A Post-Sandy Reflection on Mission-Driven Work

With a good portion of New York City without power (myself included) and still reeling from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, I wanted to take a moment to reflect upon the dedication of my coworkers. Subways are closed. Buses are stopping along their normal routes about fifty percent of the time because they are so packed. Traffic lights aren't functioning downtown, and traffic everywhere is at a standstill.  Despite all this, many employees at the New York Center for Child Development are carrying on, business as usual (or at least, as usual as possible). One of my coworkers had her husband drive her two hours through the city gridlock so she could be here today. Another walked 50 blocks uptown when the overcrowded buses continued to pass her by. Another rode her bicycle in--from Brooklyn. I am amazed by their dedication and committment to their work.  These extreme circumstances affirm how motivating a meaningful mission can be. I realize more and more every day that, for me, finding a career driven by a strong mission is the key to remaining personally fulfilled in my work. Even when my day-to-day tasks become mundane here--compiling the results of a survey on a training given to 55 daycare workers is not the most intellectually stimulating of projects--I still remain eager to work because of my belief in my organization's mission and because of the obvious enthusiasm and passion of the people working around me. And when the work does become more exciting--such as meeting with the Weill Cornell child psychiatry team to discuss how we can better integrate our new early childhood mental heath consulation and treatment program into their practice--that makes the mission that much more tangible and motivating.

To everyone affected by the storm, I hope you are all staying safe, and that life returns to normal as quickly as possible!

Reading for Fun…with a Side of Edification

Here are some coincidences about Hurricane Sandy (which is approaching the D.C. region as I type).  On the work side, Character Education Partnership’s National Forum on Character Education is slated for 1-3 November, and CEP’s founder was Sandy McDonnell ’45.  On the personal side, I was in D.C. during Fall Break last year and there weathered a peculiar Halloween storm as well.

On Tuesday I went to Hooray 4 Books in Alexandria to buy two birthday presents (a book for my former supervisor’s daughter and a plush cat for me since my birthday is on Halloween).  It’s a children’s toy and book store similar to Jazams in Palmer Square but with more books.  One of the major highlights of the post-Princeton life, at least for this liberal arts major, is having the brain space to read for fun.  I can read poetry just because I want to, not because I’m endeavouring to “fill the well,” as Julia Cameron says, in order to get the poetic juices flowing.  I have time to read Health magazine for its exercise tips because I will be studying to become a health coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.  My fellow fellow, Sweta, and I were discussing reading for pleasure while we assembled name badges at CEP yesterday (Saturday).  It’s a blast to have the freedom to read!

Reading about character education at work has also primed me to see it everywhere; when reading the flyer for new titles coming soon to Hooray 4 Books, most of the picture and chapter books used anthropomorphic animals to teach some sort of moral lesson (including the very-chic lesson of ecofriendly behavior).  This is hardly a novel idea, of course!

AlumniCorps Love

As a second-year fellow, I oftentimes evaluate the differences between my current fellowship and my previous one. How are the organizations structured differently? How do the office cultures compare? How is the fellow being utilized differently at each organization? What do the different PP55 steering committees do to bring all the fellows together? And, perhaps most importantly, how can I use my experiences from last year to add more value to my organization and my experience this year?

A really wonderful answer to this last question hit me full force at the New York PP55 Welcome Dinner this past week: always remember and leverage the staple of support that is the broader AlumniCorps community. I never fully appreciated the value of networking until I met some very helpful contacts at the AlumniCorps social events during my time in DC, and this week I was nicely reminded of that generosity and desire to help the fellows succeed that always characterized my interactions with other Princeton alums last year. Earlier in the day, two members of the New York PP55 steering committee (including one of the PP55 founders) brought the new AlumniCorps Executive Director to visit my supervisor and me at New York Center. It was really nice to have the opportunity to talk to all of them about my work and my organization's mission and to see firsthand how much they care about each individual fellow. I was struck yet again by the passion that drives this program at the Welcome Dinner, when Scott Taylor and his wife opened up their lovely home to all of the New York fellows, mentors, and steering committee members. Everyone I spoke to was genuinely interested in learning about my fellowship, my interests, and my career aspirations. Not only did I enjoy getting to know one of my two mentors (yes, I have two--did I mention how much I love the support I'm getting?!), I also exchanged emails with another fellow's mentor who, like me, is also looking into serving on a nonprofit junior board and offered to send me some information on it. I left the dinner feeling truly fortunate to have such an incredible community of smart, successful, and above all, caring individuals who really just want to help me in any way they can. It was definitely a nice way to end the night!

Two months in

I've been at my position at the Character Education Partnership (CEP) now for about the duration of most of my past internships. It's interesting that I finally feel as though I have a real niche. Now that last year's fellow, who overlapped with me for the first month of my fellowship, has left, I have the interesting and novel feeling of basically being the organization's point person on a number of things. I feel like I have real ownership of my projects. Currently, CEP is gearing up for the National Forum on Character Education, from November 1-4, a major conference with 800 attendees. Along with my supervisor, I am currently doing the bulk of administrative tasks, registration and marketing for the Forum.

I think my placement at CEP can potentially be a great one for someone thinking of going into teaching. Though there is no direct interaction with students, you're surrounded by teachers and former teachers pretty constantly and can gain an interesting window into the more social-emotional side of learning. The fellow has me considering not just teaching but also school psychology, counseling and social work.