Team Determination
Entering my second term serving Jumpstart, I had some specific expectations as to what this year would look like. I came into the semester a veteran, one of the few who had experienced the first year of Jumpstart at American University. In my first year I had a great team who collaborated so incredibly well together for the good of our partner children and had fun doing so. It seemed that we had a special bond through our common passion and we supported each other. I did not know if I could count on having such a great team in the upcoming year.
Besides the changes in teams and attaining new corps members, the majority of Jumpstarts values, methods, and practices have stayed the same. A few changes were implemented this year including the use of this blog, and in giving each team a name that reflects a value of Jumpstart. When my team was given the name “Determination” I have to admit I was less than thrilled to be called a value that seemed lackluster compared to a name like “Joy”. I never expected my team’s name to reflect so clearly the great strength of my team.
As my team began meeting for our planning meetings, we seemed to get along quite well and became more comfortable with each other upon each meeting. Faster than I could say “Oonga Boonga” we were in the classroom implementing session plan one. I was extremely surprised with the fact that we were able to be in the classroom doing Session the day it was scheduled because of expectations of transportation issues from the year before.
A few sessions later, we found our first trial. On the way back from our school, we realized that we had a flat tire just after only traveling for a few minutes. Team Determination was not stifled though, we found a way to have our tire changed and bonded in the meantime. At that point we were able to come together and do extra team planning time and had a great time getting to know each other better even though members of our team were missing class and other obligations.
The session after this incident, we drove back to our partner school ready for session when we were stifle yet again. This time, our unfortunate incident was a gas leak in the school, forcing us to leave not knowing what we would do. We prevailed through this, and went back to the school a few days later and had a great session without any inconveniences.
Through these trails, I have noticed that my team is amazing at dealing with unexpected predicaments and persevering through. I came in to this year thinking that I would be the one to teach the new corps members about Jumpstart when in turn they ended up teaching me skills applicable in Jumpstart and in life. I now see that Determination is a perfect name for my team and it directly represents our strength in overcoming obstacles.
~Daylyn Weppner
Corps member
Team Determination
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