Ohh Policy Meetings...

David Rivard, my poetry professor this past semester, explained how when we get older we get to look forward to meetings instead of classes. During the said meetings, there will be those that feel invisible and must voice their opinions despite the mass majority wishing to get the heyul out of there as soon as humanly possible... I now understand his sentiments.
Although we are blessed with air conditioning in our buildings, having 140 young adults packed into a room tends to get sweaty regardless. Furthermore, after sitting for 3hours at a time listening to AmeriCorps policies, everyone gets a little grumpy. However, there always seems to be one or more persons who decide everyone must hear what they have on their minds. Some of my favorite insights and questions are as follows:

Wade (Facility Coordinator)- "...and beware of water moccasins. They can be in the pool so don't dive in before checking the water, they can be very agressive."
Eager AmeriCorps Member- "But how do the snakes breathe under water?"

Brendan (Delta Unit Leader)- "And when you come to visit I have M&Ms on my desk"
Same Eager AmeriCorps Member- "What kind of M&Ms?"
Brendan- "Plain"
SEAM- "Oooo good, are they wrapped or just in the bowl"
Brendan- "In the bowl"
SEAM- "ohhh darn..." (then complains among friends)

Hooooooooly. So frustrating. Anywho, the days consist of many meetings and icebreakers. I am currently on a temporary team of 13 other kids and our team leader, Ivan, is the man. He fully appreciates my sarcasm and sends it right back! I'm also very fortunate to have made many very close friends already from all over the country including long island, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. My floor has been a great group of guys and we just feed off each others' humor. I didn't have a roommate until last night and I was worried my luck was about to run out but to my relief Kyle is a great kid from Mass. I can already tell that regardless of my permanent team, I will have plenty of good times and friends here!!

This morning we had our first Baseline test (1.5mi time trial, 1min push-ups, 1min curl-ups) at 6am. Despite my need to use the bathroom, I was able to run the hilly out-n-back run in a whopping 8:44... no big deal (NBD). I think everyone here knows who I am now (track star or my actual name is the usual).

The rest of the day was spent in Diversity Training which had its ups and downs. But the highlight was definitely after we did an activity outside based on privileged we all sat down and discussed our family lives. I was the first to have the opportunity to speak and I mentioned that I was lucky to have the friends and family I have, as well as a great childhood. Ironically, I felt guilty for being so lucky after seeing the hardships so many others have endured to get to the exact same room I found myself. After many heart-wrenching stories we reconvened to discuss race and had a lengthy meeting.

It's been a long but eye opening day.