It's interesting how much NCCC can change people. Tonight my roommate and I had a heart to heart regarding our hearts, and our heartaches and the #of times life has kicked our asses. Both of us have been through some pretty rough stuff, things that I still haven't "written home" about and only in the last 15 months really begun to talk honestly about some of these things. The interesting point is that we are both here. We have both been saved. We are both making a difference. There are so many different people here - TLs, CMs, Staff, Sponsors, Community Volunteers and more but everyone has one thing in common. They live to serve. I love that. I love being surrounded by people who would rather start fixing the problem then just talk about it. yay!


Almost two weeks ago now, Class XVII was inducted, and then very different from last year people left IMMEDIATELY after induction people started leaving. Wow was it emotional. My pod left. My green shirted friends left. Other CMs whom I enjoy left. And then there were just 6 teams standing around campus - most of them had to actually start work that day but not Gold Six....we were the only ones left at one point. Alone, Isolated and running freely all over McClellan. Right before everyone left two TLs were going to take a picture...then a third joined...then a fourth, a fifth soon green shirts were flocking to get in the picture, the group began screaming at everyone in a green shirt who could be seen. A few people missed out but one last time all together before round one began.

On our first day out of CTI and Inducted we headed into Davis to get fingerprinted for work. I had to deal with my first less then smooth situation as a TL. The sponsor said she had called the fingerprinting place, the place said she hadn't and asked me to pay $54 PER CM for their paperwork. Called the sponsor who then talked to the fingerprinter and I didn't have to pay! Yay! It took way longer than expecting but the team got to wander around Davis and do some shopping. I of course did Paperwork.

Friday we worked with Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation at the Westlake Parkway Park. It was a day of weeding. Then there was a weekend off where I"m sure I did something which I don't remember off the to
p of my head and then we started at work on Monday!

Let me just tell you how great it feels to be in a school again. The schools are running a very well operated and successful learning center and after school program. The team is doing a really great job too! The hours are super long, we're raking it between 10.5 and 11 hours of just drive+work time not to mention Physical Training (Pt), Service Learning (SLI), peer helping, eating, Individual Service Projects (ISPs), laundry, shopping and breathing. Last week we had veterans day off. I spent the day lazing about in bed online shopping and then went out for brunch with a CM. I had an awful Migraine and stayed home on Friday which was a bummer but very needed and then had the weekend off.

My team is shaping up nicely. There are times I get frustrated, or confused by the way they interact or treat each other but isn't that how it is in any family?

Here are some fun things we have done!
-Mandatory Family Fun night! Once a week the team does something together, this week it was Scategories
-Challenged Gold 5 to laser tag. It was best of two, loser cooks and cleans. We won..BOTH. The team was hilarious, they wait until the very last moment to get excited about anything but then showed up dressed from head to toe in black, with black war paint on their face or G6 written across their cheeks.
-Broke into my room! Okay so my roommate let them in, but then they proceeded to hide, questionably 30 mountain dew cans, all wrapped in blue tape with notes written all over them in my room. I have cans in my pillow, in my galoshes, behind my trash can, in my underwear drawer etc. I think I've found about 25-28 at this point. THey say things like "loggers and postal workers love k-town," a silver star with "pretend this is gold" "your hot" "you're the best tl" etc. Every CM signed every can.

-Duty! Duty is normally a night dreaded by all CMs especially if its on a weekend but a few of my CMs end up sitting with me EVERY single time. Last night we turned the downstairs entrance into a move theater and watched summer school.
-Music! My team has I think right now 4 guitars, a harmonica, a jaw harp, a washboard and a drum pad. Plus a lot of Ipods.
- High School Activities! Partially as SLI and partially as just another something to do, we've gone to a few things for Woodland and Pioneer. Today we went to their showing of little shop of horrors. It was great!

While being on campus has its ups and down I'm definitely glad I'm stuck on campus with the 10 G6 members. We're going to have a great year.