Rookie No More

Last year I wrote a blog from my rookie standpoint and now I’m only days away from starting year 2. Some of my feelings are the same, and some are completely different than a year ago, however one thing is the same—there are a lot of them. As I said in my half marathon blog post this team has forever changed the person I am. No matter where we are as a team: the church, a fundraiser at a bar, trying to sell used items on a sidewalk, just spending time together enjoying a meal or a drink, or of course Jamaica, I always feel at home and at peace. Somewhere someone said the people to surround yourself with are the people who make you the best version of yourself and that is what I see in this team. So my first emotion is that I feel Lucky. First lucky to have to this team in my everyday life and then that is compounded by the love from the children and caretakers at Mustard Seed.

I’m also feeling anxious in every sense of the word. I’ve been working toward this year’s trip since we returned last year and now it’s ALMOST here and the countdown is always going in my head and now I’m just anxious to get on the road. Of course the anxiety also sets in other ways. But there is also just the worrying side of the anxiety of getting everything ready to go to Jamaica and what we will experience once we’re there. I’m trying to mentally prepare myself knowing some kids I saw last year that were relativity healthy could have taken a turn for the worse in the past year. I try to remember that on the other side of that I will also be seeing progress in children learning and getting healthier.

So this no longer rookie is ready to bring on the new challenges and new rewards of the 2010 trip!