And the real work starts...

Friday was Opening Day... I was officially sworn in and now have my full uniform. It still doesn't seem real. All of City Year has just been so abstract. I spent 9 months waiting to get my uniform (the same amount of time I'll spend wearing it) and experiencing all that anticipation has made the transition into reality hard - almost like I'm not really here. Obviously, I am here. I've been with City Year for a month. I guess with the BTA uniforms it just didn't have a true City Year feel. And now, I hardly believe I have my uniform. On Thursday, after the Red Jacket ceremony, I kept touching the CY logo on my jacket, like I was making sure it was real.

Honestly, the beginning of the week is kind of a blur. We did some training. I got to go to my afterschool program on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm in a 1st and 2nd grade classroom and they are absolutely adorable. CY has been at this school before, so they recognize the Red Jackets... they even know boom-shakalakas (a PT exercise I have yet to learn). I think I may end up working with kids of all ages. Elementary kids during afterschool; middle schoolers during the day; and high schoolers on Saturdays (as part of the special program, City Heroes). This has the potential to be incredibly rewarding or overwhelming (most likely both).

So, as I mentioned above, Thursday was the Red Jacket ceremony. Basically, we got our bomber jackets and had the opportunity to dedicate them. It was a really intense ceremony. A lot of people broke down in tears (myself included). I dedicated my jacket in memory of my father, who made sure to teach me the lessons of social justice, and to my mother, who has demonstrated amazing strength in the face of overwhelming hardships. All of this made it extremely hard to be "on" at my afterschool.

Friday was a significantly more uplifting day. I have a bunch of pictures of everyone in their red jackets (coming soon to my Facebook account)... It's amazing. We also got to do an afternoon service project at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. I've spent countless hours there and will probably spend countless more. I feel so proud and inspired that I could do service in my own neighborhood AND see the results of it for weeks/months/years to come. Friday night, I went out for dinner and drinks with a friend from home and some other CMs, continuing my constant feel like this is a 5th year of college.

Of course, there has been some drama over the past week... We lost some people this week, including one girl who was fired for discipline reasons. Some people in the Corps have started dating each other, including two members of my team. I'm worried about how that's going to affect team dynamics, especially if they have a messy break-up. But it's out of my hands. Of course, I have to have my own drama... but that's not appropriate to discuss in this forum.

Tomorrow (Monday) is my first official day as a full CM. I'll be hanging around the office all day, hopefully getting some much needed training for Civics in Action.