Happy 4th of July from New York!

First off, I am so excited to be writing my first blog post for the AlumniCorps Project 55 Program community! The staff of PP55 probably remember me referencing posts from former fellows (it's true), so I am definitely looking forward to sharing some of my own experiences with former and future fellows.

Last Monday, I started my fellowship at Education Through Music, and my first week of work was great! The staff (of only 10 others) was extremely welcoming to me. There are several other former fellows on staff, and it is wonderful to know that they have been in my shoes before. More importantly, it's great knowing that they love what they do. I can already tell that I am going to love it too!

My first week has involved several administrative projects, and I have spent much of my time observing how the organization is run, as well as reading more deeply into the history of ETM. My primary responsibilities will involve writing grant proposals, so I have been reading several samples to get a stronger sense of the language that ETM employs to describe its projects and mission. On Thursday, I headed down to the Foundation Center for an all-day seminar on proposal writing. I was surprised to find that I was one of very few people with absolutely no experience. Many of the other individuals who attended the session had been working in the non-profit sector in different capacities, but were adding development work to their duties. Others had been working in business and were switching into non-profit work. Several others were artists themselves looking for new ways to support their work. I enjoyed meeting some of these individuals and learning about the range of projects they are working on throughout (and beyond) New York City.

I have also been sorting through surveys that students at partner schools of ETM completed at the end of the academic year. These are one of the ways that ETM tracks and measures its impact. Although at first this may sound like a tedious project, I actually thought this was one of the best tasks I could do during the first week of my fellowship. Because I will be working from the ETM office, I have wondered if there would be a disconnect between my own development work and the implementation of ETM programs in schools. Reading these surveys, however, immediately brought the ETM mission to life for me. Beyond multiple choice questions about increased confidence and teamwork, the survey also allowed students to complete a free-response section. If there is one thing I learned about this set of elementary school students, they are candid, which makes their responses all the more "real" to me from within the ETM office. I especially loved how one student described how music class helped him improve on reaching vocal high notes so that he is no longer too shy to sing aloud freely. And this was only one great story out of over 400 responses!

Beyond my fellowship, life in the city has been great too! I am still learning about the neighborhoods and best subway routes (like Ben, Google maps has also been a friend of mine). Today, I am looking forward to exploring the city while snacking on a hot-dog for the holiday. Hopefully I can catch some of this evening's firework show as well. Happy Fourth of July!