Celebrating 20 years of AmeriCorps. And laughing. Lots of laughing.
Today was pretty awesome, you guys. It's going to be hard to top this one.
I woke up pretty early this morning, connected with a couple fellow Berea VISTAs, and we embarked to the great city of Louisville in order to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of AmeriCorps. First off, you could NOT have asked for a more perfect day weather-wise. Honestly, with this unpredictable weather that Kentucky is so famous for, I wasn't too terribly thrilled at first at the idea of standing on pavement, in downtown Louisville, for a couple of hours in god-awful heat and humidity. But today was just perfection! I don't think it got higher than 65 F, and it was just the perfect amount of cloudiness. Reminded me of England a little bit.........aaaannnnndddd I digress! Anyway, we started out in this stunningly gorgeous hotel in a sea of red larger than anything I'd ever seen before; all the AmeriCorps volunteers had on red t-shirts. Minus the fact that I and the other three VISTAs stuck out like sore thumbs in our navy polos. Ah well, it was all in good fun, and the atmosphere was so contagious and exciting. I love being united in a front like this, getting psyched over an organization that has done great things and will continue to do great things! Of course, you can't have a rally without a goofy song to get us going! Which we all partook in gladly...at least for me! Hey, gotta let the extrovert come out every now and then ;)
We all then took place in a "march"...which is a bit of a stretch, because the distance from the hotel to the Yum! Center plaza is easily a minute long walk. But we made it fun anyway! Lots of people taking pictures and just being silly and enjoying ourselves and our common thread of AmeriCorps! We heard from a series of speakers, including the 3rd district Congressman from Kentucky. And then the live stream!!! There was a ceremony taking place in DC, so we got to watch that. President Clinton spoke, a couple of AmeriCorps alum spoke, and then President Obama spoke. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty awesome, even though we weren't physically there; just being a part of the moment! It's indescribable! We are all a part of a great movement that is producing change agents, and we are all a part of something so much bigger than ourselves.
I also really enjoyed getting to know a few of my fellow Berea-based VISTAs. Technically we all are under the same organizational umbrella, but we're so dispersed throughout campus we haven't really seen much of each other since we started. But today we got to do just that, and man, do they have some incredible stories. I'm really inspired. An added bonus was that I got to reconnect with some VISTAs that I met during my PSO in Atlanta, which really added to the day! A week in, people. So much more left to do and see. I seriously can't wait! Let's get some things done!
I woke up pretty early this morning, connected with a couple fellow Berea VISTAs, and we embarked to the great city of Louisville in order to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of AmeriCorps. First off, you could NOT have asked for a more perfect day weather-wise. Honestly, with this unpredictable weather that Kentucky is so famous for, I wasn't too terribly thrilled at first at the idea of standing on pavement, in downtown Louisville, for a couple of hours in god-awful heat and humidity. But today was just perfection! I don't think it got higher than 65 F, and it was just the perfect amount of cloudiness. Reminded me of England a little bit.........aaaannnnndddd I digress! Anyway, we started out in this stunningly gorgeous hotel in a sea of red larger than anything I'd ever seen before; all the AmeriCorps volunteers had on red t-shirts. Minus the fact that I and the other three VISTAs stuck out like sore thumbs in our navy polos. Ah well, it was all in good fun, and the atmosphere was so contagious and exciting. I love being united in a front like this, getting psyched over an organization that has done great things and will continue to do great things! Of course, you can't have a rally without a goofy song to get us going! Which we all partook in gladly...at least for me! Hey, gotta let the extrovert come out every now and then ;)
We all then took place in a "march"...which is a bit of a stretch, because the distance from the hotel to the Yum! Center plaza is easily a minute long walk. But we made it fun anyway! Lots of people taking pictures and just being silly and enjoying ourselves and our common thread of AmeriCorps! We heard from a series of speakers, including the 3rd district Congressman from Kentucky. And then the live stream!!! There was a ceremony taking place in DC, so we got to watch that. President Clinton spoke, a couple of AmeriCorps alum spoke, and then President Obama spoke. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty awesome, even though we weren't physically there; just being a part of the moment! It's indescribable! We are all a part of a great movement that is producing change agents, and we are all a part of something so much bigger than ourselves.
I also really enjoyed getting to know a few of my fellow Berea-based VISTAs. Technically we all are under the same organizational umbrella, but we're so dispersed throughout campus we haven't really seen much of each other since we started. But today we got to do just that, and man, do they have some incredible stories. I'm really inspired. An added bonus was that I got to reconnect with some VISTAs that I met during my PSO in Atlanta, which really added to the day! A week in, people. So much more left to do and see. I seriously can't wait! Let's get some things done!
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| President Clinton's opening remarks. Really moving. |
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| Mini PSO reunion- you all need to WATCH OUT for these lovely ladies! Their hearts and personalities are HUGE! :) Going to be great change agents for our Bluegrass state! |
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| Getting sworn in (via live stream) by Wendy Spencer, the CEO for the Corporation for National and Community Service. A few Berea VISTAs had the opportunity to meet her recently. |
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| Pretty honored to be a part of this special day, this special moment (even if we were just watching it on a big TV screen) |
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| Berea VISTAs :) |
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