"Practice Safe Idealism"

This is a quote from Elliot, the Executive Director of City Year, who without words could inspire a crowd of people, he is that amazing. He is also hilarious. This past weekend we went on our Basic Training Retreat (BTR) in Atlanta. Elliot shared with us a lot of his wisdom, humor, history, and future plans. He is a true idealist, one who has high expectations for the Corps and the work we are capable of doing in the schools and someone who often gets lost in his thoughts because he has so much to say. His final words to us in a motivational speech were “Practice safe idealism.”

BTR: Thursday we played team-building outdoor games at Camp Long in Aiken, SC. The highlights include canoeing, beach volleyball, swimming in the lake, a campfire, and surprisingly tasty food. Some people were not into bunking in a cabin in the middle of the woods, but it reminded me of Indian Princesses (father-daughter YMCA program) Pow-Wows. Good times.
Next was training at “Hands-On Atlanta” followed by Usher’s New Look Foundation 2010 World Leadership Awards. The highlights include seeing a new city, making and watching skits of City Year’s “founding stories,” Usher’s performance, the cardboard cutouts of Usher’s head that we took from the awards and put in the windows of the van as we drove home, and the MLK museum.

It was another week of firsts for me:
1.) I got to play ultimate in the south for the first time!
2.) I was in Atlanta for the first time!
3.) I was called a Yankee for the first time!
4.) I stayed in a hostel for the first time!
5.) I also climbed an iceberg and witnessed a man dressed in cloaks carrying (dragging) a cross. Explanations to follow…

1.) Ultimate seems to be a little bit slower down here, but it may have been the heat index of 100 even at 7:30 at night. I saw some of the worst “spirit of the game” I have ever seen (a couple of F-bombs). Nevertheless, I was able to play in a summer league game as the second girl on the orange team. It felt so great to play after not throwing a disc for 9 days (this is a big deal for me).
2.) As described above, Atlanta was pretty awesome…but, we did get lost…more than once. The positive was that I got to see a lot of the city, including Olympic Park, while riding, clueless, in the back seat of the van. The MLK museum was very inspirational. I also was able to see the house in which he was born. Just in case you ever need to know in a trivia game sometime, his older sister’s name is Christine and his favorite game is Monopoly.
3.) I went to a free wine-tasting and the man pouring the wine asked where my roommates and I were from. Amanda and I are from the north, and Shanice is from North Carolina, so he said, “Oh we have a couple of Yanks here!” (6:56 PM on July 31, 2010, I was called a Yankee for the first time).
4.) While we were in Atlanta, we stayed in a hostel. I was a little nervous about it, not knowing who else would be there, what kind of bed I would be sleeping in, or how safe it was, but it turned out to be really cool! Yes, it smelled like an old musty closet and the toilet in the bathroom did not flush, but I am now willing to stay in a hostel in my future travels. There were three British men also staying there, who comfortably walked around in there bare feet and casually took milk from the fridge for their Cocoa Pebbles. They were traveling the states, presumably playing soccer (I really don’t know they just had nice legs and came from a city somewhere near Manchester). They enjoyed our game of “Scattergories.” Disregarding the movie title, hostels are pretty cool. You can meet unique people and stay for cheap!
5.) So, the iceberg was really a huge inflatable white blob that was floating in the lake at Camp Long. There were handles on it, rock climbing style, so it was super fun to climb up and slide off into the water. On our long drive home, we witnessed a man walking down the road, in the middle of nowhere, carrying this giant cross. That is a religious statement I have never seen before. I was taken-back.

I am a life-long learner so I have been taking every opportunity to critically examine my surroundings and get to know people who are nothing like me. Luckily, in last Wednesday’s training, we took personality tests and got to see what everyone’s working style was like. One activity was to choose which cardinal direction best described your working style. I am an “east.” Looking around the room as we were standing in the designated spots for north, south, east and west, it turns out that my roommates were all in different directions. We are each a different personality type, which is actually really cool, I think. We get along just fine and our differences make for an entertaining household. As an east, I am a visionary who sees the big picture. I am a generative, creative thinker, adept to solving problems. I like to experiment and explore. I value action oriented words like “option, possibility, and imagine.”
We did another personality test called “True Colors.” I am an orange (which is cool because that’s my favorite color). According to the results, I need fun, variety, stimulation, and excitement. I am witty, charming and spontaneous (sweet!). I am impulsive, generous, impactful, optimistic, eager and bold, physical and a competitor. I value skill, resourcefulness and courage. It was fun to see who the other “oranges” were in the group. I could only find one free True Colors test online, and the link is on the top right. It might not be that great, but I would love to know everyone’s “true colors.”

Song of the day: “OMG” by Usher ft. Will.I.Am