The Red Cross, Waiting for the School Year to Begin

Last week, I attended the Red Cross new volunteer orientation, and today I was contacted by one of their coordinators about the positions I expressed an interest in. First off, let me just say that getting started as a volunteer with the Red Cross is not a quick process; you can't just show up at your local chapter and start handing out juice boxes to disaster victims. I'm going to have to complete at least two more 3-hour classes and fill out a lot more paperwork before I can begin doing anything at all. And that's what I like about the Red Cross. I think I'm going to be able to gain some real job knowledge and do meaningful things with them because they require a lot of training and a serious commitment.

I don't have much information yet about the international casework position, but I did hear from the disaster action team leader today, and he gave me a general overview of how the shifts work. I'm limited to the weekend shift because of my job, but I'm also worried because the weekend shift starts Friday night and lasts until Monday at 7:00am. If you're called to a disaster site, the call can take several hours to complete, which wouldn't allow me a lot of time to get to work by 8:00, especially considering my long commute. I'm guessing I can get a substitute if that happens; it likely wouldn't be more than once a month, and only if something happened in that Monday morning timeframe. We'll see how it goes.

I'm really excited about being part of a disaster team, and some of the duties sound like they could relate to what consular officers do in American citizen services, so I think volunteering will help me toward my career goals while also giving me an opportunity to help in my community. The only problem is that I have to wait a month until the next training opportunity, so it's business as usual until then.

On the job front, I went to my first department meeting yesterday at the school where I'll be teaching, and I had the opportunity to see my classroom. It was nicer than I expected, and I'm really looking forward to seeing it full of middle schoolers working hard to fill their little heads with new language skills (if there's any room left with all the hormones pulsing in there). I know that it won't be as smooth or simple as the image I have in my mind, but I need to focus on positive thoughts before the full reality of the situation sets in. Two more weeks to go. It seems like all I do anymore is wait!