Getting Amped

Hey All,

It's starting to get very close to the time when I move to Mississippi.  I know I am getting started with this pretty late, however I didn't think to start doing this until well after I had been hired as an FEMA Team Leader for the Southern Region AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps.

To catch everyone up on the events over the past few months, I discovered there was a posting on the AmeriCorps website advertising for the FEMA Corps which would be an entity of AmeriCorps that works directly with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in responding to natural disasters all over the country when called upon.  I also discovered that if hired I would be part of the 2nd class of FEMA Corps members.  I figured that this sounded like a tremendous opportunity for me, as I want to get into Emergency Management and Disaster planning, education, and recovery at some point in the future.  What better way to gain real world experience than to work hand in hand with FEMA. 

I decided that this was a perfect opportunity for me and I decided to go for it.  I applied and checked the box "willing to be considered for a job anywhere in the US".  That is when it began.  Soon thereafter I was contacted to interview for the Team Leader position for the Atlantic Region based in Baltimore, Maryland and then the Southern Region based in Vicksburg, Mississippi (I have to sometimes use the old elementary spelling techinque to get it right or well at first I did).  When interviewing I had no idea that I would come to be considered and then be offered jobs in both places.  I was told in the beginning of April that I was being offered a position in both places and that I had all of about five days to decide which position I wanted.  I very quickly decided, after learning that travel costs were covered, that I wanted to move to the South to begin a very new experience for myself.  So then it was decided, I would be moving to Vicksburg, MS in July for 11 months of my life, what a huge life decision. 

I come from a small town with a population of approximately 800 residents in the village as of the 2010 US Census.  To put things into perspective, I graduated high school with a class of 47.  Many of those from this small town of Copenhagen, New York believe that no one from this small town could ever go places nor could anyone ever 'make it big'.  This small town is a wonderful place that I call my home and there are many great people here, however it does not hurt for many of the youth to see that it is possible to 'make it big' and to get out of the tri-county area to discover what the world has to offer. 

Now it is June already and about a month from my departure date from rural Northern New York.  I am extremely excited to have this chance to travel throughout the United States helping others.  My love for volunteering stem from a few experiences that took place years ago in Northern New York.  Through this job as an AmeriCorps FEMA Team Leader, I will be given the opportunity to travel around the United States helping those who are the most in need, that is those that have just been devestated by some form of natural disaster. 

I guess I can start the count now, it is approximately 40 days until I travel to Mississippi to start this adventure.  I am starting to really stress over putting everything together before I leave.  I have begun to really piece together what will be expected of me and what I will be doing for the next year of my life.  How exciting though!  I should be expecting the announcement of a conference call with the rest of the Team Leaders and the Unit Supervisors within the next few days. 

From what I know, as a Team Leader I will be working alongside my team of 8-12 other 18-24 year olds.  My job description spreads broadly from a mentor, to an RA, to a counselor, and even to a friend when need be.

I'm also very grateful for the time I spent as an AmeriCorps Volunteer at the Cortland City Youth Bureau.  It taught me a lot about myself and I really think it helped prepare me for what lies ahead of me in some ways.  That in itself was a great experience and I had so much fun! 

 I am excited and am sure there will be much more to come over the coming year.