A Little Older, a Little Tanner, and a Whole Lot Wiser

Ok, I know that it has been almost three weeks since I graduated City Year and have last updated, but in my defense, I've have been REALLY busy moving from Florida to Michigan, and then with my summer class and with reuniting with all of my friends. Since a lot of you have been nagging me to finish this blog, though, here it is ; ) :

Graduation Day started for me at 8:00 in the morning, when I took my mom (and my chihuahua, Francheska), to visit the office. After a quick tour, Mom and Francheska left, and two staff members and myself walked to the Wachovia offices for a roundtable with a representative from Wachovia. The purpose of the roundtable was to try to engage them as a corporate team sponsor. I didn't feel that the meeting went very well, but I guess that happens sometimes.

After that roundtable, we walked back to the office for another roundtable; this time with the publisher of the "Miami Herald". I was SUPER excited about this roundtable since I have always been interested in newspaper and would like to be a journalist, but I unfortunately had to leave the meeting early so I could meet the rest of the corps and prepare for the ceremony.

At noon, the entire corps walked to Miami Dade College, which is where the ceremony was to be held that evening. We spent the rest of the afternoon practicing and running though the ceremony.

Around 5:30, my mom and the rest of the audience started to show up. At 6:00, the ceremony began. The ceremony lasted for about one hour, and started off with a wonderful video of our year. The link to that video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-31ANemzws . After that, there were a few speakers, the presentation of the awards, and, finally, the presentation of the diplomas. After the ceremony was a reception, and I got to say "goodbye" to quite a few people. I am usually a very emotional person, but I did not start crying, however, until I said "goodbye" to my Program Manager, Mitch. Mitch has done a lot for me this year, and was always there to help me feel better when I was frustrated, angry, disappointed, or very sick and in need of a ride to the hospital. I guess this is what brings me to my conclusion.

As of now, I have been back home in Ann Arbor for a week and a half. After Graduation, my mom and I stayed in Miami for a little less than a week, and spent the time packing and visiting some of the sights that she has never seen before.

I really have no idea how I should wrap up my experiences from this year. It has been a long sixteen months since I first heard of City Year, and I can't yet say all that I have learned during that time. I can say, however, a few other things:

--Not all of this year was enjoyable. I lost a lot of sleep, spent a lot of time on public transportation, got into quite a few disagreements with my team, got very little recognition for the work I did, and had to do quite a few things that put me outside of my comfort zone. All of this brings me to my next point -

--This year was hard. Really hard. There were a lot of instances that made me feel like I could not make it until Graduation. I did make it, though, and I am exceedingly glad I did.

--The experiences I have had this year are incredibly invaluable. I have learned how to pay bills, how to get rid of ants/fleas/roaches, how to hail a bus or taxi, how to say "how are you?" in Creole, how to work with people that I don't really get along with, how to show a child affection without being able to hug him, how write a resume, how to bring books to life, how to teach a child to read, how to live on $226 a week, and so much more.

--I would reccomend City Year to any 17-24 year-old who is passionate about making a difference in the world, and who will be dedicated to committing to the entire year.

--I will never forget this year.

--I will never regret this year.

Thank you for all of you who have been following my blog. I realize that a lot of these posts were not intersting/comprehensible/gramatically correct, and I am sorry for that. ; ) Thank you, also for your comments. Every comment reminded me that someone, somewhere in the world, was remembering that I existed! Thank you to you all, happy 4th of July, and good luck with anything and everything you endeavor to do in the future.

-Aly



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