Hey everyone sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. It's been a crazy last few weeks. I have not posted a single post since Corps Members arrived on August 26. The last two weeks have been filled with long but rewarding days.
Some things switched up big time for me. I am no longer going to have a team assigned to me. I am still a TL for Summit Unit, however I am what's called a Strategic Support Team Leader (Strat for short). I will be deployable anywhere in the United States and it's territories as a single entity and may not always get deployed with a team. It is possible for me to be deployed with multiple teams to a specific location. The majority of my deployments will be to JFO's, DRC's, and HQ offices within the FEMA network. I will have the opportunity to work with some high level people. I am absolutely stoked to be able to put my skills, knowledge, and experience to work and try to start off on a good foot with all of these experts within their fields. It will be a great opportunity for me to grow as a person and to affect positive change on the communities that I will be serving in throughout the course of the next ten months.
With that being said, a little synopsis of what I've been doing over the last few weeks would be great for everyone reading. On the day of move in, I was stationed at Jackson International Airport welcoming and checking in Corps Members as they got off their flights. I was there for the first half of the day and then came back to campus to assist in the move in process. The next day or so was extremely frustrating for me, however I quickly got over that and got right to work. I was concerned at first because I was a STRAT and did not have a temporary group and was not sure exactly what I was going to be doing. My concerns were quickly quelled by the staff here. They very quickly were able to get me assigned to specific tasks and keep busy. I jumped right into the thick of things. The first week was filled with a lot of small tasks that were able to assist the rest of the TLs who were very busy with their groups.
The first weekend on campus with CMs around was an extremely interesting one for both good and unfortunate reasons! I had the pleasure of spending the day Saturday with my fellow TL Yusra's group. They are a great group of people! We were able to visit some fun places in Vicksburg, enjoy a lunch together, and I spoiled them by cooking a great dinner Saturday Night. The next day a few of us ventured to Jackson, MS to get some delicious food at Two Sisters Kitchen!
Then Monday came. Oh Monday! Well we had planned to play some sports that afternoon. I had a fun game of Ultimate Frisbee planned with a bunch of people, but as I was walking over to the field I was alerted by one of the other TL's that one of our TLs had dislocated his shoulder in the gym. I was not far away from the gym so high tailed it there. I arrived to see an obvious deformity to the right shoulder. My EMT skills kicked right in and was able to assess the situation, I had someone fetch my first aid kit from my room and my wallet. I determined that immediate transport to the ER would be required. I stabilized the extremity and ensured that he was stable. That was my first visit to the ER that week. We got to the hospital and they took great care of him and got him in really quite quick. As much as I hated to see him hurt, it was great to be able to step up and I was glad I was in the right place at the right time to ensure that care was provided to him.
The rest of the week went very well. I volunteered to handle the development and execution of the AmeriCorps NCCC Southern Region FEMA Corps Team Reveal event. It was by far one of the most extensive projects that I have ever worked on in that it would directly affect about 200 Corps Members, 32 Team Leaders, and all of the Staff on campus. With many long days, the help and motivation from many fellow TLs and Staff members I was able to make the event a true success. It was one of the greatest feelings ever seeing something go so well that I had planned! I also learned that I absolutely love to program and organize large scale events. I never realized that I enjoyed it so much. I cannot wait to get the chance to do it again.
I have a few plans up my sleeve and am working with a few of the staff members to keep busy for the rest of this week helping organize a few events for CMs to gain some insight of the First Response / local level of Emergency Management and response as well as what first responders do on a daily basis.
I am extremely excited to see what comes over the course of the next few weeks! From here on out I will try and make an attempt to post at least once a week at the very least. It is way too much to remember and type out for two weeks of events. I was able to only provide a spattering of details of what occurred over the last few weeks on here.
Good night all, time to go to bed and be ready for PT at 6 am tomorrow.
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