A Month of Updates

I hope I have more to say once I am actually in the Dominican Republic; I am not a fan of once a month blog posts. However, the past month has been quite eventful and extremely hectic.

I spent most of it adjusting to living out of a book bag and developing my youth facilitating skills—which will def come in handy while I’m in the Dominican Republic.

I spent 3 weeks at Amherst College in Massachusetts serving as a Rap Director for the College Summit program. (check it out: www.collegesummit.org)  This summer marked my 4^th summer serving as a Rap Director trainee-which meant it was time to become a certified Rap director (youth facilitator). I’ve spent the past 3 years overcoming obstacles, taking possibility walks, making positive choices for myself, thinking outside of the box, accepting acknowledgements for my accomplishments, getting rid of my ice princess mask, studying and living the curriculum: in preparation for this moment. My College Summit Rap Director process and journey has positively impacted my life: it is huge reason why I finally had the courage to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer. It is oftentimes hard for me to finish things that benefit me solely, I have no problem completing and spending countless hours working on things that impact and benefit others. I was nervous about this milestone because it has been the most selfish yet selfless one I’ve ever endured.

In the middle of preparing for this momentous occasion, I began to receive tons of staging information from the Peace Corps At first it was hard to focus on College Summit when the next 27 months was calling…or rather emailing with new info everyday. Complete sidenote: I am slightly relieved that staging is in Virginia because I only have to travel from staging to the Dominican Republic. BUT I am a little nervous about waking up at 2am in preparation for our flight to the D.R. I’m sure I’ll be too nervous to sleep so I probably don’t have to worry about oversleeping. Sidenote over. Anyways I regained my composure and focused on being in the moment—and I’m so thankful I did because (not being in the moment) would have cost me countless memories, laughs, tears, and vulnerability that my peer leaders deserved.

Now back Rap Directing….I was excited, scared, and nervous. I spent 2 weeks with an amazing I spent the first 2 weeks co-facilitating with someone else…who challenged me to be in the moment, get out of my head, and share myself with the students authentically. It was just the advice I needed to step into my next level of facilitation.

My trainer “Mama T” came to Amherst to certify me. As soon as she arrived, she took my Rap Director manual from me.  I usually referred to it before sessions in the previous 2 workshops. But I simply focused on my intentions….got out of my head…and checked the tone of the room to gauge how to implement my intentions. It was a 4day workshop chalk full of many challenges and an unreal heat wave, but despite all, my peer leaders earned their 5 goals by Sunday at 12:30. And I have reached my milestone as well….Mama T certified me!! I was ecstatic…this has been the most fulfilling inward journey/outward service in my life so far.

I’ve been back in Maryland since late Sunday night trying to readjust for a few weeks and get a little rest (no luck so far with the latter). Now I have less than 20 days to research and buy the rest of my gear, pack, and say goodbye to all of my friends and family. AHHHHHHHH! That probably didn’t sum up all of my emotions but it gives you a sense. It is indeed a stressful time but I am thankful that everything is coming together (as it always does when I let go and let God). I am also hoping that I have a day or 2 to just reflect on the chapters that are coming to a close and the new one that is about to begin. I tend to complete one thing and leap headfirst into another, but this time I want to enjoy every component of each journey and be in every moment. And I plan to be intentional about it =)

Peace Corps' events bring much needed updates

The last time I posted was almost a month ago, right after I received my invitation to serve in the Dominican Republic.There is a lot to write about in this post so please bear with me. I know I've got to get in the habit now of updating this more now so here goes.

First....let me update you on the past month.... I immediately accepted my invite and realized later that I probably should have given myself a couple of days because it was a crazy week trying to meet the deadline of submitting my updated my resume and creating my aspiration statement while prepping for my students' graduation. Also, with accepting my invite came the immediate prep to not be in the U.S. after august. So I went into a frenzy of preparing to move, letting my school know that I would not be returning, sharing the news with all of my family and friends, and prepping all of my financial/loan/car documents for the 27 months I will be gone.

Graduation: My students graduated on June 13...and the theme was Coolidge to College....I was surprised and elated that this was the theme chosen because I partnered with students. It was a theme I had been working on over the past year and a half to plan through the College Summit program. However the students implemented it and used us (their awesome English teacher, their DC-Cap advisor, and myself) as the support they needed to graduate and create a successful postsecondary plan. It was such a gift to watch each student walk across the stage and hug me after they received their diploma. It was one of the most special days of my life and great preparation for the Peace Corps. There were days when I questioned why I chose to teach, if students were benefiting for my presence, why it take so much  time to make a real difference, what are they gaining in the day to day, how do I help them invest in their own learning and their futures.... Clearly I could go on and on but you get the point...I couldn't see progress in the day to day but everyday that I went to work with intentions for my students and positivity, it all worked out because they worked hard to overcome numerous obstacles. And I won't be here to see all of the fruits of my labor of love as they go off to college, but thats more than alright. It was never about me, I'm just thankful to have supported them in their journey. While I have no concrete expectations for my Peace Corps service, I hope that I can reflect on my service and feel the same way that I feel about my partnership with my students.

Just as soon as I was overcome with these joyful emotions, I had to move on to the next task at hand....moving...which was definitely frustrating and slightly overwhelming.

Moving: To pack up one's things and figure out what to keep or throw away is an exhausting transitional endeavor. I've moved a lot in the past so dare I say I'm slightly used to this...but this was the first time that I was not moving into my next place. Instead I spent the last 3 weeks sorting through my acquired things, trying to figure out what I could part with and what I just had to keep for when I returned. It was difficult because my parents live in a smaller place so they do not have space for most of my stuff. I have luggage at friends' houses and I had to part/try to sell a lot of my stuff. I know that you should not become attached to material things but I think all of this jarred my world a little because I will really have to start all over when I return. I was watching a movie at my friend's house last Thursday (when my move out was complete) and just cried for about 30 minutes (although I was watching a sad movie about a girl who was losing her father to cancer) but I knew I needed to release a lot of my emotions. I've been kind of bouncing around my friends houses and my parent's house until I head to New York for some college access workshops that I am facilitating. It has been good practice (I think) to live out of a bag and keep as few things with me as possible. Special thanks to my Mom, Dad, Linette, KK, and Ashley for your help and support with my move...and space on your couch!

Black Peace Corps event: At the BPCV event in May, we were encouraged to bring our friends and I'm thankful to have a core group of women around me who encourage, love, and hold me accountable-so of course they came to the event. My friends were open to learning more about the Peace Corps and a couple have started their own application. I hope that this blog and conversations that I have with friends will encourage more people to research and learn about Peace Corps. Here is a pic of me and some of Core after the event

Peace Corps Porch: So if you are in the D.C. area, I hope you know that Peace Corps is featured in the Smithsonian folklore Festival and I was asked to speak on the Peace Corps Porch about my inspiration to serve. It has been such a long process from when I first had the courage to submit my application to the complete joy I felt when I received my invitation that I've had to spend a couple of days in reflection of all of the highs and lows I've experienced for this event. I spoke about my service in the community I've grown up in and how I have always learned more from the students I've served than I've ever given to them. I spoke about how I'm looking to share what I know, build capacity in the community I get to serve in, and share life with the people in my community. I am not planning nor creating expectations for my service and thereafter (except spending time talking to people and I likened that experience to sitting on the Peace Corps porch)  It turned out really well and there were several RPCVs there who offered me words of wisdom and encouragement. (On that note I've got to add in that RPCVs and current PCVs in the D.R. have been really supportive--from emailing me and answering a million questions to posting packing lists --it has all been extremely helpful and comforting.)

That's all I can think to include at this point. I'm hoping you do not have to wait another month to hear from me again. If you made it to the end of this post, I'm impressed!! Remember to share your thoughts so I'll be encouraged to write more =)

PS: I hope to create another section soon to thank all of the wonderful family and friends in my life who have the courage to let me go live out my dream--and support me while I do it. It means more than they will ever know and I think its important that people get a chance to smell the roses while they can =)