Update and Random Thoughts

So it's been a while since I posted, which is a reflection of how busy we have been. Days have been filled with 8 or 8:30 to 5 or 5:30 training, some homework, PT three mornings a week, and additional training and meetings at night. Needless to say, internet time has been scarce, and we are attempting to squeeze in some final time with the folks who we have become quite close with, but will now be separated from for most of the rest of the 10 months. I am currently writing from a group housing shelter for volunteers in Ocean Springs, MS where we are staying while we take part in the Hurricane Katrina 5-year anniversary. We will be working with the Gulf Coast Habitat for Humanity the next 2 days putting siding on houses. Sunday we will attend the Governor's Volunteer Appreciation Reflection (probably not the right name, but it's lots of big whigs reflecting on the 5 years of rebuilding.) It is exciting for me to be back in Ocean Springs where I was almost 5 years ago. The progress seems remarkable since I was here right after the storm, but there is still work to be done. Now time for bullet points for the ADD or short-readers among you.

- We spent 2 days and 1 night camping at a YMCA camp and doing some hands on training. I was amazed at how many people had not been camping or really didn't like camping.

- We learned roofing, trail clearing, power tools, and painting in addition to some team building via high and low ropes courses.

- It is crazy the different backgrounds and reasons that people come from and have for being here. Some people came to get away from a situation or past and needed an escape. Others came to ponder their future. Others came as a response to the help or good fortunes that had been given to them, some even by NCCC members. All, however, came to serve. It's really quite remarkable.

- One week from now, we will be heading to our spike project in New Orleans. I am so excited to be out of the classroom and getting things done.

- I'm definitely not excited about leaving behind some of the awesome friends that I have made on campus in just a month. It really is remarkable how quickly we have bonded.

- Poison ivy is really obnoxious.

- My 2010 Auburn football preview blog is up at https://cover2sports.net/Auburn.html for those who are interested in that sort of thing.

- There is also a very entertaining video of my performance at the NCCC talent show up on Facebook.

- I am now certified in First Aid, CPR, Red Cross Disaster training, Salvation Army disaster training, Child-Friendly Spaces, and many other things which may or may not be useful during our next 9 months.

- A quote that is posted in one of the rooms on campus that I find pretty awesome, "If you are here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you are here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." - Lilla Watson, an aboriginal activist

- It is crazy that this program runs from ages 18-24, because I believe that those may be the 6 most transformative years of a person's life. The maturity difference in some cases is quite obvious, but also provides an interesting challenge. The mission of Americorps NCCC is to build leaders and strengthen communities. I knew about the strengthening communities part before I came, but the building leaders portion is an interesting challenge for some of the older members.

-Disney songs transcend all other musical preferences.

- I haven't had Chic-fil-a in a month, and have only had fast food twice since I have been here. That is a pretty big accomplishment considering the last 4 years.

- Some people are going to get up at 6:00 three mornings a week all year and still get absolutely nothing out of their physical training. Seems pointless to me. I plan on giving my all and making my PT worthwhile. I am even somewhat enjoying it, except for the early start.

-That's all until New Orleans, unless something dramatic happens.

Permanent Teams and Our First Assignment

The last two days have been long, tough, and emotion-filled. Wednesday was a day of both excitement and dread as we awaited the revelation of our permanent teams while not wanting to leave our temporary families. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly the bonds for Temp River 1 have formed and the love and friendship that we have for each other after only a week and a couple days. I am definitely sad to be leaving these awesome friends, though I know we will still have some time together for the rest of the month and when we return for project transitions. On Wednesday night, however, Temp Team 1 came to an end for me, and River 5 became my permanent home. River Five consists of 4 former members of the temp team, which is awesome. Drew, Brittany, Joe, and Mario are joined by Neva, Molly, Nora, Dianca, and Eric, and led by Team Leader Allie. We spent the day getting to know one another and beginning bonding. Starting over will be a struggle, but I am sure that the friendships will grow strong throughout our time. At the end of the day came the revelation of our first project! River 5 will be joining River 2 in Chalmette Louisiana, 10 miles from New Orleans to work with the St. Bernard Project. St. Bernard parish was the first to be declared unlivable following Hurricane Katrina 5 years ago and continues to rebuild. To date, the St. Bernard Project has built over 270 houses in addition to gutting and rebuilding homes. Our group will be trained and serve as building site supervisors for construction, gutting, and rebuilding of residences in Chalmette. I am extremely excited to return to the Gulf Coast after 2 previous rebuilding trips shortly after Katrina. The 6-7 week stint will provide the opportunity to do so much more than we were able to do in the 4-5 days trips. More details to come as we begin our briefing on the project, but we already know that our housing is conveniently located next to a laser tag arena. Not sure it gets much better than that.

Diversity: More than just an old wooden ship

On Tuesday, our unit went through a day long diversity training in an effort to create awareness both about the wide range of backgrounds of our members, as well as the communities of which we will become a part. We worked through problem solving, managing disagreements, and attempting to understand the culture and background from which people came before judging. By far the most poignant activity, however, was the privilege walk and ensuing discussions. During a privilege walk, everyone lines up in the middle of a room and then steps either forward or backward depending upon the amount of privileges they have been privy to in their lives. The key factor in this exercise is that all of the things that are called out are things completely out of the control of the participants and solely determined by their surroundings growing up, their family situation, and their racial or ethnic background. I knew before we started that I would end up fairly close to the front, and that is something that I try to be thankful for every day. It amazed me, however, to see how large the gap got, and how all of these people from such different surroundings ended up choosing to live a year in service. The ensuing discussion was fascinating as people struggled with the privileges they had or had not received and how we take what we've been given and use it to remedy injustice. It was an intense day, and an activity that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in at some point in their life. Now for the bullets:

• Temp Team River 1 picked up two new members over the weekend- Danielle from Las Vegas and Mario from Atlanta.
• They didn't stay with us long, as we now have our permanent teams (spoiler- you'll see more of Mario as the blog continues)
• PT number 1 was decently tough. It consisted of 4 stations. First, an "Indian" aka Native American run in which the line of 30ish people begins running around a field. The person in the back sprints to the front of the jogging line and assumes the head position. The team continues jogging and the process repeats for 8 minutes. Second was a relay race which involved running with high knees down to do 5 push-ups and back. Those in line to wait are jogging in place. Station 3 was a ramped up version of the Furniture Game, which involved constant running amidst the partner formations. The final activity was a kick-boxing-esque workout, combined with some bows and toes. Tough workout, but felt pretty good after.

Monday Funday?

Random thoughts on a long and taxing Monday:

• We took our physical fitness baseline at 6:00 this morning. I was dreading it leading up to it, but was overall happy with the results, at least as a pushing off point. Each time we return to Vicksburg from our spike (projects where we stay off campus) we will do these tests again to judge our physical fitness progress. We will do PT at least 3 times a week for our entire time here. My baseline numbers for today: -1.5 mile run- 17:08; Goal for end of program- 14:00 -Push-ups in 1 minute- 17; Goal for end of program- 30 -Crunches in 1 minute- 74; Goal for end of program- 90 crunches or 50 situps
• Reading a powerpoint presentation is the worst way to present large amounts of boring information to a group of 18-24 year-olds who have been up since 5:15 and done a fitness test.
• Powerpoint in general is not an overly effective method of information distribution, especially when read straight off the slides.
• I might be a bit picky when it comes to presentations after majoring in mass communications.
• My address here is Drew Bonner, Class XVII 2715 Confederate Ave Vicksburg, MS 39180. I will add it to the blog header.
• I have really enjoyed cooking here. It is so much easier to cook when you are doing it for 10 people then just 1 or 2.
• Alabama Crimson Tide- 12 National Championships, 8 teeth. RTR

Americorps Overview and Week 1

My Americorps journey has begun. On Monday, August 2nd, I arrived in Vicksburg, Mississippi at the Southern Region Campus of Americorps NCCC. One of the first things I saw upon arriving on campus was that there was a pool, complete with a water volleyball net. At that point, I knew things would be ok. Week one has consisted primarily of training, paperwork, and meetings to get get 140 new Corps members acclimated to the policies and procedures of the NCCC. We have been placed into temporary teams in order to get to know some folks and easily facilitate the training, but those will change on Wednesday, when we are placed into the permanent teams of about 10 people. My temporary team, River 1 (we are divided into 2 units, River and Delta) has been amazing. We have all bonded really well and are not looking forward to being broken up next week. The Temp River 1 team consists of Drew from Alabama, Joe from California, Reshia from Florida, Adam from Wisconsin, Brittany from Maine, Lauren from Indiana, Sam from Wisconsin, and team leader April from San Diego, California. Together, we have gone through trainings that include Southern culture, Vicksburg's Civil War history, van driver training (3 of us are now certified to drive a 15-passenger van), policies and rules, uniforms, and Americorps history. As someone who frequents blogs fairly regularly, I am aware that lengthy blogs are generally skipped over. As a result, I will now transition to bulletted thoughts and observations from week one to keep interest. This will be the blog's general format going forward.

• I celebrated my birthday on our first full day here, and my team and others were awesome about making sure that it was great, even after just meeting the day before.
• Night swims are awesome.
• Many of those who do not live in the South were absolutely astounded at the amount of pests that we have here- snakes, spiders, chiggers, fire ants, and tornadoes are just a few of the things that have really freaked people out during the first week.
• It was fascinating to learn about Southern culture from an expert, even as someone who lives in the South and has all my life. It was even more interesting to see the pre-conceptions that many people had about our region (though many of them are fairly accurate).
• NCCC is the domestic version of the PeaceCorps and the modern version of FDR's CCC.
• Our region director is a very wise man. He sees what I think is the very important fact that building communities is not only about solving immediate problems, but about developing education and awareness to help build and strengthen community infrastructures.
• It has been really awesome getting to meet so many people who are all in the same boat, coming to meet 140 new people and begin a year of service. I had originally pictured NCCC as a combination of summer camp and The Real World. So far, it isn't far from the truth.
• I think this year is going to be really awesome and can't look forward to what it brings.

50 Things I Learned In College

1. You can go cheap on a lot of things. Ziploc bags are not one of them.

2. Rhetoric and writing skills will get you a long way. Maybe all the way through a class…Or a degree.

3. Some work just isn’t worth the money. *ref: Greek Sing dress rehearsal

4. Pro-life and Global warming are two of the poorest word choices and potentially misunderstood terms in America. Pro-life is restricted solely to government restriction of abortion, but bears no significance to being in favor of life in the cases of war or the death penalty. Global warming is the term that damned the plausibility of what should in fact be termed global climate change. The theory is not that the earth is constantly getting warmer, but that humans are affecting the stability of weather in a negative manner based on the chemicals and gases being put into the ecosystem. Thanks Al Gore.

5. It’s not the grades you make, it’s the hands you shake.

6. There’s no such thing as bad pizza.

7. It is still sometimes worth it to pay for good pizza.

8. Most classic rock is not enjoyable except in extreme moderation.

9. Country sucks more.

10. Sometimes the humor is worth more than your ego.

11. Public transportation is a tool of the marginalized and a vehicle toward further marginalization. *ref- Miami mission trip

12. The more you learn about religion, the more faith plays a role. *ref- History of Christianity, Intro to New Testament, Intro to Hebrew Scriptures

13. I’ve been cursed with my dad’s ridiculous sense of humor and love of puns. *ref- every joke I make

14. If you are good enough, you can make that sense of humor work. *ref- YT, Drew

15. Theme Parties RULE! *ref- Jersey Shore, Tacky Sweater, Redneck, Rave Pt. 1-4, Black and White, Wine and Cheese, Pirates Booty, etc.

16. Being absurd is way more fun than sitting back and judging the absurdity.

17. If a professor walks in and is cussing on the first day, the class will likely be entertaining and informative. *ref: Sutton: “This class is rated MA for language, mature content, and brief nudity, which means I can say whatever the *%#* I want.”

18. Walking into Sky Bar and seeing a guy with a cowboy hat on stage in the back room is one of life’s greatest disappointments.

19. If you are looking for something that no one should ever wear, go to K-Mart.

20. Painting up at football games gives you the right to slap the players’ butts after a win. *ref- my hand on Antonio Coleman’s butt

21. Intramurals rule.

22. Spank your children.

23. The middle school principals were right, guys should always wear belts. It really does make a difference in your appearance.

24. I hate museums and parades.

25. Fireworks are only cool if they play the song from the night game on Sandlot during them.

26. Pigtails/ French braids are still cute.

27. There’s nothing funnier than punching a koala.

28. Sometimes the best nights come just chatting with friends with the sounds of an acoustic guitar in the background.

29. Leggings are pants, and girls belts are merely for decorations. Uggs are still stupid.

30. After locating your classes and figuring out your routes, you must locate your high quality bathrooms in buildings of interest.

31. Dogs are not a man’s best friend. Gold Bond is.

32. Wearing costumes on Halloween is cool again.

33. Having a wide array of friend groups is the optimal way to go through life for maximum enjoyment.

34. The Church is changing and the ones that don’t change will quickly cease to exist.

35. Some songs transcend music. *ref- Party in the U.S.A.

36. Regardless of what they say, girls think farting noises are funny.

37. It’s easier to keep your apartment clean along the way, than try to clean three years worth of grime off at once. Whoops. *ref- Move-out ‘010

38. Glowsticks and marinara sauce make anything better. *These are in addition to the previously known pepperoni and Hormel chili.

39. Everyone should own a light-up Frisbee.

40. I really enjoy writing. It’s a shame that I only do it when it relates to sports or when I am being super-sentimental.

41. Every kid should learn to play an instrument.

42. I never want to have a desk job.

43. People have the primal desire to pee anywhere but toilets, and especially in forbidden or daring places.

44. Every college student should live in the dorms freshman year. And have a light up frisbee.

45. Duty may be the funniest word in the world.

46. I could eat an entire gallon bucket of Laffy Taffy just for the amusement of reading the jokes.

47. If you have to rely on excessive yelling or hand gestures in order to create comedy, you probably aren’t funny. *ref- Vince Vaughan, Dane Cook, Conan O’Brian

48. You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can’t bomb it into peace.

49. There’s no time like the present. There’s no present like time.

50. If you get the choice to sit it out or dance…Dance!