My journey first began at a family reunion when someone came up to me asking the question that every teenager hears whenever they are with family. "What do you want to do after you graduate from high school?". I usually answered "Preschool teacher" even though throughout my high school career I flip flopped from different careers that I believed I really wanted to go into. Some of these options were preschool teacher, nurse, nun, floriculture, Disney princess (yes I know, not very realistic, but a girl can dream ha ha), police officer, artist, youth minister... the list goes on and on. I always had been told that I would be a great teacher just like my mom. So I took every class imaginable to go into a teaching career, even had the opportunity to intern in a special Ed preschool for a semester. And I absolutely loved the classes and internship I took; but I believed there was something even bigger out there for me.
Right before we were about to leave the reunion, we got stopped by my Aunt Suzan, who started to tell us about this amazing opportunity called AmeriCorps NCCC. Everything that she was saying seemed too good to be true, so I decided to look further into it. Sure enough everything she talked about was real! Knowing that I still had almost a full year before I could apply, I kept the idea in the back of my mind. As the year progressed I began to look more and more into AmeriCorps NCCC and less in any college for teaching. I told my parents about this opportunity, and of course my dads first question was, "how much is it going to cost us?" ha ha. I told them about it and they were supportive throughout the VERY long and slow (about a year) process. From the application, phone calls, surveys, etc. I started to think that it wasn't worth it. Besides there was no guarantee that I would even be accepted, and I thought, why would they want some 18 year old girl while there were so many other deserving people applying. But my mom told me to be patient and see what happens. Then on March 4th 2015 at 6:12 PM, while sitting on my parents bed, I got the email that would change my life forever.
"Dear AmeriCorps NCCC Fall 2015 applicant:
Congratulations! You have been conditionally selected to serve as a Corps Member at the AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region Campus in Sacramento, CA. Your term of service is scheduled to begin on October 14th, 2015."
I had waited months for this one email and it finally was here! I was ecstatic! I ran down stairs to tell my parents. I found my mom and she looked at me, obviously wondering why I could barely speak while having a huge smile on my face and tears starting to form in my eyes. this was how the conversation went...
Me-"I got in."
Mom- "What?"
Me- "AmeriCorps. I got accepted into AmeriCorps! I start in October!"
Mom- *as tears started to fill her eyes* "Oh my goodness! Congratulations! To California that's amazing!"
She then gave me a big hug and the rest is history!
I believe that I will never forget that day that we all had waited so long for. That night so many emotions went through my mind. Happy, that I found something that I truly wanted to do, even if it is only for 10 months. Sadness, knowing I'd be gone for almost a year from all my friends, family,church and community. And extremely excited that I am going to be able to rebuild communities, help the environment, grow and learn from all the new opportunities and adventures that I will be faced with. I'm scared but having a strong support group and faith, will get me through each day with a smile on my face. I am now simply counting down the days before I leave and it is going fast!
I hope that you all enjoy this blog of mine and continue to check back to see what new adventure I'll be embarking on! :)
~Savannah
