Kinship at work, home

The snow banks in Washington, DC are about gone. It's March and finally starting to feel more like we are getting closer spring.

This weekend three of my housemates and I drove to Raleigh, NC to visit the five Jesuit Volunteers living there this year. Like most of our trips, we rented a car for a quick 24 hours. While our trips require us to be in the car for several hours, we always enjoy that excuse to have a few hours together to just drive and enjoy one another's company. We pulled into Raleigh around 8:30 that evening. It was a great time with Jesuit Volunteers who made the trek to the most southern community in the JVC east region.

Friday night JV's from Philadelphia and Newark drove to DC to cut down on the driving time to Raleigh. We always enjoy guests at our house; every visit to a JV house that I have made I always find comfort. I'm continually amazed with the amount of friendship that has been formed throughout the JVC communities.

Over the past few months, I have formed a curriculum to begin teaching a public speaking and professional communication course. I offer this course every Wednesday evening for an hour and a half to students in our after school program. It is not a required class, but allows our students an opportunity to open up about themselves in a fun way through activities such as impromptu games and presenting 'how-to' speeches. Later in the course, we are going to focus on more formal presentations which include practice job interviews, resume building, etc. I feel as if I have gained a lot of knowledge about youth this year, but this course has allowed students the students to become more vulerable by allowing them to share.

Over the past few weeks, things at work and home have been very busy. Growing in community can be a challenge, both in an intentional house community and at my placement. I realize that putting great effort and not coasting is how one can find success in both.

DC gets slammed with snow

I'm spending my day off catching up on e-mail and the news looking at the bank of still three or four feet of snow outside of a coffee shop in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in Washington, DC. Record snowfall granted most of my housemates and I nearly a week off of work from our placements. Andrew, who works in hospice care, trekked each day to his placement.

When word that the snowstorm was coming, Lauren and I reacted like everyone else and went to a grocery store about a mile from our house to pick up a few items... not the basic staples such as milk, eggs, or bread; but supplies to make a gourmet dip that we could enjoy during the Superbowl. The lines at the cashiers stretched the entire length of the store. After waiting in line for 45 minutes (which felt like a very stressful and emotional experience), we decided we could go without gourmet dip, put the items back on the shelf, and decided to walk home.

The picked up heavily late that Friday. That night we were enjoying some time playing games, when our neighbors knocked on our door to join them in a snowball fight. Afterward, Andrew and I walked to the neighborhood Wonderland bar which was packed with neighbors from nearby. The rest of the weekend continued with snowball fights and time together. Rachel and I walked to Mass at Sacred Heart and walked to the national mall to take photos of the snow.

Work was canceled Monday, and thinking things were starting to get back to normal, the second round of the snow came through. This led to Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to be canceled. I never thought I could get tired of staying up late with friends, sleeping in, eating, watching the news, and relaxation. But having to go back to work on Friday was a breath of fresh air.

On Saturday, my housemates and I rented a car and drove up the Philadelphia for a visit and crossed over to Camden, NJ for to join fellow Jesuit Volunteers for the annual Valentine's day party. A great time spent by all, always a pleasure to see other JVC communities.

This Friday I am going to begin tutoring at a local middle school, Malcolm X, in northeast DC. The high school program I work in does not have program on Friday's, so I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to work with youth who are involved in For Love of Children's neighborhood tutoring program.

State of the Union: Live from Washington

It was an exciting evening in Washington on Wednesday. I had planned on watching Obama's state of the union address at home with my community. We don't watch too much TV, except for some news and a couple of sitcoms throughout the week. I haven't missed TV as much as I thought I would, as it gives me more reasons to read and watch movies with my community.

On Tuesday, I found out the staff that I interned for at Fox News Channel was going to be in DC convering the state of the union address. In the summer of 2008, I interned for Neil Cavuto and his staff of his 4 pm business show, "Your World w/ Cavuto."

I got in touch with the staff and they invited me to come visit them at the Newseum where they were broadcasting from on Pennsylvania Avenue. I stayed around for the evening, helping greet guests, deliver research, run cue-cards to the producers, etc. The staff produced three shows that evening that aired on Fox Business at 6, 8, and right after the address until 11pm. Guests on the shows included former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, former attorney general John Ashcroft, Mississippi governor Haley Barbour, and Tennessee congresswoman Marsha Blackburn. It was wonderful meeting all of them on such a historic evening. Around 8:35 pm, we watched the presidential motorcade travel down Pennsylvania Ave.

Catching up with Neil and his producers was great. They were a wonderful staff to work for and I am very grateful to have kept in touch and to have them as my mentors.

Re-Oriented: Mid-year reflection in the JVC

This weekend the 87 Jesuit Volunteers on the east coast gathered outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania for our re-orientation. This is the first time all of us have been together since our orientation retreat in mid-August.

At the end of this month, we will have reached our half-way point in our year of service. The weekend allowed us to re-evaluate our commitment to the values in the JVC. A majority of the retreat was focused on social justice/Catholic social teaching. The discussions were led by a Jesuit priest from Houston, Fr. Fred Krammer, SJ. One of the most valuable parts of the weekend was having discussions with my apostolate group members who are also working in education placements. Many of our stories matched as we witness many of the same struggles in the education system: Poverty, lack of parent involvement, conflicts in the family, learning differences, and limited resources in our non-profits. These discussions have helped me become more energized about my placement and the remaining six months in the JVC.

This weekend also helped me get reinforced about the four values of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and how my community and I continue to live them:

Simple living: Living off a stipend. The majority of my pay check goes towards rent, utilities, and community food money. Personally I am allotted $85 in spending money. We refrain from using cable TV, subscribing to the Internet, buying expensive food, etc.

Community: Living with four other Jesuit Volunteers and embracing one another's experiences. Nightly dinners, weekly spirituality and community nights. Supporting one another through the struggles and needs of one another. Staying in touch with the greater east coast JVC communities.

Spirituality: Having open discussions about our spiritual lives and how they are integrated into our year of service. We take turns leading spirituality nights; attend Mass regularly. I have been bi-monthly participating in spiritual direction with a local Jesuit.

Social Justice: This year I am working at For Love of Children as an evening high school instructor and assisting with our college scholarship program. The goal is to make college and other post-secondary school programs available to the inner-city at-risk youth that participate in our program.

Re-Orientation was a wonderful experience that allowed me to recognize that challenges that I have been faced with this year and the gratitude that I have for my community, placement, and city that I live in.

2010 in the JVC

I returned to my placement a couple of weeks ago after taking some time off for Christmas break. To celebrate the holidays, I returned to my hometown of Lake Oswego, Ore. It was a nice time of the year to return to the Pacific Northwest. No snow to come home to this year; less exhaustion since I was not recovering from a series of final exams, and certainly a different feel at home than long extended Christmas breaks I had in college.

I had a chance to catch up with a lot of friends from home, many of us which I recent college grads going down different paths whether it be continuing school, starting a career, or volunteering. My family and I had a nice holiday and celebrated with our normal traditions. We spent a couple of days in Black Butte Ranch in Central Oregon with friends of ours who have a house down there.

On my return to the east coast, I stopped in one of my favorite places in the world: New York City. Several of the Jesuit Volunteers traveled to Harlem to ring in 2010 together. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the holiday but in a festive city with such a great group of people. The next day I returned to Washington DC via the Mega Bus. I came home to housemates Andrew and Rachel who were already home. It was nice to have a couple of days to settle in and gear up for work to begin. Laura and Lauren returned to DC the following Sunday.

It's great to be back to Washington DC. Visitors are always a pleasure to have. A visit from teachers from both high school and college have been a nice treat since our return.

All of the east coast Jesuit Volunteers head to Re-Orientation this weekend. I look forward to re-connecting with many people and seeing what it's all about.

Holiday Blessings

One year ago I was starting off my Christmas Break in Portland, Oregon. I had just made it home in time to miss a huge arctic blast that prevented many home-bound college students to making it home earlier than anticipated for the holidays. My dad and I were bored at home and unable to drive anywhere, so we took a walk in the snow up to a neighborhood bar about a mile away from our house. We were catching up over some beers and my dad was talking about how excited he was to see where my life was going to take me in the next year. At the time I was concentrated on starting my career right out of college. I couldn't wait the adventure to begin.

Both of my parents are former Jesuit Volunteers and were placed in the same community in a small village in Alaska. I had always been aware of the program but I wasn't sure if it were my calling or not. My college friend Jack was in the process of applying for the JVC. I was excited to hear about him applying; excited enough that I ended up starting the application myself. It felt like the right decision. When I got my placement and committed, it felt even better.

Now here I am, working as a high school program instructor at For Love of Children, helping inner city students reach their full potential in their education. I am amazed at the generosity of the staff who work here and the generous donors that allow us to keep our mission going.

I'm very grateful for the company of my fellow Jesuit Volunteers and the strong community that I live in. We've experienced many memorable moments, from orientation at Blue Ridge; to a wacky 10 hour Halloween party in Newark; Cheese Steaks and the Christmas Party in Philadelphia; meeting vice president Joe Biden, rodent sightings in our house; late night talks, delicious meals, birthday celebrations and lots of laughs.

I look forward to many more great memories in the new year. I return home for the holidays this Friday. Merry Christmas.

The vice president, news anchor contribute to the JVC

The Jesuit Volunteer Corps held a fundraiser Wednesday evening at St. Francis Hall in Washington, DC.

The JV's were invited to represent their placements. The invitation included the special guest, Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball, who was invited to deliver a talk on service. Chris served in the PeaceCorps before entering his career in politics and news. Chris' wife, Kathleen, is a former news anchor and now executive at Marriott was also attending.

The evening was getting started as expected. As we were getting instructions on how to volunteer at the event, JVC's development manager announces to us that Vice President Joe Biden would be making an appearance. Biden entered the room with grace, shaking everyone's hand, smiling and speaking with everyone that approached him. He was gracious to the JV's and our support people. He spoke on stage with his son, Hunter, who served in JVC Northwest in my hometown, Portland, Ore.

It was quite a thrill that evening. The JV's and I will be recalling that evening for a long time.