i've been quiet for a while about what's going on out here on the border, in the bsc house, etc. i was trying to figure out what i'm going to do next year. i had the opportunity to do a second year of volunteer service w/ bsc, and to be honest, it was a really great placement--i would've been working at an organization in the same complex of services for homeless people where the daycare i work at now is, working with clients to get them ready to share their stories of becoming and being homeless with the community and then finding places to go talk to the community at large, to do public awareness stuff. and the executive director over there at community of hope is really amazing. she really gets the big picture of homelessness in a way i haven't seen for a long time, and even as an e.d., she sees their clients as people, as individuals. i would've really loved to work with her, but i decided i just wasn't ready to spend another year here in this program.
i had also applied for a year-long internship with the friends committee on national legislation (a quaker lobby organization in washington, dc), and i hadn't heard from them yet. i knew that taking the bsc placement meant i would have to turn down fcnl if i got it, and even though i didn't know yet, i wasn't prepared to turn them down if they decided they wanted me. in the end, i was right, two months ago, when i said there was no way i was qualified for that internship--they were "unable to offer me a position."
so, you ask, what will you be doing come august? good question. i've got no idea. several of my current bsc community members will still be out here, but not in the program, so i suppose that's a possibility for me as well. i figure rent is just as cheap in las cruces as in clemson, and the job market might actually be a little bit better here, if my friends' accounts are accurate. but i really miss the southeast, sweet tea, and especially our soft little mountains, which are so different from the sudden shock of steep mountain you find out here. right now, i'm just taking in the moment, and trying not to stress out too much about the future. there's not a lot i can do. it's too late to apply for grad school or any programs like teach for america or a different americorps program, but it's too early to start applying for normal jobs at a book store or starbucks. i think i'm ready to start thinking about going back to school, but i don't know what i want to study, and although i'd really love to become a professional student and just get a bunch of degrees in things i'm interested in but might never use, i should probably start thinking about how i'm going to afford a car and an apartment and getting health insurance one day, and that includes wondering how i'm going to pay for those degrees. anyway, i figure i got at least another month of living in the moment before i need to start deciding. which is really perfect, since ma & daddy are coming to visit me at the end of august, and although i've been able to carefully avoid the topic over the phone (haha. love you!) i'm sure that during the week of face-to-face contact i won't be so lucky.
