I finished my year-long term with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (AmeriCorps NCCC, a team based residential community service program, where teams travel the country doing service for several, 3-8 week long projects) two weeks ago. Besides being glad to be back and among family and friends I haven't seen in a while, being free of the responsibility of leading/motivating a group of eight 18-24 year olds (I was a team leader), I'm glad to have some time to myself again.

I have a job lined up next summer that I'm really looking forward to, working for someone I served with. There's a big summer camp in Northern Michigan that I'll be doing a bunch of maintenance work for; construction, electrical, plumbing, all things I'm eager to learn how to do on my own. To boot, the guy I'll be working with is hands down the best boss I've ever had, not to mention one of the best guys I've ever met, and I hope some of his patience and good spirit rubs off on me. He's also a motorcycle hobbyist and's gonna teach me a thing or two about working on bikes. And then, I'm thinking I'll do another service term with AmeriCorps, this time as a support team leader, one who works with the full-time staff back on campus and supports the team and team leaders in the field. I'm picking between two campuses, Sacramento or Denver (serving the Pacific coast states and the Southwest states, respectively).

I'm seriously considering a career in public service. Which is very weird to me, the idea of settling on a career. But I've let the idea occupy me for several months now and it's really sticking with me, the idea of expanding service opportunities to young people, or even being a unit leader (a team leader's direct supervisor, a full-time staff member). AmeriCorps was the most challenging, fulfilling year of my life. And I think I could do a way better job than my boss, or any of the unit leaders. And I think service should be a compulsory part of every person's life. Ok, that last bit is more of a policy issue than a job prospect, but can you tell yet that I really loved AmeriCorps?

It's just very, very weird to me to have identified so strongly with something, to have an actual career in mind, when I was positively drifting a year and change ago. Part of me is inherently suspicious of this, like, "Gee, blackbootz is really sipping the kool-aid after just a year." But then part of me realizes that that suspicion is couched in a hypothetical third party judging me, and if I divorce that and just look at the program and what I did last year and how it made me feel, then it's unadulterated joy, meaning, and passion.

I now realize how long and rambling this is but how much I want input. And by input, I mean corroboration that this would be a good move. Which is ironic, because I just said that I need to divorce third party judgment. Goodness. This is my head right now.