Happy Birthday Alice Nelson! At least that's what the cake should say! (Apologies for the half eaten cake, there are many people in the office who enjoy cake as much as celebrating Alice's birthday!)

In all the trainings I do of my programs' software, I use fictitious clients to walk the trainees through simulations of the online software. Alice and her grandson, Cameron, have travelled all over the state of Ohio helping new (and existing) counselors navigate this software. Because we appreciate Alice so much for all her travels, how could we not celebrate her birthday (Dec. 1)?

December Starts Off Great!

So as the winter season begins, I can't help but feel excited! I love the snow and all the lights! So when I awoke on Wednesday morning (December 1st) to snow I couldn't help but smile and know that it was going to be a good day because of it! As for driving into the office that same morning, that slightly dampered my mood because most Ohioans think of snow as "white death" and freak out at the first sight of a flurry. All I have to say is that I am glad I had a different route into the office that morning because my normal route was backed up for miles due to multiple accidents. But once I made it through all the craziness that is normal morning rush hour traffic, I was again happy to see snow on the ground and in the air! The only thing that could make the day better would be to see Santa Claus...and that's just what happened! After a day of being in doors and not being able to witness my favorite thing, myself along with multiple co-workers from OASHF walked over to the Statehouse for the arrival of Santa! He was to arrive by helicopter, but due to inclament weather, he was forced to arrive by ambulance. After hearing this saddening news, many of us wondered how the small children around us would react to seeing Santa arrive by ambulance. Apparently it didn't phase them at all because there were cheers all around us when the ambulance was finally in view and a long line to sit on him lap once inside! Although the entire building was full of people and in more than case was downright crowded, the whole experience was very enjoyable! Below are a few pictures of the walk over, the arrival of Santa, the Lego Statehouse, the old fashioned tree, and downtown after dark! Enjoy!

Anything to help the local foodbank, right?

I like to think that I am willing to support any cause that is valid and is something that I am or could be interested in. Case in point: Bar Stool Open for Second Harvest Foodbank of Clark, Champaign, and Logan Counties. Who ever thought a bar crawl for a foodbank was a thing? Although I did not actually partake in the drinking part, I totally participated in the put-put portion!!! Every stop had a different theme, different food, and almost a different crowd (most of the time we saw the same people all day). It really was a complete blast and I am pretty sure there are already talks of planning for next year. I only wish we could have been a little more prepared. Why would you need your own putter & golf ball for a golf outing? What a ridiculous idea! Oops. Again, we will be better planned for next year! Bring it on Springfield, you can't take down Team SAS two years in a row! Yeah, so the name could use some work too...maybe C-Bus Crew? That seemed like a good one...after we started...Here are a few pictures from some of our favorite stops...

Home Bar = Casino!

Team SAS! What rockstars!

I got a Hole In One at this stop!!

We may or may not have "pretended" at this stop...there was no one else in the bar & we could only find a putter that someone had accidentally left behind...oops again...

We had some great fans to keep us going...Elvis, Marilyn, & Dean!

My life in Pictures

I tend to like to live life through the lense of my camera as often as I can. These next few photos are just a brief snapsot into my October....

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

Like I said these photos are just a brief view into the things I saw on a semi-regular basis in October. Below is a listing of the photos...maybe so you can understand my obsession with photos!

1. Old powerlines next to railroad tracks with glass conductors. Not very many of these still around!

2. For those of you who are Glee fans (as I am!) Schuster Road was a must!

3. & 4. Storms coming home from a training that caused accidents all over the place and backed up traffic for miles! I was on 70 for a good extra couple hours.

5. & 6. Some photos from one of our better Regional Meetings.

7. A funny named mini-mart that I passed more than once & needed a picture.

8. The lovely colors of Fall. Too bad they only lasted about a week...if that....

October is gone already?

I cannot believe that it is officially November already. The one thing I am confused about is where October went? Just the other day, September was coming to a close and I was looking forward to Halloween. I'm pretty sure I missed it. But even though I missed October and my favorite holiday, it was all in keeping busy and doing good things!

October was the busiest time since I started my VISTA term back at the end of June. Three regional meetings, four Health Path meetings, being trained on taxes, doing trainings, making a difference in West Jefferson, and attending a foodbank conference were all an absolute blast! Looking back, I probably would have scheduled a few things a little more differently but at the same time I would not have had some of the great travels and not met some great people along the way. And although I had a few hiccups along the way, I am amazed at how well the month flowed. Yes, some of the meeting spaces may have been a little small and I may have had to give a few impromptu presentations and I may have gotten lost while trying to make a difference, but over all everything went great! I travelled all over the Southern portion of Ohio and even got to spend the night with a friend I hadn't seen in months!

Now I get to play catch up though. I have thank-you letters & sorry we missed you letters & marketing order forms & trainings to fill. I guess that is what I get for being out of the office almost two weeks in a row. Looking at my calendar for the weeks ahead, they seem so slow right now because not everyday has something scheduled. But then I just flip one month back and remind myself this is a good thing...

Local VISTA Superstar...I wish!

On Tuesday I attended an In Service Training mandated so many months after one begins their year of service. I was genuinely excited because I got to spend the day with people from my PSO group that I have not seen since we left Chicago on that stormy June day (that's a story in itself). The day had all been planned out for me and all I had to do was go through it like an ordinary VISTA and be a sponge for all the new information/ideas being thrown my direction.


Half of my day had gone by in the blink of an eye and it was already lunch time. As I was standing in line to get my plate of yummy-ness provided by Holiday Inn, I was approached and told that The Columbus Dispatch was doing an article about the job market (or lack there-of) and falling incomes in the Columbus area. They thought I would be perfect to be interviewed for the article because I am a recent Capital University graduate and had to deal with declining job market for a year after I graduated and before I landed my role as AmeriCorps*VISTA with OASHF. I was excited because I've never been interviewed for something like that before!


A couple hours later after my session was done and waiting for the day to end, we got the phone call from the writer ready to ask some questions. She asked when I graduated, what degree and major I graduated with, how many applications I had placed since then, and why I ultimately chose to become an AmeriCorps*VISTA. After I told my story she thanked me and told me to check The Columbus Dispatch the next day for the article. Before I even had a chance to pick up a newspaper or check the online version, there was buzz around the office and emails had already been sent out. Come to find out the article was actually a cover story! Not sure which section it was on the cover of, but a cover none-the-less! I was also asked to do an internal interview and tell my story to be posted on the OASHF blog as a follow up to the article in the paper.

The following link is to The Columbus Dispatch article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/09/29/poverty-rate-jumps-locally.html?sid=101


The following link is to the OASHF Blog: http://www.oashf-storiesfromohioans.blogspot.com/

This past Friday (September 24th) was my first of five HealthPath events. We were partnering with Shared Harvest Foodbank in Butler County and hosting the luncheon during their foodbank conference. I was nervous because I wasn't sure how many people were going to show up and that they would be able to find their way around.

About two weeks before the event is when the invites went out & about a week before the event I followed the letter up with phone calls trying to confirm that I would at least have some attendees. Out the 70+ calls I made, I think I spoke to about ten, and out of that ten I think I confirmed one. I did receive phone calls back the following Monday either confirming or declining their invitations. So when all was said and done, I had nineteen RSVP's confirming they would attend our luncheon.

So Thursday afternoon I put all my packets together with the correct powerpoint & half sheets & business cards. Got the last minute scoop from Charles about what I should/should not do & finally got all my technological goodies (digital camera & voice recorder). I was starting to feel really confident in the happenings of Friday.

Then, Friday came...major traffic accident on my way to work pretty much shut down the freeway into Columbus: Great way to start off any already nerve-racking day! Not to mention the wind & rain that just made it a miserable morning. But I made it to the office and finished up somethings around my desk before I headed out on the road. With the help of a dolly, I loaded the three boxes of mugs, laptop bags, flyers, & folders into my car & started out for 71S toward Cincinnati. About 45 minutes into the trip realized I left all my technological goodies in my desk & left my coffee mug on my desk. Strike three against Friday.

Once I actually made it to Voice of America Park it was very simple to find the room & unload my car (again thanks to a dolly). I set up all the seats with a packet of flyers, our folder, a Health Path folder, and an OBB mug. Then I played the waiting game for about an hour, in which I ate my lunch and caught up with Meredith (Southwest Ohio Regional Coordinator). About five til 1:00 a few people started to filter in. And by a few, I literally mean 3 people to observe the powerpoint, Tara with Health Path, and a guy from one of the local news stations (he didn't stick around very long though). I was a little disappointed that more people out of my nineteen RSVP's did not show up.

With the subtraction of a few minor hiccups of the day, my first event went very smoothly. I just hope that my next events go as smoothly (maybe just with a few more attendees!). I'm not going to let this one discourage me though! Next time will be better....I hope!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun...

At least that's how the old saying goes. Really, I am having a lot of fun, really getting to explore parts of Ohio I have never seen before, and experiencing things I normally would not. Over the past few weeks I have been keeping busy between my Community Trainer position and learning everything needed for Health Path events and everything in the middle.

September started off with a bang with the Ohio Benefit Bank Conference. I was really excited to see this executed because there was so much buzz about it in the office! Two days of getting out of the office to network with people from all over the state and be theatrical? Sign me up! (Well let me sign myself up as it turned out!) The conference was definitely a success in my eyes and in others' as well. We had a great turn out and everyone seemed to enjoy our antics on the second day with our Tax Clinic Simulation. I learned a lot from the break-out sessions on the first day.

Fortunately or unfortuately immediately following the conference was Labor Day weekend. So upon returning from a great long weekend, Jess and I were immediately off and running again with a Benefits Training in Glouster for HAPCAP Head Start program. We had 22(!) new counselors to train in one day in one room. Thankfully the training went very smoothly for having 22 people trained at one time.

The rest of this month is definitely a mix between hectic and boring. I think I'm going to have to soak up the next couple weeks where there is not a lot on the agenda in preparation for next month and all the craziness that is on the horizon. Bring it on October!

Meaningful Names? I hope not!

So yesterday on my way home and enjoying the great curvy road that is 22 I took a little more notice to the different signs around me. I have always loved to look at different signs from different areas of travel and laugh at some of the names that people think of. But yesterday, I became concerned for my safety (not really, but the signs made me think of bad horror movies with bad acting). Two names that really stuck out to me were Skull Crossing Lane and Slaughter Mill Road. When I saw those two names I immediately thought of horror movies such as The Hills Have Eyes and Wrong Turn. I'm glad it was daytime because I might have genuinely been concerned if I had come across those at night...

I love driving!

This week has just been one road trip after another. Thank goodness I love to drive otherwise I would not be ok with this job!

August 24, 2010

Tuesday was my first training on my own. I was excited because it meant all the loud rock music I wanted! In all reality, I just listened to the same rock road tunes Jess and I did for all our adventures. The trip seemed to drag on because I didn't have anyone to talk to to keep me entertained...I'm gonna have to work on that (or maybe just rely on 5 Hour Energy for the duration of my term). The training went very well: there were only two trainees, which is not abnormal for SEO. They were very nice women who even offered to let me eat lunch with them because I didn't know the area. They asked some great questions and really put my knowledge to the test (which I loved because it made me a little more confident in myself that I knew more than I thought!). After the training was all said and done, unfortunately I could not give them login names because their site was not set up yet, but I told them by the end of next week they would have login names and I would let them know as soon as I could what they would be and help them log on for the first time.

August 25, 2010

Wednesday I was asked to drive to Portsmouth to handle a small situation with my HealthPath duties. An event had been set up for Wednesday, but we didn't know many of the specifics so I drove down to the First Methodist Church of Portsmouth just in case any of the invitees showed up. Thankfully no one did, but Bob from The Potter's House did show up to sit with me just in case anyone showed up as well. It was nice to have someone to sit and talk to for an hour. After a few moments of the usual pleasantries between strangers, we found out that we are from the same area west of Columbus and that his parents live right next door to my aunt and uncle and knew all about their property. He told me stories I had never heard before about the land and how it all started (my aunt and uncle own an old rock corry that Ed worked at as a young man). It was great to hear stories about a place I already knew...he graduated high school from the same school I attended elementary school. We talked for about an hour then decided that no one was showing up and it was ok for us to leave. I spoke with Pastor Nick to let him know that I would be getting in contact with him to reschedule our presentation and apologized again for the mix up. Ed then let me follow him back to The Potter's House to meet with Anita to give her my regards and reschedule our meeting for sometime in October. On my way home I followed Ed's directions to bypass downtown Portsmouth (great idea!) and it took me over a very large hill/small mountain that overlooked the city. It was a beautiful sight and I wish I could have gotten out of my car to take some pictures! That's my new goal: make a photo journal of my time as a VISTA because some of the areas I will be in are so beautiful in landscape & arcitecture!

P.S. Thank you small towns for not believing in road signs. I drove around for 15 minutes looking for the road I was supposed to be on because my google directions were not that great and my gps was going stupid. Portsmouth: get some signs better than this! Thanks!

August 26, 2010

Today I am in Cadiz, Ohio. I had never heard of this place before I started this position so I just knew it was going to be an interesting drive. First of all, keep in mind it's 2 hours and 43 minutes away from my home. Yeah. 70-E to 77-N to 22-E and here you are. Atleast that's what my directions said. They lied. So does my gps, it kept telling me to turn on roads that didn't exist or that took me to Harrison County Fairgrounds. Boo small towns and crazy roads. So after yelling for several minutes at my gps that is was a liar, I forced it to take me another route. Belmont Technical College-North Campus is literally in the middle of nowhere. It is located right next to a state park if that tells you anything. It's a nice facility once you find it & for people like me it's not easy. Training has gone extremely smoothly! The two women that I am training today are kickin' some serious butt and just busting through all this information I am throwing at them! It is easier to move through things when you're only training two people! The drive home hopefully will be better than the drive in...today of all days I really wish I had my camera. The hills and landscape on 22 is absolutely gorgeous and it has some twists that make me feel like a racecar driver! (no extreme speeds or anything, but just hugging curves is a lot of fun in the country!)

It's Official!!

This week has been full of busy days and trying evenings. But thank goodness it's Friday! But as I look back over my planner from this past week, I realize it was a good week (even if it had a few rough spots).

Food Stamp Challenge:
It's over and I feel grateful that I only had to endure one week of food insecurity. Although my parents gave up half way through the week, I have kept true to the rules(for the most part). I spent the night at a friends' house Wednesday and she had decided that we would go out to dinner with a mutual friend. I had to explain what I was doing and that although I would go to dinner with them, I would not actually be eating because I had brought my own spaghetti. She didn't completely understand why I was putting myself through a week of being hungry, but she was compliant with my choice not to eat. My parents on the other hand just absolutely gave up. They both went out last night to dinner seperately: my mom with her co-workers and my dad by himself at a local diner. Therefore that left me to fend for myself: looks like spaghetti for yet another meal. If I don't eat spaghetti again for months I will be ok...I just don't think I can stomach one more helping of it! But the challenge is over and I can go back to snacking on cheese, chips & salsa, and fresh veggies out my garden! I've had a sweet potato calling my name since Tuesday!

Observed Trainings:
I had my final observed training on Wednesday (please see previous post). It went great and I am now an Official Community Trainer for Southeast Ohio! I have a certificate and everything! It's a great feeling knowing I accomplished my two trainings and can now go out to my region on my own and get things done! Watch out Marietta, my first official training on my own is happening in your town!

HealthPath:
Charles and I travelled to Southwest Ohio yesterday to start getting the ball rolling with the HealthPath events I will be responsible for in the upcoming months. I realized that SW Ohio looks a lot like SE Ohio, so I will feel right at home. The two groups we met with yesterday were great and already had an idea what they were responsible for and had already started working on their end: which is fantastic for me because that is one less thing I have to worry about! I also realized that SW Ohio has a lot of tobacco farms. Charles and I were just amazed that tobacco was grown in Ohio...I had seen it before but just thought it was closer to Portsmouth area! There were fields upon fields of it in all stages of harvest: fields still growing, fields half trimmed, and even a working field being harvested as we drove by. I also may or may not have taken us a round about way to the freeway, but that's what I get for thinking I knew where I was going and not following the directions from Google Maps. Oops...hey we made it back and I knew where we were the whole time, just slightly off!

Training #2

Today is my second training in order to be officially certified as a Community Trainer. It's down in the DSO so not something I am used to...I think I am more nervous about this training because it's with a different RC, Zach, and I'm not completely sure about how to go about using the training office in the DSO...nerves why do you do this to me? I feel jittery and my stomach is in knots, which seems worse today because I'm really hungry due to the food stamp challenge...Just gotta get through today or even really just the next couple hours til lunch!

Trying Parents

Like many in the office, I am participating in the food stamp challenge (previous post). The difference: my parents. We just started the challenge yesterday and already they were trying to eat things that were not allocated for in our budget.

Last night I asked my mom what I could do to help with dinner because it was nearing 8pm and I was really hungry having shared my lunch with a fellow challenger who forgot hers. I had tried resorting to a spoon full of peanut butter to hold me over...which just wasn't cutting it. She told me to start the potatoes and just grab a can of green beans or a bag of corn (which neither was on our list for the week). I had to re-explain the logistics of this week and that we did not have any money left over to "buy" a can of corn or green beans from our cupboard. I still don't think she understands the concept of this challenge completely. My dad also tried to pull something like this by grabbing a bowl for ice cream after dinner. My dad doesn't exactly support my current position with OASHF and doesn't really know that we are doing this challenge so it did not surprise me that he would do that. In order to make up for that little bit of extra that he "just can't live without" I am going to try to make some extra sacrifices of my own to cover the few dollars we would have spent to buy that ice cream. I really wanted this challenge to work in my house so maybe they could see that the work I am doing is important and why. We had only been through one day and it made me come to several realizations of the things I'm grateful for and how I sometimes take those things for granted.

The rest of this week I feel is going to be a constant struggle with them. Although I think a few more conversations with my mom and she will understand more. We were comparing our normal spending habits last night to this weeks limit and realized that we spend about the same, if not less, when we go to the store, the only real difference is that we have a freezer full of beef and a full garden in the summer to supplement our daily groceries.

Fun and Exciting Additions

So over the course of last week I was made aware that new assignments will be added to my VAD. Last week Jess had meetings about adding things because I was running low on projects to accomplish over my year. She was not expecting me to get through the ones that were on there so quickly. I am excited to start working on other projects to broaden the skill set that I will pick up from this position.

We are adding surveys for different sections of the Ohio Benefit Bank, facilitating poverty simulations through out the state, and coordinating HealthPath events. The HealthPath events were a last minute addition that should be very exciting. Right now I am just trying to wrap my head around these new projects and what is expected of me.

I have some understanding of the new projects because I have had exposure to each of them. I have never created my own surveys, but I have surely taken enough of them! I am going to keep in mind all the surveys I have taken in the past and try to use the best practices (as in not using a large number of questions or using questions that require a lot of thought & long answers) to implement them to different OBB sites around the state. As for the poverty simulations, I do not really have any experience with them. I have just heard the basics about what happens during the simulation and I have seen the giant boxes that holds all the materials needed. The simulations will not be something that occurs very often because all the materials needed and the number of volunteers needed. I have never experienced one in person, so I am nervous about doing this and possibly messing something up.

For the HealthPath events, I have been to four in my area (SouthEast Ohio) and have a general idea about the flow of them. This I think is going to be the biggest under taking of the new projects of my position with the exception of scheduling/implementing the trainings I still must do. The good things about the HealthPath projects is that they have to be completed by the end of October and I will get to meet many good contacts with counties outside my region. I have started making contact with the host sites to introduce myself and get word out again about the Ohio Benefit Bank and the HealthPath Foundation. These events are definitely making me nervous because I don't know a lot of the background of the foundation and I don't know the ins-and-outs of how HealthPath works.

So, overall I am excited about diving into these projects with just a few minor things that may cause a bump in my long road ahead!

Food Stamp Challenge

So today officially begins my journey with the food stamp challenge that everyone else in the office has already begun. With my busy schedule over the past weekend I knew that I would not have been able to participate in the challenge without cheating, so I decided that instead of cheating I would just switch weekends and start today. I am lucky enough to be able to have my parents participate as well (which I thought was going to be a very hard task to accomplish) so we as a family have three times the amount of money as everyone else it seems. My mom and I made a list of things that we would need through out the week to make lunch & dinner (we don't really do breakfast except coffee for them and yogurt for me) and made a list of things we needed to buy.

My thought process is why buy food that we already own and let it go to waste? I know we were supposed to buy the things we needed, I just couldn't justify it. Instead, we pulled what we already had in our house, looked up the prices of those things in the sale ads, and just deducted those prices from our $63. After all was said and done, we have about $4 left over, which hopefully will cover my dad's coffee in the evening after work.

Although my family is used to not spending a lot of money every week on food, it was hard to stay under $63. If we were to actually go to the store and buy the things we were having this week, most of the things would be store brand and sometime not even from Meijer (where we do most of our grocery shopping). I did have to go to the store for such perishable items as milk, bread, bananas, lettuce, and yogurt that added up to about $11.

This week should get very interesting in terms of breaking old habits. I love cheese and salsa (random? yes.) and I have a tendency of just grabbing a couple pieces of cheese for a snack or breaking out some tortilla chips and salsa, but with our budget this week those things are not available to me. I just have to remember that and not go reaching in the refrigerator when I feel like a snack.

My First Training

So yesterday was my first of two trainings on the path to being certified. I'm glad that's over. I had been stressing about it for days before because I get uber nervous before things like that, then once they start I'm confident again. Tuesday and Wednesday I crammed about as much information my brain could hold (I felt like I was cramming for a college final again) and then crammed some more! I think now in retrospect, I was just making myself more worried than really helping because I couldn't stop stressing over the idea that I was going to forget something important or say the wrong thing or trip and fall on face. I had the worst of the worst running through my mind.

So, needless to say, Thursday morning was the worst for me. Getting up even earlier than normal & then sitting in a car for almost 3 hours made me a ball of nerves. The closer we got to Stuebenville, the more I felt as if I was going to throw up. To make matters worse, when we arrived at Jefferson County CAC there were people in the computer lab that were not exactly willing to move. We had to stand in the hallway for about 20 minutes while things were sorted out. Great...another 20 minutes for my nerves to get the best of me.

Once we finally got in the room and got things moving I started to relax. I tried as hard as possible to not pay attention to Jess sitting to my right taking notes because I knew I would just start getting nervous again. Once the ball started rolling and everyone was where they should be I really started to relax and really was able to focus on the task at hand and no longer the feeling of a queasy stomach.

4 O'Clock could not have come fast enough, but oddly it did. The rest of the training seemed to breeze by and before I knew it, it was 3:30 and Jess and I were heading out the door and into the storm. Jess and I discussed what had just happened in my life and it was a very reassuring discussion and I think that I am completely ready for my second observed training...well I would like to think that at least. I know come next week I am going to be just as nervous as I was yesterday...and it doesn't help that Zach (another RC) is going to be observing me.

All in all it was a good day and I survived and that's all that matters! Jess and I even had fun with my camera on the way home because I needed to just forget what I had just been through...our adventures are as follows:

The After &

Being excited I didn't

crash and burn!

Some cool clouds &

lots of construction!

Concentrating really hard & a Canadian truck (Quebec)

The Rock Essentials for every car!

Journey

As I have posted recently, I have been on the road with my regional coordinator, Jess, quite a bit over the past couple weeks. I have enjoyed and learned a lot through all the meetings and presentations, but what I have enjoyed the most has been the hours long car rides. I am so thankful I have a regional coordinator that I get along with great...sometimes it's almost like we are the same person! We have discussed so many topics that I can barely remember all of them, I just know that they have been hilarious, insightful, and a real learning experience for me. I am definitely going to have some "seperation anxiety" when it comes to me making all the road trips by myself. Maybe I should invest in some self-help books on cd to help me through that time. So, for now: Thanks Jessica for making otherwise horribly boring road trips a blast!

"I don't like this bus..."
"Snow White"
"Join AmeriCorps: You get to fight dragons & have a battle of wits with a griffin"
"Don't Stop The Sandman"

Desk Space

So for the past couple weeks there have been so many random people milling around my desk I feel awkward. There are men on ladders and putting wires above my head. I feel I should move, but no one has even addressed the fact that I'm here...so here I stay! At least until I can't take the pounding and the constant feeling that someone is looking over my shoulder. Who will win? Stay tuned to find out...

On a side note: I kind of feel like Milton, the guy from Office Space that gets moved around and then put in the basement always worried about getting his stapler back. Clearly it's not that bad, but I feel like my desk area has been taken over!


Day 2 of my Desk Space being invaded has caused my ears to hate me. I have resorted to plugging in my i-pod and "cranking it to eleven" (name that movie?!) and hoping my ears do not begin to bleed. I just hope my phone doesn't ring anytime soon and that these guys get their job done very quickly...i-pod battery don't fail me now!!!

Has Anyone Seen My Time?

If you have, please inform me to where it went because I missed it this week.


I have been on the road in Southeast Ohio with my RC, Jessica May, this week for the Health Path project. At the beginning of the week I was excited to see how the presentations were to be given and the type of things I should expect to see. By Thursday afternoon I did not want to even think about benefit bank. I am still excited to give my own presentations and to continue working on getting the word out about OBB (especially after the Dateline special about poverty in America/Southeast Ohio), but for this week...I am burnt out. This, I feel, is only a glimpse into what is in store for me over the next year. This week has literally flown by me and left me somewhere stuck between Monday and Tuesday. There have been many times this week that I have had to stop and think about where I was, how I got there, what day it was, and what the day held for me. THANK YOU PLANNER!! I would have been lost so many times this week without my planner.

My Term of Service & Dateline

Being a volunteer for America was never anything that crossed my mind until the past few years. I enjoyed doing community service at Capital University for the local community, but I never looked at the bigger picture: the whole state of Ohio or even the whole country. After graduation I planned on finding a job just like the rest of the fresh graduates and taking my place in the "grown up" world. Little was I aware that not only was I competing with other recent grads like myself, but also all the other people who had lost their job in the recession that I happened to be walking into.

I had the opportunity to become a VISTA last summer but I just knew that things were going to get better and I would be able to find a good job. Looking back on that time now, I really wished I would have taken the position then. Oh the clarity of hind-sight. Again, taking a year off from the corporate world and providing a year of service was not something I expected to be doing post-graduation. Now after watching the Dateline special about Southeast Ohio (my region!) I am even more empowered to get out there and do some good!

I was extremely touched by the special. After watching Ann Curry travel throughout Southeast Ohio and just how bad the economic impact is there, my opinions of government assistance has changed greatly. The limited and extreme choices these families are facing are not things I would have thought been possible in America. To know that so many Americans are struggling on a daily basis just to provide not only for themselves but also their families, it's heart breaking. And to know that there are still so many people that either just don't know about the assistance they have available to them or their pride stops them from using that assistance is also heart breaking. Coming from a very middle class family in a rural area, I have somewhat of an understanding of the hardships these families are going through, but my family and I have been lucky enough to not know what it's like first hand.

Please use this link to watch the special if you missed it last night:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38382773/ns/dateline_nbc-america_now

First Timer

I have finally been influenced enough to begin my own blog. I have never been a blogger or even someone who has had the capability of writing about myself. But since I have been blogging for Southeast Ohio I have a new found interest. I was also inspired by other VISTA blogs to just write down my experience as I go through this next year. So, I guess "Welcome to my 1st blog!"

This first month of being an AmeriCorps*VISTA community trainer and working with the OASHF has been an eventful one for me. I have learned so many things and travelled to so many places my mind is still spinning! I don't think I can really handle putting much more information up there! I have had such packed days that my schedule just bleeds from one week to another. There are highlights that have stuck out, but this past month and a half has just become one giant blur. I know that after I actually get more into the trainings myself and I am out on my own without my RC things are only going to pick up and speed up...

I am really excited to continue on my path of being a VISTA this coming year and I know that there is much to learned. I can into this program not knowing a lot about it and not being able to explain to my parents what I was going to be doing, but now I feel more confident in my decision (even if I still can't completely illustrate it for my family)! Southeast Ohio look out because here I come!!