Let's get oriented

I'm sitting on the floor of Terminal 2 at O'Hare, passengers zipping by with their luggage just inches in front of me. I have two hours until my flight to Sioux Falls boards; in the meantime, I'm decompressing.

PSO (Pre-Service Orientation) was a success. I've gone through a variety of orientations over the years for jobs I've held, and I can honestly say this one was the most worthwhile.

The welcome and introduction were Monday night. The speaker was a bit into his speech when he said, "I just met a man earlier this evening who just relocated from Alaska to North Dakota for his VISTA assignment." Yeah, that was me. He had noticed the Alaska address on my paperwork. He had chosen the wrong Dakota, of course, but I knew he was talking about me. He continued, "Could you raise your hand?" I was thus known as "That guy from Alaska" for the remainder of PSO and the Sarah Palin conversations commenced.

That night's speaker did approach me after the close of the evening's activities because had forgotten my name. I was then able to correct my Dakota of residence. Right in his footsteps were two young women from North Dakota, ecstatic they had located a fellow VISTA from the Peace Garden State. I corrected them, but we bonded anyway. The three of us and Amy from Sioux Falls were the lone Dakotans in the crowd. The majority were serving in Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa.

Besides being the Lone Ranger from Alaska, I was also one of the few folks there to relocate for VISTA. One of the women from North Dakota just moved to Bismarck from San Jose, California, and she was as excited about her move as I was about my own.

The group of about 200 VISTAs and supervisors was broken down into smaller groups. So, I was with the same group of 28 VISTAs and Bob the Facilitator for the majority of the week. Just in this smaller group was a wide range of backgrounds, life experiences, and demographics. I was pleasantly surprised, in particular, with the range of ages of the participants. I was under the impression that most of the volunteers would be fresh out of college and, at 30, I'd be one of the older ones present. Hardly. (Although I will say, when it came time to complete the evaluation and I had to fill in the bubble next to the range of years that contained my birth year, I was definitely not in the youngest cohort.)

In the smaller groups, the conversations became quite contentious at times. What amazed me was how vocal I became when discussions revolved around the definition of poverty and organizational culture. Evidently, I have some hot button issues, and when they're triggered, I become assertive with a need to have my voice heard.

One topic in particular revolved around work/life balance. We were asked to agree or disagree (in varying degrees) with the following statement: "My job defines who I am as a person." I strongly disagreed. Those who agreed with the statement spoke first, which just got me riled up. Then, I jumped in. I've had jobs that I've enjoyed thoroughly and have fit both my personal and professional interests (e.g. at the Alaska Department of Labor). But I have always drawn a line between work and my personal life.

I wouldn't say I was attacked, but those who strongly agreed with the statement noted the 24/7 aspect of serving as a VISTA. I was able to counter that by saying I needed time off from work because I had goals in Mission outside of my VISTA assignment. Plus, my supervisors were well aware of my hobbies and have been 100% supportive from the beginning. (They had already lined up folks with whom I could run even before offering me the position.)

Then, there was a statement about timeliness. People learn pretty quick when they meet me that if I'm ever late, there's a damn good reason for it. And I don't even wear a watch! After sounding off on the work/life statement, I was on a roll, so I volunteered myself as spokesperson again. This time though, I had caveats. In some cultures, lateness is tolerated and nothing ever starts on time. If when I get back to the reservation I learn that's the case, then I'll have to be the one to adjust. On the flip side, there were always several VISTAs that never seemed to able to make it back to the sessions on time. That lack of professionalism made my blood boil.

Finally, earlier this afternoon, I and the others were officially sworn in as VISTA volunteers. In fact, we repeated the same oath President-Elect Obama will give on January 20th. Pretty cool, I think.