Transitions

This past month has been a rather exciting time for me, as the Character Education Partnership (CEP) is in a major period of transition, with lots of staff coming in and leaving and major changes on every level, from the organizational mission and vision down to the software.

Being part of an organization that is in a process of such significant transition can be a little confusing sometimes but it is also is tremendously educational and presents major opportunities. For example, because of various staff departures, I've ended up managing CEP's social media accounts, e-marketing and blog. Though this isn't really the direction I originally expected when I began the fellowship, it's been probably the most engaging thing I've done so far and taught me a great deal about inbound marketing strategies, search engine optimization and a lot of other things that I would have never been introduced to in my role as I originally understood it. I guess the main takeaway from this experience for me has been that at a small organization, there's a lot of space for people to make their own roles, if they choose to and that this can lead to to the discovery and development of new talents and skills.

Another Man’s Moccasins

Character Education Partnership sent out a few holiday mailings in end of Novembver-early December.  From the intellectual high-jumps of creating spreadsheets with different categories for different mailings and signatures, to the physical mud run of folding, sealing, and stamping envelopes, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for teamwork and for physical donation requests.  Out of sympathy for the labour, it’d be nice to be able to donate substantially to every non-profit that’s hit me up for cash in the last month.  Though I’ve volunteered at non-profits in the past, working for one has viscerally made me appreciate how much donations count.

Reflection

I realized recently that I will be nearing the half-way point of my fellowship in a month. I'd settled into such a steady, predictable rhythm with my work at CEP that I'd almost forgotten to reflect and occasionally take stock of what I was learning and how I could use it in the future.

From my current vantage point, one thing I think I understand is that first, working in an office has been an incredibly valuable, educational experience and second, it's not something that I think I want to spend my career doing. CEP is a really great place for people who think they might be interested in education in any capacity, whether policy or teaching or administration because in addition to the office work, you are also constantly in contact with teachers, school social workers, administrators and counselors. During our recent conference, I was actually able to sit in on multiple enrichment and training sessions for teachers and meet a lot people on the front lines of character education and many different kinds of education reform.

Additionally, one of my current projects is proofreading our massive, 500-page sourcebook, which is filled with examples of really exciting things that teachers are doing around the country. This fellowship is a really amazing opportunity to get a sense of how exciting and creative teaching (or working in a school in a different capacity) can be from a macro level, to see teachers who are doing genuinely innovative, effective things. Learning more practical skills, like communicating with supervisors and working independently is also valuable but I only recently realized that there are so many other, much broader things I've gained from my experience.

“What Shall We Do Now?”

 Shall we buy a new guitar

Shall we drive a more powerful car

Shall we work straight through the night

--“What Shall We Do Now?” by Pink Floyd on The Wall

Perhaps the “location, location, location” mantra for real estate can be used for the continual discernment in which I’ve been engaged since I began The Artist’s Way in 2008: “vocation, vocation, vocation.”

While I was home for Thanksgiving, I was talking with my grandparents about work (not CEP, but work as a verb, the thing humans do), and I was describing my yen for work in which I use my hands for creation of physical things, not just typing words (words and figures that ultimately do not result in a product other than intellectual order or a receipt).  I took a picture of my grandmother’s hands in 2011 as she kneaded dough for rolls, and the picture, “The Secret Ingredient” ended up winning a top place in the Office of Religious Life’s “What is Love” photography contest that year.  Hands have since been a theme between my grandparents and me.  My grandfather (Elmer Naples ’62) held up his hands, each finger joint bulbous from use.  He said it was mostly baseball while he was at Princeton and afterwards that made his fingers crooked, baseball and his woodworking and home improvement projects.

Disfigurement is in the eye of the beholder.  If I’m going to be pointing fingers, I want it to be a finger well-used for creation of real things.  I feel it very deeply that that’s my vocation, making stuff (specifically healthy vegan and gluten-free baked goods!), not making intellectual order.

All in all, it was all just bricks in the wall.

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!

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.

A Day

There was no escaping that the title of this blog post was going to be a reference to either an egotistical cliché, “A Day in the Life of” or a song, “A Day,” by Clan of Xymox.

Since one of the purposes of this blog is to provide a little snapshot of the lives of fellows, I figured I’d go through my day.  As I noticed—and as the presenters addressed—at the first D.C. Project 55 seminar on “Careers in Non-Profits,” the narrative distance of a panel or blog makes one’s life look a lot more seamless than it actually is.

To the Princeton student who’s reading this, I begin like Maimonides in his epistolary introduction to The Guide of the Perplexed, “this is for you and others like you.”

Disclaimers made, let’s go into granular detail.  On weekdays, I wake up a bit after four and do my morning pages.  I followed Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way before beginning at Princeton and I wrote my thesis on her program and other creative recovery programs.   I meditate and then go exercise in the fitness center in the townhouse development where my aunt and uncle live.  I live with them for a few reasons: my uncle offered me a deal on rent I can’t refuse, my car insurance is cheaper in Virginia than in the Capital (et tu, The Hunger Games?), and I’ve always lived with family during summers and for internships and whatnot.  I return home, shower, dress, drink my green juice, eat my oatmeal, and my uncle drops me off at a metro station on his way to work. 

I start work at 07:30.  Besides entering information into Character Education Partnership’s development database, I sometimes design cards, make phone calls to encourage schools, business, and others to attend CEP’s National Forum on Character Education, compile and send thank-you notes, execute fundraising research, and sort accounting files.  I leave the office to eat lunch since I don’t believe in eating where you work.  There’s a more vulgar way to say that, but I’ll leave it to your imagination.  I drink 4/7 of my lunch since I cannot chew all I need to sustain myself in 30 minutes (juicing…that’s why my parents gave me a high-speed blender as a graduation present). 

Once a week CEP gathers for a staff meeting, and I attend other meetings as the need arises.  I currently take notes for the fundraising committee meetings since I will be doing quite a bit of data entry as the new director of development writes a new fundraising plan.  Working with a supervisor who telecommutes from across the country is probably not for everyone; I get along very well with her, which means we communicate clearly.  As one of my coworkers said this week, a “certain synergy” comes from working in an office with fellow humans.  Sabrina is right on in her observations about forced face time not really being downtime.  Adjectives fail me to describe how much I dislike staring at a computer all day.

I metro back to Alexandria and walk home.  Sometimes I have to feed my aunt and uncle’s two cats.  I eat supper, which is usually a portion of a dish I made on the weekend.  I assemble the juices and grains for the next day.  I take a walk around Alexandria, and then I come home, pick out the next day’s clothes, shower, read a little sacred text, and go to bed hopefully before 21:00. 

Wash, rinse, repeat.  One of my weekend days involves cooking whatever I find at the Alexandria farmers’ market, and one of my weekend days involves going to church.

That’s it for the extreme detail.   Best regards to you, Princeton senior, and go back to work on your thesis!

Unplugging

“No phone, no phone/ I just want to be alone today.”  --Cake, “No Phone”

For Sabbath-observant Jewish readers, the Sabbath Manifesto probably sounds familiar.  Since my job at CEP involves sitting in front of a computer for nearly 8 hours a day doing data entry for fundraising or other computer-centric activities, when given the opportunity, I turn off the tech.  When I arrived in Alexandria in July, I arrived to my aunt and uncle’s house without electricity.  Turns out that situation was truly a blessing—albeit a hot, sweaty, cranky-cat one—for helping me appreciate life without beeps, buzzes, and screens.  OK, fine, I had to use my cell phone to keep in touch with my aunt and uncle in their absence, but other than that, I wasn’t plugged in.

I took the Sabbath Manifesto a few weekends ago, and noticed that I felt more at-ease and was happy to do all my writing in my notebook.  You can probably tell from this train of thought that I was raised by my grandparents. Though I will not deny technology is useful (it’s allowing me to talk to you right now), like all things, moderation is the key.

I will stop writing this sermon now and…for as much as possible during the long weekend, unplug.