April Updates.

Staff Member: "What is one thing from Round 2 that you'd like to carry with you into Round 3?"

9 voices, almost in unison: "My team, and the bonds we've established."

24 hours later:

Staff Member: "We have a really exciting opportunity ahead of us. We'd like to pull three of your team members to a composite team and replace them with three others."

Team Leader: "You want to WHAT?"

Heading into Round 3, I felt like I was heading into Round 1. A new team, no sense of routine, not knowing the people I was supposed to lead through this program and establish trust, morale, and all of the things that make a team. And I know my team members, old and new, felt the same. That's the one thing I've been telling myself- "We're all in this together." And quite frankly, at the end of the day, it's the only truth that matters. As terrified as I was, I'm now more excited than ever.

I've had a great week. It's been crazy! We're not in permanent housing (currently blogging from a motel room), we don't really have means to cook dinner yet (don't worry, we'll be moved into our location by 11:00 tomorrow morning!), and our days have been abnormally long. But we've done it all together. We've shared responsibilities, offered help to each other when needed, checked in when someone seems like they might be down, and found ways to alleviate each others stress. Theres a beautiful dynamic that exists right now that is much different than anything I've experienced. I can't wait to be in communal lodging, and sharing with another team this time is going to be incredible. The other Team Leader and I are excited to see how this goes. It will present unique challenges, but incredible opportunities and we'll build great relationships. Round 3 is going to be a beautiful hybrid of teams coming together, with the mixed team I have right now and living with others, and I can't wait to see what it blossoms in to. Don't forget, we're all in this together.

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We're back in Northern Virginia. Once all of the stress of moving started to die down, I got to remind myself of the beauty that exists here, or at least do my best to uncover it. Driving to and from work, I get to admire the mountains and the sky and the river and all of the natural beauty that exists in the Shenandoah Valley. I am letting myself appreciate the community here, and getting to know its people. I am taking walks and reading the landmark signs and learning about the history. I'm talking with shop owners and introducing myself. I realized today that by the time I leave here I will have spent 5 months here. That makes it fall in 3rd place for "places I've spent the most time in my life" which makes it pretty significant. Yeah, I've been a lot of places, but not for this long! It's time that I make the most of it, and really start to appreciate every little thing that I can. I've found some of the greatest things in my life here, and made countless memories with more to come. This round will close out the year, and it's only going to be as good as I want it to be, and as good as I make it. That's my choice, and I want to make it as great as possible for myself and my team, and the team we'll be living with. Everyone deserves to close out this year of service with positive memories, and I hope I can contribute to that. 

Priorities

This is adapted from an email I wrote to Team Green, with a few edits and modifications to make it a decent blog post. I felt it was appropriate to share these thoughts with my fellow Team Leaders, and I'd like to share them with you, too. My original plan was to share them a week ago, but there are a few things that were more important (read below) to take care of than sitting down and writing a blog. In all honesty, this is the first time I've had to sit and relax that wasn't at work or in a van in the past two weeks! It's amazing how quickly life moves when you're on the go, and that's why I am writing this post. You'll see, read on.

I read a little blurb in a newsletter a couple weeks ago that really spoke to me and that helped me navigate myself through Transition. For those that don't know, Transition is the week between rounds when we're on campus. It's supposed to be time for us to regroup and dive into NCCC culture and remember what being in this program and having Units and a campus support system is all about. For me, and probably others, it feels like a whirlwind of a week full of  schedule changes, team switches, and countless curve balls thrown in our direction without even a little “head’s up!” to let us know to expect something. 

With all of these twists and turns and ups and downs, I was constantly reminding myself of what is important versus what is urgent. Is it urgent that I get my clearance packet done before my scheduled briefing time? Yeah, probably. Is it urgent that I get my PAR done so my team can have funds before we depart for Round 3? Absolutely. But is it important that I stop to say “Hi” to my team members, and to Team Green, and to give hugs when comfort is needed, and try to share smiles and little moments throughout our limited number of days together? You bet it is. Is it important that I spend an extra ten minutes with my team after dinner instead of heading straight back to work? Yes. It IS important. Which is why the PAR, or the clearance packet, or some of the other urgencies can wait a minute. We are all here to make a difference in the lives of others, and support each other and our teams and the entire Corps to the best of our abilities (note: this includes taking care of yourself. you can't do your job if you ignore your own well-being). Do both work and teams need to be attended to? Of course. We ARE here to work and we have expectations to meet. But if something more important comes up, that’s okay. We what we need to do. And we have each other when things get rough, and the important things are what help us navigate through the stresses of the urgent. Take care of yourself, take care of each other, and you'll find a way to get through everything else.