Impacted by Volunteer Service Experience on Gap Year

I began training with AmeriCorps NCCC in October and completed my first project during November and December. I’ve spent these past two weeks on a very enjoyable break from the program. I’ve seen some old friends, seen the family, revisited my high school haunts, had a general good time.

Still, throughout the break I’ve found my mind wandering, my thoughts dwelling on somewhere else. I’ll be talking to friends about the rigors and tribulations of classes, of lectures, of tests, and of homework assignments. And, as much as I look forward to my future college career, I’ll space out and mentally revisit Austin, TX, where my team spent two months working at the JFO (Joint Field Office) with FEMA to find remedies to the many damages wrought by Hurricane Ike. Or I’ll find myself picturing Galveston, where we saw the effects our work has had upon those damages. I’ll see the faces of the people I worked with, hear the stories and jokes of the people who have lost everything and still manage to carry on. One way or another, I find myself back in the AmeriCorps NCCC, and I don’t regret that for a second.
 Now it’s only a matter of days before I return to my campus in Denver, CO. From there I’m off to Louisiana to build houses with Habitat. Let me say, it’s been great - but I can not wait to rejoin my AmeriCorps teammates out west and get back to work.