Training...

Tonight I am in Richmond and successfully finished the first of two of my days of training academy for NCG. I have met some great people, and it has been so nice to interact and spend time with these people who actually treat me as an equal. Its not at all like Chattering Children where I felt like a child, like my input wasn't accepted or even acknowledged even if it was just about a preference for lunch. I know my next couple weeks will be hard to get use to and I am still weary about gas prices because we really don't get completely reimbursed. But the ability to work with these people and actually be fortunate enough to hopefully help someone is an amazing feeling. When I was in highschool, I remember thinking that it wasn't fair that anyone had to go through what my brother and I did, or what my friends in oregon did. I met some great kids in oregon who I know were not fortunate enough to have the kind of support that I did and I know that many of them did not go far and continue to fall. I hear this occasionally through word of mouth of distant friends and my mother as well.
I also took a step forward and attempted to sign up to volunteer for UNICEF, only to be shut down again. I found out that I have to be 25 years old just to volunteer, and I am soo frustrated with UNICEF right now. I don't know why they put such restrictions on their program when I want to learn and find out if that is what I really want because I feel it is. Anyway that is a challenge I will put off for another day. You would not believe how much information you must learn to be a counselor. We spent 4 hours alone today on restraint techniques. Its very interesting but I just hope that I can really affect change in someones life because I know their are so many who helped me I want to share that. I am not sure I know how just yet but I have some great new acquaintances that I can look up to and learn from and this has been a very happy and wonderful day for me.