In honor of AmeriCorps Week, today we begin a multi-part series entitled “The Navigator’s Log,” created by LaRhonda Boone, an AmeriCorps VISTA serving with Jersey Cares’ ServiceWorks program in Newark, NJ. ServiceWorks helps youth ages 16-24 to develop workplace skills through specialized training and to gain leadership experience by designing and implementing community service projects. You can learn more about ServiceWorks here. http://www.jerseycares.org/ServiceWorks

Every volunteer’s story is unique, and while LaRhonda’s story, which is still being written, is her own, she provides us with insight into what it is, can be – and at times hopefully won’t often be – to be a volunteer.

Navigator’s Log Lovedate 248.2-15.1.47A

By: LaRhonda Boone, AmeriCorps VISTA

LaRhonda Boone, AmeriCorps VISTA

At a point in our Pre Service Orientation, I decided to stop trying. I stopped telling myself that I needed to question everything, understand everything, and be prepared for it all. “There’s no way”, I realized then, that I could know it all and even if they had told me everything (yes they tried), I wouldn’t have remembered it anyway (indeed I don’t). “Your task then”, I declared to myself, “is to become a Master Navigator.”

 We’ve been on this mission for 47 days and while we’ve yet to enter the true waters of full scholar-trainer-coach engagement, I find that what I’m most navigating, what I’m finding my way around and under, up and down, over and about is — myself.   

“Stay positive,” I say, to remind me of my ultimate goal, but that doesn’t mean I should ignore the rolling wave of ego that prevents me from seeing the amazing gifts others have to offer, or the crashing wave of stubbornness that wants to convince me my way is best. And there are other off-putting waves in this self that fight for attention: waves of judgment, frustration, angst, etc. but with every surge, the mighty wave of discovery pushes back. I’m seeing how humility makes way for empathy, how camaraderie slices through isolation, and how compassion swells purposefulness. I still have no idea what lies ahead, but a Master Navigator I strive to be, and it’s what pushes this self, this ship to stay the course.