Life is an endless unfolding, and if we wish to be, an endless process of self-discovery, an endless and unpredictable dialogue between our own potentialities and the life situations in which we find ourselves. By potentialities I mean not just intellectual gifts but the full range of one’s capacities for learning, sensing, wondering, understanding, loving and aspiring.”
John Gardner
Commencement Address, Sidwell Friends School
Washington, DC
June 13th, 1986
First and foremost, I would like to preface the remaining blog entries with a very important note: My blog does not represent the views of CNCS or any other government agency or the current administration. In order to protect confidentiality rights, I will not mention names or details of my work assignments.
September 11: Day of Service and Rememberance
Before my first day at CNCS began, I decided to participate in the September 11th Day of Service by volunteering with a group of people at a church in Alexandria. It was a bit far, but it was the only service opportunity that wasn’t filled up! We collected food items from church goers and sorted them into boxes. After three hours of this, we took the truck load of boxes to the local food bank and stored them to be given out to the needy later that month.
The First Lady and President Obama, as well as the CNCS CEO were serving as well in Virginia (I think), so it was a great way to prepare me for my first week at work.
The first day
My first day was a little awkward because my supervisor had to be at jury duty (last minute!). So, I had to introduce myself to people and find my way on my own. She of course prepared me very well by giving me detailed instructions and telling me who to see and what to read while I was settling in. I was in a new employee orientation for the first half of my day, and I spent the second half reading, completing online training workshops, getting my name tag, and calling about securing my email address and phone. Highlights included taking an oath (led by the CEO) to protect the United States, and meeting the CEO briefly.
***It really was a good idea to send an email to my supervisor ahead of time because she had so much prepared for me. In the email I told her how excited I was to be there and asked her if there was anything I needed for my first day.
Two weeks later
As I reflect on the past two weeks, I have to say that I am slightly disappointed because I have oftentimes spent the whole day without tasks. I have taken it upon myself to read the Kennedy Act legislation, any and all online resources, and articles about my agency, but my tasks have included only small things like packaging materials to fedex, preparing letters, researching small items.
The reason for this, however, makes sense because everyone in the office is super stressed and preparing for the big Board retreat and public Board meeting fast approaching this Tuesday and Wednesday. By January 2011, the Board and CNCS will have to have a strategic plan completed to be approved by OMB, CNCS Board, and Senate that will ultimately affect at least the next five years if not more. So, each Board call and Board meeting is extremely important. This stress has caused both my mentor and other Office of CEO staff to be pretty busy. I expect and hope that after the Board meeting I will be able to have a sit down meeting with my mentor and supervisor to talk about the activities I would like to be involved in to reach my learning goals for this fellowship.
Positive notes
I do have one larger task which involved creating a monthly memo for the Board with current happenings (“the buzz” so to speak) about service and what CNCS is doing. I have been happy with this assignment but I cannot get into it as much until the beginning of October because I need information from different departments.
I have also had the opportunity to attend various events. In my first week I attended “Service Works” at the Capitol building and heard from various leaders and representatives in congress that support service as a solution, and the expansion of service opportunities for Americans.
I also attended “Big Citizenship” which was a dialogue held with the author of Big Citizenship, founder of City Year, and founder and CEO of Service Nation. I bought his book and I am almost done! He is amazing, and I hope to be a social entrepreneur as successful as he has been.
This past week I have been able to attend two meetings related to the strategic planning process. While I cannot go into detail on this process, imagine if you will, being able to sit at the table where all of the top decision makers sit. There, they discuss, argue, and challenge each other to look at how the agency is structured and how the agency will change to make the greatest impact to our whole country through service. They look at everything from measurable outcomes, to stakeholders and grantees, to disaster services, and education.
It was a moment in this meeting that I was truly connected to policy in a way I thought I never could be. The decisions these people make will affect non profits and volunteers and communities all over the country, and they are taking every precaution to make the strategic plan the best it can possible be with the limited resources they have. AND! I took notes, typed them up and offered them to my supervisor and she was very impressed with this gesture. As a result, I may be able to sit in and take notes during the private Board conversations next week! Yay!
Exploring my surroundings
I have also taken the time to go to events like the Adams Morgan Day festival, biking through rock creek, biking on a full mood ride with a local bike association, and happy hour with coworkers.
A couple of reflection points I want to note:
- Take every opportunity to learn
- Be grateful for the opportunities you have
- Meeting people can be awkward, and may involve moments of silence. Always smile and you can always say how excited you are to learn more about X,Y,Z. Or say how interested you are to hear about what that person does in the agency
- Always say yes to every task, no matter how small it is (at the beginning...)
- When attending special events, do not be afraid to talk to the speakers or event heads. People love to share what they are doing or why they are there.
- Think before doing things, use your intuition, and trust that you are more than capable of figuring things out. If you don’t, others can read that on you.
- Establish yourself as your own person- whatever relationship your supervisor/coworkers have with others does not have to be the relationship you have with others. What kind of a person do you want to be?
Upcoming…
Latino Festival
Board private retreat
Board public meeting
NATs game
2010-2011 Gardner Fellows meet at my place for dinner
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