Devin in LA

closing one chapter and begininng another.

2010-07-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

My adventures at City Year Los Angeles officially ended on Thursday, June 17. Having completed 1700 hours in 10 months serving the city of LA, I have survived my first service year! Yes, I said first. I decided I'm not ready to kick my addiction to service and philanthropy quite yet. Next month, I will be doing a second year of service with AmeriCorps, working as a Volunteer Coordinator at Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C.

What a ride it has been. I cannot say that enough. On my first day, they told me, "this year will be hard, tough, and rewarding." It was that and sooooo much more. Initially I assumed I would impact the lives of so many people and those results would be tangible. Instead, I was blind-sighted by how much my life was impacted by others. And trust me, there were moments when I wanted to throw in the towel. But someone once told me that if it's not a struggle, you're not growing. I've grown so much as an individual, built amazing friendships, created memories I will never forget, and learned so much more about myself and others. It's such an amazing feeling to have come this far in such a short time.

Thank you to anyone who has ever read or commented on any one of my blog posts, provided me with a piece of inspiration, let me vent when I was angry and frustrated, or told me they were proud of me. It means the world to me and I am a better person for it.

This is my last blog post on "Devin in LA" so thank you for taking this journey with me. I'll leave you with some photos from my service year:

[skydiving field trip]

[team building activity]

[saying goodbye to friends]

[John Legend w/ his #1 fan, me.]

[co-workers at Griffith Park Observatory]

[high school students I mentored]

[protest day downtown w/ high school students]

[my team]

[work retreat]

Feel free to contact me if you currently live in the DC area or will be there to visit: devin (dot) cowens(at)gmail(dot)com.

-Devin

...back from a long hiatus

2010-05-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

Since my last post, I've been busy applying for jobs, recruiting volunteers, hosting community service days, mentoring high school students, and completing an online course. Despite having a full plate, things at work have been going well.

I can't believe that I only have one month left in my service year! It has flown by much quicker than I expected.

I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on my experiences and focusing on the next phase of my life. I've outlined personal and professional goals that I want to achieve in the near future and look forward to accomplishing them.

Most recently, I've been inspired by City Heroes, a Saturday mentoring program for high school students which I've been a part of for the past 6 months. Two Saturdays a month, I engage in discussions and participate in activities with students concerning social justice issues and participate in community service pertaining to those issues.

This past Saturday, we gathered early in the morning to make posters and signs to promote service and volunteerism within the community. In the afternoon, 150 high school students, along with their 12 team leaders (including myself) led a march in downtown Los Angeles. Initially, I ignorantly assumed that marching around downtown LA would be a bit of a drag and extremely tiring. However, once we began, I was overwhelmed by the response from the community and the enthusiasm of the students. They led one another in inspirational songs and chants and those driving by honked with excitement (in response to the poster which read: Honk if you serve your community!). Bystanders cheered and high-fived us throughout the entire 2-hour march. The day was both remarkable and exhilarating and reignited my passion for service!

Below are pictures of posters and signs from the march.

[Serve the community with youth in unity!]

Camp City Year

2010-04-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

Each year, City Year Los Angeles hosts spring break camps at schools in the communities where we serve. Through Camp City Year, we provided a week of fun activities, nutritious food, positive mentoring, and experiential learning for these kids. In fact, one mother thanked me, saying, “If it weren’t for Camp City Year, my children would be sitting at home watching TV all week.”

This year, we had three elementary school camps and one middle school camp. I was selected to serve as a Recruitment Manager for one of our camps in Boyle Heights at Sunrise Elementary School.

Our camp staff consisted of 10 Corps Members. We worked relentlessly for months before camp began. In fact, the week leading up to camp, I logged over 80 hours.

The theme this year was “Secret Agents of Change” where children learned how to be spies and gather evidence to solve a mystery.

I found myself overwhelmingly exhausted during the week of camp and it reminded me of exam week during my college days. However, as I saw the children’s faces light up with excitement and enthusiasm while learning how to be a secret agent, engaging in service activities, piecing together clues, and having fun learning outside of the classroom, my long hours were nothing compared to the exhilaration I felt.

Although my City Year experience is nearing its end, it’s refreshing to witness moments which lift others up and provide meaning not only to the lives of those others but also to me and my service.

a small act

2010-02-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

In honer of my half birthday today (yes, I said half), I am sharing some inspiration that I stumbled upon recently. This story touched my heart for a couple of reasons. First, I traveled to Kenya twice in high school and worked with some youth there and had a chance to see the education system first hand. Second, as a future philanthropist in the making, I often times wonder if and how I am changing the lives of others without seeing tangbile results.

"A Small Act" is a part of HBO's Documentary Film series and was showcased at The Sundance Film Festival last month in Park City, Utah.

Here is the story:

When Hilde Back sponsored a young, impoverished Kenyan student, she thought nothing of it. She paid roughly $15 dollars per term to keep him in primary school. She certainly never expected to hear from him, but many years later, she does. Chris Mburu has been thinking of his “angel” Hilde since he was a boy. The small contribution she made paid off – Chris went all the way to Harvard. Now, he’s a respected UN human rights lawyer, dedicating his life to battling genocide and crimes against humanity. Chris decides to replicate Hilde’s generosity by starting his own scholarship fund, and he names it after her. This scholarship will educate bright kids in his village so they can also succeed and give back. But Chris is stunned when Kenya’s public schools start failing, and only two new students qualify for sponsorship. Simultaneously, Kenya falls into ethnic-based election violence. After working on conflicts in neighboring countries, Chris knows that ignorance fuels ethnic hatred. Education has never been more important. Chris must decide what to do.

Check out the trailer for the film:

The movie is set to be released this summer on HBO. I hope you all will check it out or at the very least be inspired by this powerful story!

a day on, not a day off...

2010-02-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

Every year, all City Year sites across the U.S. put on a service day in honor of the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year, our service day was held at Belvedere Middle School in East Los Angeles and I had the pleasure of recruiting 1000 volunteers for this awesome day. My team and I spent a full week working 15 hours days to prepare the school for the volunteers to paint murals. However, the weather reports predicted a 90% chance of rain on the day of. Because of this, we had to eliminate all of the outside murals that we planned for. This in turn cut down on the number of volunteers needed for the day. My team was weary, assuming that volunteers wouldn't show up and wondered if all of our work would go to waste (because when it rains in LA, people don't leave the house).

My alarm went off at 4 A.M. that Monday and I looked outside: torrential downpour. I threw on my rain gear and hoped for the best.

We arrived at the school at 6 A.M. ready to face what would be the longest and busiest service day of our entire 10 months. Once registration began, things were moving quite slowly at first. I was a bit discouraged but was busy setting up and didn't have time to dwell on it. Two hours flew by quicker than ever and I was back at registration. It was bananas--people everywhere, wanting to serve, despite the terrible weather forecast. There were so many people, we had a hard time finding projects for them! Throughout the service day, my team and I were running around non-stop making sure that everything was running smoothly. By the end of the day, we were drenched in water and paint, tired out of our minds, and couldn't believe that the day was ending. After all the volunteers went home, we "circled up" at the end of the event and chatted about the day. We were empowered by the number of volunteers that showed up on their day off to serve the City of Los Angeles despite thunderstorms and flooding. I am so proud of myself and my team for working so hard to plan the day and managing nearly one thousand volunteers in the face of various obstacles. Now that our largest service day is behind us, I look forward to our next six community service projects and hope that we only get better from here.

"Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”-MLK, Jr.

(this is the flyer that I created for the event)

giving thanks.

2010-01-02T08:13:00.000-08:00

Wow. It's hard to believe it's only been four months since I began this idealist journey at City Year Los Angeles. What started in high school as a passion for service has become the beginning of a genuinely rewarding experience.

This year, I don't have any resolutions, but I do have a few thoughts from spending a week in a half at home reflecting about the past.

I've realized how grateful I am for all that I have. I'm thankful for all the people in my life who have helped me become the person that I am. I'm thankful for each and everyone of the friends that I've made over the past few years. I'm thankful for all of the individuals that I've looked up to as mentors and have provided guidance and wisdom throughout my life. I'm thankful for all of the experiences I've had that have led me to this year of service in Los Angeles. I'm thankful for all the people that I've met since I've been here and the relationships that I've built.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the past, am looking forward to the future, and am truly enjoying the present, taking it one day at a time.

Happy New Year!!

time flies

2009-11-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already November. It feels like just yesterday my parents were here helping me move in (and paying for everything...). Even thought it's fall already, it doesn't look like it at all here--it's sunny most of the time, freezing at night, and no pretty fall colors like North Carolina. However, things have been moving swiftly at City Year and I'm really enjoying the work that I get to do.

We had 2 service days at the end of last month, one with FOX, SAG, ICM, and EIF, and the other with ABC Daytime, Soapnation, & Disney. Here is a YouTube video from the first event--I may or may not have a cameo in this one...

The service days were hugely successful and super fun. Also, here is an article from November 9th that was on the front page of the Washington Post ("From Young Volunteers to Civic Leaders") written by Max Klau, City Year's Director of Leadership Development, to raise awareness of the growing importance of national service as a leadership pipeline.

Currently, I am working on recruiting 200 volunteers for our service day this Saturday out in Southeast LA. It has shown me that recruiting on a college campus is MUCH different (and a bit easier) than recruiting among one's own community. Volunteers are steadily coming in so I'm trying to remain optimistic. In January, we have a HUGE service project for MLK Jr. Day and I'll have to engage and recruit 1000 volunteers so I'm trying to use this upcoming service day as a practice round/trial period (while continually crossing my fingers and saying prayers along the way).

In other news, I am officially signed up to take the GRE on Saturday, December 12th and am also taking a Princeton Review Express Online Course in hopes of doing really well! So on top of working 9-12 hrs days, I have to study for the GRE. It's definitely keeping me on my toes but I'm counting down the days until I get my life back.

Here are some photos from our last 2 service days:

And as always, I'm slowly but surely working on my patience. I'm learning so much about the various aspects of working with a team of somewhat similar but also very different individuals. Although some days it is more challenging than I envisioned, it also keeps things interesting and fun.

Here's my quote of the month: "It's important to have confidence in what you know and what you can do. You can't make decisions effectively without confidence. It's equally important to be realistic about what you don't know and what you can't do; without realism, confidence is hubris."

putting the pieces together

2009-10-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been feeling like I haven't been useful at work because I haven't had to recruit for our past three service projects. However, today was the first day well I felt 100% useful--I had to put together all the registration materials for our service day tomorrow and this Saturday. Today I really got a feel for what the rest of the year will look like in preparing for a service day. I'm thrilled to meet different people within my community and to build mutually beneficial relationships--something I miss about doing service in college. I will also get a chance to develop my public speaking skills (speaking to large groups frightens me) because I'll have to make presentations to colleges, high schools, various community and faith-based organizations, and possibly corporate companies/sponsors. Not to mention recruiting hundreds of volunteers for each of our service days throughout the rest of the year.

I really think that this job will allow me to develop my skill set and grow as an individual on so many levels. If I'm being completely honest with myself, I would say that I am 69% on the way to the person that I want to become. I'm hoping that through the work that I do and the relationships that I build at City Year, I can genuinely become the person that I want to be.

Here is a photo from me at my first service day, working my paint station. Also, there are some photos of the murals that we designed and painted at Christopher Dena Elementary School.

Quote of the week from my book: "Goals are important, but that night I realized that life is about the journey, not the destination. The steps along the way are what make use who we are."

odds & ends

2009-10-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Opening Day was amazing! 150 Corps Members were sworn in by the Mayor of Los Angeles and pledged to dedicate 10 months of full-time service; it was a powerful day. See the picture and video below.

Also, check out this article about our Opening Day.

We also got our uniforms the day before opening day--here is a photo of me in mine (we wear yellow instead of red just to be on the safe side because red is a gang color in LA). I must say, I felt pretty empowered to serve when I put it on for the first time (and still do everyday). Wearing our uniforms not only expresses our full time commitment to service, but it identifies each team member as a part of City Year, which is a recognizable symbol of hope, idealism and inspiration. I can't tell you how many times in just this short month someone on the bus or train has said to me "Hey, what's City Year? I see those yellow jackets everywhere." Perfect time for me to give my elevator speech and to talk about how much of a privilege it is that I get to serve each and every day.

Shifting gears...

I decided two things this weekend: 1) I'm going to read a new book every 2 weeks (thanks to my new LA Public Library membership) and, 2) I'm going to begin studying for the GRE!! (exciting...sort of). My projected start date is Oct 12th.

That being said, check out the "Currently Reading" section on the right side of this page. This particular book I borrowed from a friend here in LA and am loving it thus far because not only is it a memoir, but it's also a quick read. This weekend, I came across this quotation that I really liked in the book, which I felt spoke to me: "Don't think about the next job; focus on doing the very best you can with the job you have. Learn everything you can from everyone you can. Focus on the possibilities of each job, not the limitations." Each day, I have an opportunity to learn something new in this job and I LOVE that. I want to soak up all I can in these next 10 months so that I can truly grow and develop as a better individual. A wise woman once told me that opportunities like this help build character and that's exactly what I'm looking forward to with this entire experience.

Lastly, if anyone has any good book recommendations or good GRE books/practice tests, I would love to know about them!

am i growing up?

2009-09-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

This past week at work was intense, to say the least. I put in 70 hours this week because we're prepping for our service day this Wednesday, which is opening day. I also ended up volunteering for 8 hours on Saturday, not realizing that the week was going to be so laborious. So needless to say, I'm exhausted. And this week is supposed to be worse...

I'm starting to realize quite a few things in this new job of mine. I'm a person who not only thinks I'm always right and hates being wrong but am also a person who doesn't like admitting I have flaws and especially hates when others point them out (but I seem to be excellent at pointing out other people's flaws; funny how that works). I also only like/enjoy doing things that I'm really good at (which makes sense, considering I don't like to admit my flaws). Through daily interactions with my teammates and different things we have to do for work, I'm starting to recognize my flaws. For example, when it's appropriate to say something and when it's not--often times I feel the need to correct things or voice my opinion at all times because I think everyone wants to hear it when in reality, that's not the case at all--basically learning to keep my mouth shut. Also, as stated previously, I'm extremely impatient. And it takes a mountain of energy for me to be patient with others but I'm slowly learning through working on a daily basis with an extremely diverse group of people. I find that some days I get home and I'm thinking, "We didn't do much today, but why am I so tired?" It's because I spent so much of my energy working on being patient or working to not voice my opinion on every little thing.

At City Year, we have these little nuggets of inspiration/information/advice called Putting Idealism to Work (PITWs). There are 181 of them in total. I saw one hanging on the wall in the office and it said "PITW #159: This is Hard. Be Strong." I'm becoming cognizant of this reality more and more each day. I guess this is a part of growing up (and I was over here thinking I'm already an adult)...and will only add flavor and spice to my "story."

Switching gears, here is a video of what will be happening this Wednesday, September 30, which is Opening Day!! We also will be getting our uniforms this week so that's exciting.

more on civic engagement

2009-09-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

Last week, we learned more abut the positions on the Civic Engagement (CE) Team and what a typical service day looks like. As stated earlier, one of the main goals of the CE team is engage others in service that is transformational, sustainable, and inspirational. A community service event can be transformational if it leaves a tangible difference in the community, alters someone's values, beliefs, self image and behavior, creates new or strengthens existing channels of social change, or changes one's daily routine. A community service event can be sustainable if the work you performed will not revert to its previous state, or is continued by other in the future. Lastly, a community service event can be inspirational if the participants know they have made a difference.

The positions on the CE Team include: Recruitment Manager, Operations and Logistics, Visual Arts Coordinator, In-Kind Manager, Tools and Materials Manager, and Site Manager. We applied for these positions on Thursday and had to rank them, including why we wanted each one and how we might excel in each position. I ranked my top 3 as Recruitment, In-Kind, and then Site Mgr. I have zero interest in the other 3. I mentioned that I had experience both in recruitment and in-kind positions and would excel at both because I could develop my interpersonal communication skills and I love building relationships and nurturing those relationships. We did some recruitment training at the Claremont colleges on Thursday and the experience felt so natural and I loved every minute of it!!! I'm crossing my fingers for my first choice!!

We had the morning off on Friday and had to be in Pershing Square at 1 pm for Unity Rally which was hot and almost unbearable; but something I have to get used to for the next 10 months. I'll post a video sometime so you all can really see what we do. It's hard to explain with just words. We then learned about our "Idealist Journeys" and were given workbooks to accompany our "Idealist Handbook." The idea of the journey comes from Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero's Journey. The first quotation in our Idealist Journey Workbook is from him and reads,

"What I think is that a good life is one hero journey after another. Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem: do I dare?"

Adorning the same page is a quote by Robert F. Kennedy which reads,

"Each time a person stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others, he or she sends out a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other through many centers of energy and daring those ripples create a mighty current that can strike down even the strongest walls of oppression and resistance."

In the introduction, there is a quotation by President Barack Obama which states, "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility--a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task." [Obama below supporting City Year in Chicago].

The introduction goes on to talk about how City Year believes in the power of a young person to change the world and we agree with Robert F. Kennedy that even the smallest acts of service create ripples that spread through communities, and that ten months of service is far more than a small act. City Year recognizes that the decision to dedicate ten months of one's life to citizen service is a heroic choice. It is a decision that is sure to take us out of the familiarity and comfort of the lives we've known so far, and launch us down a path of meaningful challenges, interactions with fascinating people, and unforgettable experiences. It is also a decision that will test our skills and abilities in profound ways, and provide experiences that will leave us powerfully transformed. City Year describes us as Boundless Idealists.

A Boundless Idealist is one who constantly seeks to become his/her best self and a better citizen. Someone who seeks meaning in his/her life through giving back to communities in need. Someone who seeks unique experiences that challenge traditional views in favor of something better. The handbook goes on more but I don't want to bore you with the details. The introduction ends with the words..."Welcome to the adventure of a lifetime; your journey starts here, right now." [We will meet in small groups every other Friday and go through the exercises in our handbooks].

We also have this thing in City Year called "Joys and Ripples" which is something we do either at the beginning or at the end of the day. Drawing from the Kennedy quote earlier, a "ripple" is the telling of a brief, inspiring anecdote about an act of idealism, courage and belief and a "joy" is the sharing of joyful news or information. I was walking home the other day, pondering my brief time in City Year and all the things I had learned in only 3 weeks, and stumbled upon the pciture below only a block from my house (I thought it was kinda cool).

FAST FORWARD to Monday....

So I got my first choice and I'm the Recruitment Manager!--I was so elated!!! We were given our psitions in an envelope, and inside there was a quotation which read "Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true" [Leon J Suenes]. We'll see how that plays into what I accomplish this year. I think I can do a lot with this position and hopefully recruit thousands (daunting task?) of volunteers of the course of 10 months.

That's all for now but I will try and post more than I have been, maybe twice a week; I've just been extremely busy. Look for a post coming Friday!

basic training retreat: big bear lake, CA

2009-09-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

Last week we traveled to Big Bear Lake, CA (see above photo) for our Basic Training Retreat (BTR). Here, we learned which teams we were on, challenged ourselves, did some team building, and learned about inclusiveness. We arrived at the office at 10 a.m. and left for BTR at 11 a.m., spending 3 hrs in HUGE yellow school buses. Once we get there, we're ordered to meet on the basketball courts. They called our names in 4 different groups and at this point, I was 100% positive that I didn't get the team I applied for (which made me slightly angry, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions so I tried to relax; which as most of you know, is extremely hard for an impatient person like me). Once in these groups, we had to line up single file while they blindfolded us. After this, we were led into the woods and guided to this maze, which consisted of a piece of yarn tied to a series of trees that we had to follow. Once we completed the maze, we were each handed objects. They gave me a sharpie and other people standing next to me had either a paintbrush, a squishy ball, a piece of wood, etc (all types of random stuff). After everyone finished the maze, we were allowed to take off our blindfolds and we had to run back to the basketball court and find other corps members with the same object. I found my 5 sharpie people and then a program manager gave us strips of paper that had the song "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey on it. We had to arrange the lyrics of the song then sing it aloud to the Program Manager. Once completed, she instructed us to go inside the conference building and find our team leaders who would be holding up a sign with our object on it. In this moment, I knew I had made it on the Civic Engagement Team. I was beyond ecstatic!!!!!!!!

After this whole long interesting ordeal, we met with our new teams and had "Hour One," which was basically a "getting to know each other" session. Our Program Manager, Jeremy, told us that we were the cream of the crop and that more than half of the corps had applied for the Civic Engagement Team. He basically fed our egos for a few moments and it felt great! Then we were quickly humbled once he laid out the Rules and Expectations: a) Be present--on time and bring our "can-do" attitude; b) Leave your negativity at the door; c) Be honest-with the team and yourself; d) Be ready-always have on the proper uniform and come prepared for the day; e) RESPECT-yourself, each other, and the work that we do. It's important that we're always getting the work done and constantly pushing ourselves beyond our happy mediums. In 10 months, we plan to engage 33,000 volunteers in 22,000 hours of service. Jeremy encouraged us to be go-getters and leaders on our team. In a typical week day, we will start work at 8 am and work until 6:00-6:30 p.m. On Mondays and Tuesdays we will run after school programs at middle schools from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. On up to a couple Saturdays per month, we will conduct our large scale service projects with volunteers from all over the community and typically have the following Monday off. Despite the long hours, I'm extremely excited about getting started!!

On Thursday, we did a ropes course from 8 a.m to 12 p.m. with a trained instructor. Before we started the ropes course, we had to go around and say a strength, a hesitation/weakness, a goal, and if we had to be a cartoon character, which would we be. I said that my strength lies in my interpersonal communication skills and a hesitation/weakness was in my ability to at times commit to too many things out of excitement. I said that a couple of goals of mine were to 1) be the most genuine person I can be and 2) commit to serving the people of Los Angeles to the best of my abilities. Lastly, I said I would be tweety bird if I could be any cartoon character because she's small and everyone likes her. Before we climbed up this super high pole we had to mention something we were working on in our personal lives and steps we would take toward solving it. I mentioned how I'm impatient and am really trying to work on it (which I'm starting to realize is a constant struggle for me). My teammates offered ideas on how to slowly become a more patient person such as trying to count or talk myself down when I feel like I'm about to act out of impatience. We'll see how this works in the future. Easier said than done, of course...

That evening, we had a visitor from City Year Boston who was a former corps member there and now works on their staff. He highlighted the fact that 50% of our dropouts come from 12% of our schools, meaning that fixing the problem of the drop out rate is an attainable goal. He talked about how the work we do at here at City Year is invaluable and how we will carry our year of service with us for the rest of our lives. He spoke to us about several things: 1) people often see diversity just as a M&M's: a bunch of colors; 2) people are not born prejudice, prejudice and biases are learned; 3) guilt immobilizes-in the sense that if you feel guilty for being more privileged than the people you're serving, you can't get anything done because it detracts from the goal of what you're trying to accomplish; 4) there will always be diversity of difference and the only way to appreciate diversity is to appreciate these differences. Then we did a "Privilege Exercise." If you've never hear of this/done this before, this is how it works: Participants line up in a single row, everyone facing the person who will be giving the instructions. The instructor says a series of statements which tell the participants to take a step forward or backward depending on the statement. For example, the instructor would say a series of statements such as, "Please take a step back if you have ever been called bad names because of your race, skin color, gender, or ethnicity;" "Please take a step forward if you have graduated from college;" "Please take a step back if you or your family has ever received welfare, Medicaid, or food-stamps;" "Please take a step forward if your family makes more than $100,000 annually;" "Please take a step forward if both of your parents have college degrees;" "Please take a step back if you have ever been arrested;" "Please take a step forward if you grew up in a 2-parent household." After about 100 statements like this, when everyone looked around the room, there was a large gap between the person in very front and the person in the very back. We then had an open forum/discussion about reactions from the exercise. There was a range of emotions, including anger, hope, sadness, frustration, and happiness. But the general consensus of the group was that no matter where you stood on the privilege line, we are all here doing City Year and have come together on one accord in order to change the system which currently exists in society today.

On Friday, we did team Olympics (my team lost because there are only 6 of us and all of the other teams have around 18 people) which was fun despite the outcome. We drove back to Los Angeles around 2 p.m. and I spent the rest of my weekend resting from an exhausting and eventful yet fun-filled 3 days of training.

This week (first week of getting paid, Hallelujah!) we will be doing more specific training with our teams and learning about what the next 10 months will look like. I am excited but am slowly adjusting to this whole "8 a.m. to 6 p.m." workday thing, as well as learning the highs and lows of public transportation and traffic in LA!

first week of service

2009-09-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

This week we spent a lot of time training, going to workshops, visiting schools (LOTS of walking around LA; I have the blisters to prove it), and learning about every aspect of City Year.

Day 1 (Tuesday)

I walk into the office with my roommate and there are about 30 people, both staff and senior corps members, fully clad in their yellow City Year jackets, Timberland pants and boots, dancing, clapping, and singing, welcoming us to our first day of service. It was a little intense yet the atmosphere was so contagious! It even made me want to dance, but I refrained because, after all, it was only the first day…

We were given a warm welcome by our Executive Director, Allison Graff-Weisner, who told us a little bit about what to expect over the next 10 months. The following video takes a more in depth look at the work that we do here at City Year.
After this we traveled to Pico Union where we did a big service project at The Salvation Army Los Angeles Red Shield Youth & Community Center. The administrators working at the center were planning to do a mountain of work with only 8 people, expecting it to take them a few weeks to complete. Instead, 150 of us finished all of the work in one day. It was so powerful for all of us to come together and see the tangible results of our service!

Day 2 (Wednesday)
Power and Idealism are our big themes here at City Year and learned a little about them. Our handbook reads, "We define power to be the civic power that is attainable by everyone. You do not have to be in an authority position in order to inspire other to action. One can perform powerfully in a variety of ways, but you must possess four qualities in order to be effective: spirit, discipline, purpose, and pride. At City Year, we take idealism very seriously, even as we pursue it with joy. We begin by rejecting the notion that idealism is just a positive mindset or attitude (although both are helpful and important) or simply being naïve. Instead, at City Year we view idealism as skills—imagining, recruiting, transforming, and inspiring—that can be mastered and put into practice. The culture of idealism is perhaps the most critical element in City Year’s success, and embracing it—even enhancing it—is essential to each individual’s success at City Year.”

Day 3 (Thursday)

Today we learned about “Unity Rally,” something that we will be doing every Friday morning for 10 months in the middle of downtown at a place called Pershing Square, one of the most public places in all of Los Angeles. A Unity Rally includes a “readiness check” to ensure everyone is prepared both mentally and physically. They help us prepare for a powerful day of service and demonstrate that young people are not only proud, positive, and powerful but also ready to serve and lead.

We also learned about the potential assignments each of us would receive. This includes the Civic Engagement Team, Youth Corps, and Whole School Whole Child:

The Civic Engagement Team will plan and implement large scale service days throughout Los Angeles. The main goals of the team are to ensure that all service is transformative, inspirational, and sustainable. Responsibilities of the team include, but are not limited to, planning and creating the service, recruiting volunteers, and organizing all aspects of the Service Day. This is also the most competitive assignment because there are only 7 spots and there are 150 corps members (of course this is what I put as my first choice).

Youth Corps is a Saturday leadership development and community service program for sixth to eighth graders and high schoolers that is run by City Year corps members. Participants learn about the social issues in their community and then work together to solve those problems through hands-on community service (this was my fourth choice).

Each Whole School Whole Child team will work in one of our partner schools, focusing on serving students at-risk of dropping out (as indicated by attendance, behavior, and course performance) through academic support, positive school climate activities, and after-school programming. Corps Members serve in elementary and middle schools in Pico Union, Boyle Heights, South Los Angeles, and Watts (these were my second and third choices).

Day 4 (Friday)

I can already tell that Fridays will soon become my favorite day of the week because they will be spent in the office, and we start at 9 am and end at 4 pm! We learned about our Standards as Corps Members and things we can and can’t do. For example, we can’t wear headphones while in uniform. We also have to give up our seat on a bus or train if there are people standing.

Opening day is September 30, 2009 (Wednesday) where 150 of us will pledge to serve the children and communities of Los Angeles. The speakers will be Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Superintendent Ramon Cortines and it will take place on the South Lawn of Los Angeles City Hall at 9 am. If you’re in the LA area, I’d love for you to come! Ask me for details. :-)

That’s it for now. We don’t work on Monday but we’ll be having our Basic Training Retreat in Big Bear Lake, CA from Wednesday through Friday. Here we will learn about our teams that I mentioned earlier so hopefully I get my first choice (fingers crossed!)

Have a great rest of the holiday weekend!

"and so begins the tale..."

2009-08-31T19:10:00.000-07:00

I have finished my classes and Wake Forest University and have decided to commit 10 months of service in Los Angeles working for a non-profit organization called City Year, a proud member of AmeriCorps.

This blog is my online diary of my journey throughout these 10 months.

I have moved into my townhouse in LA with 3 very cool roommates (posting pictures soon). Work starts tomorrow and I am very excited but also a bit nervous. On registration day, we had to fill out a ton of forms and one of them stated that we need be prepared to work from “7:30 am to 6:00 pm.” They told us that our work will be “tough and hard but also rewarding.” Signs adorned the walls of the office with words like “spirit, discipline, purpose, and pride.”

Our first day of service has been dubbed “Dress to Make a Mess.” We will be doing a large physical service project in Boyle Heights, a neighborhood that includes three of the schools we serve. They also mentioned that the first day would be the hardest all year so that’s something to look forward to!

Shout out to my parents for helping me—without them none of this would have been possible!!

Welcome to my blog. Enjoy!