Three and a half weeks to go...

When I first started the application process for Episcopal Service Corps, the idea of doing something completely new for a year seemed great but yet very far removed from my life at the time. I started the application in January and so the possibility of moving to a new city was still eight months away. By the time I finished the application, went through a month of interviews with the various programs, and decided where I would be headed, it was already late April but yet it was still over four months until my program would begin. Now, though, it's a mere three and a half weeks until I hop on a plane to Los Angeles. It seems completely surreal that the summer has flown by so quickly and that I'll be moving across the country at the end of this month, but I'm really excited.

One thing adding to the excitement is that I now know where my work placement will be. I'll be working at an HIV community center in Santa Monica called Common Ground. My position will be as a prevention advocate, so I'll be doing a lot of health education type things, including working with the Teen Peer Education Program and the Homeless Youth Prevention Education program. Additionally, I'll be doing some HIV testing and counseling, some beach outreach, and whatever else they tell me to do. The magnitude of what I'm going to be doing has started to sink it, but I'm unbelievably excited. I'm sure that it won't be easy, but I am sure that it will be such a rewarding, educational experience and will really help me to learn to better love and serve everyone I meet.

One really cool thing about my job is that I will have another one of my housemates working with me. We are both prevention advocates, though our jobs entail a few different things (I'm working more with youth/young adults and he'll be doing more general work), I think it will be nice to have another intern with me at Common Ground. Additionally, I've had the chance to talk to Common Ground's current EUIP intern a couple of times and that has been really helpful. She's going to be staying in LA and has told me they she is always there if I need to talk about work or EUIP, or just have someone to hang out around LA. It's really nice and reassuring to know that I'll already have a bit of a support system established in LA, even before I'm there.

I'll keep y'all updated as my move gets closer and I get settled in LA, but for now...


Peace,
Jordan