icky sicky

been feeling icky since this afternoon.
i think i caught some kind of head cold
that is working its way through my sinuses.
after typing this blog entry, i think i will
curl up in bed and read until i fall asleep.

"monthly" get together

finally, after about 3-4 months of planning,
my ex-co-workers and i had our "monthly" dinner this evening.
it was a short but definitey sweet time catching up
over my favorite Zachary's stuffed (Chicago style) pizza.
I haven't been there in almost a year, so it was most definitely
a nice treat.
Besides, i love being in Oakland/Berkeley area.
it is probably my favorite place to be
in the bay area. I guess you could say it is
my second home since it was my old stomping grounds
back in my college days.

as usual, all of us did our updates.
N and D now work in the east bay - D got a job at Cal.
And J is a grad student at Cal.
Go Bears!
It's great to see that they all are in different chapters
in their lives.
I cannot wait to have the same feeling of moving on.
I am counting the days!

I'll tell ya, though, just being in that area
gets me all energized.
there is a certain vibe that this area has
which I have yet to find in any other place in the bay area.
Aside from the lack of parking and congested city streets,
it's probably one of the most ideal places to live.

It's kinda like New York in that people
are more liberated to do/be who they want to be.
there's also a greater sense of community and ownership
of community.

I just wish we had more time to spend there tonight.


trying to find the work i love

so, for almost 10 years now i've been looking high and low
for that space, that niche, in this life
where my passions and talents intersect with a need in the community.

so far, i have followed my heart and my passions
to help me choose my next path/job/career
and except for my latest choice in jobs,
I have been satisfied.

I started off back in college by taking a semester off
to explore the world of community work.
Since there weren't any formal internship
programs in my area of interest (unlike with the engineering dept. and
other technical or mainstream majors)
I made up my own.
I got a part-time gig assisting with the Early Academic Outreach Program
on campus and
another part-time gig doing direct service as an after-school care assistant
at a local elementary school.

I enjoyed my time off from school
observing and being a part of the community/youth/education arena.
through my involvment with PASS (a Pilipino recruitment and retention center) on campus
and my classes in education and social justice,
I had a vision of what I wanted to dedicate my life's work to.
Of course, at that time I was not yet able to articulate it quite as clearly.

It feels good to re-trace my steps here because, quite frankly,
i think i have forgotten the inspirations and passions that led me onto
this path in the first place.
Ahhh...to be younger and less jaded.

I remember the excitement of taking those education classes,
especially the one on race, class and gender in education.
That was probably one of my favorite classes, and I'm not just
saying that because my professor was hot. Seriously.

Then, there was my 4.5 years working in an AmeriCorps program -
first as a corps member and then as a staff member.
I guess you could say that was my first hands-on experience
learning about the non-profit structure/organization.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole community-based, grassroots
thing.
It definitely felt more liberating because there was so much space to
create, re-create, build, etc. All of us in that organization
had the power to define what we were about - and we did.

We had values and visions of what our community should be
and we did what we could to honor and bring to reality those values and visions.
my experience there was, by far, the most empowering.
i was challenged, supported, loved, encouraged and inspired by everyone.

there is more to this thought process but I will have to continue later. I'm feeling icky again.