Prologue

Soon I'll be landing in Sacramento, CA to start my 10-month term as an AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) volunteer! It feels like this all happened fairly quickly and, well, that's because (in some ways) it did.

I applied for AmeriCorps NCCC in December of 2009 after hearing that my friend, Molly, was having such a positive experience during her term. I was drawn to the hands-on nature of NCCC as well as the potential for travel. I received and returned all the necessary paperwork, had a brief just-so-we-know-you're-not-a-psycho phone interview in January, a legit phone interview in March, and then heard through the Facebook grapevine that I wouldn't hear anything until the end of May.

The end of May came and went, so I had written it off until I got a call in early August from one of the NCCC representatives asking me if I wanted to leave for the Vicksburg, Mississippi campus within the next two days. I had to say no for a number of reasons so I was completely shocked to get an email a few weeks later saying that I had the option of accepting a spot on the Sacramento campus. After polling trusted sources and so much internal debate I accepted my position with just over a couple of weeks until my departure date, October 7th.

I'm excited to have this opportunity to learn, help out, and travel! Hopefully this blog will be a decent way to keep in touch with friends and family on the Right Coast during my time out Left.

A few bullet-points about the program:

• I'm in the Pacific Region, meaning that while my "home base" is Sacramento (where we'll receive most of our training), my campus serves the following states: Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, California, Alaska and Hawaii (plus the Pacific Territories, but only in emergencies).
• After the initial month-long training bonanza we'll be sent out on 4-ish "spike" projects for the remaining 9 months of service with each project lasting anywhere from 6-8 weeks. These projects can be anywhere in our region and relate to a number of issues including: "rural and urban development, energy conservation, infrastructure improvement, disasters, and environmental stewardship and conservation".
• The campus will be divided into permanent groups of 10-12 people. These groups will go on spikes together and remain together for the entire term.
• Each person in NCCC will end up serving at least 1,700 hours before the term ends in late July, 2011.

So, California or bust! I fly out of Syracuse at 815 this morning (10.07.10), a mere not many hours from now. I suppose it's time for a nap.

Also, just to clarify: the blog title refers to the fact that one of my favorite bands, CAKE, is from Sacramento. Hooray! Keep an eye out for CAKE-related tidbits in the future and I'm not just talking about their upcoming album.

Cheers!