Weekend Away

This week concludes my second week of teaching evening courses for FLOC's educational guidance and advocacy program. I'm still learning the students names, getting used to preparing curriculum, and getting comfortable approaching the students. The week's sophomore workshop was based on creating career goals, and how much higher education influences our ability to reach them. Our junior class has been taking practice ACT and SAT exams. Our program requires the junior students to take at least two practice exams of each. We also offer up to two vouchers to students who financially would not otherwise be able to register for the exams.

Last week I went to a local high school in Washington to present some recruitment materials on our programs. The school was like something I have never seen before, with metal detectors at the doors and a place to X-ray peoples belonging as if I were getting inspected by the TSA. But if that's what it takes to keep the students safe, then I guess it is necessary.

Last weekend my little brother Brian rode a bike down to my neighborhood and we watched the Notre Dame-Michigan State game at a friends house. Happy to report the Irish beat Michigan State 33-30. The first win again Michigan State at Notre Dame stadium since 1993. That night Brian had dinner with my community, and we went out in Georgetown. It was an active weekend, and unfortunately ended with my community member Rachel being take into the hospital. She was experiencing some chest pains due to a collapsed lung. We're happy to report that her procedure was successful and she came home on Wednesday.

This weekend I am traveling with my placement to West Virginia, where we are taking our senior class on retreat to some property that FLOC owns. I'm looking forward to this opportunitiy to see some new territory, meet some new students, and relax out of the city for a couple of days.

First day teaching workshop, biking in DC

Hello everyone on this Wednesday morning. There's a new vibe in the building this week as students have started pouring in for our weekly workshops. The freshman and sophomore classes started last Monday. Many sophomore students returning to the program, others new getting oriented with FLOC and the educational guidance and advocacy program. Monday was a typical first day, consisting of games getting to know one another, going over course expectations, and incident scenarios with the students. This Thursday the junior class starts workshop; they will be taking a practice SAT exam...flashback five years ago when I was in their shoes.

Last week my community member Andrew graciously tuned up some of the bikes we inherited with our house. DC is an easy city to commute by bike because of the few hills that are in the city. I've never biked before in a large city, so the first time out the traffic can be a little intimidating, but it's safer than riding on the sidewalk. I've loved it so far. It's amazing how much less time I need to allow to get to work by biking. The DC Metro doesn't go up to Georgetown, and by bike I can get there in about 30 minutes. I'm hoping this is a good way to get around for the rest of the year. We'll see come January.

Tomorrow I am traveling to a local high school to work on recruitment for our high school program, also seeking volunteers for our Neighborhood Tutoring Program. I'm looking forward to geting out into the community and telling more about what we do at FLOC.

Labor Day Weekend

I'm back at work after enjoying a long weekend. Friday was taken off as a personal day because of the long hours of training my co-workers and I have been putting in getting ready for the new school year. I took Friday to take care of some personal things, such as paying our house rent and walking a few miles to our landlords house to assure it gets there safely, as oppose to the mail which may have resulted in a hefty late fee. My friend Kristina and I also took the morning to do some sightseeing. We took the Metro to Arlington National Cemetery. I had been there eight years ago. It was a moving experience, as Sen. Ted Kennedy had been laid to rest there just one week earlier. There is a lot of rich tradition at Arlington, we also witnessed three funeral processions taking place in the two hours we were there. We walked from Arlington over the Potomac, across southwest DC into Dupont Circle. A lot of walking that afternoon but well worth it.

Friday night I enjoyed a night out in Georgetown with my little brother Brian who recently started his sophomore year up there.

The great thing about being a Jesuit Volunteer is the strong connection among the other JV's in our east region. Throughout the year, each JV community takes turns hosting a holiday party. Baltimore hosted the Labor Day party and had a very impressive turnout. It was fun catching up with everyone that we had not seen since Orientation. The 50 of 60-some of us all crashed on the floor on sleeping bags, getting a solid four or five hours of sleep.

Now I'm back at work, getting ready for a busy four-day week. A lot of meetings and training ahead. The students' first day is Monday, Sept. 14.