I know exactly where she was coming from.
My first year in AmeriCorps, I wanted to quit more times than I could count. I went so far as to apply for jobs, and was even offered a pretty good one in Seattle, but I decided I had to see it through or I would forever regret it.
AmeriCorps is not easy. It's not all fun family events and helping the less fortunate and feeling good about yourself. It's being too strapped for cash to go to movies with your friends. It's being too tired to even see your friends. It can be really hard to remember what great things you are doing when you are worrying about how you're going to make your car payment, or your electric bill.
One particular moment from my first year of service sticks out in my mind - I was hating my job, hating the program I was teaching, feeling like the kids hated me and didn't want to be there - and then, as the first graders were walking past my desk to the bus, one of them called out "Bye Miss Rosie! I'll miss you!"
I cried.
That was all the validation I needed - I was doing something right, for this child to say he would miss me.
The long term benefits of serving are great - the education award, the nonprofit experience - AmeriCorps has whole studies on the benefits of service - apparently 86% of AmeriCorps State Alumni are satisfied with their careers. (You can read all about the benefits of service, according to AmeriCorps, here.)
Keeping our eyes on the big picture is great, but often impossible. We have to find the joy in the little moments. In the kid who tells us they will miss us. In the hugs we get in the hallways. In the smile of a child the first time they read a word without help.
Being an AmeriCorps Member isn't easy. It's anything but easy. But we are here, serving our communities, to make their lives a little easier. It's only a year. A year that will affect us (and the people we serve) for the rest of our lives.
Here's a little reminder of our purpose as AmeriCorps Members.
(This is the real, official deal, straight from AmeriCorps.gov):
The AmeriCorps Pledge
I will get things done for America -
to make our people safer,
smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together
to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy,
I will take action.
Faced with conflict,
I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity,
I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment
with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member,
and I will get things done.
We are here to make America a better place. The education award is a nice reward at the end, but when we focus on the money (and it's really not that much money), we lose sight of the real reason we are here.
A question for my readers, AmeriCorps members or no: Have you had a day (or week, or hour) where you thought you had made the completely wrong decision for your life? What did you do about it?
AmeriCorps is not easy. It's not all fun family events and helping the less fortunate and feeling good about yourself. It's being too strapped for cash to go to movies with your friends. It's being too tired to even see your friends. It can be really hard to remember what great things you are doing when you are worrying about how you're going to make your car payment, or your electric bill.
One particular moment from my first year of service sticks out in my mind - I was hating my job, hating the program I was teaching, feeling like the kids hated me and didn't want to be there - and then, as the first graders were walking past my desk to the bus, one of them called out "Bye Miss Rosie! I'll miss you!"
I cried.
That was all the validation I needed - I was doing something right, for this child to say he would miss me.
The long term benefits of serving are great - the education award, the nonprofit experience - AmeriCorps has whole studies on the benefits of service - apparently 86% of AmeriCorps State Alumni are satisfied with their careers. (You can read all about the benefits of service, according to AmeriCorps, here.)
Keeping our eyes on the big picture is great, but often impossible. We have to find the joy in the little moments. In the kid who tells us they will miss us. In the hugs we get in the hallways. In the smile of a child the first time they read a word without help.
Being an AmeriCorps Member isn't easy. It's anything but easy. But we are here, serving our communities, to make their lives a little easier. It's only a year. A year that will affect us (and the people we serve) for the rest of our lives.
Here's a little reminder of our purpose as AmeriCorps Members.
(This is the real, official deal, straight from AmeriCorps.gov):
The AmeriCorps Pledge
I will get things done for America -
to make our people safer,
smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together
to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy,
I will take action.
Faced with conflict,
I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity,
I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment
with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member,
and I will get things done.
We are here to make America a better place. The education award is a nice reward at the end, but when we focus on the money (and it's really not that much money), we lose sight of the real reason we are here.
A question for my readers, AmeriCorps members or no: Have you had a day (or week, or hour) where you thought you had made the completely wrong decision for your life? What did you do about it?
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