Today was an exhausting but awesome day. My fellow Carleton alum bum and I attempted to go check out the fifth year art apprentices' show at St. Olaf this morning, only to realize it did not open until 10, so we had a breakfast date instead. My Wednesday morning Zumba class switched to a new time so the word may not be out in the community yet, and only a young mom showed up, but she rolled with it and it was so fun to have a mini dance party! It was great to get a little sweat on in the morning, but then I had a half hour to dash home, clean up, get presentable, and breathe before an in-person interview for an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow position that would charge me with serving low-income students in a variety of programs in Northfield starting soon and going through the summer. I was a little surprised to walk into a room with an interview team of five, but I was grateful to connect with some of Northfield's professional do-gooders and try to answer their questions with as much grace as I could.
Today I'm also thankful for a lovely lunch date to catch up with a friend who I haven't conversed with more than just in passing, so it was great to have the time to check in with her on life.
I'm thankful for the opportunity to keep working part-time with my Chinese professor and for how varied our work is - this afternoon was filled with some writing and then also construction of a powerpoint!
I'm thankful for a little extra silliness/giddiness/slap-happiness at this afternoon's Zumba class. For some reason, we were all a little off our rocker today, and it was great to get some giggles in there.
I'm thankful for a constructive house meeting. Only two of my housemates have been here since the beginning of the lease in the fall, and the other three of us have moved in all at different times and are still figuring things out, so it was much-needed to sit down as a crew and talk about things like chores that we have just been going with the flow on. I'm grateful everybody is so open, relaxed, and respectful about everything!
I'm thankful for battle wounds only discovered when I got home from tonight's broomball game. Tonight's competition got the best of us, and the slight rain made conditions rather treacherous, and let's be honest, I'm still not very good, but we fought hard!
I'm thankful to (hopefully) not bug anybody by singing in the shower in this new home of mine!
Hey, remember that AmeriCorps interview earlier in the day? Got the job tonight. Seriously? I'm overwhelmed by how quickly that all happened, so amazed to feel qualified, and so grateful for this opportunity to serve more of the Northfield community while I am here. I'm still coming to terms with this next chapter of my gap year, and it will undoubtedly be rewarding and challenging, and I cannot get ahead of myself in thinking about summer housing (my first ever lease is up at the end of May and there is a group set to move into this house for the summer), plus I'm not about to count any chickens because there are still a couple of formal steps before this new post is officially mine. I'm just thanking God for all I have been blessed with and trying to make the most of every circumstance and every challenge. Happy dance for now!
My spirits were high tonight, and even higher when I rode that feeling of accomplishment and dove into making a powerpoint for next week's presentation on my Cuba delegation. I'm thankful for the time and clarity to conceptualize presentation organization and go through all my photos and memories. And I'm thankful that I now know this house well enough to get around in the dark without calamity since my productivity mode took me into the late hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment