Well, three months from today I'll be in Vinton, Iowa, preparing myself for the ten long months working for FEMACorps. For those that don't know, FEMACorps is similar to Americorps NCCC. It's a ten month program where young adults ages 18-24 serve the country by working on teams for non-profit organizations. There are five regions, and one campus in each. Vinton is the Central region campus, located outside of Cedar Rapids. The main difference between FEMACorps and NCCC is that the former will be focusing mainly on disaster relief.
Now, there's not a lot of information so far. It's going to be the first year, and I've unofficially dubbed myself a guinea pig for this program. We're supposed to be getting our Welcome Packets come June, so hopefully there will be more information in them. Everyone I've already spoken to on Facebook is pretty excited, and so am I. This is going to be an exciting opportunity for all of us.
I've taken part in Americorps NCCC once before. Last year, I was assigned to the Atlantic Region in Perry Point, MD. I was there for six months before I left for personal reasons. If you want to know why, just ask, but I'm not going to post for the world to see. I will say that I was sad to leave and that I'm excited for a second opportunity to serve people who need help. I did disaster relief in Alabama for two months, and it was quite possibly the most stressful, uncertain, ridiculously amazing opportunity ever. It wasn't easy, but it's what pushed me to keep trying. And now I'm going to have the chance to do it all again.
Well, what's to say about me? My name is LeeAnne, I'm 23, and I live in Missouri, in the suburbs of St. Louis. So Vinton isn't really that far away from me at all. My fingers are crossed that I'll be able to visit family, because in Perry Point I didn't get the chance. In NCCC, we only got about $300 a month as a stipend. I hope to one day do disaster relief full time, but that's a far off dream and I'm just focusing on the now. It may not look it now, but I cuss like a sailor, and there will probably be a good deal here, even if I try to filter myself. I like music, the internet, video games, the internet. I guess I'm just the normal young adult because I like the internet. It's gonna be fun trying to survive in the near future with the possibility of no internet, but I've done it before, and I can do it again.
Also, I like tacos and froyo.
I think that's it. I have work in the morning so I'll stop here.
Just three more months to go.
