More than just a "year off"

I moved to Washington, DC and started work at the Primary Care Coalition (PCC) back in July, and so far, it’s been a great experience. I’m currently serving as project coordinator for PCC’s Emergency Department-Primary Care Connect Program, a state-funded initiative aimed at reducing avoidable emergency department use in Montgomery County, Maryland. I’ve been working with physicians and staff at hospitals and clinics throughout the county to develop and evaluate a process for referring low-income uninsured patients from hospital emergency rooms to community health centers for follow-up care. It’s been fascinating to learn about the challenges faced by uninsured patients seeking medical care and to observe the fragmentation of the US healthcare system firsthand. It’s a very exciting time to be working in healthcare improvement, particularly in Washington, DC, and I’ve enjoyed learning about the ways in which hospitals, insurance providers, and healthcare organizations in the Metro DC area and around the country are working to comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as healthcare reform).

Like a significant minority of P55 fellows, I chose the Project 55 fellowship program as a way to spend my gap year between graduation and professional school (in my case, medical school) – but it’s safe to say that this has been much more than a just a “year off.” In the two months since I started work, I’ve learned an incredible amount about the current healthcare system and the ways in which it is being (and could still be) improved. I know that my experiences at PCC this year will definitely influence my ability to empathize with low-income uninsured patients and my perspective on healthcare delivery, both during medical school and throughout my career as a physician. It’s also great to know that the work I’m doing is having a measurable impact on the health of the patients PCC is serving – by providing our patients with “medical homes” at primary care clinics and reducing their use of emergency rooms, we’re improving the quality, consistency, and cost-effectiveness of the healthcare they receive. I’m looking forward to everything else I’m going to be able to learn and to accomplish in the rest of my time at PCC.

Before I end my post, I want to express my appreciation for the Princeton AlumniCorps team here in DC. They’ve been great about providing us (the DC fellows) with a network of new friends and mentors, organizing fun activities/events, and helping to ease our transition to our new jobs and to life in a new city. I think my adjustment to post-college life would have gone much less smoothly without the support of the Princeton network in general and the Princeton AlumniCorps program in particular – so thank you to everyone who makes this program possible!

To the other fellows – I hope your fellowships are going well, and I can’t wait to read more about the interesting and exciting things all of you are doing!

Weekend Fun in CT

A few Fridays ago, we got to know our P55 mentor as we had a barbeque under the stars at his home. While enjoying a delicious meal of steak, corn, and tomatoes, we took a trip back to Princeton in the 50s, as our mentor gave us a view of his days in the orange bubble. We also discussed the many ways Princeton has changed, in particular under the leadership of President Tilghman. Our conversation also took us from the time when every man at Princeton had to be a member of an eating club to how monumental it is to have a female president. Before we knew it, it was 10:30pm and time for us to head home.

Being in the middle of fruit harvest season, we decided to take a drive up to a small farm in Easton, CT that Saturday and pick some fresh fruit. Aboard a tractor with numerous families, we drove through the groves of Silverman’s Farm. Stopping at the apple, peach, and plum groves, we filled our two bags to the rim. That night, we turned into homemakers and baked apple and peach pies. It was nice coming home to the sweet aroma of these pies for the next two days.

One of the best features that downtown Norwalk offers is the assortment of restaurants. You will find a Jamaican, Puerto Rican, Spanish and Chinese restaurant all in the same block. Saturday night, we discovered a great Peruvian place that had delicious goat, chicken, and shrimp. Walking around the area later, we stumbled upon a poster advertising a performance by the famous Colombian salsa group, Grupo Niche, that very night. Luckily, we were able to get last minute tickets from the venue owner and were able to enjoy a night of salsa dancing.

A strong thunderstorm that Sunday night took out the power of the clinic and led to a day-off on Monday. Because NYC is only an hour train from Norwalk, we searched for interesting events happening in the city and found an awesome free concert in Brooklyn featuring Sean Paul. This access to the city’s art, culture, and entertainment, without its high living costs, is one of the best things about living in Connecticut.

The Good Vending Machine

Two months into my fellowship at Bethel New Life, and I've finally discovered the good vending machine. I say "good" because there are a number of vending machines on the campus where I work, most out of order and the rest stocked only with generations old snack foods (Andy Capp's Hot Fries? Seriously?). All of a sudden, now, I feel acclimated, like I am finally a part of this organization rather than a timid observer.Perhaps this is not a universal experience for fellows, but for me, things began very slowly; there was so much to pick up on, so much to learn that couldn't be explained in an hour-long orientation. I knew immediately that there were large gaps in my knowledge -- no one told me about Casual Fridays, which department had the best coffee (not mine), and the back exit that gets me to the bus stop two minutes faster. 


But more importantly, in a place like the Westside where there are decades of historical, political, and social factors all still informing the policies and work being done today, it can feel like an overwhelming task to try and match the experience and knowledge of my co-workers, many of whom were born and raised in West Garfield Park. I would be forced to grope blindly for understanding in my first meetings as others talked speedily about local ordinances and political figures, businesses and schools, and, worst of all, the dreaded non-profit acronyms. It felt not only like I didn't have all of the information, but that short of living in the community for the next forty years, I would always be playing catch-up.


But then, I found the good vending machine. It may seem trite, but to me, that discovery signaled a greater shift in my position at Bethel New Life. I realized that I wasn't the new kid anymore, that I recognized faces and understood the nuances of office politics. I had finally learned my way around: I piped up in meetings, floated solutions to problems, decided to work on things that meant something to me rather than waiting for an assignment from a supervisor. This confidence in my place here was formed out of all the things I learned along the way, bits of knowledge stumbled over as I made my way down Bethel New Life's hallways. And, when I have a tough day, I finally know where I can get my hands on some Raisinets.

IIC - A New Catalyst for Social Enterprise (Part I)

Fall has arrived in Chicago. Almost overnight, the summer haze vanished and a crisp chill arrived in the air – a lovely but sad hint of things to come. As fall is regarded as the season of change, it seems appropriate that at Investing In Communities we’re gearing up for the national launch of our website and primary business platform, iiconline.org. It also seems apropos that the September issue of the Harvard Business Review has focused its attention on a “sea change” underway in the private and civil sectors- one that is revising business as usual and promising to deliver both social and financial returns.

This sea change is the rise of “social entrepreneurship”, and the growth of innovative partnerships between corporations and civil sector organizations (CSOs). In the lead article, “A New Alliance for Global Change,” Bill Drayton and Valeria Budinich of Ashoka make a case for increasing private – civil sector integration, via social entrepreneurship and corporate-CSO partnerships. They argue that merging social missions with market ventures will be instrumental- even essential- to solving the 21^st century’s most urgent problems.

Drayton and Budinich explore how private firms can benefit from engaging with the emerging sector of social enterprise. Their exercise is worthwhile as the sector is broad and still highly fluid, with many actors whose relative positions and functions within it are not always clearly articulated or defined. The authors argue that corporations can gain competitive advantage and strengthen their bottom line by strategically engaging in social entrepreneurship. They identify corporate-CSO partnerships and “Hybrid Value Chains” (HVCs) as two of the most promising avenues for private sector engagement. The collaborative partnerships they highlight are redefining traditional charitable relationships between CSOs and private corporations.

In light of IIC’s recent soft launch and pending national launch, it’s worth reflecting on this article, and its relevance to IIC. Over the course of the next several posts (hopefully more digestible than one massive stream), I’ll define IIC’s position and potential role within the new space of social entrepreneurship. More importantly, I’ll discuss why IIC can become a valuable tool for both corporations and CSOs as they attempt to engage in this space. As I will explain, IIC is both an example of and a catalyst for the corporate-CSO partnerships that Drayton and Budinich endorse. Thus, IIC will not only occupy the social enterprise sector, but will activate it to greater effect. Intrigued? I hope so, because this is the first post in a 4-part series that will be going up, rapid fire, over the next few days...

the students have arrived! (a picture entry)

I've loved getting a chance to read some of the posts!

I must admit that I'm a bit jealous of the fellows who are in NYC (my hometown) this year. It sounds like you all are having a great time and learning your way around.

This past month in Chicago has been a blast. I went to Yanga Fest at DuSable Museum. There were cool African dance performances, workshops, and an outdoor bazaar/market. I was super excited because I got to take a workshop with one of my first dance instructors from NYC.

A weekend or two later, I had dinner with my mentor at "Big Bowl." It was awesome getting to spend time with her in person. She's been an invaluable resource.



My job responsibilities are clearer, I'm getting closer with the staff, and I'm building relationships with the students and teachers here at the school. (The pace of the job has certainly picked up speed).

This is a picture of the faculty entrance to the building. I love the artwork above the door. There's artwork around various parts of the building. I'm usually in such a hurry to get from point A to point B that I don't notice it. It's always exciting for me when I notice a painting or mural in the building.



This is the hallway right outside of my office. This was in the beginning of September before the students arrived. Right around the corner (and in various parts of the building) there was major construction and cleaning being done in preparation for the students' return. There were a few days that the internet connection/ power in our office was knocked off. Thank goodness there are spare laptops that Umoja has for the staff to use. I saw just how hard the staff works and their problem-solving skills were in full effect.



I work in the ARC (Academic Resource Center). This is one of Umoja's three offices within Manley (high school). It is the largest office and is where students come throughout the day and after school. There are computers for the students to use for their schoolwork, etc. Almost all of the staff members in the ARC work directly with the students. I love working in here. Time management has been key since students often come over to ask questions, etc. while I'm working on something.

Each staff member who works in the ARC was asked to complete a task to prepare the ARC for the new school year. My responsibility was decorating the ARC. The below on the left is a sign I made with info sheets about each staff member in the ARC. I also made smaller quotations and signs using Umoja's principles. The picture below on the right is a sign I made with pictures of students from events/workshops, etc. from last year.


The school is filled with students now and the pace of my job has increased. I've been given more responsibility and really feel like a member of the team. I've been extremely busy interviewing students for the writing workshop I'll be co-facilitating and I've been creating drills for each session. We officially start next week! It's a ten week program which meets three times a week for three hours each time.

Below is a picture I took at Manley's Back to School Night. Many of the students of all grades and their parents showed up. The event was catered by students in the culinary program at the school! I didn't have major responsibilities. I took pictures and pitched in as needed.



I'm looking forward to October, the fall, and more fun.

Breathing Deeply

First, a comment about living as a P55er in the Big Apple- a budget is absolutely essential for survival. Although long ago when I was a brawny college student, I would scoff at the idea of scrupulously keeping track of money, I learned when I arrived in the city- dazed and confused in the afternoon heat-that money quickly disappears on an overpriced coffee from Starbucks, delicious Indian food you could cook at home if you only tried, and the trendy shirt that will go out of fashion in a week. At first, I tried writing everything down on a legal pad, a method that worked for a day until I forgot where I left my legal pad or simply told myself I was too exhausted to look for it at the end of a humid day. Thus began my journey into the long columns of Excel where I was soon dividing my life into entertainment, food and toiletries, and clothing. Even though at first I was embarrassed to ask for a receipt for the $1.25 cookie I bought from a random corner store, by the end of the first month, when I finally realized where my money went, I had no problem- and in fact felt proud of myself- when I asked for that short piece of paper saying thank you for shopping at… It seems counterintuitive, but keeping track of your hard-earned money liberates you by allowing you to identify well in advance the areas on which you can spend more. Moreover, I predict that surviving on a p55 budget guarantees our future success regardless of what circumstances we find ourselves in during this recession.

Second, an experience at the clinic- at times I attend sessions with the psychologist (I will refrain from using names because of confidentiality issues). On this particular occasion, I had the opportunity to help by translating what the mother said to the psychologist. The case- an angry child was hitting at school. He sat there in his school uniform with too much gel in his hair, calmly playing with the dinosaurs and farm animals. “He hits his sister and I’m not talking about brushing the face; I mean punching and hurting.” It was bizarre to hear his mother talk about him as if he was a modern case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, except that in this case it was the whole milk he drank in the morning before school that started the hideous process of transforming him into a monster, 5 year old one, but a monster nevertheless. After hearing the mother’s story, the psychologist turned to the child and spoke softly, “Are you angry?” to which the child nodded, growing nervous as he handled the plastic cow in his hand. “Why are you angry?” A shrug of the shoulders- he fidgeted uncomfortably. “Why do you hit when you are angry? Has someone been hitting you at school?” A cautious nod. “You know what you can do when you are angry. You can take deep breaths…” She deeply inhaled, held it for a moment, and exhaled. “Try it with me…” All three of us followed her counts. “Do you want to write a letter to the boy who hit you?” Another nod without even a glance to her. She takes out a pen and begins dictating to herself, “Dear…what’s his name,” a shrug, “Well, we’ll call him Bob. You should be sorry that you hit me. I still want to be friends. Does that sound good?” He nods and looks at the letter. The session ends with what seems to me a quiet breakthrough. When she was kneeling next to him, softly speaking about the bully and writing a letter to him, she was helping him identify and manage an emotion that even adults have trouble controlling. Although in the future, the child may forget that particular afternoon when he played with a cow while speaking to a lady who helped him write a letter to a bully, I have a feeling that years later he will, when at the tipping point of anger, measure his breathing to a voice he can no longer identify, inhaling deeply before letting it all go.

Hello from San Francisco

Next week is the three-month mark of my P55 fellowship. Time seems to fly much faster in the working world than it did at Princeton. I've been working for the KIPP Foundation in San Francisco. KIPP (or the "Knowledge is Power Program") is a national network of college-preparatory public schools dedicated to preparing students in underserved communities for success in college. As a Development Associate, I work with the fundraising team to solicit corporations, foundations, and individual investors for donations.

It's difficult to summarize my responsibilities for P55 as my work has been varied. Officially, I maintain our donor database and process and acknowledge all gifts we receive. However, this only takes up about 15% of my time. Every day is a little different. Other duties have included proofing grant reports, helping coordinate and execute a 2,800-person summit in Las Vegas, preparing presentations for my managers, and even meeting some significant philanthropic figures (i.e. the Fisher family, who founded and owns GAP Inc.). Fun facts: Fisher Hall in Whitman College is also named after the same family. The Fishers also temporarily donated the headless statues that used to be in front of Princeton's art museum.

Anyway, if you're interested in the American education reform movement, I recommend seeing the upcoming documentary Waiting for Superman. Directed by Davis Guggenheim (also the director of An Inconvenient Truth), Waiting for Superman explores the problems and potential fixes of American public education. As our KIPP schools are featured in the film, I was able to attend a sneak-peak showing in August and thought the documentary was very informative and moving. It releases nationwide September 24th.

Unfortunately, I don't have insights to share regarding apartment-hunting, as I am SF native and am living at home this year. While having roommates would have been a great social experience, I love my family and am also excited to be saving more than I could with San Francisco's high rent prices. To spice up my social life, I have made a commitment to doing a minimum of 2 activities per week with people. This past weekend I attended a chocolate festival at Ghirardelli Square (white chocolate cheesecake = amazingness) and began attending an oil painting class.

The City of Lonely but Lively People

After a fairly social weekend, I decided to begin to meet more people in New York City. “But wait, Alex. On a P55 budget how did you ever expect to make friends?” you may be asking.

I was hesitant about using online means to meet people, but I figured I had nothing to lose beside some time so I enlisted on this so-called meetup.com. Looking up French language groups, I found plenty in the New York Are, and since I wanted to explore Brooklyn, I decided to join the one based there.

“Berry Park- Come join us for beer and merriment à la francais” The advertisement sounded enticing enough so I RVPed and prepared for my first visit to the infamous Williamsburg. After a short session at the gym, I hopped on a G train, constantly looking at my phone to make sure I was going in the right direction.

As soon as I got off the train, the young voices poured in from the entrance to the metro station. Once I was outside, a disembodied voice I heard just a moment ago became a woman wearing a dark skirt, dark glasses, and a white shirt- a modern Audrey Hepburn. Suddenly, everyone seems to be riding bikes, swerving to barely miss the few cars that trickle in from Manhattan. Each shop is just tall enough to give the semblance of a small western town, where seeing the sky is of the utmost important for business. I walk around lost, searching for Berry St. that at some point is Nassau St. ; you can imagine my confusion.

After asking someone for Berry St. right in front of the bar I was searching for, I take a moment to regain my New York confidence and enter expecting to hear those melodic nasal sounds. Of course, I forget that we are meeting on the roof. I get to the rooftop, from where you can see the city skyline and find a solitary man dressed in a suit with a Pocket Larousse on the table. “Is this it?” I think while introducing myself in French.

After a few minutes, other people arrive. By the evening time twenty people sit around a table, talking in French in small groups of 5. Near the end when the city is ablaze with lights in the distance, a glamorous sight that eases the autumn chill we have started to feel on the roof, I begin to speak to a Parisian who laughs constantly and is not afraid to say a silly thing or two. After everyone beside one other group has left, we still sit there, laughing at his adventures in Greece. When we get up to leave, he asks if I would like to go grab something to eat in the neighborhood. Although I know in my mind, I may never find the G train to return home in this maze of Berrys and Nassaus, I still accept his offer.

As expected, he chooses a French restaurant nearby that resembles a Parisian bistro with its red seats and candle-like lighting. We spend the rest of the night, drinking red wine and eating our medium done hamburgers. There are moments when I feel again in Paris, a city where I felt free and sans soucis. Our conversation ebbs and flows from the fall of Rome to the hermit mathematicians that revolutionized modern thinking to the literary prowess of Fitzgerald.

“What is this long story for-” you may be asking, “a tale with no ending?” There is no doubt about it that New York can be a lonely city, but these experiences prove that, even without a sense of direction, one can find other people that are looking for similar things.

Going back to Princeton for a Soccer Game

Last weekend I returned to Princeton to watch the women's soccer team defeat Seton Hall 3-1. For those of you who haven't seen the new soccer field, make sure you stop by next time you are there. The field is so pristine some think it's fake. I actually went and saw the US Men's Soccer team train there before the World Cup, and some players said it was the best field they had ever played on in the world. That's pretty incredible. Anyway, it was great to get back and see all the changes. I made my first trip across the Washington Road Bridge. Unfortunately the construction didn't let me get very far upon crossing. DC is a great fit, but I still love shopping on Nassau Street.

Ignoring the intrinsic drive to move back to Princeton...

Hello all! This is my first blog post for P55, after working for about two months for Foundations, Inc. in Moorestown, NJ. Foundations, Inc. does technical assistance for all kinds of educational programs and schools across the country, and it’s been a huge educational experience for me so far!

Family and friends always ask me what I do at my job, and I still don’t have an easy answer for them. I set up meetings and take notes, I do a lot of general research, I liaison with PR and Communications, and I remember everyone’s password, among other things. At the moment I’m trying to find an online database for Iowa’s state test scores. I’m making some graphs to show the 3^rd grade reading scores in eight schools we work with, and this is generally easy to find online…except in Iowa.

Anyway, it’s been neat to read about other fellows’ experiences starting out in a new place, but I am actually living back at home. Still, this summer I have already been into Philadelphia more than I ever have. I’ve lived 20 minutes away from the city my whole life and rarely visited! We’re a family that cheers on the Phillies from the couch. And I’ve become best friends with the New Jersey Turnpike during my 40-minute commute. I’m planning to save the money I could be spending on rent and food and put it towards…whatever comes next. It could be grad school, or not.

Well, back to work!

A new commute

For the first time since leaving Princeton I am beginning to feel settled. More than 3 hours of travel time a day while I spent the summer commuting into Boston from my parents home in the suburbs left me with little time and energy. But finally I am in an apartment, biking distance from work, and feel as though I will be able to begin engaging in the exciting new city around me.

One unexpected surprise is that it is now September and instead of going to class in the morning I still go to the same office I occupied all summer. Although I always knew the position would be for a year somewhere in the back of my mind it felt like a summer job. Now instead of moving back to New Jersey I have moved closer to my work and the reality of working life is beginning to sink in more and more.

I have commuted to work from my apartment for a total of two day thus far and it has certainly been an adventure. Yesterday a line of bike commuters formed around me as we all made our way down Beacon St at 7:30 in the morning and today a woman in a car honked at me and told me to get off the road. I suppose I will soon learn which roads the bikers take to avoid such drivers. My attempts to stay off the major roadways and bike on side roads led me t0 a bench in a park by the Muddy River not being able to tell north from south (and I usually consider myself a decent map reader). Having grown up near Boston I always considered I had a sense of it, but actually living here is making me realize that I only knew individual places within it. Now I am learning the web of curvy streets that connects all those places that are familiar.

blog blog blog

I hope everyone had a labor-free Labor day weekend! I'm writing this at the start of my sixth week at the Foundation Center. Wow! The time has gone so quickly.

I've been busy with a number of different projects, but one exciting one is that the Foundation Center asked me if I would be interested in writing a semi-regular segment for their blog PhilanTopic. The idea is that my posts will document what it's like to be a young nonprofit professional starting out in the sector. I will also record my observations about the Foundation Center with the hope that my "fresh eyes" might contribute to the work of the organization.

My first two blog posts are available here and here. You wouldn't believe my surprise when I realized that not only were there some people reading my content, but also there were also people who responded and pushed me on my opinions! How exciting!

In other news, my running is going well, and I've qualified for a (very low level) sponsorship from Brooks Running. Depending on how you interpret the term "pro", you could call me a "pro" runner now. Don't worry, Alumni Corps, the free sneakers and gear isn't going to make me give up my day job any time soon. I had my first race as "pro" this weekend, and I finished 14th at the USA Track and Field 20k national Championship, running a time that's about 1 minute away from the Olympic Trials qualifying time.

My roommate Dominique Salerno, who is a fellow "fellow", just started work on September 1st, and it's been really inspiring to see how excited she is about her post at Education Through Music. I'm looking forward to the NYC orientation this weekend because I can't wait to hear more about everyone else's work!

Busy Days at the BCC

Wow, I can't believe that it's already been nearly two months since I began working at the UCSF Breast Care Center (BCC)! Orienting myself within a new city, finding and furnishing an apartment, and, of course, gaining an understanding of my job responsibilities have each kept me very busy since my arrival in San Francisco. The cold, gray, windy weather in July also added to the sense of uncertainty early on. Bizarre as it may seem, the weather in July is supposed to be the worst of the entire year here in SF. I cannot tell you how many people quoted Mark Twain's famous statement "The coldest winter of my life was the summer that I spent in San Francisco." I was warned, but now I really understand. And it would be one thing if the entire region was subjected to the same meteorological fate, but, instead, the fog just tends to sit over the city.

But now that September has arrived, the sun is shining, and I have fallen in love with the city all over again. I share an apartment with two other interns at the BCC, and we live directly across from the Presidio, down the street from the Romanesque structure that is the Palace of Fine Arts, a short distance from tons of fun bars and delicious restaurants, and within view of the Golden Gate bridge. And there's always something going on in the city-- I've been to lots of farmers' markets, saw Wicked at the Orpheum theater, went to a Cal Academy of Sciences nightlife event, visited Angel Island, hiked in Marin, ran along the rugged coastal trail, fought the crowds at Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square, went shopping in the Mission, and relaxed on the beach. Each day, I also take in spectacular views of the city simply while riding the bus up and down SF's famous hills.

While all of this makes it difficult to return to the office after the weekend, I always look forward to Tumor Board and New Patient meetings on Monday mornings. As a pre-medical intern/ clinical trial coordinator at the BCC, I have been granted tremendous opportunities to work directly with BCC doctors and to become involved in patient care. I am the clinical trial coordinator for three studies at the BCC: two are data collection studies intended to assess the efficacy and tolerability of technologies intended to prevent hair loss among breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, and the third study is a tissue banking study intended to aid researchers in better understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying metastatic breast cancer. As a clinical trial coordinator, my primary responsibilities are to obtain patient consent to participate in the studies, to collect data (either in the form of surveys for the hair loss studies or tissue samples for the metastatic study), and to monitor each study for reported adverse events.

Beyond my role as a clinical trial coordinator, I also spend time each week working for the Decision Services department. In this capacity, I contact patients about their upcoming appointments and offer to help them in developing question-lists; in addition, I also offer to accompany them to their appointments in order to take notes and make audio recordings. These services may seem relatively straightforward, but they have been proven to significantly enhance patients' understandings of their medical treatment options. By providing patients with more information, we hope to improve the decision-making process. Indeed, at UCSF, it is well-understood that doctors should make therapeutic recommendations but that it is ultimately patients who must make final decisions, for it is the patient who can best calibrate the various personal and institutional factors that influence the decision-making process.

While I understood these principles at an intellectual level before arriving at UCSF, it has been incredibly enlightening to witness them in practice. Now that I have a better grasp of my particular responsibilities, I look forward to making more meaningful contributions at work in the future. I also intend to fully embrace the beautiful fall weather in the city! Not to be missed next weekend is the Ghirardelli chocolate festival, and then my roommates and I are planning a weekend road trip down scenic highway 101!

Getting Inside the Mind of a Pre-Teen

At the beginning of August, I along with the other post-placement counselors at Prep for Prep were given a mission – to meet as many of our assigned students as possible before the start of the school year. My immediate thought upon hearing of this news was, “How on earth am I going to get these middle schoolers to meet with me during their precious summer vacation?” However, so far, most of my students have been generally interested in meeting with me. (Perhaps it helps that I am giving them the opportunity to reconnect with their Prep friends over a free movie and a lunch).

Every time, I meet with a group of students, I usually run through the usual questions. What schools are you guys enrolled in? Do you guys like them? What subjects do you guys enjoy the most? How long are your commutes to your schools? What books have you guys been reading for the summer? I often ask these questions to avoid the awkward silence that sometimes emerges when multiple strangers meet for the first time. Yet, as the outing continues, I find that the conversations I have with these students are far from dull. In fact, these students are able to talk about anything ranging from Beiber fever and how it is affecting their peers to the intricate details of George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Most of these conversations take place over lunch and once our meal is over, I walk my students to the nearest subway station so that they can make their way home. During every outing, there is a student or two who often stays behind because their parents have made arrangements to pick them up at Prep’s 71st St. Office. It is often during these waiting periods that I truly get to find out what is going on in the minds of these pre-teens. As we sit and look out the window for the sight of a moving car, the students often tell me about the social cliques they confront from time to time in their new school or the financial constraints they may be facing at home. The students are also willing to share their triumphs, which often come after being elected to student government or winning a national science competition. It is in these moments that I see how committed these young students are to learning despite the adversity they may face on a day-to-day basis. What impresses me the most is that they are slowly letting me into their personal lives and for this I am truly grateful.

One Month Marker

This is my first foray into the wonderful world of Project 55 blogging, and it's been great getting a sense of what everyone else has been up to so far. I've now been at the Foundation Center in New York for a full month, and can hardly believe it! Perhaps some of you are familiar with the Foundation Center (or have become so after starting your fellowship), but if not it's definitely worth checking out! I've worked and volunteered for a number of non-profits in the past, but the Foundation Center has been completely different than all of them. Instead of being one part of a 10 person sparsely decorated office, suddenly I'm part of an actual division, in an organization that spans multiple floors!

I arrived on the first day to find out that instead of becoming a part of Educational Services (which has acquired my PP55 cohort, Reilly Kiernan), I'd be joining the dynamic, recently formed "Business Development" team. Basically, that means that we (an unstoppable team of four) work with the Foundation Center's products: their sale, development, maintenance, etc. Regardless of what this actually means in relation to what I do, working at the Foundation Center has already given me fabulous insight into the complexities of the non-profit sector, from the perspective of both the grantseeker and grantmaker. Having done more hands-on non-profit work in the past, it is very interesting to get more of a bird's eye view of the challenges of the sector. Hopefully I can continue to learn as much in the coming months as I have in the past 4 weeks!

I hope that everyone has a great holiday weekend!

Spotted in DC

Apparently D.C. is chock full of celeb sightings (see Emily's post about Mayor Fenty and Michelle Rhee!) Yesterday, I headed out to meet a friend for lunch and the second I stepped out of our building, it was chaos. Seriously, there were police cars everywhere and our entire street (Connecticut Ave.) was cordoned off so cars coudn't drive down it. The police weren't even allowing pedestrians to cross the street and my first thought was that there was some bomb scare (not rare in DC) at a building near us. I was about to give up and take a side street since I couldn't cross Connecticut when lo and behold, a huge motorcade of 15 police cars/motorcycles/SUVs/limos came came cruising up the Ave. from the White House. The limos were decked out in Israeli and U.S. flags and sure enough, it was Obama and Netanyahu on their way to the Mayflower Hotel (which happens to be half a block from our building) where the Mid-East peace talks are being held.

Anyway, that was enough excitement for one day! At CEP, I've been focusing on our National Forum on Character Education, which will be held in San Francisco, Oct. 28-30th. This event brings together close to 1,000 educators and administrators from around the U.S. (and several foreign countries) to dicuss the latest character education research and practices. We also honor our National Schools of Character (schools that have exhibited excellent character education practices) at the Forum. Organizing that many people sure can get complicated and we're constantly assisting attendees with registration questions. Thankfully, everyone on staff really helps out, so I know everything will get done eventually!