| Postponing things, Nature Conservancy, and other zany ideas |
[May. 17th, 2008|05:41 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | the sound of people cooking | ] |
So, I have decided, via a friend of my mother, to NOT go to Boone. It's not the right thing right now, seeing as they have not as of yet extended me an interview. Someone else told me to look into the Nature Conservancy but, unfortunately,nothing has popped up. I DID go ahead and send a cover letter and resume to a very new agency dealing with community revitalization in Ghana. The woman who runs it is a native of Ghana and is friends with one of my housemate's supervisors. IF they want me and can actually pay me enough to live off of, then I will go with them, but that is a VERY big if. Still, it's an interesting organization and I'd make a deal that if they could fund my position for a year, I'd help them get funding for the position and the agency for another year. |
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| Everybody look what's going down |
[May. 15th, 2008|02:55 pm] |
My wonderful and yet spontaneous intern co-leader and I had dinner last night, where she mentioned that I should look into taking a trip out to Boone BEFORE the hear-back date under the auspices of finding out more about the organization. Seeing as they give random people tours, this seems OK. However, my dad was not at all thrilled with the idea at first and see's it as possibly coming off the wrong way. So, I am consulting with someone who actually knows about interviewing and whatnot to see if this is in fact a bad idea, and if it is, I will postpone my trip till things are more solid, but I want an informed opinion first. I do know people who have done this, but I also know that it's better in some situations than not. Rental cars start at $35 a day and are probably the only reasonable way to get to Boone.
" I think you have many eggs in many baskets and you need to try to put one egg in one basket" she said, explaining that having my energies going to so many different places is not very helpful.
A family friend from Tucson sent me some stuff about her former organization, but so far it's not overly interesting stuff. Still going to probably look at applying though because I have nothing to lose. |
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| Scratch that |
[May. 12th, 2008|04:08 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cynical | ] |
Forget my previous post..
Dear Jesse,
Thank you for your interest in the Chapter Coordinator Position.
While you have many excellent characteristics that would benefit ***********, we have selected a final group of candidates whose skills and experience provide a better match for the specific needs of our organization.
We thank you for the time and effort you put into applying and encourage you to continue to seek opportunities in the nonprofit and philanthropic world. Good luck in your future career endeavors.
Sincerely,
James
Well, at least I have "Excellent Characteristics".. At least I can get a date with those qualities! |
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| Interview? Maybe! |
[May. 12th, 2008|02:14 pm] |
Holy Snot, I am going to know tomorrow if I have an interview with a very neat little non-profit in Carrboro. I figure since they really want someone with international experience, I have more than a fair chance of at least getting to round 2. We'll see how this plays out. I still don't know what will happen with Samaritan's. If I DO stay in the area, I will probably go ahead and sign up for the Non-Profit Management Cert at Duke, since it will help me out network and salary-wise to have some professional certification under my belt.
I wish something interesting would happen, like a unicorn running wild in the senior center, or a winning lottery ticket falling from heaven, but alas this is not Disney. |
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| Oh Death.. |
[May. 11th, 2008|01:15 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
It's Mother's Day and the head of my intern program's mother is dying of Alzheimer's. They don't know when she will go, but different folks are there doing shifts with her. Even though it has nothing to do with me, it makes me think about losing my grandmother. I remember wanting to be there, but having exams that I wanted to not postpone and other things going on. In hindsight I wish I had gone regardless, even if it would have been emotionally wrenching. Today, when something triggers me to think about her, I still get a little teary, even though it seems like ages ago that she passed. Dementia is a horrible thing: It's what people call the "Death before Death". The mind dies,but the body continues on. It's awful to think your wife is really an intruder, or tell your son to his face " I don't know you!", or to be so far gone you cannot communicate your wants and needs. I have seen the toll it takes on families who have no other support systems: the only children who take mom and dad into their home and watch them for hours on end, trapped in their own houses. I know part of the work I do makes a huge difference, and that it is good preparation for life, but I also worry that my parents will succumb to it, especially my father (my Grandmother was his mother). I don't know if I could do a good job with all the things I would need to do.
To all those whose Mother's suffer dementia, I wish you the best Mother's Day that you can have. It is an amazing task to take care of a parent, and I am in awe of those who do it and do it well. |
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| Ahh..! |
[May. 10th, 2008|12:17 am] |
There is GOLF-BALL size hail falling out of a purple sky.. this is SURREAL! |
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| "Are we there yet?" |
[May. 7th, 2008|07:59 am] |
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Seriously.. Obama wins NC and almost creams Hillary in Indiana, and she vows to fight on. I appreciate that Hillary is serious about her campaign, but it seems as if she is not in a position to win the nomination, considering her lack of delegates. Come to think of it, I don't like the idea of having stand-ins who can be wooed to a candidate. Because of the whole delegate thing, and the fact that there are still more of them to pick up, this race could end in July. I was hoping that the damn thing would be pretty much over after the decisive win. Choose the damn nominee, and stop groveling for superdelegates.. |
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| State of the whatever address |
[May. 5th, 2008|02:49 pm] |
Taking the day off has never felt so good. I am sitting in Whole Foods ( read "Hole in your wallet foods") enjoying my $13.88 meal. It tastes great and is luckily worth every dollar I spent on it. I have decided that I am going to prohibit myself from doing anything work-related or job search related today and just rest: No Careerbuilder, no Hotjobs, No Idealist.org, just resting. I bought tickets for Drive By Truckers next Tuesday and a book from Waldenbooks.
On the job front, doors are closing and new ones are opening. Not surprisingly, the mental health research job filled their position and sent me a dear john letter. Nourish International a campus start-up, said they are looking at my resume and seem like they will contact me for an interview soon. The position is on the low end, $24,000, so I am still looking around because while I could live on 24k, it's certainly not ideal. With any luck Samaritan's Purse will call back by the end of the month to at least give me an interview. I interview well, so I feel like I could present a pretty strong case for hiring me : Semi-fluent in Kiswahili, I understand other cultures, I've co-written a grant,I have worked with various church denominations here and overseas, etc.
My options now look like this:
A. Get a job locally and do the evening courses via Duke for a cert in Non-profit Management, living in Chapel Hill and commuting via my car to Duke.
B. Get job with Samaritans, move to Boone, NC. Work my way up later or try and see about doing the same Duke Program as a satellite nearby.
There is a third option to try and move out of NC entirely but relocation is a pain and I don't really want to try and search fruitlessly for jobs in Arizona or Denver, or Santa Fe. I like Arizona but I can't even begin to think about all that now. |
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| Obama.. |
[Apr. 29th, 2008|07:53 am] |
So I scored a ticket to the Obama rally last night ( Thanks Drew) and went. I was impressed with Barack's speaking: He spoke to the issues, barely mentioned Hillary, and seemed honest, articulate, and willing and able to lead. I was impressed with is promises to end predatory lending practices, end the war in Iraq, and remove Bush's tax breaks for his wealthy buddies. He got a rousing applause when he mentioned education, and a hug applause when he called the Iraq war a failure. I was also glad to see him talk about how his parents life and his success were signs of people who were patriotic, saying that his parents reaching for the american dream was a patriotic endeavor. While he talked about healthcare and education ( especially funding No Child Left Behind and equipping and rewarding teachers who are showing results in their schools), I was hoping he would talk more specifically about the mental health crisis and the lack of affordable housing for middle and working class people. To his credit, I have yet to hear Hillary even touch this issue. I am sure that we will here more about these issues in the next few weeks, since they are hot-button issues for North Carolina voters especially.
Here's a clip:
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| If all else fails.. |
[Apr. 28th, 2008|10:44 am] |
I am looking into alternatives should I fail to find entry-level non-profit work by my June deadline. One of the options is a Certificate in Non-Profit management via Duke University, which is a 50 hour cert program with no requirements! You just agree to attend all classes and complete all coursework.
More info here:http://www.learnmore.duke.edu/certificates/nonprofit/
I like that I wouldn't have to take a test or get recommendations or whatnot, just do the program. I still need to hear from Samaritan's Purse and look at all other options before I go for this. 2 Months left in my program, who knows what the future brings? |
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| Homelessness and other things.. |
[Apr. 23rd, 2008|07:56 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  anxious | ] |
We went back to the men's homeless shelter to do orientation for walking today. It's interesting to see the varied reactions people have to their life circumstances. Some of the guys, like Michael and Paul, stay positive despite setbacks like lack of ID or court dates, while others are in visible and utter despair. One guy has a really rough story of coming from Honduras with the clothes on his back and some small bills in his pocket. He broke down on Katie and is so desperate for a job to get him out of the shelter that he is considering selling dope on the street, which he knows will not help him stay clean and sober.
I look at myself, and my relative stability and I THANK GOD that I have food, and good friends, and a house, and that my life is not all shot to hell. I could be one of those men: Omar, Paul, Michael.. waiting in line for a hot meal and doing the same routine every day. I could easily be homeless in the near future, despite having a degree and good references. Everyone else's plans are starting to fall into place, but mine are still up in the air. I keep looking and may apply to this job in Chandler, AZ but want to keep focusing on staying in state as much as possible. I feel like if one more person asks me what I'm doing come June, my head might just explode. |
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| Your moment of bliss.. |
[Apr. 22nd, 2008|08:46 am] |
Happy Earth Day! Here's your moment of bliss brought to you by Sigur Ros:
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| Back to square one.. |
[Apr. 21st, 2008|09:55 am] |
World Relief told me today, when I called them, that they don't have the money in grant funding to hire someone, which is not what they told me when I talked to them at the Career fair. DAMN IT!!!
So.. I am now only in the running for Samaritan's Purse and reevaluating staying here in NC. Arizona is looking like a better option right now but I will contact my networks here in NC to see if they can dig anything up for me. |
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| Falcorrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!! |
[Apr. 17th, 2008|10:34 pm] |
The Neverending Story is the BEST MOVIE EVER!!!
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| Yet another door opens |
[Apr. 14th, 2008|11:07 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Sigur Ros-Heima | ] |
So today I found a pretty sweet PR job of sorts doing communications and donor stuff for Samaritan's Purse out of Boone, NC.
Here's the posting:
Opportunity for person with superior written and verbal communication skills to respond to donors and public about the ministry of Samaritan's Purse. Must maintain thorough knowledge of ministry programs and resources to provide information via telephone, e-mail, written correspondence, and occasional public interaction.
Must possess strong MS Word, Excel, and Outlook skills. Accuracy, confidentiality, insight and professionalism for contact with donors and other departments are a must.
Bachelor's degree preferred.
Boone is a fairly hip little mountain town 5 1/2 hours west, and I could do grad school at Appalachian State if I wanted to, which is cool. Yes, they are fairly Evangelical in their slant, but I have not heard anything but praise for them from people both Christian and Non. I also like that they stick to helping first and sharing the gospel second, unlike other organizations that I came across in Kenya, who would proseletyze first and THEN give aid. They work comfortably with all aid groups. World Relief is still high on my list, but I could see myself doing this job as well. We'll see what happens with things! |
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| Hey, that's not supposed to happen! |
[Apr. 12th, 2008|08:03 pm] |
Riding my bike today was both great and a tragic comedy. I loved going past these huge bastions of southern wealth and chatting with little old ladies pruning their Azaleas. I have begun to think that every little old southern lady I come across is somehow a clone of the title character from Driving Miss Daisy, except not Jewish. Halfway between Park Place and Davie Circle, my chain literally flings itself off the gear teeth leading me to look down really fast, almost fall, and twist my ankle ( Ouch). At least the day was saved by a nice picnic in the Coker Arboretum, where we ran into a car full of cute and friendly UVA Club Soccer players.
Poor Mario ( My italian racing bike from the 70's) did the chain slip/fling thing two more times before I decided not to put the bike in the low ring gear. So, I am finally giving up and taking it in for a full tune up, after all, the bike is from 70's. If it were any older, it would be wearing bell-bottoms and refusing to cut it's hair. I am kind of freaking out that it will cost a lot, but I know Jay gives me freebies even when I protest. I figure If he does protest, I'll insist he take at least 20 for his efforts. All that really needs tuneup is the Deraileur, which should really just be replaced, and the break lines need to be either greased or replaced. Jay will know what it all needs. I love the bike but I don't like that it takes so much effort to get it to shift to the highest gear. In other news I saw a guy with one of these on his Raleigh road bike:
I want one of these..BADLY |
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| Career Fair |
[Apr. 7th, 2008|01:03 pm] |
The Career fair went really well. We got a fair amount of African-American students who were interested in our program and even some other faculty from Campbell U and NC State that wanted our info for their career office. I got to talk to both World Relief and MDC before anyone else did and they had a fairly favorable response to me. The girl from World Relief, Lauren, was very interested in my overseas experience and we discussed a lot about how stuff from how to assimilate refugees to rethinking Evangelism. She's probably 24-26 and is swamped because she does everything at the office. Having someone who could take part of her workload would be super and when I said I actually LIKE writing grants, she was somewhat surprised but enthusiastic nonetheless. High Point is an hour drive, but the pay would be pretty competitive and they have good benefits. I expect that at the very least, she will call me back to follow up. MDC, on the other hand, stated that they preferred MSW's but were not overly firm on that. They are more research and social model oriented, but I could do research if it got my foot in the door of the non-profit world. Still, they seemed a little more business model despite being active in community involvement. Still, I'll keep them on my list because community development interests me.
Cross your fingers, kids.. This could be a good thing. |
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| Sitting Bull was right.. |
[Apr. 5th, 2008|04:38 pm] |
"He put in your heart certain wishes and plans; in my heart, he put other different desires"
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| A common theme.. |
[Apr. 2nd, 2008|09:10 am] |
Had a friend over last night for dinner. I'm amazed she made it, seeing as her craptastic Toyota Tercel is pretty much on it's last Gasp. Neither one of us are making any real money, both of us have no connections to relatives or close friends in the area, and we both know that we want to be doing something different then what we are doing now. She wants to go from being a Legal Assistant to teaching again. I want to work in some kind of development capacity and write grants.
I feel more confident that I can find a job here in the Triangle region and stay in Chapel Hill/Carrboro. I have a job fair on Monday that I am going to and I am thrilled to pieces that there are at least 2 organizations there that are in line with my career goals and skills. Star, a family friend, is helping me with my resume and marketing myself for no cost ( she does this for a heavy consulting fee generally), so I am very lucky in that capacity.
Weekend: Gary Louris from the Jayhawks with Vetiver opening! I promise to take pictures. |
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| Let's do this thang.. |
[Mar. 31st, 2008|10:52 pm] |
I'm excited for next Monday. I get the oppurtunity to talk face to face with 2 agencies that I have always admired. MDC is a local non-profit community development agency that is doing great things in the Raleigh area. The other agency, my top pick, is World Relief, a charity agency that deals with refugees. I am tailoring my "pitch" to highlight my international experience and my ability to work with churches and other groups, which is what they want. I have the experience they need, I just need to show them that I have something more than the average Social Work student at UNC has. I feel I can PWN that face to face meeting no prob, and my resume is pretty polished at this point.
I am both nervous as hell and yet insanely focused, because this could lead to a job I love, in an area I want to stay.
Keep your fingers crossed! |
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