FIRED UP!
Where do I even begin???
Let's start with the move. It was successful, and at this point, I'm basically all moved in. My big CCTV is here, so I'll be bringing that up here from the lady downstairs tomorrow to set up. My new desktop is being used to write this entry, haha.
As for decor, I've got some of my posters and things up. Still have a few things I want to put up, but that can be done whenever.
The TV got damaged when my sister sent it to me, so it's on Craiglist waiting to be bought by someone who can use the parts inside. In a way, it's nice--I'm not concentrating on television, but it would be nice to be able to sit in bed or in one of my comfy non-papasan chairs to watch a little TV in the evenings after work.
Which brings me to the REAL meat of this entry: MY FIRST WEEK OF CITY YEAR!
Let's do this in list format by day, shall we?
Day 1-Monday:
We started with a day of service at Harper High School, one of CY Chicago's new sites this year. I met my Journey team (the team I'll meet every other Friday to do our Idealist Journey--the leadership/personal reflection aspect of City Year--activities with).
My team is AWESOME. Our team is called Cathedral Building, which is the name of one of City Year's Founding Stories--little stories that give a little nugget of insight into the way City Year aims to impact the world. Our story is pretty cool. Here's a quick rundown:
A traveler comes across a village and sees a man breaking rocks. He asks the man, "What are you doing?" The man responds, "Can't you see I'm busting some rocks?" The traveler asks a second laborer the same question, and his response is, "I'm earning a living to feed my family." The third laborer the traveler asks his query to responds, "Can't you see we're building a cathedral?"
This story is based on, obviously, cathedral builders. Specifically, though, it deals with the fact that when cathedrals were built, it took many generations to build them. People would spend their entire lives working on building something they would never see in their lifetime. In that same way, I as a corps member may or may not see the fruits of my labor with my students this year. If I don't, then it simply means I've paved the way for someone new to come and continue the work I've started this year.
Pretty cool, right?
Anyway, back to my team. Our fearless leaders and Senior Corps Members, Mark and Andrea, are really cool. They're funny, and make what we do fun and help keep our spirits up while keeping us on track. Andrea's a little more soft spoken than Mark, but they're both awesome.
Then we have "Ader" and "Adra"--Alexander and Alexandra. Ader is the youngest of us all, I believe, and very analytical and dry from what I've seen of him this week. Adra, on the other hand, is a very "take charge" sorta girl, with a serious caffeine addiction. She drinks more coffee on a daily basis than I think I've ever seen Cilla drink during midterms and finals. Then there's Dan, who I can only think to describe as "solid". Omar is fun, but pretty quiet. Dominique and Ramia are also on the quiet side, Ramia even moreso it seems to me. I still feel like I don't really know them quite yet. Last but not least, there's Jonathan, who I also feel like I don't know very well, but he's fairly outgoing and nice, so that works for me. :)
We spent Monday painting. No, really. My team was in charge of painting the school mascot and the school name on the gym wall, and I dare to say it--we did a REALLY awesome job. After lunch, four of us went upstairs to continue painting--this time to help complete what a few of us were thinking may have been a meeting room of some sort.
The best part? THERE WAS NO A/C. AT ALL. I'm assuming the school hadn't turned it on yet, since school hasn't quite started yet.
But yeah, painting in a hot school while fasting is hard on the body, lemme tell ya. Totally worth it, though.
Day 2-Tuesday:
Basic Training Academy officially begins! Tuesday was spent being introduced to a LOT of information. What is City Year? What is our mission? What is our structure? What do we do in the schools? What is some of our literature? And also included in that was learning little bits of City Year culture, and getting to know my Journey team better. A long day, but informative.
Day 3-Wednesday:
Spent it going more in depth. Understanding the different part of the "Whole School Whole Child" (WSWC) model--which students we work with, which students we focus on, and which ones are not for us. Different things we do for/with the students. What the different leadership roles on our service teams are. The day ended with more Journey team-building, which was nice, and a welcome reprieve. These guys are going to end up being my re-energizing force this year, I think.
Day 4-Thursday:
Going more in depth in understanding the functions and work of the different leadership positions on the service teams. Getting statistics about Chicago Public Schools, learning about the different types of schools in the CPS system, and which types are the ones we'll be serving.
Also learned a bit more about "The Idealist Journey"--like I said, the leadership/personal reflection part of our term.
Learned about and got the applications for the "extracurricular" leadership opportunities: Service Reserves (they organize service projects for not only the corps, but also recruit volunteers for their own ideas sometimes, too), Unity Rally (bi-weekly Friday morning City Year pep rally to not only bring attention to our presence in the city, but to keep our own spirits up), and Corps Council (kind of like a student council).
Also filled out the Member Profile, which they'll use to place me on a service team. Keeping my fingers crossed for a high school! :D (I'll find out my team before my school, but that's good, because I need to get used to working with them first, anyway.)Not sure yet which extracurricular to sign up for, or even if I should... But I've got a little bit of time to make a decision.
Day 5-Friday (Today):
SCAVENGER HUNT! My Journey team and I spent the day trekking around the city on foot/bus/train, trying to go to as many places as possible on the list they gave us. it was nice--I got to spend more time getting to know people I generally like. We got a little too caught up in the "competition" aspect of it, but eventually we just sort of let that go and had a good time. But I definitely think a few people's Type A sides were coming out. I'm not so big on competition, so this sort of bothered me, but I generally had a good time.
Most asked question of the day: "So what's your vision like, exactly?" and its just-as-common variation, "So what exactly do you see???" This left me highly amused.
Cool things I saw/did today: "the bean" and running through the fountain at Millenium Park; war memorial at Soldier Field; Sue the dinosaur (from slightly afar); North Avenue beach; Broadway, the Chitown edition; the animal game; stereotype humor with my Journey team on the bus ride back to Burnham Park.
And that basically sums up my week! :Db
One of the last work-related things I did today was learn the City Year pledge, which I'll end on. This week has been intense, but there's been something new for me everyday. For now, it's time to recharge my batteries. Hello weekend! :D
The Pledge:
I pledge to serve as a City Year member to the very best of my ability,
to honor the rules and expectations of City Year,
to respect my colleagues and the people and the communities we serve,
to provide excellent service,
to lead by example and to be a role model to children,
to celebrate the diversity of the people, ideas, and cultures around me,
to serve with an open heart and an open mind,
to be quick to help and slow to judge,
to do my best to make a difference in the lives of others,
and to build a stronger community, nation, and world for all of us.
Let's start with the move. It was successful, and at this point, I'm basically all moved in. My big CCTV is here, so I'll be bringing that up here from the lady downstairs tomorrow to set up. My new desktop is being used to write this entry, haha.
As for decor, I've got some of my posters and things up. Still have a few things I want to put up, but that can be done whenever.
The TV got damaged when my sister sent it to me, so it's on Craiglist waiting to be bought by someone who can use the parts inside. In a way, it's nice--I'm not concentrating on television, but it would be nice to be able to sit in bed or in one of my comfy non-papasan chairs to watch a little TV in the evenings after work.
Which brings me to the REAL meat of this entry: MY FIRST WEEK OF CITY YEAR!
Let's do this in list format by day, shall we?
Day 1-Monday:
We started with a day of service at Harper High School, one of CY Chicago's new sites this year. I met my Journey team (the team I'll meet every other Friday to do our Idealist Journey--the leadership/personal reflection aspect of City Year--activities with).
My team is AWESOME. Our team is called Cathedral Building, which is the name of one of City Year's Founding Stories--little stories that give a little nugget of insight into the way City Year aims to impact the world. Our story is pretty cool. Here's a quick rundown:
A traveler comes across a village and sees a man breaking rocks. He asks the man, "What are you doing?" The man responds, "Can't you see I'm busting some rocks?" The traveler asks a second laborer the same question, and his response is, "I'm earning a living to feed my family." The third laborer the traveler asks his query to responds, "Can't you see we're building a cathedral?"
This story is based on, obviously, cathedral builders. Specifically, though, it deals with the fact that when cathedrals were built, it took many generations to build them. People would spend their entire lives working on building something they would never see in their lifetime. In that same way, I as a corps member may or may not see the fruits of my labor with my students this year. If I don't, then it simply means I've paved the way for someone new to come and continue the work I've started this year.
Pretty cool, right?
Anyway, back to my team. Our fearless leaders and Senior Corps Members, Mark and Andrea, are really cool. They're funny, and make what we do fun and help keep our spirits up while keeping us on track. Andrea's a little more soft spoken than Mark, but they're both awesome.
Then we have "Ader" and "Adra"--Alexander and Alexandra. Ader is the youngest of us all, I believe, and very analytical and dry from what I've seen of him this week. Adra, on the other hand, is a very "take charge" sorta girl, with a serious caffeine addiction. She drinks more coffee on a daily basis than I think I've ever seen Cilla drink during midterms and finals. Then there's Dan, who I can only think to describe as "solid". Omar is fun, but pretty quiet. Dominique and Ramia are also on the quiet side, Ramia even moreso it seems to me. I still feel like I don't really know them quite yet. Last but not least, there's Jonathan, who I also feel like I don't know very well, but he's fairly outgoing and nice, so that works for me. :)
We spent Monday painting. No, really. My team was in charge of painting the school mascot and the school name on the gym wall, and I dare to say it--we did a REALLY awesome job. After lunch, four of us went upstairs to continue painting--this time to help complete what a few of us were thinking may have been a meeting room of some sort.
The best part? THERE WAS NO A/C. AT ALL. I'm assuming the school hadn't turned it on yet, since school hasn't quite started yet.
But yeah, painting in a hot school while fasting is hard on the body, lemme tell ya. Totally worth it, though.
Day 2-Tuesday:
Basic Training Academy officially begins! Tuesday was spent being introduced to a LOT of information. What is City Year? What is our mission? What is our structure? What do we do in the schools? What is some of our literature? And also included in that was learning little bits of City Year culture, and getting to know my Journey team better. A long day, but informative.
Day 3-Wednesday:
Spent it going more in depth. Understanding the different part of the "Whole School Whole Child" (WSWC) model--which students we work with, which students we focus on, and which ones are not for us. Different things we do for/with the students. What the different leadership roles on our service teams are. The day ended with more Journey team-building, which was nice, and a welcome reprieve. These guys are going to end up being my re-energizing force this year, I think.
Day 4-Thursday:
Going more in depth in understanding the functions and work of the different leadership positions on the service teams. Getting statistics about Chicago Public Schools, learning about the different types of schools in the CPS system, and which types are the ones we'll be serving.
Also learned a bit more about "The Idealist Journey"--like I said, the leadership/personal reflection part of our term.
Learned about and got the applications for the "extracurricular" leadership opportunities: Service Reserves (they organize service projects for not only the corps, but also recruit volunteers for their own ideas sometimes, too), Unity Rally (bi-weekly Friday morning City Year pep rally to not only bring attention to our presence in the city, but to keep our own spirits up), and Corps Council (kind of like a student council).
Also filled out the Member Profile, which they'll use to place me on a service team. Keeping my fingers crossed for a high school! :D (I'll find out my team before my school, but that's good, because I need to get used to working with them first, anyway.)Not sure yet which extracurricular to sign up for, or even if I should... But I've got a little bit of time to make a decision.
Day 5-Friday (Today):
SCAVENGER HUNT! My Journey team and I spent the day trekking around the city on foot/bus/train, trying to go to as many places as possible on the list they gave us. it was nice--I got to spend more time getting to know people I generally like. We got a little too caught up in the "competition" aspect of it, but eventually we just sort of let that go and had a good time. But I definitely think a few people's Type A sides were coming out. I'm not so big on competition, so this sort of bothered me, but I generally had a good time.
Most asked question of the day: "So what's your vision like, exactly?" and its just-as-common variation, "So what exactly do you see???" This left me highly amused.
Cool things I saw/did today: "the bean" and running through the fountain at Millenium Park; war memorial at Soldier Field; Sue the dinosaur (from slightly afar); North Avenue beach; Broadway, the Chitown edition; the animal game; stereotype humor with my Journey team on the bus ride back to Burnham Park.
And that basically sums up my week! :Db
One of the last work-related things I did today was learn the City Year pledge, which I'll end on. This week has been intense, but there's been something new for me everyday. For now, it's time to recharge my batteries. Hello weekend! :D
The Pledge:
I pledge to serve as a City Year member to the very best of my ability,
to honor the rules and expectations of City Year,
to respect my colleagues and the people and the communities we serve,
to provide excellent service,
to lead by example and to be a role model to children,
to celebrate the diversity of the people, ideas, and cultures around me,
to serve with an open heart and an open mind,
to be quick to help and slow to judge,
to do my best to make a difference in the lives of others,
and to build a stronger community, nation, and world for all of us.