| Fire 4's Advice for Future AmeriCorps NCCC Members: |
| *Be ready for anything, because nothing can prepare you for this experience. Or better yet, don't prepare at all, just show up. *Your team really does become your family--just like they told you. *Diversity is so much more than skin-deep. *Be prepared to get dirty! *On a similar note, you really don't need to shower every day. *Luxury is relative!! *No matter how much you change the world in this program, the biggest changes you'll find are within. |
| Team Matters by Dezirae Knutzen When you meet your new teammates... They will be different. They will wear different clothes than you, have different hair than you, listen to different music and eat different foods than you. You may be a sleeper, they may be a talker (this may be a problem at 1:00 AM). You may be modest, they may be an exhibitionist. You may be sane, they may be crazy. You may not consider Cosmo a book, nor Eminem a musician, nor dry cereal a food group. You will be different than them. Yet when you reach the end of your rapidly fraying rope, which sometimes you will, remember one thing...you are the same in the one way--despite your overwhelming differences, you all have one thing in common: a desire to serve. You have all chosen to be here. You are all volunteers, contrary to public opinion; you are not juvenile delinquents, nor are you serving court-ordered community service, nor are you with the military or the police force. You are volunteers here out of the goodness of your heart. So open your mind, let your barriers fall down, forget your stereotypes, let your preconceived perceptions fade, be flexible, and above all else let your heart overflow, and you will be an overwhelming success. |