Assiatou Jallow - Reflections on a Year (Almost) of National Service

Hello All! My name is Assiatou and I am a first-year Pathways to Employment AmeriCorps VISTA serving at Alternatives for Girls in Detroit, MI. At this point, we have about two and a half months left of service. This year, has gone by faster than I thought it would. I want to take this time to reflect on some things I have learned this year.

In February, we relaunched our mentor program after doing some foundational work. It was incredibly exciting to finally see the vision become a reality. Beginning programming also meant that I would be onsite for most programming. As programming ramped up, I realized I was burning out quickly. I did not have a clear understanding of how to balance work and rest. I had to figure out how to appropriately schedule programming and my service schedule to accommodate the rest I needed to function well. As a volunteer in a nonprofit, it can be easy to pour into others and never step back and understand the ramifications of pouring and never refilling. This year has been an exercise in figuring out how to take care of others while still taking care of myself.

While we relaunched the program in February, the program is still a work in progress. As a VISTA, it is incredibly kind to leave a helpful Legacy Binder. We are constantly tweaking details of the program in order to better serve all of our participants. I believe all of these improvements are important but it does present an issue when I want to write comprehensive transition documents. I am trying to figure out how to leave really detailed information while allowing for the changes that will be happening in the program. For now, I have settled on doing a very good job of describing the purpose and mission of the program components while leaving room for fluidity in the program delivery.

A huge area of growth and learning for me this year has been in appropriately informing people of the work I am doing. Alternatives For Girls has a staff of about 50, so many of the staff members who are affected by my work might not be aware unless I communicate with them. There have been two staff members that this has come up with. At the beginning of my service, I was setting up a lot of online systems like MailChimp and Calendly. I needed to inform our IT Administrator so he could ensure that they were safe platforms. I have also needed to be in regular contact with our Volunteer Services Manager. At the end of the day, all volunteers are her responsibility even though I am the mentor coordinator for my program. In keeping her informed of my work, I have been able to learn more about best practices when it comes to volunteer management. I have learned so much in just my eight months of service but this is a short snippet of the things that stick out in my mind. I am looking forward to the final few months of my service!