Correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that not many work environments take ice cream breaks together. Nor do they always wait for everyone in the office to be there before they share their stories from the weekend. If you haven’t done either in your workplace, give it a try. Seriously. You’re never too old or too busy for a nice walk in the summer sun to get some ice cream. There is also no reason to exclude someone from the excitement of hearing and telling a story for the first time. These are the priorities in life. These are the things you should make time for.

At the beginning of the summer my friend asked me “What do you hope to learn this summer?” I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t think that far ahead nor imagine what I would learn from my placement. Now as I reflect on my summer and my journey on discovering my Calling And Purpose in Society, I must say, I am not the same person I was walking into Erie House in May. It is scary and yet so exciting to go into the next school year, and then the next chapter of my life, with the knowledge and insight I gained from the summer.

Anticipating the moment where I would have to write my final blog post, I started asking myself, “What do I want to share with people? What do I really want to express?” And then it came to me: I want to share with you all 5 lessons I learned.

1. Take ice cream breaks. I promise, this is about more than just a tasty treat. When I was in Little Village we occasionally took ice cream breaks. They were the best. What made them the best though was not the ice cream itself, though it was a big plus! What made them the best was that for about 20 minutes I got to hang out with my coworkers and supervisor as fellow humans outside of a work relationship. We discussed our opinions on different topics, shared about our experiences, and invited each other a little more into our own worlds. When we would go back to the office we would get back to work, but knowing a little more about each other than when we left. I don’t like connecting things back to the “professional benefit,” but if that’s how your mind works, then the professional benefit of this is improved workplace morale, better teamwork and collaboration, and an overall more desirable and welcoming work environment. The human benefit is simply connection. And connecting with people and being invited to see their world is one of the most beautiful things that can happen to us. I definitely regret my missed opportunities to get to know the people I have been working with this summer. I am lucky though, because I know that when I come back to Chicago I can email or text the staff and meet up with them. Not everyone is that lucky.
   
2. Pay attention to your questions. The thoughts you are continuously drawn to probably shed a lot of light on where your passion and purpose lies. I find myself constantly thinking in terms of preventative measures and the roots of problems. This summer there were many times where my supervisor and I were discussing a client system and how to best approach the situation. Though we were talking about what to do in that moment and moving forward, I was thinking about what I could do to prevent that situation in someone else’s life in the future. I am not only talking about approach though. Preventative measures are my approach to service. I also find myself always going back to race relations and macro level/policy work. This is where my passion lies. If you are stuck in your life, not sure what your next step or chapter is, start noticing where your mind travels off too. You will discover more than you think.
   
3. Teenagers are intimidating. I know what you’re thinking, “Seriously, Eleni? Teenagers? What lesson could you possibly be sharing with me right now?” But hear me out. I helped facilitate a cooking club this summer. One for teenagers and one for elementary school kids. I loved cooking club with the elementary school kids. Not only did they listen, keep an open mind, and let their excitement shine, but I got multiple hugs every day we met for cooking club! Teenagers though… less listening, less open minded, rare and minimal excitement, and no hugs… none. Now, I’m not telling you that teenagers are no good. Instead, I want to remind you of when you were a teenager. And I’m not talking 17, 18, and 19 year olds… I’m talking 13 and 14; that first taste of being a teen. You know, when acting like nothing excited you made you popular and the “too cool for school” attitude was running through your veins. Think about that teenager, now think about having to entertain that teenager and trying to teach them or share with them something they do not know. Kind of intimidating right? Right. So don’t be that person. Do not be “too cool for work.” When someone shares a new idea, be excited! Inquire. Encourage. You’re a part of a team of individuals who are trying to accomplish the same task; share the same message. Help the situation, make it better with your investment in the project. Don’t be that teenager staring us down because you don’t want to admit you actually might like cooking club…

4. Who says dream jobs have to be lifelong? I have been thinking hard about how to express this in the best way. It was a lot easier to express when I was explaining my thoughts to Jane and was able to talk with my hands. This summer, time and time again, I have been shown how overrated dream jobs are. Hear me out. Everyone thinks that straight out of college if you are not pursuing or working at your dream job that you have somehow failed. But what is your dream job? Because let me tell you, my dream job has not stayed the same. Actually, I am not even sure I have one. Instead, I find that I am constantly discovering my “dream job”. I have encountered so many people who love what they do, but that does not mean they will be doing it forever. It is OKAY to change jobs, positions, careers… it is okay to be doing something for 15 years and wake up one day and realize that it’s time to do something else; time to uncover the next layer of your dream job. From each job you have before you believe you are working your “dream job” you will learn so much and discover so many things about yourself and how you work and what you like, that your dream job will never be the same as when you first thought it up. To think it will be is just silly. To think it it will be says that you will not grow or change at all between now and the time you start working. So I have dropped the idea of a dream job. I don’t have one. I loved working at Erie House this summer and wish I could do it again, but that does not mean I want to do it for the rest of my life. It was a stepping stone; a good place to start. I realized that Erie House was my dream job for this moment in my life. This was the perfect place for me to be working this summer. I feel like through my attempt of explaining all this to you my message still remains unclear. What I am trying to say is this: Drop your dream job. Listen to your thoughts and passions and pick the next place you find interesting and go work there. Trust that you have something to bring to the table everywhere you go. You will gain so much knowledge and insight that you might realize your dream job wasn’t your dream job all along. And that’s okay. Because when you think you might have figured it out, it will change again. So stop trying to figure it out. Follow your passions, absolutely, but don’t get too specific.

5. Be courageous. When I went to lunch with my alumni mentor, Jason, one of the things that really resonated with me was when he said how Social Workers need to be courageous. Of course I knew that, but I guess I never truly knew what it meant. Going to protests and rallies, yes, those are courageous things. But that’s not what he was talking about. Having the responsibility, whether you want it or not, to speak up or act out when something is not right and actually acting on that responsibility – that is courageous. Explaining to your best friend or favorite uncle why the comment they made is discriminatory and wrong, rather than ignoring it, that is courage. Standing up to a guy on the subway who is harassing a girl, that is courage. Those are the hard things. And I realized, I am not courageous. I am afraid to be courageous. But the things that haunt our minds are the things we did not say or do. So, try to be courageous. Push yourself that first and second time you think you should speak up to actually speak up. It will never be easy, but it gets easier from there. This is what I have to do to, all of us, everyday.

 
I challenge you to tweak these lessons to fit your own purposes, work environments, and lives. But I also challenge you to put your work down right now, grab your sunglasses, and take an ice cream break with your coworkers.

At the beginning of this summer I remember being so nervous that I wasn’t fully prepared to take on an internship yet. And as much as I tried to be prepared, that start date approached much more quickly than I could have anticipated. I quickly learned that even when you aren’t ready, life keeps moving. And that’s what I did this summer, I learned. Working at Exodus has taught me more than I could have ever imagined.

It started with the simpler things. I learned how to enter data, refine my kitschy marketing language, and I even discovered some organizational skills I thought were nowhere in my genetics. About a month in another intern and I were asked to start mentoring a new refugee family twice a week. At first I was thinking “I just learned how to use a copier, do you guys really think I’m ready?” But as life does, our first day approached before I thought I was ready.

It’s funny how when you first meet people there are those awkward lulls of silence, and then that awkwardness starts to slip away as you get to know each other. That awkwardness has a little more of a presence when you and the person you meet have no common language.  Our first few weeks with our family were fun, interesting, and mostly a lot of hand signals and laughing. We developed this ritual where the other intern sits with the parents and practices English, and I run around with and watch their three amazingly sweet children. At the end we sit down for tea and we almost always end up leaving a few hours later than we are supposed too. We are friends now.

These days, the kids always run up and hug us when we arrive and pout when we leave. We’ve come up with some weird mix of hand motions and various languages and we can now understand each other most of the time. But I think the hardest part of getting to know this family is knowing that our time together is coming to an end. The father has begun calling us his sisters and has explained that since their family is so far away, that Exodus is their family. I can never put into words how much this experience with them means to me.

Today is my last day with the family and I hope we will cross paths again someday. We have tried to help them as much as we can, but I think in the end, they are the ones who have helped us. They have shown me how truly resilient one can be, how close you can become with someone when you take the time to know them, and how important family truly is. I will never forget this experience with Exodus and I am so thankful to have been led in this direction by the CAPS program. I plan to spend the rest of my life working with refugees and getting to know such strong and beautiful humans.

With my internship ending last week and me moving back to Valpo next Tuesday I’ve spent some time thinking about what I want to do after graduation. I was blessed to be exposed to the world of entrepreneurship. I think being able to reflect on the past is one of the best ways to grow and move forward.
This summer was full of new experiences, places, and people. The CAPS fellows here in Chicago were great people to share the summer with. So many of us had the same questions about life and purpose. I also had the opportunity to go with Cindy to an MBA tour to look at grad schools. It seems weird to be looking at grad schools already when I still have two years at Valpo, but looking at options and new possibilities is always exciting.
However, looking to the more immediate future, I had the pleasure to meet with a Peace Corps recruiter. I think I’m drawn to the Peace Corps for the same reason I was drawn to the military, out of a sense of service. While the purpose of the Peace Corps and the military may seem different to be ideologically opposed, I think they’re rather well aligned. Being an exemplar of American values overseas.
The positions I’m looking to apply for are focused on economic development in Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe, specifically the Balkan countries, have been in turmoil sense the collapse of the USSR. I’m talking genocide, civil war, political unrest, and more. I think the philosophy of turning swords to plowshares is important in these countries. While Humanitarian work is important in these countries, economic development is going to be a vital catalyst into the country having a chance at long term recovery.
When we think of business in America we often think of fortune 500 companies with CEOs that have houses in every time zone. However, when I think of business, I think of small business owners. Every dollar that goes in their pockets isn’t going to be a third house. It’s paying for a child’s guitar lessons and improving a family’s quality of life. Essentially: Individual, family, community, region, country, then world.
By helping these business owners develop their businesses and assisting entrepreneurs, it’s laying the foundations for a better tomorrow in their country. Better business will increase the quality of the communities they are in and can provide the financial means in taxes to improve the country’s infrastructure overall.
I want to spend the next couple years refining my skills and gaining new knowledge to best prepare myself for this role. Often times in the Peace Corps you are on your own and most of the projects you take on are taken on your own initiative. Think the best pathway I want to approach is focusing in on is entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a skill that is universal, knowing how to use it will be critical in turning a former combat zone into a community.