Rocky Mountain High

February 6, 2008

Teikyo Loretta Heights University

Denver, CO

I have been in Denver for almost three days, but have seen almost nothing of the city itself. Apart from a brief excursion meant to certify us as drivers of Americorps’ 12- and 15-passenger vans, we have spent all of our time on campus getting trained to be Corps members. The campus we’re using, Teikyo Loretta Heights, was formerly a female Catholic college in the early part of the century. It was closed, then purchased by Japanese investors and converted as housing and education for Japanese transfer students. It is also the headquarters of Americorps’ Central Region, overseeing operations in fifteen states in the Midwest, as well as the Gulf Coast region.

So that’s what I’ve been doing: receiving instruction on the Americorps program and the ins and outs of full-time service. I’ve signed up to be interviewed regarding a position on the wildfire teams, which are deployed around the Midwest to combat and suppress the wildfires that are all too common…I’m not sure whether or not I want to do that yet.

Other than that, I’m truly amazed at the ease with which everybody is coming together as a group. I don’t know whether it’s the goal we have in common, or whether it is just good luck, but everybody that I’ve met so far is amazingly friendly and willing to talk. My typical quietness/shyness has yet to show its face, and it’s a pleasant surprise. Perhaps this is exactly what I needed to finish it off once and for all. Here’s hoping.

We went up to Red Rocks, the legendary amphitheater built by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s National Conservation Corps (the predecessor to the program that I’m currently in). I think I did more physical activity sprinting up the many, many steps than I’ve done in the last three years…but it was a good feeling (after I was able to stop worrying about an impending coronary). It’s a spectacular venue, and I sincerely hope I’ll be able to see some good shows there this year (Rush?! Zeppelin?!). The gods of rock willing…