It really has been more than a month since I posted an update. I need to be better about that.

Even though I'm exhausted from my day at work and the annual meeting tonight, I'm going to take the time to sit down and summarize some of the things that have happened lately.

Coordinating Council meeting: success! I was pretty nervous about this one. Despite the fact that I have been told explicitly that I am not a Community School Director, I can't help but feel like the ultimate success for me would be to work at that level. I have probably mentioned before my tendency to set ridiculously high standards for myself. Not very helpful is that my first impression of my job was meeting the Community School Director at the Barclay School, and I didn't bother to distinguish between her job and that of the VISTA. Hmmm...so how are our jobs different? I still haven't answered that question, and maybe that is why I still feel like I can set a perfect stage for when my school does become a community school. My goal, in a way, is to show everyone that this is a job I can do, and even though we didn't get the community schools grant I can do all the work that staff paerson would have done had they been there. Pretty unrealistic, considering I spend much of my time bogged down with the after-school program.

Tangent. The Coordinating Council went well, or so I was told. I have trouble gaging the success of these things. It felt like I had never chaired a meeting before, even though it was just a more adult version of what I did for two years with the Venture Crew. We got through it, though, and will be meeting again in January. By then I will have done needs assessment surveys (kind of like climate surveys) and we will have lots to talk about. I'm excited to bring everyone back together. I really want to see more things moving forward.

Tonight we had our annual meeting, where everyone dresses up and attends a nice awards ceremony/banquet honoring those who have given a substantial amount of time and resources to our organization. There are a lot of amazing people connected to Greater Homewood, and seeing them collected in one place can be an inspiring and reaffirming experience.

Sometimes it can be easy to forget how I got here, what I prayed for, and the reason I come to work every day. I walked out of the dinner tonight filled with a renewed sense of purpose and a sense of excitement at all the possibilities I have in front of me. The one thing I cannot do for the kids I serve -- any of them -- is give up on them. It may be hard sometimes, but this is where I am called to be. I wrote in my jaclyncole.com blog about the MICA masters degree program in community arts, and maybe I will copy it here at some point. However I do it, when I finish my contract in June I need to keep doing this work.

Tonight our executive director embarrassed and flattered us VISTAs by asking us to stand up and be recognized for our work. As some of Greater Homewood's biggest supporters and donors stood around us and applauded, it was a good time to remember why I'm here. No matter what, I have a great support system here. I have been told that in the real world, when you get a real job, no one ever thanks you for doing the right thing, it's just expected. Maybe that is how the rest of the world is, but not here. Here, each and every person gets a "thank you" in turn. Our jobs aren't always easy, but at least we have a lot of great people on our side.