My term of service is officially over. I am no longer an employee of the Corporation for National Service. I am now an alumni.
Ten months of work behind me. Oddly enough, I still remember the first day VIVIDLY. I woke up at 4 AM, after going to bed at midnight. I would have gone to bed earlier, but the Super Bowl had ended with a satisfying Giants win over the Patriots. I took a quick shower (that was lengthened slightly because I spent a good five minutes or so staring at my reflection in the shaving mirror, asking myself exactly what the hell I was getting into as the water continued to pulse down on me) and dressed. My dad and I rode out to Pittsburgh International in relative silence. He was tired; I was still trying to wrap my head around what was about to happen.
The airport was busy, but I cleared security quickly and headed to the gate. I wrote a post there, The Deep Breath Before The Plunge, then boarded the aircraft and tried my best to relax. The flight itself was uneventful, but the instant the wheels touched down on the runway in Denver, my heart leaped into my throat. The tram ride between the terminal and the main concourse took less than five minutes, but it seemed endless. My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty, and I was more nervous than I had been in a while. I met the Americorps representatives in the concourse, got my bags, and boarded the bus to campus. From there, it was surprisingly smooth: bus ride to campus, check in and get room key, a bit of unpacking and a quick look at the schedule. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing football with people I had just met (some of whom I talk to even to this day, some of whom I do not, and some of whom left the program altogether).
Since that day, February 4, 2008, I have...
-personally completed 2110 hours of work (2030 of direct service, 80 of independent service)
-logged over 13,000 miles in vans, cars and aircraft
-set foot in 18 states (Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New Mexico)
-personally led and managed over 200 volunteers (from Alternative Spring Break, Southern Baptist Conference, and various other volunteer groups) on various work sites in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans
-aided in the construction of a house in Sabine Pass, TX that survived the 25-foot storm surge of Hurricane Ike
-served as the assistant manager of the Johnson County Volunteer Center in Indiana (after the flooding this summer), dispatching over 800 spontaneous volunteers in order to provide aid to more than 150 households in the affected area
-worked as part of a trail crew in Copper Harbor, MI and helped to complete a mile of world-class hiking/bicycling trail
-served as the night manager of a Red Cross shelter in Lake Charles, ultimately responsible for the well-being of 175+ clients and staff
-worked as part of a crew that sorted, organized, inventoried, and loaded over 5,000,000 pounds of donated food in a distributions warehouse in Kountze, TX
(This is not my attempt at braggadocio. This is just an example of what an average Corps Member can do over ten months of service with the National Civilian Community Corps)
I don't possess the degree of writing talent necessary to accurately describe how I'm feeling right now. It's a bit of everything, I suppose. Relief, that I am free of the sometimes onerous demands of the program. Pride, that I was able to complete my term of service knowing that I did my best to be the hardest worker on the team. Sorrow, that I will be leaving the greatest people I have ever had the chance to come across. Regret, that I did not take advantage of every opportunity for new experiences and personal development that I came across over my term of service. Uncertainty, as to what my future (both near and distant) holds. A number of other emotions too, but I don't know how to put them into words. Tonight marks the end of a journey that really started for me in the fall of 2006, when I first made the decision to take a year off from college and pursue other goals.
As for now, however, I fully intend to enjoy my last night in Denver with the people that made the last ten months both agonizing and unbelievably fulfilling.
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