created our goals my team and I worked out together. Our PT session consisted of running around the soccer field and doing different exercises as we completed each lap. By the end of the session I had ran close to a mile and half!! Considering I’m far from a runner, I was quite happy! At the rate I’m going I think that there is a good chance that I will be able to achieve my first round goal.
Tuesday through Friday my team and I spent each day working on our project. As a whole we all felt exhausted by the end of each day only really having enough energy to have dinner together. You would think walking around neighborhoods all day wouldn’t wear you out, but it does! The combination of hills, the hot and humid heat, and the constant crouching down by each curb can definitely wear you out. Each day I made sure that I found appreciation in the every day things that I came across. Never would have expected that I’d find myself smiling and appreciating each cloud that would cover the sun for a few minutes or the slight breeze that would always come at the most needed time. I also found it funny how each day was either a dog or cat day. A few times we would even find stray cats and dogs following us around the neighborhoods.
Saturday morning Becca and I decided to take a weekend trip to Alabama. Becca is from Alabama and needed to take a trip there to renew her driver’s license. Considering I have never been to Alabama before I decided it would be a great idea to travel along with her! Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Becca and I have become really good friends over the past few weeks. On the way to Alabama Becca and I found it really nice to be able to choose what kind of music we wanted to listen to. I also forgot what it was like to travel in a car where I could sit in the front seat, stretch my legs, not have to worry about 10 other people and not feel like I was always in the largest vehicle on the road. After 6 hours of christian and country music we arrived in Andalusia, Alabama and headed to Becca’s house where I met her parents, brother, and grandmother. Her family instantly accepted me into their home :D Andalusia is small town, probably around the size of Ogunquit. Once we got situated we went to Old Mexico for dinner where I was able to enjoy real Mexican food. It was nice being able to order my own meal and not have to worry about sharing it or waiting for 10 other people to eat. After dinner we headed back to Becca’s house and cheered on the Auburn War Eagles while we enjoyed Dairy Queen ice cream. According to Becca the south really enjoys their college football teams. The rivalry between teams tends to be consistent wherever you go in the south. Becca is a such a huge fan of Auburn University that she will only eat pairs of the orange and blue M & M’s. Becca’s family may be an exception however of the southern football experience. Becca and her mom can have a normal conversation, break out in a cheer for their team, and then return to the conversation as if nothing ever happened. After watching a game with them I’ve decided that one of my goals before the end of my “Ameriexperience” is to perfect my football game watching etiquette.
Sunday morning I went to a Presbyterian church with Becca, her brother and her mom. The three of them sing in the choir each weekend and they invited me to sing with them. I energetically accepted their invitation with a smile because it reminded me of singing with my own church choir back at home. During the service the congregation warmly welcomed me and the choir director even told me that I was welcome to come back and sing with them anytime. After church we had a quick lunch at home before Becca, her mom and I decided to go see the Time Traveler’s Wife. Their theatre was even smaller than the theatre in Wells and the movie ticket was only 5 dollars!! Later on Becca’s dad cooked a traditional southern style meal! We had country fried steak, real mashed potatoes, red beans, and green beans. The meal may have been one of the best that I’ve had since I’ve been in the south. If I ate like that every day I’d be one happy yankee! After dinner Becca and I headed to a Penecostal church for their Sunday night service. My goodness was I in for a surprise. The service began with praise and worship and then the minister/pastor preached from the bible with a large amount of enthusiasm. The service reminded me of the one that is on television each week that I normally flip by because it’s a little too animated for me. Overall it was nice to experience a service that is far different from the mass that I am used to and I was proud of myself for stepping out of my religious comfort zone.
Tuesday through Friday my team and I spent each day working on our project. As a whole we all felt exhausted by the end of each day only really having enough energy to have dinner together. You would think walking around neighborhoods all day wouldn’t wear you out, but it does! The combination of hills, the hot and humid heat, and the constant crouching down by each curb can definitely wear you out. Each day I made sure that I found appreciation in the every day things that I came across. Never would have expected that I’d find myself smiling and appreciating each cloud that would cover the sun for a few minutes or the slight breeze that would always come at the most needed time. I also found it funny how each day was either a dog or cat day. A few times we would even find stray cats and dogs following us around the neighborhoods.
Saturday morning Becca and I decided to take a weekend trip to Alabama. Becca is from Alabama and needed to take a trip there to renew her driver’s license. Considering I have never been to Alabama before I decided it would be a great idea to travel along with her! Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Becca and I have become really good friends over the past few weeks. On the way to Alabama Becca and I found it really nice to be able to choose what kind of music we wanted to listen to. I also forgot what it was like to travel in a car where I could sit in the front seat, stretch my legs, not have to worry about 10 other people and not feel like I was always in the largest vehicle on the road. After 6 hours of christian and country music we arrived in Andalusia, Alabama and headed to Becca’s house where I met her parents, brother, and grandmother. Her family instantly accepted me into their home :D Andalusia is small town, probably around the size of Ogunquit. Once we got situated we went to Old Mexico for dinner where I was able to enjoy real Mexican food. It was nice being able to order my own meal and not have to worry about sharing it or waiting for 10 other people to eat. After dinner we headed back to Becca’s house and cheered on the Auburn War Eagles while we enjoyed Dairy Queen ice cream. According to Becca the south really enjoys their college football teams. The rivalry between teams tends to be consistent wherever you go in the south. Becca is a such a huge fan of Auburn University that she will only eat pairs of the orange and blue M & M’s. Becca’s family may be an exception however of the southern football experience. Becca and her mom can have a normal conversation, break out in a cheer for their team, and then return to the conversation as if nothing ever happened. After watching a game with them I’ve decided that one of my goals before the end of my “Ameriexperience” is to perfect my football game watching etiquette.
Sunday morning I went to a Presbyterian church with Becca, her brother and her mom. The three of them sing in the choir each weekend and they invited me to sing with them. I energetically accepted their invitation with a smile because it reminded me of singing with my own church choir back at home. During the service the congregation warmly welcomed me and the choir director even told me that I was welcome to come back and sing with them anytime. After church we had a quick lunch at home before Becca, her mom and I decided to go see the Time Traveler’s Wife. Their theatre was even smaller than the theatre in Wells and the movie ticket was only 5 dollars!! Later on Becca’s dad cooked a traditional southern style meal! We had country fried steak, real mashed potatoes, red beans, and green beans. The meal may have been one of the best that I’ve had since I’ve been in the south. If I ate like that every day I’d be one happy yankee! After dinner Becca and I headed to a Penecostal church for their Sunday night service. My goodness was I in for a surprise. The service began with praise and worship and then the minister/pastor preached from the bible with a large amount of enthusiasm. The service reminded me of the one that is on television each week that I normally flip by because it’s a little too animated for me. Overall it was nice to experience a service that is far different from the mass that I am used to and I was proud of myself for stepping out of my religious comfort zone.
Week 5 (August 31 - September 6)
Monday began with the official ribbon cutting ceremony for our campus. The Chamber of Commerce of the town was generous and donated bicycles to our campus so that we can travel around town on our own. The hospitality from the different departments in town is simply amazing. During the afternoon my team and another River team traveled to Redwood Baptist Church and dug trenches for an outdoor pavilion that they want to install for different activities involving the youth. Most of the day my assigned task was raking the top of the dirt in order to properly level the ground. While raking I felt as if I was playing in a large zen garden. On a side note, I’ve noticed that with every project I work on I try and find something small to smile about. The zen garden idea really helped me focus and stay lighthearted throughout the project. While working the sponsors unexpectedly provided us with a really nice lunch. After our project we had a pizza party and enjoyed one of the last nights on campus with everyone.
Tuesday was the day of our induction. I am now an official member of AmeriCorps. Goodness! Starting tomorrow my team and I will be “getting things done” by beginning our project in downtown Vicksburg. After induction my team decided to have dinner at the Biscuit Company in downtown Vicksburg. It’s always a nice change in the routine to go out to dinner. By this point the dynamic of the team is really coming along nicely. I am excited to hopefully get to know each one of my teammates on a deeper level during this first round. It should be possible considering each day we will be split into groups of two.
Wednesday the majority of the teams left for their first round projects - definitely made for a sad start to the day. I will definitely miss both Salina and Zach a lot because I spent every day of the past few weeks with them. We’ve definitely created a great friendship thus far and I’m excited to see how it will progress throughout the first round of projects. My team however is one of the few teams that will be staying on campus. I am anxious to get to know people that are on the other teams staying with us on a closer level. I’m glad that they will be on campus - without them it would be a quiet and eerie two months!
After a few last minute good byes, my team and I headed downtown to the fire department that is sponsoring our project. Each morning we will report to the station and receive our assigned neighborhood for the day. Along with the map of the neighborhood, our team will also be assigned a private that will drive around during the day to make sure that we have enough supplies and water. After receiving our supplies we headed to our first neighborhood. In a nutshell, my team and I have a very simple project. We are split up into white paint and spray paint groups. The white paint groups go around and paint a white rectangle on the curb. Once the white paint is dry, the spray paint groups stencil the black numbers onto the curb. The sponsor who planned the program estimated that we would complete 17 and a half houses a day. Our first neighborhood was supposed to take us one whole week and we finished it in one single day. Talk about a fast and efficient team!! Although we have a simple project I have a feeling we will still be worn out by the end of the day from all the walking and bending and squatting that we will be doing. Once we got back to the campus at the end of the day we had to help move beds from the dorms we all have been living in over to the new dorm that the Delta teams will be staying in. Talk about one long day!! I also found out that I won’t be moving out of my room for the first round. I will stay in my room and have my room to myself. I also plan on enjoying every minute of the personal time that I get this round because I imagine that I will be stuck in one room with all the girls on my team the remaining three rounds.
Thursday - day two of our lovely project! Today we were assigned the largest neighborhood of our project. The neighborhood was planned to take 2 weeks to complete and my team and I happened to finish 90% of it in one day. At the rate we are going we are averaging one neighborhood a day! My team and I are beginning to get into a daily routine. Each day we work from 8:30-5 and then we come home and either have PT or get ready for dinner. We have been split up in teams of two to cook dinner each night. Those who can cook are paired with those who have less experience with cooking. I am anxious to see what kind of creative meals we will be enjoying because I have a lot of experienced cooks on my team. I have also already explained to my team that what I lack in cooking skills, I make up in baking skills. Hopefully at one point or another I can wow them with my delicious muffins and cookies that I know how to make.
Friday - day three of our project. By the end of the day we had completed our initial goal created by the sponsor of 608 houses. I wish that I would have been a fly on the wall when the sponsor was organizing our project. Did he imagine us getting on our hands and knees and coloring each white rectangle with white crayons? The proposed goal may have been way off, but in all actuality I‘m happy to have had a goal that was easy to obtain rather than a goal that could not be feasibly reached in 5 weeks. Once we got back from work my team and I evaluated our work performance and we came up with a new goal of painting 4,000 houses in 5 weeks. We believe that the new goal can be obtained because we seem to be averaging 225 houses a day.
Saturday and Sunday were spent working on an ISP project. The project took place at an organization called Jacob’s Ladder. Jacob’s Ladder is an organization that works with mentally disabled adolescents ranging from elementary age to high school. The students are educated by participating in hands on experiences as well as regular class time. A hands on experience for them would be practicing their math skills while grocery shopping. Many of the students also have part time jobs. The woman who ran the program opened the school back in 2001. With the economical problems she had been facing she told us that she is beyond thankful that her program was still running and successful. We volunteered to paint the outside of her building. The woman was very grateful that we were painting her building because without us she would not have had the funds to hire people. The house had not been painted for 9 years. We spent most of Saturday scraping the old paint off the house. Painters definitely don’t have an easy job! Even after two full days of work, we were not able to finish the house. Hopefully in the near future we will be able to go back and finish painting the sides of the house and the trim.
Tuesday was the day of our induction. I am now an official member of AmeriCorps. Goodness! Starting tomorrow my team and I will be “getting things done” by beginning our project in downtown Vicksburg. After induction my team decided to have dinner at the Biscuit Company in downtown Vicksburg. It’s always a nice change in the routine to go out to dinner. By this point the dynamic of the team is really coming along nicely. I am excited to hopefully get to know each one of my teammates on a deeper level during this first round. It should be possible considering each day we will be split into groups of two.
Wednesday the majority of the teams left for their first round projects - definitely made for a sad start to the day. I will definitely miss both Salina and Zach a lot because I spent every day of the past few weeks with them. We’ve definitely created a great friendship thus far and I’m excited to see how it will progress throughout the first round of projects. My team however is one of the few teams that will be staying on campus. I am anxious to get to know people that are on the other teams staying with us on a closer level. I’m glad that they will be on campus - without them it would be a quiet and eerie two months!
After a few last minute good byes, my team and I headed downtown to the fire department that is sponsoring our project. Each morning we will report to the station and receive our assigned neighborhood for the day. Along with the map of the neighborhood, our team will also be assigned a private that will drive around during the day to make sure that we have enough supplies and water. After receiving our supplies we headed to our first neighborhood. In a nutshell, my team and I have a very simple project. We are split up into white paint and spray paint groups. The white paint groups go around and paint a white rectangle on the curb. Once the white paint is dry, the spray paint groups stencil the black numbers onto the curb. The sponsor who planned the program estimated that we would complete 17 and a half houses a day. Our first neighborhood was supposed to take us one whole week and we finished it in one single day. Talk about a fast and efficient team!! Although we have a simple project I have a feeling we will still be worn out by the end of the day from all the walking and bending and squatting that we will be doing. Once we got back to the campus at the end of the day we had to help move beds from the dorms we all have been living in over to the new dorm that the Delta teams will be staying in. Talk about one long day!! I also found out that I won’t be moving out of my room for the first round. I will stay in my room and have my room to myself. I also plan on enjoying every minute of the personal time that I get this round because I imagine that I will be stuck in one room with all the girls on my team the remaining three rounds.
Thursday - day two of our lovely project! Today we were assigned the largest neighborhood of our project. The neighborhood was planned to take 2 weeks to complete and my team and I happened to finish 90% of it in one day. At the rate we are going we are averaging one neighborhood a day! My team and I are beginning to get into a daily routine. Each day we work from 8:30-5 and then we come home and either have PT or get ready for dinner. We have been split up in teams of two to cook dinner each night. Those who can cook are paired with those who have less experience with cooking. I am anxious to see what kind of creative meals we will be enjoying because I have a lot of experienced cooks on my team. I have also already explained to my team that what I lack in cooking skills, I make up in baking skills. Hopefully at one point or another I can wow them with my delicious muffins and cookies that I know how to make.
Friday - day three of our project. By the end of the day we had completed our initial goal created by the sponsor of 608 houses. I wish that I would have been a fly on the wall when the sponsor was organizing our project. Did he imagine us getting on our hands and knees and coloring each white rectangle with white crayons? The proposed goal may have been way off, but in all actuality I‘m happy to have had a goal that was easy to obtain rather than a goal that could not be feasibly reached in 5 weeks. Once we got back from work my team and I evaluated our work performance and we came up with a new goal of painting 4,000 houses in 5 weeks. We believe that the new goal can be obtained because we seem to be averaging 225 houses a day.
Saturday and Sunday were spent working on an ISP project. The project took place at an organization called Jacob’s Ladder. Jacob’s Ladder is an organization that works with mentally disabled adolescents ranging from elementary age to high school. The students are educated by participating in hands on experiences as well as regular class time. A hands on experience for them would be practicing their math skills while grocery shopping. Many of the students also have part time jobs. The woman who ran the program opened the school back in 2001. With the economical problems she had been facing she told us that she is beyond thankful that her program was still running and successful. We volunteered to paint the outside of her building. The woman was very grateful that we were painting her building because without us she would not have had the funds to hire people. The house had not been painted for 9 years. We spent most of Saturday scraping the old paint off the house. Painters definitely don’t have an easy job! Even after two full days of work, we were not able to finish the house. Hopefully in the near future we will be able to go back and finish painting the sides of the house and the trim.
Week 4 (August 24-30)
Monday began with PT…then surprise, surprise continued on with training! Today’s training was quite beneficial though. I found out today that if I take two online courses (six credit hours total), and attend a conference I could receive a non-profit management certification! This excites me because then I’d have the proper credentials needed to work for a non-profit. Every day I’m here my plans for after AmeriCorps are focused more and more on non-profit. On a food related note - my friends and I are at the point where we love the catering food, yet we could definitely use a change in menu!!! Thankfully I have friends who can cook and Becca cooked a great southern meal - chicken, rice, and green beans. It’s funny what a home cooked meal can do for the soul!!
Tuesday was a “travel around town” day for my team. In order to understand what my team did today, I’ll have to go into brief detail about my team’s round 1 project. The year as a whole is split up into different rounds. Each round is assigned a new project. For the first round my team along with a few other teams will be staying local. For the first five weeks my team will be assisting the local fire department. We will be painting home addresses on the curbs of homes in 5 different neighborhoods. Our initial goal is to paint addresses on 608 homes. Our project is a major priority and improvement for the city of Vicksburg. According to our sponsor, the city has been in need of these clear painted addresses for quite awhile. Due to our involvement with the Fire Department, my team and I went downtown today and were showcased during the daily town meeting. We introduced ourselves and spoke briefly about NCCC while our sponsor informed the community about the project. After the meeting our sponsor gave us a quick tour of the fire department that we will be working with in town. Once we got back to campus we had to meet as a team with the NCCC project coordinator and go over our debrief of our Round 1 projects. The debrief is a conversation basically explaining to the coordinator what our first round project will be. Afterwards we had more team time and a Leave No Trace training which was facilitated by one of my fellow Corps members. Afterwards, my friends and I continued on with our home cooked meals and made baked tacos for dinner. Oh goodness where they yummy! I can’t wait until we can actually cook our own meals as a team!
Wednesday was another long day. The whole corps spent the morning at the National Military Park outside getting rid of trees and bushes. There is an area of land that plays an important role in a past historical battle that the park would like to keep cleared in order to give better visual representation of the event. The River unit’s task was to clear the land. Needless to say the task was a lot harder than it looked. The whole time we were working on an incline which made it hard to pull trees, vines, and other debris out of the ground. During the afternoon we had more training that was focused around being a volunteer for New Orleans disasters. After the training we were cordially invited to attend an open house at an art gallery downtown. The Art Gallery is ran by H.C. Porter. Her art consists of pictures from the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The pictures are hard to describe, therefore I’ll just have you look at them in my album on Facebook. H.C. lived at the gallery as well. The second floor was her home and on the third floor she had a walk out roof. Most of us spent the majority of the time on her roof overlooking the city of Vicksburg. The artist also provided a live band and an assortment of snacks for us. The gallery definitely made for a fun and memorable night!!! Most of us broke out of our shells and enjoyed being away from campus for the night.
Thursday consisted of “AmeriOlympics” in the morning and then practicing for our team’s clearance meeting and finishing up other odds and ends in the afternoon before our first round of projects. The whole Corps is getting to the point where we are anxious to start our first round of projects. Although the month of training has been very beneficial, we all ready to get into the routine of our first round projects. On a happy and surprising note I have very thoughtful friends. My teammate and friend Becca baked me two homemade cakes tonight. Never in my life has anyone baked me two cakes for my birthday!
Friday..the day of my 23rd birthday! Goodness I feel old! Friday was definitely one long yet fun day! My birthday started crazy early with PT and then afterwards my team had to lead an all Corps community meeting. Halfway through the meeting, the whole Corps sang happy birthday to me which was definitely a nice way to start my day! Directly after the community meeting my team and I had our clearance meeting. The clearance meeting was similar to our debrief meeting. We had to describe to our unit leader our first project along with the personal projects that each permanent role will be conducting throughout the round. After our meeting the whole Corps traveled downtown to the convention center to rehearse our induction ceremony. It’s mind boggling to know that I’ve already gone through a month of training! I feel like it was just yesterday that I received the acceptance phone call. For my birthday dinner I decided that I wanted to experience more southern cooking. We ended up going to a restaurant called LD’s which supposedly has good southern food. I ordered the Catfish Poboy which is basically fried catfish on an Italian bun. Wasn’t great, but the whole southern restaurant experience was nice. My teammate Becca brought one of the birthday cakes with us to dinner for my teammates and me to enjoy. The cake was delicious!! My team bought me a picture frame that had a picture of our team in it from the night at the art show. My team leader was creative and ordered a pair of APO sandals for me. He and I were both a part of APO and I had told him how I wish that I owned a pair of sandals. :D He’s a very thoughtful team leader. After dinner a few of my teammates and I walked to the local bar. I hadn’t gone to the bar at all since I’ve been here so I thought it’d be nice to socialize with a few of my close friends in a different way. Afterwards I came home to a decorated room! My suitemate Trisha was bummed that she couldn’t go to the bar to celebrate my birthday so she went out and bought pink streamers, candy, and multi colored balloons and decorated my room. I have never had my room decorated before on my birthday so I was a really nice surprise! Along with everything that happened on campus for my birthday, my family also called and wished me a happy birthday! Playing back the voicemails throughout the day definitely put numerous smiles on my face :D More or less I’d have to say that is one of my favorite and memorable birthdays by far. It measures right up there with my surprise 16th birthday party!!!
Saturday and Sunday consisted of complete relaxation :D More or less I was tired from the long week that ended in my birthday so I felt the need to relax :D With all the preparation for our first round projects taking place none of the Corps members had the chance to put together any ISP projects for the weekend. Although it would have been good to obtain more hours, it was nice to have time to just socialize with everyone before we all dispersed for our round one projects.
Tuesday was a “travel around town” day for my team. In order to understand what my team did today, I’ll have to go into brief detail about my team’s round 1 project. The year as a whole is split up into different rounds. Each round is assigned a new project. For the first round my team along with a few other teams will be staying local. For the first five weeks my team will be assisting the local fire department. We will be painting home addresses on the curbs of homes in 5 different neighborhoods. Our initial goal is to paint addresses on 608 homes. Our project is a major priority and improvement for the city of Vicksburg. According to our sponsor, the city has been in need of these clear painted addresses for quite awhile. Due to our involvement with the Fire Department, my team and I went downtown today and were showcased during the daily town meeting. We introduced ourselves and spoke briefly about NCCC while our sponsor informed the community about the project. After the meeting our sponsor gave us a quick tour of the fire department that we will be working with in town. Once we got back to campus we had to meet as a team with the NCCC project coordinator and go over our debrief of our Round 1 projects. The debrief is a conversation basically explaining to the coordinator what our first round project will be. Afterwards we had more team time and a Leave No Trace training which was facilitated by one of my fellow Corps members. Afterwards, my friends and I continued on with our home cooked meals and made baked tacos for dinner. Oh goodness where they yummy! I can’t wait until we can actually cook our own meals as a team!
Wednesday was another long day. The whole corps spent the morning at the National Military Park outside getting rid of trees and bushes. There is an area of land that plays an important role in a past historical battle that the park would like to keep cleared in order to give better visual representation of the event. The River unit’s task was to clear the land. Needless to say the task was a lot harder than it looked. The whole time we were working on an incline which made it hard to pull trees, vines, and other debris out of the ground. During the afternoon we had more training that was focused around being a volunteer for New Orleans disasters. After the training we were cordially invited to attend an open house at an art gallery downtown. The Art Gallery is ran by H.C. Porter. Her art consists of pictures from the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The pictures are hard to describe, therefore I’ll just have you look at them in my album on Facebook. H.C. lived at the gallery as well. The second floor was her home and on the third floor she had a walk out roof. Most of us spent the majority of the time on her roof overlooking the city of Vicksburg. The artist also provided a live band and an assortment of snacks for us. The gallery definitely made for a fun and memorable night!!! Most of us broke out of our shells and enjoyed being away from campus for the night.
Thursday consisted of “AmeriOlympics” in the morning and then practicing for our team’s clearance meeting and finishing up other odds and ends in the afternoon before our first round of projects. The whole Corps is getting to the point where we are anxious to start our first round of projects. Although the month of training has been very beneficial, we all ready to get into the routine of our first round projects. On a happy and surprising note I have very thoughtful friends. My teammate and friend Becca baked me two homemade cakes tonight. Never in my life has anyone baked me two cakes for my birthday!
Friday..the day of my 23rd birthday! Goodness I feel old! Friday was definitely one long yet fun day! My birthday started crazy early with PT and then afterwards my team had to lead an all Corps community meeting. Halfway through the meeting, the whole Corps sang happy birthday to me which was definitely a nice way to start my day! Directly after the community meeting my team and I had our clearance meeting. The clearance meeting was similar to our debrief meeting. We had to describe to our unit leader our first project along with the personal projects that each permanent role will be conducting throughout the round. After our meeting the whole Corps traveled downtown to the convention center to rehearse our induction ceremony. It’s mind boggling to know that I’ve already gone through a month of training! I feel like it was just yesterday that I received the acceptance phone call. For my birthday dinner I decided that I wanted to experience more southern cooking. We ended up going to a restaurant called LD’s which supposedly has good southern food. I ordered the Catfish Poboy which is basically fried catfish on an Italian bun. Wasn’t great, but the whole southern restaurant experience was nice. My teammate Becca brought one of the birthday cakes with us to dinner for my teammates and me to enjoy. The cake was delicious!! My team bought me a picture frame that had a picture of our team in it from the night at the art show. My team leader was creative and ordered a pair of APO sandals for me. He and I were both a part of APO and I had told him how I wish that I owned a pair of sandals. :D He’s a very thoughtful team leader. After dinner a few of my teammates and I walked to the local bar. I hadn’t gone to the bar at all since I’ve been here so I thought it’d be nice to socialize with a few of my close friends in a different way. Afterwards I came home to a decorated room! My suitemate Trisha was bummed that she couldn’t go to the bar to celebrate my birthday so she went out and bought pink streamers, candy, and multi colored balloons and decorated my room. I have never had my room decorated before on my birthday so I was a really nice surprise! Along with everything that happened on campus for my birthday, my family also called and wished me a happy birthday! Playing back the voicemails throughout the day definitely put numerous smiles on my face :D More or less I’d have to say that is one of my favorite and memorable birthdays by far. It measures right up there with my surprise 16th birthday party!!!
Saturday and Sunday consisted of complete relaxation :D More or less I was tired from the long week that ended in my birthday so I felt the need to relax :D With all the preparation for our first round projects taking place none of the Corps members had the chance to put together any ISP projects for the weekend. Although it would have been good to obtain more hours, it was nice to have time to just socialize with everyone before we all dispersed for our round one projects.
Week Three! (AUGUST 17-23)
Monday started with lovely PT. Monday is always the hardest day for me to wake up at 5! Now that I’m into week three I’m definitely getting used to PT, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to waking up at 5. After PT we had training for our specialty roles that we will have for the rest of the year. In a nutshell I will be finding future sponsors in the area for projects, putting together a volunteer day each round of projects, and finding possible projects for my team to use as their ISP hours. After lunch we had “Safe Spaces Training”. Safe Spaces is in direct correlation with Disaster Relief shelters. A non-profit called Save the Children creates areas within shelters that are for children and assist them with education, physical activity and overall activities that allow them to be a kid. I definitely think that I could work for an organization like Save the Children. The women that were running the session were so enthusiastic about their jobs and the program that it made me really want to consider their type of work as a profession. We’ll see what happens. I’m just so happy and surprised that I have already found interest in non-profit organizations and I’m still only going through the motions of training - just wait until I actually start the different round of projects :D
Tuesday was probably the longest day of training to date. My team and I had to sit through a full day of Red Cross Disaster Relief training. My goodness was it long! I do give credit to the facilitators because they did try and make most of the training an open discussion, but still a day of sitting in the cafeteria makes for one very long day! I also received my very first package in the mail today :D My parents sent me a few things that I had left at home as well as my birthday present. I’m trying really hard though to wait until my actual birthday to open them, so we’ll see what happens! Tried to teach a few of my friends how to play Wizard - I forgot how competitive that game is! My goodness!! On a sad note, a lot of people are starting to get sick. A few people that I hang out with on a regular basis went to the doctor and were told that they either had a sinus infection or some sort of pneumonia. Easily getting sick is definitely a negative side of living with 144 people in such a small place. Thankfully though I have not caught anything yet since I’ve been doing a really good job of constantly washing my hands and not touching my face.
Wednesday was a very physical day. After PT in the morning, my team and I spent the day working on mini projects around campus. For the first half of the day we helped clear overgrown foliage and trees from the trails behind our gymnasium. The goal was to create a trail around campus for PT activities. I spent the morning lopping trees with my lovely lopper. I’ve come to the conclusion that working outdoors on trail work is not my favorite service project. Granted it is easy to see the type of impact you have made when working on trail projects - instant gratification with each area of land cleared - but I‘d be much happier serving in other ways :D To make for a funny morning my boots, my lack of balance and my loppers assisted in the “ditch fall” that I so casually partook in while lopping a branch near the ditch. The fall was definitely a great depiction of the complete lack of balance that I have. After lunch my team and I moved inside and painted one of the classrooms that we as corps members use on a daily basis. It seems that painting is a common project for my team. Lucky me I volunteered to clean the brushes and rollers at the end of the day. A power hose and Alleigh don’t exactly mix. I felt like I was on the show “Dirty Jobs” by the end of it!
Thursday consisted of team time and unit time. During team time my team members and I worked on finishing our team brochure, organized and put together our poster board for induction, and prepared for the brief about our round 1 project. After lunch we spent time with our River unit as a whole. We played a game similar to “Walk the Line” where you move in and out of the circle depending on if you fit the statement announced. This time around the game was much more “light hearted”. We also had time to come up with seven different chants for our unit team to chant. Considering my team is quite indecisive we came up with four team chants instead of one. For dinner AmeriCorps NCCC put together another BBQ for us. This time we had representatives from headquarters and other campuses included in the BBQ. Everyone seemed to be very excited and enthusiastic about the new campus. It’s definitely a nice feeling being a part of the very first class of the Vicksburg campus.
Friday we were supposed to spend the day working outdoors at the Military National Park but due to weather conditions we spent the day on campus in more training sessions. The first part of the morning we had team time downtown at the library. Becca and I decided to grab a coffee at Highway 61 then we walked around downtown for a bit. While downtown a few of the locals gave us suggestions about local organizations that would need our assistance. While talking to the locals we found out that most of them act as a family - they all work together and help one another. It definitely warmed my heart to know that I was living in a community where a sense of family and familiarity is appreciated and welcomed. After lunch we had Hurricane Katrina Disaster training. The training helped open my eyes to the disaster that I had only heard about and experienced on TV. Watching the video of actual footage and photos, and hearing stories about what NCCC volunteers did during the disaster made me realize just how traumatic the event was and how important my role as a NCCC Corps member can and will be during a future disaster.
Saturday I partook in my second ISP. This time around I was just a corps member. It was nice not having to get everything organized and be in charge of the corps members during the project. Our project was at the local Humane Society. Oh goodness did I have fun!! Our main role was to play and socialize with the animals, wash dogs, clean out the cat cages, and paint the outside of their kennel. I fell in love with a cute beagle named Snoopy. He was dropped off at the kennel on Friday and we instantly became buds. The poor dog did not like playing with the other dogs but he enjoyed being petted by people and curling up in their laps. The kennel only took in dogs and cats but during natural disasters they take in other animals as well. According to the manager they take in around 2,000 animals a year and the main reason why many animals are dropped off is because people don’t have the money to properly raise their animals. Also, during the last natural disaster they took in about 50 animals. It broke my heart seeing so many adorable animals stuck in cages all day. Thankfully though they are at a safe place and will hopefully be adopted! The adoption fee is only $75 and that even covers their medical care. Considering my team will be in Vicksburg for the next two months, I have a good feeling that we may be traveling back to Humane Society soon!
Sunday was once again another day of relaxation. Considering the corps members still do not have great access to vans there isn’t much else to do but relax.
Tuesday was probably the longest day of training to date. My team and I had to sit through a full day of Red Cross Disaster Relief training. My goodness was it long! I do give credit to the facilitators because they did try and make most of the training an open discussion, but still a day of sitting in the cafeteria makes for one very long day! I also received my very first package in the mail today :D My parents sent me a few things that I had left at home as well as my birthday present. I’m trying really hard though to wait until my actual birthday to open them, so we’ll see what happens! Tried to teach a few of my friends how to play Wizard - I forgot how competitive that game is! My goodness!! On a sad note, a lot of people are starting to get sick. A few people that I hang out with on a regular basis went to the doctor and were told that they either had a sinus infection or some sort of pneumonia. Easily getting sick is definitely a negative side of living with 144 people in such a small place. Thankfully though I have not caught anything yet since I’ve been doing a really good job of constantly washing my hands and not touching my face.
Wednesday was a very physical day. After PT in the morning, my team and I spent the day working on mini projects around campus. For the first half of the day we helped clear overgrown foliage and trees from the trails behind our gymnasium. The goal was to create a trail around campus for PT activities. I spent the morning lopping trees with my lovely lopper. I’ve come to the conclusion that working outdoors on trail work is not my favorite service project. Granted it is easy to see the type of impact you have made when working on trail projects - instant gratification with each area of land cleared - but I‘d be much happier serving in other ways :D To make for a funny morning my boots, my lack of balance and my loppers assisted in the “ditch fall” that I so casually partook in while lopping a branch near the ditch. The fall was definitely a great depiction of the complete lack of balance that I have. After lunch my team and I moved inside and painted one of the classrooms that we as corps members use on a daily basis. It seems that painting is a common project for my team. Lucky me I volunteered to clean the brushes and rollers at the end of the day. A power hose and Alleigh don’t exactly mix. I felt like I was on the show “Dirty Jobs” by the end of it!
Thursday consisted of team time and unit time. During team time my team members and I worked on finishing our team brochure, organized and put together our poster board for induction, and prepared for the brief about our round 1 project. After lunch we spent time with our River unit as a whole. We played a game similar to “Walk the Line” where you move in and out of the circle depending on if you fit the statement announced. This time around the game was much more “light hearted”. We also had time to come up with seven different chants for our unit team to chant. Considering my team is quite indecisive we came up with four team chants instead of one. For dinner AmeriCorps NCCC put together another BBQ for us. This time we had representatives from headquarters and other campuses included in the BBQ. Everyone seemed to be very excited and enthusiastic about the new campus. It’s definitely a nice feeling being a part of the very first class of the Vicksburg campus.
Friday we were supposed to spend the day working outdoors at the Military National Park but due to weather conditions we spent the day on campus in more training sessions. The first part of the morning we had team time downtown at the library. Becca and I decided to grab a coffee at Highway 61 then we walked around downtown for a bit. While downtown a few of the locals gave us suggestions about local organizations that would need our assistance. While talking to the locals we found out that most of them act as a family - they all work together and help one another. It definitely warmed my heart to know that I was living in a community where a sense of family and familiarity is appreciated and welcomed. After lunch we had Hurricane Katrina Disaster training. The training helped open my eyes to the disaster that I had only heard about and experienced on TV. Watching the video of actual footage and photos, and hearing stories about what NCCC volunteers did during the disaster made me realize just how traumatic the event was and how important my role as a NCCC Corps member can and will be during a future disaster.
Saturday I partook in my second ISP. This time around I was just a corps member. It was nice not having to get everything organized and be in charge of the corps members during the project. Our project was at the local Humane Society. Oh goodness did I have fun!! Our main role was to play and socialize with the animals, wash dogs, clean out the cat cages, and paint the outside of their kennel. I fell in love with a cute beagle named Snoopy. He was dropped off at the kennel on Friday and we instantly became buds. The poor dog did not like playing with the other dogs but he enjoyed being petted by people and curling up in their laps. The kennel only took in dogs and cats but during natural disasters they take in other animals as well. According to the manager they take in around 2,000 animals a year and the main reason why many animals are dropped off is because people don’t have the money to properly raise their animals. Also, during the last natural disaster they took in about 50 animals. It broke my heart seeing so many adorable animals stuck in cages all day. Thankfully though they are at a safe place and will hopefully be adopted! The adoption fee is only $75 and that even covers their medical care. Considering my team will be in Vicksburg for the next two months, I have a good feeling that we may be traveling back to Humane Society soon!
Sunday was once again another day of relaxation. Considering the corps members still do not have great access to vans there isn’t much else to do but relax.
Week Two
Week 2(AUGUST 10 - AUGUST 16):
Monday started off with our second PT session. It was a little bit easier getting up this time and I felt like I had more energy :D After PT we headed to Rolling Fork, Mississippi where the whole Corps partook in our first official service project!! Rolling Forks is a town that has 2,000 people - 200 of which are enrolled in the K-12 school. The town is definitely hurting economically but they still remain optimistic - for example, many of their downtown buildings do not have roofs but instead of being depressed they paint the front of the buildings to resemble a set from a movie :D My team’s task was painting the gymnasium of the school. We had to wash the fake wooden walls, tape off areas, and then prime the walls and staircases. Instructions were far and few, but we still managed to complete the majority of the task without any complications. The people that sponsored us were very friendly - a few people from the town even baked us sweets :D While painting the gymnasium the 7th grade football team began talking to us. A few of the boys even mentioned that they appreciated what we were doing. Their gratitude caught me off guard because I didn’t expect a group of 7th grade boys to appreciate our service so quickly.
Tuesday night was our first room inspection. It was simple cleaning of rooms and bathrooms and my room passed with flying colors :D My unit leader actually said that our bathroom was one of the cleanest ones that he had seen that night. So glad my hospitality skills were put to good use.
I was also given a POC (Point of Contact) position for an ISP (Independent Service Project)this week. The POC acts as the team leader for the designated service project. As a corps member we have to obtain 1,700 hours while we are a part of AmeriCorps NCCC and 80 of the hours have to be ISP hours. The project that I was assigned to was a annual fundraiser for the local Courthouse Museum in downtown Vicksburg, MS. They raised money for the museum by having a clay sporting event. Each person had to pay $100 in order to play in the event. As the POC I had to contact the sponsor as well as find 24-30 corps members to volunteer for the event. Thankfully this was the very first ISP that we have heard of, so many Corps members wanted to jump on the opportunity!
Wednesday’s training session was definitely filled with emotions. The majority of the day we partook in a diversity training. The training’s main focus was for us to understand the meaning of trust, and to get us asking deeper questions of ourselves so that we could begin to get to know our team on a more personal level. A portion of the training was titled “Walk the Line”. The instructor would ask a question, and for each time we agreed with the statement, we had to cross over to the other side. The questions started out simple, then became more and more serious and thought provoking. By the end I had felt sad and empathetic towards the members in my team, as well as sad feelings towards things in my past that were brought up by the questions asked. Although the session made us reach outside of our comfort zones to answer questions, I felt like it was definitely a powerful session and I feel like I know each one of team members a little bit better :D
Thursday and Friday consisted of more training…surprise, surprise :D I understand that the training is helpful, but at this point in time it’s getting pretty monotonous. I think it’s harder for me to sit through it because I have learned many of the concepts before or the information is common knowledge to me.
Friday morning was also when we had our Base Line Test (insert scary music here). We had to run a mile and a half, and do as many crunches and push ups that we could do in a minute. That was oh so fun!!! :D My only hope is that I improve the next time we have to complete the test.
On Saturday 30 of us drove to Tara Wildlife (an old abandoned runway) and spent the day assisting the sporting event. A dozen of us manned the triggers for the machines/traps, and a dozen of us wrote down the scores. A few people also spent time helping with registration as well as refilling the clay machines. The guys (and a few females) that partake in these events are very serious clay shooters! Many of them even brought their own ATV’s and 4 wheelers to drive around the event. While volunteering, we met a very friendly local named Buddy who gave us get recommendations of restaurants to try as well as rides on his ATV :D Buddy even let me DRIVE the ATV! Oh goodness was I excited! I was squealing with joy the whole time I was on the ATV.
Sunday once again was a very relaxing day. Had breakfast and DELICIOUS coffee at McDonalds. I didn’t realize how much I missed good coffee until I had McDonalds. Mmm…it was heaven. The rest of the day consisted of lounging around and reliving the Disney childhood by watching Pocahontas and Beauty and the Beast. Later on in the day I had a group meeting where I found out the permanent position that I will have in my team. I assigned the Project Outreach Liason position. My role is to contact potential sponsors for NCCC, put to together a day of service for each round of projects, as well as find potential ISP projects for each round. The role will definitely keep me busy this year!
Now that I am two weeks into training I notice myself getting close to a group of people. My mindset before arriving was that of not wanting to get close with just a few people, but rather try and make friends with a variety of people. In reality making friends with all 144 people is hard to do. Granted each can be an acquaintance, but making a few actual friends is quite helpful. Definitely happy with the way that everything is playing out. I still firmly believe with all my heart that this is where I am supposed to me, and quite possibly may look into working for a non-profit organization after I graduate from NCCC.
Monday started off with our second PT session. It was a little bit easier getting up this time and I felt like I had more energy :D After PT we headed to Rolling Fork, Mississippi where the whole Corps partook in our first official service project!! Rolling Forks is a town that has 2,000 people - 200 of which are enrolled in the K-12 school. The town is definitely hurting economically but they still remain optimistic - for example, many of their downtown buildings do not have roofs but instead of being depressed they paint the front of the buildings to resemble a set from a movie :D My team’s task was painting the gymnasium of the school. We had to wash the fake wooden walls, tape off areas, and then prime the walls and staircases. Instructions were far and few, but we still managed to complete the majority of the task without any complications. The people that sponsored us were very friendly - a few people from the town even baked us sweets :D While painting the gymnasium the 7th grade football team began talking to us. A few of the boys even mentioned that they appreciated what we were doing. Their gratitude caught me off guard because I didn’t expect a group of 7th grade boys to appreciate our service so quickly.
Tuesday night was our first room inspection. It was simple cleaning of rooms and bathrooms and my room passed with flying colors :D My unit leader actually said that our bathroom was one of the cleanest ones that he had seen that night. So glad my hospitality skills were put to good use.
I was also given a POC (Point of Contact) position for an ISP (Independent Service Project)this week. The POC acts as the team leader for the designated service project. As a corps member we have to obtain 1,700 hours while we are a part of AmeriCorps NCCC and 80 of the hours have to be ISP hours. The project that I was assigned to was a annual fundraiser for the local Courthouse Museum in downtown Vicksburg, MS. They raised money for the museum by having a clay sporting event. Each person had to pay $100 in order to play in the event. As the POC I had to contact the sponsor as well as find 24-30 corps members to volunteer for the event. Thankfully this was the very first ISP that we have heard of, so many Corps members wanted to jump on the opportunity!
Wednesday’s training session was definitely filled with emotions. The majority of the day we partook in a diversity training. The training’s main focus was for us to understand the meaning of trust, and to get us asking deeper questions of ourselves so that we could begin to get to know our team on a more personal level. A portion of the training was titled “Walk the Line”. The instructor would ask a question, and for each time we agreed with the statement, we had to cross over to the other side. The questions started out simple, then became more and more serious and thought provoking. By the end I had felt sad and empathetic towards the members in my team, as well as sad feelings towards things in my past that were brought up by the questions asked. Although the session made us reach outside of our comfort zones to answer questions, I felt like it was definitely a powerful session and I feel like I know each one of team members a little bit better :D
Thursday and Friday consisted of more training…surprise, surprise :D I understand that the training is helpful, but at this point in time it’s getting pretty monotonous. I think it’s harder for me to sit through it because I have learned many of the concepts before or the information is common knowledge to me.
Friday morning was also when we had our Base Line Test (insert scary music here). We had to run a mile and a half, and do as many crunches and push ups that we could do in a minute. That was oh so fun!!! :D My only hope is that I improve the next time we have to complete the test.
On Saturday 30 of us drove to Tara Wildlife (an old abandoned runway) and spent the day assisting the sporting event. A dozen of us manned the triggers for the machines/traps, and a dozen of us wrote down the scores. A few people also spent time helping with registration as well as refilling the clay machines. The guys (and a few females) that partake in these events are very serious clay shooters! Many of them even brought their own ATV’s and 4 wheelers to drive around the event. While volunteering, we met a very friendly local named Buddy who gave us get recommendations of restaurants to try as well as rides on his ATV :D Buddy even let me DRIVE the ATV! Oh goodness was I excited! I was squealing with joy the whole time I was on the ATV.
Sunday once again was a very relaxing day. Had breakfast and DELICIOUS coffee at McDonalds. I didn’t realize how much I missed good coffee until I had McDonalds. Mmm…it was heaven. The rest of the day consisted of lounging around and reliving the Disney childhood by watching Pocahontas and Beauty and the Beast. Later on in the day I had a group meeting where I found out the permanent position that I will have in my team. I assigned the Project Outreach Liason position. My role is to contact potential sponsors for NCCC, put to together a day of service for each round of projects, as well as find potential ISP projects for each round. The role will definitely keep me busy this year!
Now that I am two weeks into training I notice myself getting close to a group of people. My mindset before arriving was that of not wanting to get close with just a few people, but rather try and make friends with a variety of people. In reality making friends with all 144 people is hard to do. Granted each can be an acquaintance, but making a few actual friends is quite helpful. Definitely happy with the way that everything is playing out. I still firmly believe with all my heart that this is where I am supposed to me, and quite possibly may look into working for a non-profit organization after I graduate from NCCC.
Week One :D
WEEK 1 AUGUST 1 - AUGUST 9:
Traveling to Vicksburg:
Thursday night I spent the night at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston. Thanks to my sister I got a really good deal on a room :D When I got to my room I realized that I had been upgraded to a Harborside room :D I was beyond excited. I definitely tried to enjoy every part of the room considering for the next 10 months I will be sleeping in a twin bed, sharing a bathroom, and sharing a room with 2-3 girls.
Friday morning I work up early to get to the airport for my flight at 8am. It was smooth sailing all the way to Jackson, Mississippi :D When I arrived they had AmeriCorps representatives waiting for us :D Also, a local newspaper was taking a plethora of pictures as well as interviewing a few of us while we waited for our luggage.
Welcome to Vicksburg, Mississippi!!
Once we arrived on campus we were assigned temporary teams for the first week while on campus. The temporary teams serve the purpose of giving us a sense of unity and connection with 10 other people. Upon arriving to campus we were told that a portion of our campus is not ready. For example, there is a dorm hall that is still being renovated. Once it is completed, a portion of us will be moved there. Our pool and tennis courts are also still in the process of being renovated. Hopefully within a month they will be ready for us to use.
Friday night I was also greeted with my first experience of the ever friendly fire ants! We had to do a fire drill outside on the wet lawn at 9:30 at night and definitely could not see what I was stepping in. Once I got up to the dorms I looked at my feet and the ants were swarming my feet. I think I had about 15 bites on each foot. My feet stung so bad that I had to wash them in cold water!
Saturday and Sunday consisted of brief sessions about NCCC as a whole and time for us to unpack, get acquainted with the Vicksburg area as well as with one another. There are 144 Corps members and 20 Team leaders here on campus. It definitely reminds me of a smaller version of a high school. I would say that 75% of us are from the New England area, and the remaining 25% are scattered throughout the rest of the United States. Surprisingly enough one of my roommates, Stacey, is from East Michigan and my suitemate, Kayla, is from Northern Maine. Crazy coincidence for sure!
Monday began our CTI training. CTI stands for Corps Training Institute. The training lasts the whole month of August. Training topics vary from day to day and mini service projects are intertwined between the sessions. In the beginning of the week we received our lovely uniforms and steel toed boots. The combination of my zero balance and the clunky boots makes for a funny scene!!
Because it is too hard to fit the 144 of us in one room on campus for our group training sessions we spent a few days in an auditorium at the Cultural Center in downtown Vicksburg. A fun fact: the Cultural Center is where the scene from Oh Brother Where Out Thou was filmed…specifically the scene where they are singing on stage :D
On Tuesday we were given the opportunity to attend a Block Party in a nearby neighborhood. The purpose of the Block Party was to raise local safety awareness and to pass out donated school supplies to the local kids. It ended up being our first mini project for a few of us because we helped the staff organize and break up school supplies for the kids. It was a bit sad at the end because there were about 20 kids who did not receive any school supplies because we ran out L Overall I had a fun time because we had the opportunity to dance, be silly, and interact with the kids.
On Wednesday we had to travel to Jackson to receive our physicals. Waiting around for 3 hours is definitely a long time! Thankfully my team and I were healthy and we then headed downtown and around Vicksburg for the rest of the day. Our first stop was the coffee shop called Highway 61. It is one of the few “hot spots” in town to go to. The coffee shop is ran by a husband and wife. The husband runs the coffee shop and the wife runs the art gallery called “The Attic” upstairs. The art gallery is filled with an assortment of jewelry, pottery, sculptures and artwork. After the coffee shop we walked down the hill towards the Yazoo River where a cute water park is located :D The park has murals that line the river, as well has murals along brick walls - each one illustrating a different prominent piece of Vicksburg. Definitely is a place that I would like to go back to :D After the park we traveled to the Visitors Center to take pictures by the Welcome Sign as well as pictures of the bridge that connects Mississippi and Louisiana. Our last stop was the Military Base where we learned about the Siege of the Mississippi. Later on a few of my new friends and I walked to the nearby Sonic. I was pretty geeked about going because it was my first time ever going to a Sonic. I’ve seen so many commercials about a Sonic, but there was never one near me!! I was a bit bummed by what I ordered, but nonetheless it was a fun trip :D
Thursday was driver’s training day. Boy was that fun! Spent most of my morning riding around in a 15 passenger van while we practiced driving and parking the vans. After I passed my test I spent the remainder of the day cleaning up one of our tennis courts on campus. I was only outside for a little over 2 hours and I was sweating like crazy and worn out. It’s crazy what only 2 hours in the sun can do to you!! After dinner a fellow corps member, Zach and a support team leader, Mary Molly, and I headed to the lovely Walmart for a few things :D Ended up buying a random green iguana that I named Marvelous Melvin as well as a few other odds and ends. Because the Corps members don’t have access to vans and they aren’t any stores that are within walking distance, we have to rely on Team Leaders for transportation. After Walmart we headed downtown to Highway 61 to the coffee shop because on Thursday nights they have live performances. Today’s performance was a Blue’s duo :D It was nice getting a taste of the south, after all Mississippi is the birthplace of America’s music :D Zach and I also decided to walk down the street a bit and head to a casino that was on a BOAT! Yes a boat! I was excited because it was my first time ever going to a Casino. Needless to say we were quite bummed about our experience. Barely anyone was there, and the boat was stationary!! L Why put a Casino on a boat if the boat isn’t allowed to move!! Oh well, I was happy to just walk around and see more of downtown Vicksburg.
Friday began with our very first PT session. It was oh so fun waking up at 5am!! The remainder of the day consisted of more training at the Cultural Center. For dinner, NCCC put together a nice BBQ for us. After dinner they revealed who our permanent teams would be in the form of a scavenger hunt. I was a little bummed to have to leave my temp team, but I was definitely anxious to find out who my team leader was going to be, as well as who was going to be in my permanent team. NCCC has split all of us into two different groups - River and Delta. Each group has 7 teams and the teams are made up of 10 to 11 people. I am a team member of River 3. My team leader is from Illinois and it already seems like we have a lot in common and that he will be a great team leader.
Saturday ended up being “get to know your team” day. My team and I decided to go to the Jackson Zoo for part of the day. All the animals were adorable :D The only thing I’m bummed about is that we missed out on seeing the penguins L After the zoo we headed to a local chain, Goldie’s BBQ, for our first team dinner. It was definitely nice to get off campus and enjoy some real southern food. Since our campus is not finished, we have received catered food every day. It’s definitely nice to be fed for three meals a day but a little bit of a change every once in awhile is nice too :D
Sunday ended up being a really relaxing day :D Woke up and had breakfast with Salina and Zach (two people that I’ve become close with). I spent the rest of the day just laying low, playing board games and getting to know the people in my dorm and on my team.
The first week has definitely flown by! Overall I’m slowly getting used to the temperature, the early hours and beginning to get to know a few people. I can feel it in my heart that this is the best place for me to be :D
Traveling to Vicksburg:
Thursday night I spent the night at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston. Thanks to my sister I got a really good deal on a room :D When I got to my room I realized that I had been upgraded to a Harborside room :D I was beyond excited. I definitely tried to enjoy every part of the room considering for the next 10 months I will be sleeping in a twin bed, sharing a bathroom, and sharing a room with 2-3 girls.
Friday morning I work up early to get to the airport for my flight at 8am. It was smooth sailing all the way to Jackson, Mississippi :D When I arrived they had AmeriCorps representatives waiting for us :D Also, a local newspaper was taking a plethora of pictures as well as interviewing a few of us while we waited for our luggage.
Welcome to Vicksburg, Mississippi!!
Once we arrived on campus we were assigned temporary teams for the first week while on campus. The temporary teams serve the purpose of giving us a sense of unity and connection with 10 other people. Upon arriving to campus we were told that a portion of our campus is not ready. For example, there is a dorm hall that is still being renovated. Once it is completed, a portion of us will be moved there. Our pool and tennis courts are also still in the process of being renovated. Hopefully within a month they will be ready for us to use.
Friday night I was also greeted with my first experience of the ever friendly fire ants! We had to do a fire drill outside on the wet lawn at 9:30 at night and definitely could not see what I was stepping in. Once I got up to the dorms I looked at my feet and the ants were swarming my feet. I think I had about 15 bites on each foot. My feet stung so bad that I had to wash them in cold water!
Saturday and Sunday consisted of brief sessions about NCCC as a whole and time for us to unpack, get acquainted with the Vicksburg area as well as with one another. There are 144 Corps members and 20 Team leaders here on campus. It definitely reminds me of a smaller version of a high school. I would say that 75% of us are from the New England area, and the remaining 25% are scattered throughout the rest of the United States. Surprisingly enough one of my roommates, Stacey, is from East Michigan and my suitemate, Kayla, is from Northern Maine. Crazy coincidence for sure!
Monday began our CTI training. CTI stands for Corps Training Institute. The training lasts the whole month of August. Training topics vary from day to day and mini service projects are intertwined between the sessions. In the beginning of the week we received our lovely uniforms and steel toed boots. The combination of my zero balance and the clunky boots makes for a funny scene!!
Because it is too hard to fit the 144 of us in one room on campus for our group training sessions we spent a few days in an auditorium at the Cultural Center in downtown Vicksburg. A fun fact: the Cultural Center is where the scene from Oh Brother Where Out Thou was filmed…specifically the scene where they are singing on stage :D
On Tuesday we were given the opportunity to attend a Block Party in a nearby neighborhood. The purpose of the Block Party was to raise local safety awareness and to pass out donated school supplies to the local kids. It ended up being our first mini project for a few of us because we helped the staff organize and break up school supplies for the kids. It was a bit sad at the end because there were about 20 kids who did not receive any school supplies because we ran out L Overall I had a fun time because we had the opportunity to dance, be silly, and interact with the kids.
On Wednesday we had to travel to Jackson to receive our physicals. Waiting around for 3 hours is definitely a long time! Thankfully my team and I were healthy and we then headed downtown and around Vicksburg for the rest of the day. Our first stop was the coffee shop called Highway 61. It is one of the few “hot spots” in town to go to. The coffee shop is ran by a husband and wife. The husband runs the coffee shop and the wife runs the art gallery called “The Attic” upstairs. The art gallery is filled with an assortment of jewelry, pottery, sculptures and artwork. After the coffee shop we walked down the hill towards the Yazoo River where a cute water park is located :D The park has murals that line the river, as well has murals along brick walls - each one illustrating a different prominent piece of Vicksburg. Definitely is a place that I would like to go back to :D After the park we traveled to the Visitors Center to take pictures by the Welcome Sign as well as pictures of the bridge that connects Mississippi and Louisiana. Our last stop was the Military Base where we learned about the Siege of the Mississippi. Later on a few of my new friends and I walked to the nearby Sonic. I was pretty geeked about going because it was my first time ever going to a Sonic. I’ve seen so many commercials about a Sonic, but there was never one near me!! I was a bit bummed by what I ordered, but nonetheless it was a fun trip :D
Thursday was driver’s training day. Boy was that fun! Spent most of my morning riding around in a 15 passenger van while we practiced driving and parking the vans. After I passed my test I spent the remainder of the day cleaning up one of our tennis courts on campus. I was only outside for a little over 2 hours and I was sweating like crazy and worn out. It’s crazy what only 2 hours in the sun can do to you!! After dinner a fellow corps member, Zach and a support team leader, Mary Molly, and I headed to the lovely Walmart for a few things :D Ended up buying a random green iguana that I named Marvelous Melvin as well as a few other odds and ends. Because the Corps members don’t have access to vans and they aren’t any stores that are within walking distance, we have to rely on Team Leaders for transportation. After Walmart we headed downtown to Highway 61 to the coffee shop because on Thursday nights they have live performances. Today’s performance was a Blue’s duo :D It was nice getting a taste of the south, after all Mississippi is the birthplace of America’s music :D Zach and I also decided to walk down the street a bit and head to a casino that was on a BOAT! Yes a boat! I was excited because it was my first time ever going to a Casino. Needless to say we were quite bummed about our experience. Barely anyone was there, and the boat was stationary!! L Why put a Casino on a boat if the boat isn’t allowed to move!! Oh well, I was happy to just walk around and see more of downtown Vicksburg.
Friday began with our very first PT session. It was oh so fun waking up at 5am!! The remainder of the day consisted of more training at the Cultural Center. For dinner, NCCC put together a nice BBQ for us. After dinner they revealed who our permanent teams would be in the form of a scavenger hunt. I was a little bummed to have to leave my temp team, but I was definitely anxious to find out who my team leader was going to be, as well as who was going to be in my permanent team. NCCC has split all of us into two different groups - River and Delta. Each group has 7 teams and the teams are made up of 10 to 11 people. I am a team member of River 3. My team leader is from Illinois and it already seems like we have a lot in common and that he will be a great team leader.
Saturday ended up being “get to know your team” day. My team and I decided to go to the Jackson Zoo for part of the day. All the animals were adorable :D The only thing I’m bummed about is that we missed out on seeing the penguins L After the zoo we headed to a local chain, Goldie’s BBQ, for our first team dinner. It was definitely nice to get off campus and enjoy some real southern food. Since our campus is not finished, we have received catered food every day. It’s definitely nice to be fed for three meals a day but a little bit of a change every once in awhile is nice too :D
Sunday ended up being a really relaxing day :D Woke up and had breakfast with Salina and Zach (two people that I’ve become close with). I spent the rest of the day just laying low, playing board games and getting to know the people in my dorm and on my team.
The first week has definitely flown by! Overall I’m slowly getting used to the temperature, the early hours and beginning to get to know a few people. I can feel it in my heart that this is the best place for me to be :D
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