Kari Goes To Mississippi

The gigantic bag I had to carry for a simple overnight trip. This week was quite an adventure. By 6:30 Monday morning, my team was already loaded in our van and on our way to a YMCA campground, which was about a 40 minute drive from campus. When we got there, the camp director gave a brief orientation, after which my entire unit set off for work at rotating stations. My team started off the day with trail building, which was similar to what I had done the previous Saturday with my chainsaw group, only this time we didn’t have chainsaws, only hand held trail weapons. We spent two hours creating a trail head for a bike path at the camp and we got a lot done before we headed to our next station. My team after some serious trail building. There was a broken down old pool house at the camp, so our goal was to fix it up while learning building and maintenance skills at the same time. So in shifts of two hours per team, we were involved in using power tools, painting, and roofing. It ...

Chapel, which has been deconsecrated and is now the campus auditorium. This week is kind of a blur of activity in my head. In hindsight, I should have written daily notes so as to be able to inform you properly what all is going on down here in Vicksburg. I guess I’m learning as I go.  Physical Training (PT) started this week, which means that I had to be up and on the practice field by 6:30am Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On those days, I would get back to the dorm around 7:20 at which point my roommate, two sweet mates, and I would take turns showering so as to be at our first training session by 8 or 8:30. Four girls, one shower, one hour: you do the math. IL monument at military park. Training this week was based in all kinds of areas. Everything from learning about the project acceptance procedure and what qualifies as a priority job, to diversity training, to creating child friendly spaces in a disaster shelter, to chainsaw training (I now know how to disassembl...

Well, my first week of training is complete, and so far I feel confident that this is where I’m supposed to be. Never before have I felt so comfortable with a group of my peers. People don’t look at you funny when you say you like to read, they interestedly ask, “what are you reading?” and then we have an educated discussion on it. Nothing you do is weird to the other people here, it’s interesting, and everyone is excited to learn new things from others. There are 140 members on campus, and we’re from all over the country. It’s fun trying to figure out where people are from by their accents, and to compare things like food chains and who has what. First day in uniform. During training hours, typically 8 – 6 on weekdays, everyone has to wear the same kaki pant, gray logo t-shirt uniform, which makes it easy to get ready in the morning, but difficult to distinguish individuals from a distance. This week our training consisted of ground rules for the campus, AmeriCorps history and pol...

Well, the time has finally come. Today I’m hanging with my family, and tomorrow I’m off to Vicksburg. I originally applied for this program last fall, submitting mountains of paperwork and getting recommendations from my employer and volunteer coordinators. It’s kind of a competitive program, so I just figured I’d apply and if nothing came of it, I wouldn’t be surprised. Now here I am, my possessions crammed into a suitcase and a knot in my stomach, asking myself, wait, why am I doing this? “What should I fear…for whether kind or harsh, a man’s fate must be tried.” – Sir Gawain & the Green Knight So tomorrow at 5am, I’ll get into the car and my mom will drive me to the Lexington airport. As I board the plane, I’ll think about all that I’m leaving behind. My mom and dad, who’ve taught me everything I know that’s worth knowing. My four brothers and three sisters-in-law, who’ve been nothing but supportive in everything I’ve ever done. My brand new nieces, Elinor and Allison, who dev...