My day starts early and I find myself rising and going outside before the morning sun. Walking out of my cabin, I begin my “hellos” and “Good mornings” to all of my teammates. It dawns on me over breakfast that another day at AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC).
AmeriCorps NCCC is a national ten-month team-based residential program for 18-24 year olds that goes around to areas and communities in need and assists with community service. There are currently five areas of interest that we work in when helping our communities. They include: rural and urban development, energy conservation, environmental stewardship, infrastructure improvement, and disaster relief. With my acceptance into this program I began a new chapter in my life that has led a whirlwind of new sights, sounds, smells, and experiences. All of it has been amazing and I have learned so much in the process. I went from a mostly individualistic lifestyle to one where I had to be around others and work in a team for many hours a day. It sounded incredibly difficult but the potential rewards and benefits I stood to gain from the program largely outweighed any hesitations I may have been harboring. I joined, and was quickly paired up with my teammates, who are becoming more and more like family every day.
My team and I went through training together, and worked on a previous project, and already some of the benefits that I thought I would receive in this program have begun to materialize. One of the best rewards of my participation in this program has been living for three weeks in Friends of Belle Isle State Park, and left with a few friends of our own as a result.
My own personal favorite activity so far has been just walking the trails and checking out the activities available at AmeriCorps NCCC work on projects in our State Parks over the years.]