AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps Pinterest and my Disney Adventure Blog!

FOLLOW.
As stated in my last post, I am going to be in the Disney College Program from January 20th-May16th.  Please follow my experience on kristyisworkingforthemouse.blogspot.com
I am excited to share this new adventure with you!

PINTEREST.  I created a Pinterest page for AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps. Although it is not official by any means, it is the only one out there! (so far).  I'm almost to 100 followers!!!
Join in on the fun:
http://www.pinterest.com/wobblez/americorps-nccc-fema-corps/

Thanks everyone!

It's been a while...

Well, folks, it's time to officially say my last on this program.  Mainly because I am embarking on a new adventure in a month! (Details at the end of the post!)

Well. A few weeks went by after I got home from AmeriCorps and I started to feel restless.  I felt like my life was on pause if that makes any sense.  I was getting back into my old routine, and felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything. This quickly changed when I started school at DVC.  I took/am taking a HUGE load of classes this semester, and of course took chamber choir!  I am in the middle of finals right now, so if you don't see me in the next week I will be in a corner writing a sonata.... ha... no seriously though.

Now that I am back into "regular civilization" I have realized more about how AmeriCorps has shaped my thoughts and life.  I am overall just a way more confident person, but at the same time I have lost my need for attention (praise Jesus).  I think what has most changed me spiritually was the chance to understand other people's beliefs, and not only understand them but appreciate them.  I use the skills I developed in AmeriCorps every day, especially active listening. Almost magically, I am able to fully pay attention to my teachers and not be zoning out all the time like I used to.  I will also be using much of the money management and cooking skills next semester in my new big adventure.  Today I was talking to a girl and I mentioned I did Hurricane Sandy Relief and all she said was "that sounds like fun".  I don't know what it would be like to lose my house, possessions, etc. but I am glad I was there to witness everything and make a difference in one or two people's lives.  I have a better understand of the older generation, the work force, and basically was able to narrow down what I would want to do during the rest of my life.

As you can see, AmeriCorps was cool. And I probably won't do another AmeriCorps program again during adulthood (I like to keep it fresh) but I am certainly glad I did it and that I got the chance to be part of something bigger than myself.

And as the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens...and this time the door is opening and Walt and Mickey are on the other side :)

Here's the story...
So one day while I was looking at Facebook (this is also how I found AmeriCorps) I saw my friend post a status encouraging people to apply for the Disney College Program....So I thought about it for a minute and I quickly applied. The moment I hit submit, I was directed to a web based interview that is similar to an integrity test.  Right after that, I got a phone interview time slot within 48 hours at 6 in the morning. So I woke up that day and did my interview, and of course talked about AmeriCorps and a few days after I was accepted!  
I am officially a Custodian at Disney World! YES that means FLORIDA!
which means......
...
..
SWEEEEET TEA!!!!  

It's been too long. I miss it so.  But also I miss the humidity and the weather and the rain and EVERYTHING about the south.

Well, if you feel like you want to follow me throughout this experience, my blog is
kristyisworkingforthemouse.blogspot.com

I'll be posting one soonish...it's finals week you know...I'm SO NA TA fan....hahahahaha...lol because I have to write a Sonata...

Peace Out.

Graduation and Return

I am writing this post in the comfort of my bedroom in Lafayette California. I am back at home with all of my family!

Wrap Up-  We returned to Vicksburg and spent the last days in FEMA Corps taking classes and bonding as a corps.  We also got to tell the staff what we did in our last round as well as have a graduation.

Challenge Hike- We spent a day with the entire Corps at the D'Lo Water Park which has a very strong river. It is the river where they filmed scenes of O Brother Where Art Thou.  We were cleaning up debris and playing in the river when I broke two of my little toes. Ouch! Then a few days after that (the night of graduation) I twisted my ankle! So I now look pretty weird with my moonboot and my ortho shoe and my cane of course.  Grandma Flo is back haha! (Inside joke)

Banquet and Graduation- The last two activities we do as a Corps are the Banquet and Graduation.  Both of them were awesome and gave us a time to reflect and hang out.  Although I cried during neither of them, I still feel that it gave me some closure.

Reflection- It is hard to reflect at this point- being so close to graduating and still processing everything that is going on and thinking about changes.  But what I can say is that AmeriCorps was not designed to be a healthy environment.  And I'm not complaining but rather realizing just how much I was deprived of a lot of things. I am a natural extrovert but AmeriCorps, and especially my team, was no place to be myself.  I was not loved or appreciated for much of what I did. I was lonely. I am SO glad to back to a place where people realize how special and talented I am and who appreciate and love me.  Although it was hard to get through the ten months is such an unhealthy environment I am glad I went through it because now I am more appreciative towards my friends, family, and community.  I came into this program thinking I would find friends and build long lasting relationships, and I thought it would be so much easier and that people would be..."gooder". I can't use the word nicer because even though people are nice it does not mean that they are good. And vice versa. I found very few people I consider to be friends but I did learn a lot and I am coming home with new perspectives, new ideas, and a new attitude. I have grown immensely.  I believe I was meant to be part of this program and although I am not going back for a second term, if I were to go back in time I would still make the same decision.

Ocean 7 with our ceiling tile- "The Mystery Machine"

The strong river at D'Lo Water Park

Biscuit- My childhood dog named Biscuit passed away a few weeks ago. I knew him longer than I knew my own dad.  He will be missed :)

Thanks- This is a special shout out to my friend and best teammate Nateanna.  Thanks for sticking out these long 10 months with me :)  Can't wait to see you again in the future!

This summer and future plans-  This summer I have few plans. I am going to Disneyland with my family this summer! In regards to the future I am either going back to DVC or going in to another volunteer program.  I also got accepted to sing in a local women's choir called WomenSing. I am excited to get my life in order!

I plan on writing another reflection (once I have reflected more) and to tell you all my plans !
Thank you to everyone who has checked in on my adventure.

One last week of service

Hello friends!
I have just realized that I have only one week left in the beautiful town of Frederick, Maryland. I sure am going to miss it here! I will especially miss going to DC every Friday and volunteering at DC Central Kitchen and then taking off into DC and visiting the museums! I went to the Holocaust Museum the other day, and later went to the Air and Space Museum.  I highly recommend going to the Holocaust Museum- it takes hours, but not only does it talk about the Holocaust in Germany, but it also talkes about the current global situation of genocide and holocausts.

Other than exploring both Frederick and DC, we are hard at work at the Emergency Management Institute. We have had the chance to help out with exercises.  You see, part of the Emergency Management Institutes job is to train people in different counties about how to deal with emergency situations.  After they take classes and prepare, they are put into a simulation of a disaster- specific to where they live.  So if the county is from California, it would be a tsunami/earthquake, if it is from Mississippi it would be Hurricane or Tornado, etc.  The exercises  are made to be as real as possible, complete with weather warnings, news reports, citizens freaking out, etc.  It is quite interesting to watch.  Ocean 7 actually got to be a part of the exercises by being on the "local news", and being in the Control room calling the Emergency Managers as citizens or media, etc. 

Taken from a simulation done with Ramsey County in Minnesota

We have also had the chance to modify the FEMA Corps trainings! This is exciting because we have gone through the trainings and therefore we know what works and what doesn't work.  Each of us were assigned a unit to edit, and we are in the process of compiling it.  Youe welcome, future FEMA Corps classes!

We also got to visit a Joint Field Office in Pennsylvania, as well as PEMA, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.  I also was able to do a CAPping event at a high school, so I got to share Ocean 7's FEMA Corps experience to high schoolers in hopes of recruiting!
My team also helped out at the Frederick Mayfest in Downtown Frederick. We helped with Arts & Crafts.


If you guys remember, my entire Corps was on board ships during our first Hurricane Sandy deployment.  I was featured in a news piece from Fox News. I finally have the link to the video.  I'm hoping this link works..If not I would go to Facebook, search "AmeriCorps NCCC" and look in their videos- It's the only video they have right now.
"Sandy Volunteers Living on SS Wright"
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=vb.61265398450&type=2


This week my team did a reflection activity about what we are planning to do after AmeriCorps.  Of course, I have no idea- but I have a sense of what I will be doing.  We each had to choose a song and play it for the team and explain what it means and how it connects with what you will be doing after AmeriCorps.  I chose "Learning to Be the Light" by Newworldson.  Here is the link if you want to listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqscBWjjic4
Basically, after I graduate from this program, I am going to have the opportunity to look inwardly at myself and be able to strengthen my beliefs so that I can set an example to others. 

Other than that I am just getting ready to graduate! Next time I post I'll be in Vicksburg Mississippi.  We are going to be there for two weeks in order to out-process all of us and debrief this deployment, and GRADUATE.

Oh and my poison ivy is officially GONE!....but I have scars :(

Peace!

AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps

Morning peeps! Things are going well here-we only have about 40 days left until we graduate! so excited!
Well, here is my take on FEMA Corps, the program:

FEMA Corps. The national service program.
I am pretty far into this program so I thought this would be a good time to talk about the FEMA Corps program to those of you who are interested in joining or who just want to know more.  I have never been a part of the traditional AmeriCorps NCCC, though from what I have heard from fellow Corps Members, I am fairly confident in comparing the two.

What is the same between traditional AmeriCorps NCCC and FEMA Corps?
The Basics: 18-24 year olds, 10 months, based out of the five campuses, team-based, resedential, education award, bi-weekly stipend, all that good stuff.
Learning Experience: It's impossible not to learn anything in this type of setting!
Resume Builder: Add your experience and what you have learned to your resume.
Networking: You will have the opportunity to network in both NCCC and FEMA Corps, however FEMA Corps will be networking with mainly Emergency Management professionals whereas traditional will be networking with
Travel Experience! and all the skills that go with that (packing, budgeting, etc)
Specialty Roles-Each team member will be assigned a specialty role on their team- Corps Ambassador, Service Learning Initiator, Project Outreach Liason, Health and Wellness POC, Vehicle and Safety POC, etc. These roles vary from campus to campus.

What is different?
Your service year will look somewhat different than AmeriCorps NCCC in terms of the work you will be doing
Uniform. We be reppin the A in blue!
Service- As of now, corps members are only given direct service hours for work that they do with FEMA. Your sole sponsor in this program will be FEMA, unlike traditional NCCC where various non-profits can be a sponsor.
Specialist Roles-Teams are determined and assigned during CTI based on the Corps Members' interest and experience of the different Specialist Roles.  These are Individual Assistance, Community Relations, Logistics, Voluntary Agency Liason, Public Assistance, and Mass Care. (I explain these roles in depth in a previous blog post if you want to read up about em). 
New program, so naturally there are kinks and there will be  A LOT of changes in the years to come.
Social Media presence is more strict than that of traditional NCCC. Rumors are that they are now fining people that are overly negative on social media sites about FEMA or the FEMA Corps program.
Notions-Most people have false notions about who you are, what you do, and what you are capable of.  This might go with traditional as well, but it is a major trend in FEMA Corps. Because we are working solely with FEMA and we are a new program, citizens and FEMA employees will think you are actually working with FEMA and not serving.  Many have made quick judgements. Every person in FEMA Corps has been called a kid or child. It's something we have encountered since we left Vicksburg/CTI.
ISP hours- We do not need to complete as many ISP hours as of now. This will likely change if and when the FEMA Corps program gets more flexible with what type of work the Corps Members will be doing or the schedule.
Is FEMA Corps right for me?
If you are interested in Emergency Management and related fields and want to get your foot in the door to a career in Emergency Management, I highly recommend FEMA Corps. However, FEMA Corps is not just for those who are interested in Emergency Management! It's for people who want to serve, to strengthen communities, give back, and to learn a lot! 

Disclaimer: This program was designed to challenge you! THAT'S A GOOD THING!  Throughout this program, corps members are faced with many challenges.  Some of the challenges might include: Being away from home and homesickness, long-term relationships, living and working with a group of diverse people, lonliness and isolation, traveling and living on a stipend, change in diet and food, physical training,

Personal Challenges: Well, I've finally realized that although this program may seem like it's only here to help the communities it serves, it goes above and beyond that behind the scenes. This program challenges each corps member every day-it's designed to do this.  Each Corps Member faces different challenges- but I can't speak for anyone but myself.  I have faced many struggles this year, and I'd like to share a few with you all.  Some minor challenges of mine have been missing home, getting over my need for attention, active listening, spiritual trials, choir and singing withdrawal,  being able to love myself even though I'm nowhere near perfect, getting over my laziness, being without my cat and pets, living out of a suitcase, and living and working with people I would not normally have spent time with. 

My biggest challenge: Honestly, going into this program, I thought it was going to be somehwat easy to get through this.  However, I did not realize how difficult it is to spend an entire year with people that are so different and that think and work differently than yourself. Going into this program I thought a lot of people would be similar to me- and some of them are somewhat. Most of us are here to serve! But my BIGGEST challenge this year is struggling with how to deal with those that put me down for either believing what I believe or for doing what I do.  Although this program teaches it's Corps Members to accept other people's beliefs, obviously, just like in the "real" world things don't always play out that way.  Disclaimer: I am NOT complaining- I see these challanges as ways to strengthen my character--- I am just telling you the facts!

Challenges: I have encountered many challenging situations this year: My personal beliefs have been ridiculed in front of me, I have been laughed at for caring about the environment, I have been asked why I am "bothering" to help animals if their suffering is not bothering anyone, and I've been told time and time again that my actions that I consider helping are NOT helpful at all.  As you can see, some of these situations are not OK with me. And these have all happened within AmeriCorps- either members or staff.

And you may be thinking, why is this your problem? Well, because if all of this is happening in a program where they teach acceptance and appreciation for diverse beliefs, then I am going to run into it time and time again in the "real world" aka outside of AmeriCorps.  I need to learn how to deal with these situations, because frankly I am the one that is hurting from these situations. I have lost a lot of respect for some people in this program and the program itself. (Don't get me wrong- I LOVE this program for all that it has done for me and for the opportunities it has given me. However, some of it's policies/activities do offend me and they have not changed them even though I let them know about my position and the reasoning behind it.)  And when I lose that respect for them, I am the one that is isolated.  It also creates an environment where I am afraid to voice my opinions or be who I naturally am (and the way that God created me!) in fear of being judged, or worse: laughed at. By doing the right things and following what I believe, I am separated from the whole- both because I am different and partly because I don't want to identify myself as part of that way of living. And I've got to be honest with you all- this trend is still a struggle. I have not overcome this yet- but I know there is a huge lesson here.  All I can do for right now is keep doing what I'm doing and try my best to set an example for others.
Personal Accomplishments:
During my year of service I have taken it into my hands to learn new things when I have free time or the work gets tedious.  Here is a list of what I have studied and practiced individually, and yes they are quite random!
1. Typing skills
2. American Sign Language-Basics
3. German Practice
4. Practiced using my right hand and became ambidextrious!
5.  Learned how to be an assistant driver
6. Public speaking and experience with media exposure
7. Learned IPA- the International Phonetic Alphabet
8. Read a bunch of books! (I highly recommend "Not For Sale")
9. Learned a lot of trivia with a trivia game I bought at a yard sale.
10.  Became more confident in my singing and directing
11.  Learned active listening
12. Spiritual growth and understanding
13. Learned about other programs that I want to look into for the future!
14. Professionalism
15. Stopped drinking soda
16. Physical Training accomplishments
17. Street Smarts
18. Cooking!!!
19.  Map Navigating

Seriously, I've learned so much more than this list. I am proud of myself for overcoming many personal challenges!

I hope this post gives you some insight on AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps!

April Fooled.

 

Fooled. Well, it looks like we have been fooled! No worries, here in FEMA Corps we are SUPER flexible and adaptable. We are here in Maryland, however we are not staying on the Emmitsburg campus because there was not enough room for us to stay there. We are staying about 40 minutes outside of Emmitsburg in Frederick.  It's a great place with A LOT of stuff to do!  Although we are not staying on campus, we are permitted to use their Gym facilities, which means after work today there is an indoor heated pool waiting for me!  Another change to this SPIKE is that we will no longer be going to Boston for the later portion of the SPIKE, but rather staying the entire time in Emmitsburg at the Emergency Management Institute.  However, knowing this program, that could change at any moment.  Another thing that we were fooled on was the date we would be leaving for Maryland.  We ended up staying on campus an extra day to give staff time to sort out our housing and food situation.  We ended up using that extra day to do an Individual Service program at the local cemetary, which brings me to my next segment....

 

POISON. I have been suffering from Poison Ivy for the last two weeks. I acquired poison ivy at the cemetary while doing an ISP with my team.  It was our job to de-weed the trees of the invasive plant species.  Let me point out that I am the only person on my team that lives on the west coast, and therefore, even though I was a Girl Scout for 14 years, I failed to identify the poison ivy vines.  I still have no idea what they look like...I guess I should look that up. Anyway, I was the only one with poison ivy and it got so bad that I did not go to work and instead took a trip to the ER and got myself some steroids.  I am really hoping this works because I have never experienced this much itching in all my life! I have it predominantly on my arms, and also have it on my stomach and legs. 

 

Work. Well service I suppose.  I am working at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg Maryland.  We are mostly split up and working in different sections.  I am working with my teammates Tyler and Zack in the Distance Learning Section. We are working as administrators for the FEMA Employee Knowledge Center, which is where FEMA Employees take trainings and classes.  We are basically doing data entry, so I am really getting better at typing!

 

 

Statue at our work site

 

A moment. You may have seen a news story in the new recently about an AmeriCorps NCCC member who was shot and killed outside of his SPIKE housing in New Orleans.  His name was Joseph, and he was a member of the Southern Region's traditional NCCC Class 19B.  Although Ocean 7 did not personally know Joseph, we were saddened to hear that such a tragic thing could happen to one of us.  We wish his team, family, and friends the best as they try to sort out their thoughts and feelings during this confusing time. Ocean 7 participated in honoring Josephs life and service by wearing our gray uniform instead of our blue uniform, and we will continue to keep those who knew him in our thoughts and prayers. 

 

Community This is my teams LAST deployment, and we are finally beginning to do stuff together as a team and getting involved in the community which is great and a lot easier to do now that we no longer live in New York City.  We have reduced our work days to 4 in order to have the option of  serving more in our community.  During our first week here we volunteered at the "Walk for MS" in downtown Frederick.  It was tons of fun! We also scored free minor league baseball tickets for a game that day.  Their team is called the Frederick Keys, and we won!

This past weekend a few in my team went to DC Central Kitchen and helped prepare 5,000 meals! (I peeled a TON of carrots!) It was a lot of fun and we are planning to go back next week.

 

 

 

 

As well as serving at DC Central Kitchen, my team also headed to DC and was part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade! I got to steer and push "Buddy", a character on the show "Dinosaur Train" on PBS Kids! It was super fun to be a part of the parade, and we even got to be on TV and see some cool people, like Miss America and whatnot. Afterward, we headed to the to Tidal Basin and picked up trash and recycled for a hew hours with the National Parks Service!

 

 

We have a lot more lined up to do in the community for the next two months!

Wrap Up and Transition

Hello, folks. Sorry about not posting a blog for a while. I've got  A LOT to tell you!

 

Wrapping-up in NYC

During our last weeks in our deployment to Hurricane Sandy I continued to work at DRC #41 as an  Applicant Services Program Specialists.  With every passing day, I was growing more comfortable and able to do the job without the help of the FEMA employees.

 

National AmeriCorps Week

A few weeks ago was National AmeriCorps week.  In recognition of this, FEMA Corps went to a Service Project in the Rockaways.  Alongside more than 200 AmeriCorps members serving in NYC, we helped clean up the beach of debris and trash.  It was quite an interesting experience because it was snowing the entire time.  CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer and Director of AmeriCorps Bill Basl were there to cheer us on our accomplishments so far and to serve with us as well.  Here are some quantifiables for the 2,400 AmeriCorps members deployed to Hurrican Sandy:

· Mucked and gutted 1,270 homes,

· Mobilized 16,000 volunteers for 128,000 hours of service (valued at $2.68 million), and

· Touched the lives of nearly 30,000 New York residents.

We rock!

  

Last Chance

I spent the last weekend in NYC with a few teammates of mine in Manhattan.  We went to a very hilarious comedy show as well as visited Times Square one last time.

 

Washington DC

On the way back to campus, my team had a great opportunity to visit the nations capitol and stay at our team leaders parents' house. It was a great experience! I hadn't been to DC since the 8th grade field trip, and I got to see almost everything in one day, which means I was pretty sore, but it was worth it.  Also, almost everyone on my team got a sunburn (sorry mom), but I LIKED it, because it means I actually went outside and there was SUNSHINE for once!

 

 

the team

 

 

Transition

I am now currently at the AmeriCorps NCCC Southern region campus in Vicksburg, Mississippi.  We are here for a week to debrief our last project, get our new projects assignments and prepare for deployment, as well as work on our professional goals.  This week we had many classes on our goals and achievements, awards, and most importantly our resumes. I now have a solid resume that I can use once I graduate from AmeriCorps in June.

 

Round 3 will be...

Ocean 7's next and final SPIKE will be a split round! This means that we will be in Emmitsburg, Maryland for a month and Boston, Massachusettes for the next! I am really excited about both of these locations. As for the work we will be doing: We will not be interacting with survivors, but rather with FEMA Employees to work towards creating and editing the FEMA Corps Training Program.  Honestly, I don't know what our day will look like yet, but I'm excited to get started.  As for housing, we know that we will be staying at the Emergency Management Institute and Firefighters Academy. This is the same location my team stayed when we were staging for Hurricane Sandy. This means that while others in our Corps will be camping out in tents in the desert of New Mexico, we will be in our own snug rooms with wifi, a cafeteria, a gym and indoor pool. We are so spoiled.

 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter. peeps! He is risen, indeed! I celebrated Easter with a few of my fellow corps members at a local church called Triumph. I have been going to this church (off and on of course) for the past 8 months, and I am really going to miss their worship experience. I feel like I'm at a concert every time I go there, it is so legit. 

 

Salvation Army Volunteer

Yesterday I volunteered at the Salvation Army with fellow Corps Members. We sorted through clothing and organized the merchandise in the store. It was super fun, and I even went home with a few items myelf!

 

If you want to watch something funny

There was a competition throughout FEMA Corps and this video won...it's hilarious to us, I'm not totally sure if everyone will apprectiate it. But here it is nonetheless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96O9sVSWIIU

 

Stay tuned for my next blog where I will touch on FEMA Corps, the program- for those of you who are looking to sign up and those who just want to know more.