Off to Oxford!

I am officially packed and ready to go!

Debo let me borrow his extra large suitcase, which is a lifesaver.  I can barely lift the thing, but I was able to get everything into one suitcase.  I am willing to bet I'll have to fork over the $50 to American Airlines for the suitcase weighing over 50 pounds.  The backpack will be a carry-on and also my bag for school. 

I'm heading to the airport in about an hour.  I leave DC at 8:45 pm and arrive in London tomorrow morning at 11:00 am.  I'll be 5 hours ahead of EST while I am there.

My next post will be coming to you from England.  Oxford, here I come!

Conference - Day 3

The third and final day of the conference involved more workshop sessions.  I enjoyed these more than Tuesday's.  After the workshop sessions, there was a Closing Ceremony, where they announced the location for next year's conference - New Orleans!  Plus, there was a special message from Lenny Kravitz!

Jessica and I then had a few hours to grab lunch and do some NY-style shopping.  We took the Amtrak back to DC and arrived around 10:00 pm.  It was an exhausting, but educational and rewarding four days in the Big Apple!

Conference - Day 2

The second day of the conference mostly involved attending workshop sessions.  Some of the ones I attended included "Creating a Pro-Volunteer Culture" and "Positive Youth Development = Positive Lives."  Overall, I found the workshops to be helpful, but not as interactive or useful as I had hoped.  Many of them were lacking in networking opportunities, which was disappointing.

The evening event, on the other hand, was anything but disappointing!  The conference hosted an event called "Target Party for Good" at Pier 31 in NYC.  The views from the pier were amazing, there was a ton of food, open bar, and a service project that involved packing meal boxes for the New York Food Bank.  Here are a few photos and highlights:

Red carpet for our celebrity guests!

And for us, too!

Fabulous decorations and fun atmosphere!

Packing meals for the New York Food Bank!

Hosted by Laura Spencer from The Insider

Performance by Katherine McPhee (from American Idol)!

And an appearance by Kelly Bensimone from 
The Real Housewives of New York City!

(Don't judge me - I've become a huge fan of the 
show over the past few months.)

Such a wonderful night, for such a wonderful cause!

Conference - Day 1

The National Conference on Volunteering and Service (NCVS) was *AMAZING!*  It was much larger and elaborate than I ever could have imagined.  Approximately 6,000 people who work with volunteers from around the country were in attendance.  On the first day, we had an Opening Plenary at Radio City Music Hall.  Here are a few of the highlights:

Conference Logo

 For all my AmeriCorps alums!

A special welcome and thank you message from Michelle Obama!

Joe Scarsborough and another anchor from MSNBC

Actor Hank Azaria made an appearance!

Special performance by PS22

New York Mayor Bloomberg

Al Roker!

After the Opening Plenary, we had a workshop and some free time.  Then in the evening, we went back to Radio City Music Hall for an inspirational session called "Here's To You!"  Here are a few highlights:

John Oliver (from the Daily Show) was our host/MC

Performances from three Broadway shows, including 

West Side Story, In The Heights, and Million Dollar Quartet

,

Awards presentations to volunteers - Presenters included

Barbara Bush, Jason Carter (Jimmy Carter's grandson), 

comedian Mo Rocca, and NY Jets QB Erik Ainge

Overall, it was an inspiring and rewarding first day of the conference!

New York City!

I am back from my trip to New York for the National Conference on Volunteering and Service!  My next few posts will recap my trip and the conference.  

 

Jessica Adams (my supervisor) and I took the Amtrak train from Union Station to Penn Station on Sunday morning and arrived in New York at 9:40 am.  We went to the hotel (Hilton New York in Midtown) to drop off our luggage.  Colleen, my former AmeriCorps teammate, met up with us for brunch and we began exploring the city!  Here are some of the places we saw:

Times Square

Rockefeller Center (30 Rock!)

Union Square

Brooklyn Bridge (we walked all the way to Brooklyn!)

Brooklyn Bridge Park

After Colleen and I walked all around the city (in 90 degree weather and flip flops - my feet were killing me!), we had a quiet dinner at a small Italian place called Tre.  It was so nice to catch up on life with Colleen - it had been WAY too long!  Such a fun NYC day!

Packing Party

The packing has begun!  I've been packing for both the New York trip (leaving Sunday!) and Oxford trip (leaving next weekend!) simultaneously.  Here is my progress:

  

The larger suitcase and backpack are for Oxford, and the small suitcase is for New York.  I purchased some space saver bags (the kind that don't require a vacuum), so hopefully that helps squish all my clothes in there.

I also ordered $200 USD worth of pounds from the bank, which I need to pick up tomorrow.  The exchange rate leaves me with 133.62 pounds.  Really depressing how that works out.  Ugh.  I also downloaded some cool new apps to my iPod that will be helpful while I'm traveling, including a currency converter and French dictionary.  Ahh, the glory of technology!

Crunch Time!

Only 10 days until I depart for England!  I will be traveling to New York in the meantime (June 27-30) for the National Conference on Volunteering and Service on behalf of the Red Cross.  I'm very excited about this conference, as I have always wanted to go.  HERE is the conference website.  I'll be going with my supervisor, Jessica, and we'll be staying at a Hilton in New York City.  I'll also get to see my long lost Ameri-roommate, Colleen!  Yay!  Then, I'll be back in Arlington for two days before I depart for England.  Stressful and exhausting?  Yes!  Exciting?  Double yes!

I got an e-mail from my Oxford program director, Dr. Jacobs, about arriving at Oxford.  Here it is:

"Dear Oxford students,
     Mark and I really look forward to seeing you on July 4. We'll gather all of you together at some point that day--perhaps during the reception before the (relatively formal) first dinner. Last year, the males wore ties and jackets, the females either pants suits, or dresses. Basically--you just have to look somewhat dressed up. They will serve you wine (one of only two times Exeter will do that) and some really good food. You will think you've wandered into a time warp orchestrated by J.K. Rowling.
    Bring required books--or at least read them so you can review them from the library--and xerox pages from optional books on topics that might apply to your paper. Look carefully at paper topics, because that will be uppermost on your mind starting week 2.
    It will be cold and rainy sometimes--so be prepared. Almost no one wears shorts, but casual shirts and pants are typical for classes and just hanging out. You can buy a sweatshirt when you get there (an Oxford one!) to keep you warm.
    You'll need all your own toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner,  medicine etc. There are drug stores nearby, if you forget anything.  And you can buy a cell phone (quite reasonably) as soon as you get  there. That will be less expensive than bringing your own phone and  paying the extra charges for England.
     Let me know if you have questions. This is going to be fun!
Yours,
Erica (normally Dr. Jacobs, but in Oxford we're pretty informal!)"

 So, so, SO EXCITED!