Hello Everyone!
With a month and a half left of my service year, here is an update on how everything is going throughout the final stretch. If you would like more detailed information on my daily life, feel free to email me at jeremygliddenblog@gmail.com or contact me how you would normally do otherwise!
Work is going very well! I continue to spend my time picking up and delivering furniture, furnishing the homes of those who have just moved in from homelessness. My team members and volunteers do a wonderful job helping me out, and we have been able to become even more efficient as the year has gone on.
The biggest obstacle at this point in the year is the North Carolina heat. While Asheville is able to stay considerably cooler than many other places in the world, I've had to be intentional about how I am making the adjustment from living in the cloudy North-East. I recently shaved off my thick head of hair, and am trying out other methods of staying cool under the North Carolina sun.
Overall, I am continuing to put into the practice all the lessons I've learned about living in the working world. As I continue to learn how to become a better worker, I'm constantly given opportunities to put theory into practice and figure out how to best manage all the responsibilities of my job and adult life. I promised my financial sponsors that I would work as hard as I can throughout my year to prove that this was the best investment for their money, and proving that is still a top priority as I come closer to completing my year of service.
If you would like to read/watch local news coverage of one of my move ins, please click the link below:
In a previous blog, I wrote about a new church I had become involved in called The Gathering. I have continued to attend this church and it now dominates my time on the weekends!
On The Gathering's website, it states: "We aim to gather people around Jesus and around one another". One of the ways they accomplish that goal is through life groups! These life groups help people in the church to connect with one another through various weekly activities. I am currently in a group that goes hiking in a different location around Asheville every weekend, and am about to start in one of the frisbee golf groups! These groups are fantastic for organizing activities during leisure time with other members of the church community, while also providing fun opportunities for someone like myself who is financially constrained.
The Gathering also provides many opportunities to give back. Because it does not own a worship space, it functions out of a nearby school on Sunday mornings. I have been able to be part of the team that arrives early Sunday mornings to set up and then pack up the space afterwards. They completely transform the space to fit their needs, and it takes a lot of people to get everything set up in the morning by worship time. While I may not be as high-functioning as usual at 6:30am on a Sunday morning, I'm still glad to have the outlet to serve to a community that gives so much to me.
"Job Hunting for Dummies" is not an official sponsor of Jeremy Glidden's blog. For any organization that wants to pay me money for advertisement on my blog, please email jeremygliddenblog@gmail.com
I've had a lot of people ask me "what's next?!"
My response to that question is usually something along the lines of "I have no idea, help."
I have had a wonderful time working with Homeward Bound, doing work I had no idea I'd be doing until three days before I started. I wasn't qualified to move furniture, manage a donation center, or move people in from homelessness, but that's what I ended up doing! This year has made me really question whatever focus I had in regards to a career. What else am I not qualified for that I'll end up doing? What other thing that I have no idea about will reveal itself to me three days before I start? I am looking at many different career paths and trying to find a solution, using the process described in the diagram below:
What I'm NOT qualified to do: make circles of equal size.
I may have been generous with the amount of overlap between the two circles...
If you would like to know some of the specifics of my job searching that contain information that I wouldn't put on a public blog, feel free to contact me! All I ask is that you also be prepared to give some advice :D
I certainly believe I am making the most of my time in Asheville! Pictured above is my roommate Sammie and I hiking at Catawba Falls. I have been able to plan activities for most of my weekends, with most specifically focused on Asheville-specific fun! I am excited to have two more visits from friends/family before the year is over, it is always a pleasure being a tour guide for all of them! While I will miss Asheville, I know I won't regret leaving, because I'll look back and be pleased with what I did with the time I had here.
Thank you to everyone who has funded my year here in Asheville, I promise am making the most of it and working hard each and every day!
God bless!
For more information on Homeward Bound, click here.
For more information on The Gathering Church, click here.
To read my other blogs, click here.
To register for Summer 2017 at Camp Whitman, click here.
To listen to the song that is stuck in my head, click here.
To watch my favorite football play, click here.
To do nothing, click here.