Americorps NCCC 21

A blog for documenting my whole experience. Fall 2014. Pacific Region. Sacramento, CA.

[talesfromshell-blog]

Green 4 and all that implies.

As mentioned before, I am on the team Green 4. I could honestly tell you, I like my team. When we first met, we all got along really well. (FWD 5 months later, we still get along :D) We're a very diverse bunch, and I think that's what makes us a strong well-knit team.

Recipes for a good team:

Don't be cliquey: My team doesn't get into cliques or excludes anyone.

Be open-minded: We're all from different places, we all do different things, deal with it, accept it.

Be Honest and blunt: When talking to a team-member, don't beat around the bush....that'll get you absolutely nowhere.

Choose your battles: You're not always gonna get along with your teammates, and that's ok. Everyone can't be your cup of tea. The most important thing to do to be mature, and talk it out.

Hate to stick in a cliche but... There's no I in team: We're always good at helping each other out with the smallest things. 

Allow space/time to yourself and others: Myself and a few other introverts on my team relishes any personal time and space we have to ourselves. Please respect that. Also, Give yourself alone time. It's really healthy in this program.

Don't talk behind each other's back: My team has a policy of "Don't say anything behind their back if you can't say it to their face." My team has no issues because of this little rule. Do we talk about each other? Yes, but It's never "new" news. Lol!

Get to know each other: You live with these people for 10 months, might as well get to know them.

(Our team charter that we hang up in all of our housing)

Team Leaders

Team Leaders are the cool people in the green shirts who are in charge of a AmeriCorps NCCC team. They have more responsibility and work to do than regular corps members.

My Team couldn't have had a better Team Leader than Miggy. (Not gonna use his real name.) He's always on top of things, and never outwardly expresses his annoyance with us. (We can be extremely annoying.) 

He's always professional, but not afraid to be fun and jokey. He's also very strict about certain things, especially AmeriCorps NCCC Policy. Whenever he breaks the rules, He tells us about it, and writes himself up. Overall, best Team Leader on campus!!!

[talesfromshell-blog]

Better late, than never.

So, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m really bad at keeping up with a blog.

I’ve been in the program for about 5 months already, but to be fair to whoever is reading and my self, i think i should back track………a lot. So I’m going to remember everything from the beginning to the best of my abilities. 

I said I was writing this thing….and I need to do it.

So, first things first: Getting to campus.

When I arrived in Sacramento from the airport, There was a shuttle waiting to pick me (and a few others) up. Once we all got to campus, I dropped my bags off in an assigned area, and got herded along with other people (like cattle) to do a brief, but thorough campus tour. Then I went through in-processing, where I learned what team I’m assigned to, where my dorm room was, and yada-yada-yada. Lucky me, I met someone on the plane who ended up being on my team, Andy.

(Andy and I talked the night before our flights on FB, we both were coming from North Dakota.)

(Basically how In-processing works)

Before CTI begins, you are already assigned to a team of 12 people. (First impressions are everything because you will be with these people for CTI and the rest of the program.) I was put on team Green 4.

 Alright, next is CTI which stands for Corps member Training Institute. Its basically a 4 weeks of training before you go on any real spike project. During CTI, you go through various types of training for an entire month. 

(First Aid/ CPR was my favorite training. )

(I was assigned to be one of the flood fighters on my team. The training for it is pretty cool.)(p.s. I'm not a fan of the uniform shorts....they show my tiny chicken legs. Lol!)

Basically, we're always busy during CTI, free time is scarce. Here is a list of some of the training you go through.

CPR/ First Aid from Red Cross

Van Driving Education

Diversity training

Tool safety

Flood fighting/Hazwoper/ Forklift operator/ Chainsaw training (Assigned to different team members.)

Specialty role training (I'm a Service learning Initiator and Peer Helper.) 

The list of training goes on-and-on.

[talesfromshell-blog]

Le Introduction

Hello, my name is Shell and I will be serving in Americorps NCCC for Fall 2014. What is AmeriCorps NCCC? It's a Program where members age 18-24 years old spend 10 months getting things done for America while developing their own leadership skills. Members serve on teams to help communities prepare for and respond to disasters, build homes, and help the environment. To learn more or apply go to nationalservice.gov After doing much research, I decided to apply for NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) at the beginning of the year. Since I applied so early, the application process took very long. Eventually, I got accepted in to the Pacific Region that covers the states: Washington, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, and California. The campus for the Pacific Region is located in Sacramento, CA. Yay!!! Within the last few weeks I've been tying loose ends with my job, awaiting my duffel bag, and plane tickets. (AmeriCorps NCCC provides these things about 2 weeks before you arrive on campus)When I received those things.....I pretty much procrastinated on packing and writing this blog until the last possible second. It's here now, it's happening, and I hope to get a get rewarding experience out of this program. I also hope to blog every week consistently so that everyone knows what's going on......I originally planned to blog everyday, but once I got on campus, I realized how unrealistic that was. Lol. This is my first blog, so be patient with me. Hopefully I will be a pro by the end of my service. ;)