Minnesota Reading Corps

I didn't have time to read a book this week, sadly, because I have been working 2nd shift and as such have taken to sleeping in much later than is my norm.  Unfortunately, that means I do not have a book review to post like last week, something I hope to rectify by my post next Thursday.  So, instead, I thought I would talk a little more about me.

I am in the interview process right now for an Americorps branch, Minnesota Reading Corps.  If I am offered the position, I will be tutoring K-3 students at an elementary school near my house.  The position is a  volunteer position, so the stipend is small, but as a recent graduate I am able to live at my parent's house, eat their food, and manage on their health insurance, and my loan payments don't start until halfway through the service, where it will be easy to defer one of my three loans until I am finished in July.  Best yet, they pay 5,000 dollars towards my student loans at the end of the 11 month service.

When I had my first interview, I was very concerned, and was not sure if this was what I wanted to do.
 I talked with a tutor in another local school who has very well enjoyed her service.  But why would I choose a year of tutoring over a career in my field right now?  There are a few reasons that drove me to choose this path.

1. Pay for schooling (duh!).  The payment at the end is approximately 13% of my loan debt, which is about a year's worth of my loan payment, and when placed in combination with payments I will be making during my service, I will be in a very good place to pay those bills off, able to complete my payments early or lower them altogether. 
2. Working with kids.  I worked with children in a school setting before when I worked for America Reads during my freshman and sophomore years of college.  I left the program when I was dealing with a number of personal issues, and eventually found a position with more hours and higher pay at Dining Services, but I missed those early days of working with the kids.
3. Help the community.  While the Reading Corps requires 1720 hours over the year of service, there are only so many school hours that encompass that time.  Required to fill my hours, I will be able to volunteer at the food shelf, library, Community Ed, even Vacation Bible School to fill my hours.  I will be able to touch more lives than just the children, and the requirement to be active in my community is one which will help me not only reach my hours, but help motivate me to reach my personal goals as well.
4. Build career skills.  One of the things I'm missing right now in my job search is experience.  Administrative, writing, grant writing, newsletter writing, public relations... Do you get the picture?  While my college career prepared me academically, only in the last year did I take it seriously to gather experience, and as such I have a few gaps to fill.  I hope that I would be able to dabble in a few of these things through my service with the school district, helping with writing, editing, and publishing things while meeting needs within the district.
5. Freelance.  There is nothing that says I cannot freelance during my time with the Reading Corps!  By finding outside jobs, I can build my portfolio and gain a little more money towards paying off my school bills and saving for a wedding.

 I feel like this service position will be good for me and my current needs, and I am so excited to be able to work in such a powerful way in my community.  Hopefully I get the call for the second interview soon!