What AmeriCorps Means to Me

I'm in the process of planning for the Michigan Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA Media Showcase right now.  It's not until July 20th and being that I am in the proverbial calm before the storm, now seemed like as good a time as any to start asking myself all of those questions that I'll need to have answered eventually.  If you've ever planned an event with about 80 moving parts, you probably know what I'm going through at the moment.

There are really only two things that I can see clearly with this event at the moment--the first will be displaying the VISTAs work--that's actually the easiest part in my mind.  The trouble comes in when forming some sort of program around all that.  I'll welcome everyone somehow, some other people will speak about...something.  But the other thing that I know that I want to have happen during this showcase is for the VISTAs to explain their service; why they did what they did and what a year in AmeriCorps means in the grand scheme of things.  In anticipation of that, I want to share with all of you what AmeriCorps means to me.

The best way to go about this would be to first tell you how I came to be in AmeriCorps*VISTA.  When I was a senior in college two years ago, I had no idea where I was going.  I was about to graduate with a B.A. in Communications Studies from the University of Michigan, meaning that I had a lot of options.  As much clout as that degree afforded me, I still felt woefully unprepared for the real world.  That same year, my best friend was serving a term in AmeriCorps in Washington D.C.  She was the one who suggested that I serve in AmeriCorps.  Knowing my style, she suggested that I look at positions with VISTA.  In March, I started searching around the AmeriCorps site and applied for about ten different positions.  I didn't really care at the time what I was applying for, I just wanted SOMETHING.  My intentions weren't very pure going into the whole AmeriCorps endeavor--I wanted money, I wanted stability, I wanted job skills--the experience of it all I could take or leave.  Yes, how shallow of me-- but when you've been raised by a single mother, those are the things that matter more than anything else.

My first AmeriCorps position seemed to fall into my lap--I interviewed for a position with Wisconsin Campus Compact in Menomonie, Wisconsin at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.  It was the only position I was truly interested in, so naturally I was very happy.  My project was "Bridging the Digital Divide in Dunn County", in which I was charged with getting nonprofits and their clients up to speed technologically, which spoke to my nerdy skill set.  If I told you that I understood what I was in for though, I'd be lying to you.  Being a VISTA forces you into thinking critically and creatively to solve problems, something that my education didn't really prepare me for; to this day, ideation isn't exactly my strong suit.  It sounds kind of silly, but working on that project to develop methods of teaching computer skills really helped me to step up my thinking skills.

My AmeriCorps experience helped me to expand my horizons too.  On a basic level, I had to relocate to Wisconsin to serve and while it doesn't seem that much different from Michigan on the surface, there is definitely a difference; not only that, moving to any new community requires a certain degree of coping and resilience.  Being a VISTA also exposed me to the nonprofit world in a way that I had never been before.  The nonprofit sector, from what I've noticed has its own way of thinking and doing--the combination of politics, realism, and humility creates a certain dynamic that was really foreign to me coming from a very conservative area of Michigan.  And since I worked on a college campus, I became familiar with the struggles that institutions of higher education face today.  Having both of those perspectives in my life gave me a new, enlightened point of view on things that, had I not had this experience, I wouldn't have cared much about at all.  Once you get past all of the confusion of the gig, even if you had little to no emotional investment in what you're doing, you start to develop a deep, personal connection to your project.  A year with VISTA is enough to turn even the most mild-mannered person into the fiercest advocate.

I was so inspired by my first year that I then applied to become a VISTA leader.  I was pleasantly surprised when Michigan Campus Compact selected me for the job, but I was reassured of my tendencies for leadership.  I've always seemed to rise to some sort of leadership role in one way or another, whether it was in marching band, in school plays, in my fraternity, or working on group projects.  This year with Michigan Campus Compact has really given me a chance take on a real-person leadership position.  I think I went into this position with the right attitude--I was in it for the experience of it all, not the money, the stability, or to say that I had experience in herding cats.

I guess if I had to sum it all up, VISTA has been the single-most influential experience that I've had in my life.    It has not only benefited me from a professional standpoint, but a from a personal one as well.  I am truly thankful that I have been afforded this opportunity not once, but twice and from this experience, I will be a champion of service for the rest of my life.

-Liz-