Six weeks of living with 10 other people,  crawling under houses, painting, hanging drywall, flooring and a hundred other things went a lot faster than expected.  By the time we were back in Colorado and one of the other team leaders said "six weeks ago" I had to think twice, it felt like I had only just left the Aurora campus, and there I was back in the thick of it.  I had no expectations going into my first round of service with NCCC, which is probably part of the reason it went so swimmingly.  I'm not saying there were no issues, bouts of exhaustion and frustration were inevitable, but it was an eventful six weeks, filled with loads of laughter and smiles to counter the moans and groans. 

Throughout all the training we endured, lectures on leadership, diversity, team management and professionalism, there was little conversation around reward.  Education award and other work related benefits, sure, but not the emotional reward we would all would receive throughout the round.  Having traveled, taught and volunteered before and knowing the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment after serving a community, that was a main factor in my applying to Americorps NCCC in the first place.  After weeks of training, meeting and getting to know corps members and then traveling 16+ hours to Texas, my thoughts of service and reward had fallen by the wayside.  I knew the reason I was there, the work I was supposed to be doing, but I couldn't imagine how it would be received by the community.  In short, it was amazing. 

As soon as the team arrived in Texas we were ready to get to work and eager to see what the Fuller Center had prepared for us.  It was understood that organization might be chaotic for some time as some of the staff at Fuller Center  recently shuffled around, but we were ready for whatever was thrown at us.  Our first day of work we were split into two teams, half staying at our accommodation, a home that was recently renovated by the Fuller Center Volunteers, and half were sent a few blocks away to "Palm House" now more commonly "Leo's House".  

CTI ended, teams were picked, all 250(ish) of us were inducted and suddenly it was time to go.  I knew for weeks that I'd be heading to Texas to assist with disaster rebuild on damaged homes from Hurricane Harvey, but only once we started packing our bags did it become real.  After so many weeks in Denver, sitting at a conference table, listening to lectures on safety, vehicle and tool use, leadership styles, conflict resolution, critical incidents and the list goes on, I had almost forgot we were preparing to deploy for something bigger.  My team had our bags packed early and were one of the first ready to hit the road, but unfortunately, had to wait for the others.  We had an all corps 'send off' at 8 am, a few quick words from our Unit Leaders and the Regional Director, and then it was finally time to go, ready for a 2 day, 16+ hour road trip to Southern Texas.