dinners. lesson plans. meeting new people. community nights. grandma bedtimes. This abridged list is what has been filling my first month in Cleveland but it has also pushed back the start of this story. So this is where it will begin...my year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps has officially started.
The past month has been filled with enthusiastic welcomes, delicious food made with love, an outpouring of support, inspirational people and experiences and conversations that make me fall more and more in love with this community every day. I am living in a house where Lake Erie lies in plain view outside my front door. This house on Church Ave, with its yellow exterior and lived in interior, has quickly become a home. My JV community, Edna, Brian, Therese, Emily, Mary, Jesse and Rose, have become my family and the work they do each day inspires me at work each day...and how could I bring you all on my journey without introducing you to my placement.
Saint Martin de Porres High School. St. Martin is part of the Cristo Rey Network and it not a typical Catholic high school. Students are in class for 4 days out of the week and hold a work study job on the 5th day. The students come from low-income families and the salaries from their work study jobs help to pay for most of their tuition. I fall more and more in love with this school each day. The faculty and staff are so committed to their work and the students and their enthusiasm for their work is amazing.
Like many other JV placements, my work is comprised of a variety of roles and responsibilities, most of which were revealed when I walked in on the first day. I've finally been through my first full real week and while I am pushing 50+ hours a week between commuting, school and after school activities, I have never been more energized or felt so much passion and love for the work that I am doing. So what exactly am I doing? My job is split 50/50. Half of my time is spent working in....wait for it...Campus Ministry! I work with 4 amazing people, including an FJV who was placed at St. Martin for her JV year and another volunteer from the St. Martin volunteer program. I'll be helping to plan and set up for Masses, go to service with students serving a hot meal at a local church 3 times a month and serving breakfast and a women and children's shelter once a month, serving as one of three moderators for the school's social justice club and I'm currently in the process of planning my own retreat!! The second half of my job is in the classroom and working with students. I am one of the teachers for an OGT (Ohio Graduation Test) Prep class for sophomores and am moderating the after school Academic Assistance program where students can come do homework, get tutoring and have computer access. The classroom experience was intimidating initially but has become one of the things I look forward to each day. This placement is simply pinchmeisthisreallyhappening amazing. I come home every day, completely exhausted but completely fulfilled and grateful for the day and all that it held.
The transition from home, especially at Orientation, was one of the most emotionally draining and difficult experiences I have ever had. After 5 days of not communicating with my friends and family, I realized how much energy and life they bring to my life. I hope that this blog is a way for me to reflect, ask questions, maybe find answers and share my stories with those who chose to hear them.
This reading was shared with me by Therese, one of my community members. Read it. Reflect on it. This is my 'invitation' to you to join me on my journey this year, keep in touch, ask questions and ask yourself where you find God and joy in your life.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human....
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.
Walk with me....
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