My journey with AmeriCorps will officially start on October 10th, 2012, when I arrive on the Sacramento California campus. I am starting this blog to keep track of everything that I go through as an NCCC member, both to keep everyone at home updated and to be a reference for future AmeriCorps applicants.
I'm sure a lot of you are dying to know what I'm getting myself in to. To tell the truth, so am I. As I prepare to say goodbye to all of you, I keep asking myself if I made the right decision. I'm about to leave everything I know and everyone I love, for TEN MONTHS of hard work with people I've never met. For those of you unfamiliar with the program, I'll explain. I am participating in something called AmeriCorps NCCC. It's a ten-month program dedicated to community service within the United States, often described as the "Domestic Peace Corps". It's specifically for men and women ages 18-24 . You can learn more about it here. A few of my role models from the camp that I work at are NCCC graduates, and hearing about it from them planted the seed. I applied after senior year in high school, but I didn't make it then and went to college instead. I applied again, not really expecting to get in. But then I got the email.
When I saw it, the first thing I did was call my mom. She picked up and said, "Hey, honey. What's going on? How are you?" I stuttered back, "G-g-great!" (I was already choking up) and then spit out the good news. "I got in to AmeriCorps!" And from there I became an absolute mess, crying and laughing and hiccuping as she congratulated me. That weekend she came up to visit me at school, we talked it over, and I confidently accepted my placement to the Pacific Region.
Since even I have trouble remembering what the Pacific Region looks like, here's a map. The Pacific Region includes all of the states below colored blue. That means I could potentially be sent anywhere from Hawaii to Montana and Wyoming! How cool is that!? Well, maybe not Wyoming. But I would LOVE to visit Alaska.
I'm really looking forward to being a part of this. I know I'm going to miss all of you back home, living your normal lives without me (and I not-so-secretly hope you will miss me too), but I really feel like I'm going to be doing some good in the world, and I think it will be good for me too.
Send me letters?
Hugs and kisses,
McKinley
AmeriCorps Member Pledge:
I will get things done for America - to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.
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