Jubilee Year
  • Home
  • The Program
    • Our Mission
    • Our History
    • Our Team
    • What They Say
  • The Corps
    • The Year
    • The Crew
    • Our Corps
    • Join Us >
      • I'm Interested
      • Apply
  • The Service
    • The Work
    • Our Sites
    • Become A Site
  • The Fam
    • Alumni Network
    • Partner Communities
    • Voices of Service
    • Upcoming Events
  • Contact
    • Connect
    • Give
    • Serve
  • | Apply Now |

12/2/2019

Getting Familiar With the Unfamiliar

Read Now
 
Picture
Recently, I started drinking coffee in the morning again. I wish I could give you some cool explanation for why I stopped, like I was testing my body’s ability to function without caffeine, or maybe taking part in some trendy new cleanse, but I can’t. The truth is, I stopped drinking coffee because, up until a few days ago, I didn’t know how to work the coffee pot in the house, and was too embarrassed to ask one of my housemates to explain it. Silly? Yes. Irrational? Maybe. Coming into this year, I believed I was prepared for the unfamiliarity of everything. I anticipated challenges like figuring out the bus routes, learning to live with 6 people I had never met, and all of the other things you would expect when moving to a totally new place. What I didn’t expect was for a coffee pot to be the first enemy I would make in my new home. There is something about being in an unfamiliar setting that can make even the most basic of tasks feel like a challenge.
 
As it turns out, there are plenty of new challenges waiting for me, both inside of the house and out. Each and every day I encounter people and places that are still unfamiliar to me. The difference between these encounters and my coffee pot story, however, is that there is no real problem to be solved. Sure, it would be nice to one day just decide that I am comfortable and know everyone and everything that there is to know in my new home, but that’s not really the case. Instead, I get to treat every day as an opportunity to continue getting to know my community. I won’t lie, at times this can be hard. Some days I want nothing more than to run back home and hide in the comforting familiarity of my childhood bed. But as the days pass and I look back on everything that I’ve done in three short months, I am able to consider how far I have already come. Every time that I learn something new about one of my housemates, discover a new favorite place (there have been many new “favorites” so far), or recognize a face at one of my service sites, I am reminded that this is where I am at right now. For one year, this is my home, my community, and my life. Of course, there is plenty more work to be done- more relationships to develop, more places to see, and more transit lines to memorize- but I have time. 

~ Caitlin

Share


Comments are closed.
Details

    Voices of Service

    These are reflections from corps members and alumni of Jubilee Year and the Episcopal Urban Intern Program. They cover topics ranging from the sun, fun and friends in in Los Angeles to the uncensored experiences of serving vulnerable populations in our beautiful city. These are Voices of Service.  For more, go through our archives below

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

Picture

| The Program |

Our Mission
Our History
Our Team

| The Corps |

The Year
The Crew
​Our Corps

| The Service |

The Work
Our Sites
​​Become A Site

| The Fam |

Our Alumni 
Our Partners 
Upcoming Events

| Serve  / Connect / Give |


Copyright © 2018
​Jubilee Consortium | Jubilee Year (JYLA) | Episcopal Urban Intern Program (EUIP)
  • Home
  • The Program
    • Our Mission
    • Our History
    • Our Team
    • What They Say
  • The Corps
    • The Year
    • The Crew
    • Our Corps
    • Join Us >
      • I'm Interested
      • Apply
  • The Service
    • The Work
    • Our Sites
    • Become A Site
  • The Fam
    • Alumni Network
    • Partner Communities
    • Voices of Service
    • Upcoming Events
  • Contact
    • Connect
    • Give
    • Serve
  • | Apply Now |