A Reflection by May

        My AmeriCorps NCCC journey started a year and a half before I stepped foot on the Pacific Region Campus in Sacramento. After I graduated college, I still was unsure what I wanted to do in life. I found out about AmeriCorps through the Peace Corps which I always wanted to be part of from a very young age. Through more research, I found that I was very interested in joining the NCCC branch of AmeriCorps. Unfortunately, I was two weeks late to apply for the fall session. Althought I was disappointed in missing the due date, I had another plan and applied for an Americorps program focusing on education called City Year. I spent my first year out of college working for this educational AmeriCorps program but AmeriCorps NCCC was always on the back burner.
In November 2011, I sent in my application hoping for the best. All required paperworks were done within a month and all I could do at that point was to play the waiting game. As my first Americorps term came to an end, I started to worry that I would not get into Americorps NCCC. I told myself that I would give myself a month after AmeriCorps graduation before I actively applied to other jobs. Sadly, that month came and I still was not accepted. Thus, I applied and accepted a position as a teacher at a private learning center near my home. I had given up my dream for serving another year in AmeriCorps.
Suddenly, two weeks before the Sacramento campus was about to start, I got an email that stated that I was "conditionally accepted" to the Pacific Region campus in Sacramento. I was somewhat disappointed because I have never been out of California before. I thought this would be the opportunity for me to travel around America.
I thought about my decision for a couple of days before I accepted the position. It was hard to tell my employers and my family that I was going away for ten months to serve AmeriCorps but I believe I made the right decision.
As  I write this reflection nine months into the program, I am glad I made this decision. Although I didn't travel as much as I intially hoped, I have gained so much more through this program. As I get ready to leave this program, I leave with a sense of hope for the future and a bundle of memories compressed into one of the longest and shortest ten months of my life.