hello all! man it's been a long time. it's a little weird because even thought there's been a lot going on out here with me, there also hasn't. but i'll share anyway. as i write to you, i'm actually on a bus on my way to new jersey. i need to visit. as much as i love boston and so much about boston, i miss central so so so so much. the spiritual transition here has been interesting. i'm still transitioning and trying to get to know both the church as a whole and individuals. i miss my friendships in central, especially with brothers. the relationships we're able to have as brothers and sisters in Christ are really amazing and being out here makes me super grateful for people like sammy and hector and leinz and kyle and alex and brent and eric and johnny and neil and so many others who just care about me as their sister. i hope to find friendships and relationships equivalent to those out here in beantown. so please pray for that. i know that that will take effort on my part and i want to remain willing and hopeful.
with respect to city year, i am absolutely in love. city year is incredible. the organization is built on these beautiful key principles and founding stories. i feel inspired to dream and serve and figure out how to use my dream to serve. i'm going to try my best to explain what city year is that way i can really explain the work that i'm doing. city year is a service organization associated with americorps that seeks to decrease the national drop-out crisis by placing young idealist youths--ages 17-25--in classrooms from elementary school to high school in order to provide in-class and one-on-one support to students. in addition to having teams in schools, boston also has a civic engagement team that works to engage communities in and surrounding boston in service in their very own community. this includes many beautification projects that seek to change the feel of community and develop perhaps a lost pride in the communities in and surrounding boston. there are 10 teams in schools out here and 1 civic engagement team. there is also a group of second year corps members that serve to help make our service and city year experience all that it can be. they serve as leaders on teams and in headquarters, organizing our training as well as helping us with our service in the schools either by being in the schools with us or providing trainings on mentoring and tutoring, as well as giving us a means to tell our story through blogs and newsletters and such.
that being said, when i came to city year, i kinda wanted to take a break from youth. i love teens, yes. and i love working with teens. but the idea or perhaps building some other skills was really appealing to me. i applied for the boston civic engagement team, excited to figure out how to actively engage communities in building themselves up through service and beautification projects. but as the first week of city passed, that really began to change. i had the opportunity to hear from michael brown, one of the founders of city year, as well as stephen spaloss, a member of the earliest boston corps who had met bill clinton and given him his own city year sweatshirt off of his back. they spoke about the work that city year is doing in the schools and the work that city year can do in the schools. they spoke about the need and their own service. i began desiring to have that kind of impact--the kind that comes from face-to-face contact with a child.
but it didn't stop there. we had a "school fair" where each school presented and that got me. i knew i needed to be in the schools. but i wasn't sure what school. i ended up getting placed at the one high school that boston is serving at this year (it's boston's first time in a high school). and to be honest, i wasn't happy at first. i really wanted to do something different and this felt like more of the same. but to my great surprise it totally wasn't . it has been incredible working with my teammates and working with high school students in this kind of way. i feel like i'm a true liaison between teacher and student--both a tutor and a mentor. we had about 6 weeks of concentrated training both in the school and at headquarters and it's been wonderful getting to know my teammates and seeing the impact we're having in the school, even after such a short period of time. i couldn't have been more perfectly placed by God.
it's been exhausting; some days are longer--much longer--than others. and there are times when being around my team my patience is tried and it's hard to just be grateful. but sharing about it with others really helps me to remain grateful. i mean, i prayed to be placed where i would have the most impact on my team and the people that i'm serving and God has answered that with the very people i'm working with--both team and students. sharing about my experience helps me remember that. and in that way--and so many others--i'm practically reminded of the relationship between sharing about the things we're grateful for and actually remaining grateful. it's no different with God.
that being said, i'm gonna go now. i began this entry on the bus on my way to jersey and now i need to catch the bus back. my weekend retreat in jersey was wonderful. thank-you all for reminding me of how much i have to be grateful for and how blessed i am through my relationships in central. until next time...hopefully it won't be so long next time.
i love you! remember what you're grateful for! and share about it with others! gratitude and positive energy are uber-contagious =-)
