Building Capacity

When I look back at the first two months of my new AmeriCorps position with Connections to Success (CtS), I am shocked at how quickly it has flown by and by how much I have learned. Yet, there is so much more for me to learn. The weeks have flown by, and the first quarter of my term is coming closely to an end. And I think to myself, “Am I building capacity?”

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When VISTAs (Volunteers in Service to America) talk about building capacity, they mean that they are establishing institutions and procedures to be put in place and utilized after the VISTA term ends to help the organization run more efficiently and to help more clients. My job as the program assistant is to track participant data and create project-tracking tools to enhance efficiency and performance of the poverty-fighting procedures and techniques at hands. You would say, “So you track numbers?” But I track more than numbers and data in Excel; I combine those numbers together to create reports that have lasting value for the program department team and for the CtS Board members. In addition, I am constantly researching new methods of organizing this data for more comprehensibility so we can track progress of participants, making sure that participants aren’t just another name or face to pass through our system, but that they are lives being changed.

We just had a programming department retreat, where we recapped and expounded upon on 2013’s processes and the goals for 2014. 2014 is going to be another exciting year, with more growth and some bumps, but the passion of CtS can overcome those bumps in the road. The next day featured a hiring event, and it was a definitely a learning experience for me. I learned to roll with the punches as I facilitated individuals in accessing the hiring website, completing the application and then moving onto the next step. If you asked, I would have told you that I felt like a chicken with its head cutoff, but in reality, others said that I handled the event professionally. As the British say, “Keep calm and carry on.”

Sometimes you just have to do what you think is best. There will not always be an individual there to tell you what to do. This was my most valuable lesson this week. An article titled “20 Things You Need to Stop Doing in Your Twenties” really convicted me about my professional behavior, especially number one: “Stop caring more about approval than earning it.” Many a time, I have searched for positive feedback for my work to always let me know that I am doing the right thing. But sometimes you just have to run with a project, and if you fail, learn from your mistakes and dust yourself off. Life can’t be taken so seriously to always be looking for someone’s approval of you.