Thoughts and other dribblings
I feel as though I haven't had a good, meaty update on here in a while... so here it goes.
It's the beginning of the end, here at AmeriCorps NCCC. Next week is the transition between third and fourth rounds. Fourth round will be one of the longest, clocking in at eight and a half weeks, I believe... but I think it will be a downhill slope, and it's just going to get steeper the closer to November 23 I get. There's so much to do before then - the yearbook, planning the Awards Night and Graduation ceremonies, getting everything cleaned up and in place for my replacement next year. This is on top of my usual duties, of course. It will be crazy.
But when I look at the last eight months... I enjoy crazy. My happiest times this year (work-related, at any rate) have been the times when I've been too busy to take breaths. It's then that I feel right about things. Working hard, playing hard, getting four hours of sleep... that's always how I've operated. No wonder I enjoy transitions so much, in a weird masochistic way. All the Team Leaders are back, subsisting off of apples, cereal and PB&J's, not a minute to sit down all week. Just glorious.
Of course, that's not stopping from taking the first two days of transition off next week - Aunt Jan's coming to Baltimore Monday and Tuesday, and I have plans to spend time with her. We'll go to art museumes, eat good food, and talk about life.
Then there is fall break, which starts that Friday. I believe the plan right now is to go to West Virginia, where some family friends of ours have a cabin in the mountains, where I will be meeting said family friends and my parents for a few days of hiking and "soft" camping (i.e. in a cabin with no electricity). There's a roof, so it doesn't REALLY count as camping. But I'll take it.
It's a little weird to realize that I'm looking another end-of-phase-of-life in the face. When all is said and done, NCCC will have taken up the better part of two years of my life. It's taught me a great deal about myself, about people, and about the world. I'll be nostalgic, sure, but I'm so excited to start the next stage, for which I have NCCC to thank.
In the last couple months, I've finally made some decisions about my future. Actually, I think it's more accurate to say that my future backhanded me across the face. That's what it felt like, mentally - finally realizing where I'm going. I've been working towards this for years, but finally knowing what I want? Mind blowing.
There are still a few things I'm not sure about, but hell, it would be damn boring if I knew everything. For now, I'm just content to know the general lay of the land. WWOOF-ing for a while - a few months, a year, year and a half maybe - then grad school. I've found the life I want. Now I just need to grab it by the balls and make it mine.
...after the next three months, that is.
It's the beginning of the end, here at AmeriCorps NCCC. Next week is the transition between third and fourth rounds. Fourth round will be one of the longest, clocking in at eight and a half weeks, I believe... but I think it will be a downhill slope, and it's just going to get steeper the closer to November 23 I get. There's so much to do before then - the yearbook, planning the Awards Night and Graduation ceremonies, getting everything cleaned up and in place for my replacement next year. This is on top of my usual duties, of course. It will be crazy.
But when I look at the last eight months... I enjoy crazy. My happiest times this year (work-related, at any rate) have been the times when I've been too busy to take breaths. It's then that I feel right about things. Working hard, playing hard, getting four hours of sleep... that's always how I've operated. No wonder I enjoy transitions so much, in a weird masochistic way. All the Team Leaders are back, subsisting off of apples, cereal and PB&J's, not a minute to sit down all week. Just glorious.
Of course, that's not stopping from taking the first two days of transition off next week - Aunt Jan's coming to Baltimore Monday and Tuesday, and I have plans to spend time with her. We'll go to art museumes, eat good food, and talk about life.
Then there is fall break, which starts that Friday. I believe the plan right now is to go to West Virginia, where some family friends of ours have a cabin in the mountains, where I will be meeting said family friends and my parents for a few days of hiking and "soft" camping (i.e. in a cabin with no electricity). There's a roof, so it doesn't REALLY count as camping. But I'll take it.
It's a little weird to realize that I'm looking another end-of-phase-of-life in the face. When all is said and done, NCCC will have taken up the better part of two years of my life. It's taught me a great deal about myself, about people, and about the world. I'll be nostalgic, sure, but I'm so excited to start the next stage, for which I have NCCC to thank.
In the last couple months, I've finally made some decisions about my future. Actually, I think it's more accurate to say that my future backhanded me across the face. That's what it felt like, mentally - finally realizing where I'm going. I've been working towards this for years, but finally knowing what I want? Mind blowing.
There are still a few things I'm not sure about, but hell, it would be damn boring if I knew everything. For now, I'm just content to know the general lay of the land. WWOOF-ing for a while - a few months, a year, year and a half maybe - then grad school. I've found the life I want. Now I just need to grab it by the balls and make it mine.
...after the next three months, that is.