Excited.

I love what I do. If you're like most people in my life, you're not quite sure what it is I do and therefore have no idea of what I love. I love being in the field of education, more especially being able to design education programs that open up access to more opportunities for an individual that may not have access or were given limited access. As part of my masters I have been given the opportunity to design a project that I am passionate about and shows the skills I have acquired during my graduate experience. For someone who has only been in this field for a brief period of time, I am proud of the portofolio I have created and that I am creating. I have designed a range of programs that address various issues. I've designed programs for rural girls in Malawi, GBV(gender based violence) victims and communities affected by it in the eastern Congo, programs for Sudanese (particulary South Sudanese) refugees and IDPs (internally displaced people), female juvenile offenders and the list goes on. I have always been excited to be given the opportunity to examine an issue then figure out feasible solutions to those issues and design a program that addresses those issues. So why am I excited now? My current project (as mentioned, for my masters) is challenging and fun and exciting and gives me butterflies just thinking about the possibilities of this project and how I can take this project from paper to life. So what is this project that has me so hot and bothered? I'm designing an educational/job readiness/life skills program for the women's shelter I currently work for. I have been at this shelter for a little over a year (minus my time in S.Sudan) and something I have noticed is there is not a lot of program offerings for our residents that will help them transition into their next step. Now, i'm not saying that my shelter doesn't do what they're supposed to do, but given resources and what's already available in DC in terms of programs for homeless adults, my shelter focuses it efforts elsewhere. BUT we are moving and expanding our program which will result in an increase in residents. As we expand it time for us to expand our program offerings to become a more comprehensive shelter that approaches our residents from a more holistic manner.

There is a lot of work ahead of me to get this program done in time for my class deadlines but more especially making sure I hand over the best quality project I could to my shelter. I'm swimming in the work, but it makes it a lot easier that it's something i'm excited to be doing.


(My fingers are crossed that I will be the person to actually implement the actual program once the time comes).

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.....super excited!