My first two weeks...

I have now officially been in the US for over two weeks now. It is hard to believe that after all the planning and preparation that I am finally here. Sometimes it feels a little surreal.

Prepare yourselves; this could be a long blog as I haven’t updated it since my arrival in Nashville.

Beautiful Larne...

My last night at home in Larne was a strange one. As I was packing my final few things I just kept thinking “I won’t be in this room again for over eight months” and I won’t see my family (apart from via webcam) for that long either. That is when the reality of what I was doing finally set in.  However, even though I was sad to leave my home behind, physically, for the year ahead there was never a moment where I thought that I was doing the wrong thing. The word ‘physically’ is probably the most important word in the previous sentence. Yes, I am currently 3,900 miles away from home my heart is not. I am proud of where my roots are and Northern Ireland is never far from my mind. My family (especially Mum, Dad and Ryan) are one of the main reasons I am here. Without their support emotionally, spiritually and financially for this year I would not be able to do it.

I set off from Larne at 4am on Wednesday 17^th August and after a long journey from Belfast to Nashville (stopping off at London and Chicago in between) I touched down in Nashville. Here, our site coordinator, Ben Anthony, kindly met me at the airport. Before I left home Ben had emailed me to ask if my luggage would fit into his mini-cooper, however we didn’t have a problem as my suitcase had been left behind in London! I can’t complain though as it was delivered to my front door by 9am the next day. That Thursday morning was indeed an eventful one. My other housemates had not arrived yet so I spent the first night in our house (known as the ‘Cabana’) by myself. The next morning I woke up around 5am, so I made a few calls home (it was 11am at home) and then I got up to have my breakfast around 8am. You may wonder why I am giving you the tedious details about my first morning in the US, but I have to set the scene. So, I am sitting in our living room eating my cereal and I suddenly get the feeling that someone is watching me. So I turn round to find two police officers peering in the window at me! This was definitely not how I had imagined my first morning in the US to begin. I got up and went outside to find four police officers and two police cars in our garden. However, they were very pleasant and told me that someone had thought our house was vacant and had reported that they saw someone inside! At least we have neighbours who watch our house I suppose. They welcomed me to the area and then went on their way.

My fellow Nashville YAV's

Over the next few days the rest of my fellow YAV’s arrived. We just spent the weekend getting to know each other and exploring some of Nashville. Then on Monday 22^nd we flew to New York for orientation for one week with all the other YAV’s who are heading to various locations around the US and the world. This week made me realize I am part of something bigger. I am not one person setting out on this journey, but I am part of a family – the YAV family. Again, this brings me back to Northern Ireland as during this week I got to meet the YAV’s who will be serving in Belfast.  This was amazing as it gave me a bigger excuse to talk about home!  I met so many great people this past week and I am excited about what this upcoming year has in store for all of us. I can’t wait to hear all the stories!

All the PCUSA 2011/12 YAV's

This past week in Nashville we have been visiting the different agencies we will all be volunteering with and on Thursday morning we visited Stratford High School where I will be based – the program is known as Top Floor.  It certainly seems like a lively place! Kent, my supervisor, gave us some information about the program, so I will give you a summary of what it is. Last year the Top Floor served 223 students, which is more that 25% of the school. The Top Floor is academic tutoring, college prep, and job skills training; it is leadership development, life skills seminars, and ACT prep; it provides classes in film editing, photography, and mixed media art; it teaches financial literacy, resume writing, and study skills. It is a space where students can use iPads, the Internet, and run their own business; it is college counselling homework help, and tutoring in math, science and reading. The Top Floor is a place where one’s needs and interests meet. It is more than an after-school program. It is an academic muse mixing culturally relevant programming with hope, enrichment, and opportunities for success. http://www.marthaobryan.org/what_i_see/blog/2011/02/01/a-trip-to-the-top-floor-stratford.160338

The main area I will work within is College Prep. The Top Floor assists students with college exploration, applications, and financial aid.

•         100% of last year’s seniors served graduated (66/66 students).
•        96.9% (64/66) seniors served accepted into college and plan to enter this fall.
•          On average ACT scores increased by 2.5 points.
•              Last year’s seniors received over 2 million dollars in grants and scholarships.

After the two weeks of orientation I feel ready to start, however I am a little apprehensive about starting. As someone who is not familiar with the US education system, I just hope I can get up to speed quickly.

Another important part of this year is our involvement in our church families. We are all at different churches; Megan and I have been partnered with Trinity Presbyterian. This morning was our first morning worshipping there and it was amazing. They had already made us feel welcome by delivering little welcome notes through the week; and this was just a sign of things to come. It was an amazing feeling to be part of such a welcoming faith community – I am excited about this year in Trinity! http://trinitypresnashville.org/

So this will be a big week for us all as we start out with all our agencies.  We would all appreciate your prayers and support!

Also, if anyone would like to send me anything nice from home my address is…

1509 McKennie Avenue

Nashville, TN., 37206

I’ll be in touch again soon!