A funny thing started happening right around the new year. Suddenly, everyone that my roommates and I encountered all started asking us the same question: What’s next after JVC? Of course, we’d all gotten the question before, but ever since the calendar changed to 2011 it’s been much more popular. Of course it’s natural that when explaining a one-year volunteer program, that question follows in conversation.
Since the end of March, I’ve been very blessed to have a concrete answer. I have decided that I love this crazy experience of living in an intentional community and volunteering with kids just SO much that I want to do it again. After a few months of discernment, applications, recommendations, and decision-making, I accepted a spot with Francis Corps, a program similar to JVC in many ways. My placement is in San José, Costa Rica. I will be working in a school for students with special needs and living in a community of five. Here are some answers to questions you might ask…
Things I Know:
- I will be living with four other women. They have all just graduated from college this spring. (Congrats to them!
- I will be working at El Centro Nacional de EnseñanzaEspecial Fernando Centeno Guell
- I start Orientation on August 20th after two weeks at home. I fly to Costa Rica on September 3rd. The program runs through mid-July 2012
Things I Don’t Know:
- Anyone else in the program
- What exactly my day to day job will entail
- Much about the Franciscans
- What I’ll do after FrancisCorps (options on the table include looking for a teaching job and finishing the 5th year program at BC. No, Peace Corps is not next…I’ve been asked.)
The hardest question to answer, but most important has been, “Carolyn, why do you want to do another year of service?” I’ve been asked by many people: my family, my spiritual director, Brother Jim (the director of Francis Corps), and other people I’ve explained my plans to. Here’s my answer:
My year with JVC has been, up to this point, fantastic. My community consists of four other people that I pray remain friends for life, I have grown to love a city I knew nothing about, and I have seen a lot of the West Coast. At work I have learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in the classroom and in the office, I have fallen in love with students who drive me nuts, and I have confirmed my passion for education and am confident in my years of preparation at BC. The year has consisted of challenge, passion, frustration, faith, love, exhaustion, dependence, and energy that have never before collided in any given experience.
My hope for another year of service is not at all to recreate this one, or fix parts of it that I wish were different. Instead, I hope to complement this year by serving in a different context, with new people, in a new placement, and through a new program. I hope to bring only high expectations for myself, and to leave behind any notions of a “volunteer year” that I’ve developed since last August. Instead, I hope to use my next year to continue practicing the values of community, social justice, spirituality, and simplicity that both JVC and FrancisCorps are built upon.
Before I begin my next adventure, I have been asked to raise $1,800 for FrancisCorps. This money will cover my travel to and from my placement, health insurance for the year, and other administrative costs. If you, dear reader, feel so inclined to support my efforts and my commitment to another year of service, I would greatly appreciate your financial support. As impersonal as it may feel to lead a fundraising campaign via blog post, this is how I keep my family and friends up to date with what’s going on in my life. Even $10 or $20 bucks to everyone who reads this would go a long way. My goal is to have the bulk of the fundraising done in the next month. Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Checks made out to FracisCorps can be mailed to me at the address below. (But not after July 30th…Soon after that I’ll be back on the road and I don’t want anything to get lost in the mail!):
Carolyn Zippilli
2922 Halldale Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90018
Also, one more announcement! I am relocating to a new spot on the internet where you will be able to access my blog from Ecuador, LA, and Costa Rica (and maybe beyond!) all in one place. From now on you can visit http://carolynzippilli.blogspot.com/ . It's a work in progress but will be up and running soon!
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