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Nov. 16th, 2005 02:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marathoner452For the benefit of new friends who want to hear about life at the Red Cross. :-)
Seems to have a hurry-up-and-wait quality about it. One week I'll give several presentations to hundreds of kids, the next week I'll just be sitting around waiting for schools or scout troops to respond to my emails so I can schedule more presentations. Or maybe it's just because I started literally the day Katrina hit, so anything else is slow and downright boring. We have to be ready in case a disaster strikes, but usually they don't and it's life as usual.
Right now is one of those between-times. No one is really going to have time for a presentation over the holiday season, though I do have 2 presentations scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving. A couple people have promised to call me several times but haven't gotten back to me yet. And hurricane season is almost over, thank goodness. And I've committed to getting trained and getting some local experience before I'm deployed to a national operation, because, unfortunately, Katrina won't be the last destructive hurricane we'll face.
So at this point I'm trying to live out my life as an Americorps VISTA here at the Red Cross out in Frederick County, Maryland, giving disaster education presentations to kids. VISTAs are supposed to focus on reducing the inequalities of poverty, so my mission right now is to get into scout meetings, public schools and the YMCA, not just private schools. Though in the end, everyone needs to hear this stuff so they can be prepared.
In my spare time, whatever that is anymore, I train for marathons and read Caribbean history books. :-) Next on my life agenda is graduate school and moving someplace a lot warmer than Maryland. B-)
~Bethany
Seems to have a hurry-up-and-wait quality about it. One week I'll give several presentations to hundreds of kids, the next week I'll just be sitting around waiting for schools or scout troops to respond to my emails so I can schedule more presentations. Or maybe it's just because I started literally the day Katrina hit, so anything else is slow and downright boring. We have to be ready in case a disaster strikes, but usually they don't and it's life as usual.
Right now is one of those between-times. No one is really going to have time for a presentation over the holiday season, though I do have 2 presentations scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving. A couple people have promised to call me several times but haven't gotten back to me yet. And hurricane season is almost over, thank goodness. And I've committed to getting trained and getting some local experience before I'm deployed to a national operation, because, unfortunately, Katrina won't be the last destructive hurricane we'll face.
So at this point I'm trying to live out my life as an Americorps VISTA here at the Red Cross out in Frederick County, Maryland, giving disaster education presentations to kids. VISTAs are supposed to focus on reducing the inequalities of poverty, so my mission right now is to get into scout meetings, public schools and the YMCA, not just private schools. Though in the end, everyone needs to hear this stuff so they can be prepared.
In my spare time, whatever that is anymore, I train for marathons and read Caribbean history books. :-) Next on my life agenda is graduate school and moving someplace a lot warmer than Maryland. B-)
~Bethany
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Date: 2005-11-16 09:01 pm (UTC)As for that first paragraph, I think I know exactly what you mean. You would never wish a disaster on anyone, but when it does happen, it feels really good to be able to help.
~Bethany