Life Update

I have a few minutes to spare so I figured I would update you all of my comings and goings. You may no longer be interested in my life now that i'm not living in Malawi, but hopefully I can provide just as much excitement for you based out of DC. :)

Life has been quite a rollercoaster since I moved here. The whole job application process I have learned is just not for me. I much prefer that someone give me a job because they know that I am a hardworker and wonderful person, but that is not the case and after sending off over 60 resumes, I was ready to give up. I didn't quite know how difficult the job market was until I HAD to go through the experience. And it sucks. If I had a job, no matter what the job was, how much I liked it, and whether it was a place where I can see myself in 20 years, I would be appreciative of it. I know that for me a person with some great experience under their belt and a college degree it was definetly a humbling experience to go through this process. It made me think more about how slim things can get especially for someone without the qualifications that I have. In the end, about 2 months after moving to DC, I became gainfully employed. I am teaching ESL at a program for international students. I was hired on as a part-time teacher, but when I saw that I was getting only 2 hours a day and then having to commute 2 hours roundtrip, I tried to quit. My boss wouldn't let me and put me as a part-time substitute guaranteeing slightly more hours in a week and longer work days. It was working out perfectly until one teacher quit and I picked up their full-time hours. So through next Tuesday I will be working full-time. I recently began my training for my other job at Calvary Women's Services, they provide services to homeless women. I am a Program Manager for their transitional living program. The transitional living program has a capacity of 10 women all who have some sort of mental illness or substance abuse problem. They stay at Pathways(name of transitional living shelter) for 2 years. Upon intake they are given a case manager who oversees their journey through the program. It reminds me of my work at The Campus for Human Development(where I was working prior to Malawi) except it is only women and a smaller population. I'm more excited about working with Calvary because it lies more with my interests and it has a stronger feel of community to it.

So i'm sure you're wondering what about school? I am still in school and it is going well. I'm going part-time this semester, which was probably the smartest thing on my part.Thanks to my Peace Corps experience I get 6 credits towards my degree, so that cuts my schooling down from 2 1/2 years to 2. My professors are passionate about what they do and very knowledgeable in their fields. Although their teaching styles I may not always agree with, they still get their points across and I am enjoying the challenge and being in an academic environment again. I'm sure folks are wondering what i'm studying and really its a mouthful, but here it goes. I am in the ITEP, or INTERNATIONAL TRAINING AND EDUCATION PROGRAM, my track within the program is INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT and my focus is GENDER and LITERACY. Now i'm sure what you are wondering what I plan or want to do with this degree. I want to create and implement education programs, my target is women ages 15+ and focusing on literacy initiatives. Although that is what I want to do, as long as I have the opportunity to create education programs for anyone I would be happy. I would love to go into a community, learn about the people, the culture, the way of living, see the needs and then create an education program that meets the needs of those people with the resources available. Essentially I want to be a paid Peace Corps Volunteer. :) I have attached a proposal I have been working on for a project that I want to do, it will give you more of an idea of what my future work may entail.

I am no longer living out of suitcase and it feels good to be settled. After looking for places and having no success, I decided that it wasn't good for my mental health to keep getting these various rejections so instead of letting someone else deem whether or not I am good enough to live with them or within their space, I decided to turn the table and be the one to make that decision. I placed an ad on Craigslist stating what I was looking for and waited for the responses. It was nice to have my power of choice back and I made the choice to live a motivational speaker-Sylvia Baffour(look her, up she's a pretty interesting person). So far so good. We're both pretty chill people and have a good understanding of what a roommate situation entails. She is no Stacy and Shannon(my roommates prior to leaving for Malawi) but she will do just fine.

Now that I have all my ducks in order, I am making preparations to take off. I feel all that I am capable of inside of me, all of the things that I envision myself doing waiting to happen, and now that I have my feet firmly planted on the ground, I am ready to take this world on.