Gearing up for the Forum

September has been an interesting month at CEP. With less than a month to go before the National Forum on Character Education, everyone has abandoned their official job descriptions and has become support for Becky, who is in charge of coordinating the Forum. No more grants, no more research--it's all Forum, all the time! For me, this means that my job has gone from being a writing-intensive position to a very call-heavy position. Initially, this was a little difficult for me. I've never loved the phone, and making dozens and dozens of cold calls to organizations and schools in attempts to get them to come to the Forum was not something that made me particularly happy. However, I am now INFINITELY more confident with my phone skills than I was before, and it's very satisfying to find contract on my desk from an organization that I recruited to exhibit at the Forum. So, September has been an interesting month, and a month of growth for me as well.

In other news, the president of AlumniCorps, Dr. Leahy, and his wife Mrs. Leahy hosted a wonderful dinner last night for the fellows and our mentors. I was so impressed by their hospitality (they have hosted this event for seven years!!!), and it was really nice to be in a real house for the first time in over two months! Members of the DC Area Project 55 Committee gave us a little preview of the seminars that we'll get to go to over the next couple of months, and they seem like they'll be exactly what I need, as someone who is getting a clearer idea of what career I'd like to pursue but is still keeping an open mind. September will certainly not be the last interesting month here in DC!