Last week at this time, I was
naively sitting in a coffee shop, not knowing what the rest of the weekend
would bring. Not 48 hours later was I preparing to send two of my Corps Members
home. I panicked, of course, worried that this mass exodus would turn even more
massive.
It has now been 4 days since I
sent my team members home…and so far…things are running smoothly. In fact, I
may even say that things are going well. The same day we saw our teammates off,
we were given the last portion of our assignment at our location in Urbandale,
Iowa. We have been (or at least I have been) too busy to even think about being
sad about the absent members of our team. Did you notice I said “last portion”
about our assignment? Well, I did…and guess what that means? A) We completed our assignment in Urbandale...and B) We have another new assignment J
Bayou 6 will be working in
Jefferson City, Missouri for the second half of this deployment J This change of scenery, change of work, and change of atmosphere will be
helpful to those team members who are truly broken from our team’s mini disintegration.
I know that I am personally grateful (and unbelievably excited) because I get
to work alongside some members of Team Green again. In fact, that’s all I can
really think about right now.
Despite my giddiness…I am a bit
concerned as well. Bayou 6 has been deployed alone for a month…and that was
amazing for all of us. It turned teammates into friends and it allowed my Corps
Members to see me as a normal human young adult…not just a rule enforcer, haha.
We spent time together for the first time since our union…even if it was out of
social necessity. But what will happen once we have two other teams to distract
us? Will it bring us closer? Or will Bayou 6 time start to feel like an
obligation with so many other social options around? And there’s the question
of motivation—will my team still be able to uphold an air of enthusiasm with
other teams who have been doing the same job for over a month around? Will I
still be able to maintain my enthusiasm?
I don’t think that anything about my leadership style will change…but
this is really the first time I’ve wanted to spend time with my team…and other people. The balance will bring
about a whole new challenge. One, I suppose, I am excited to embark on.
I’m about to
have a social life…remind me what that is again? Team Green became the biggest
group of best friends I’ve ever had in just shy of three months…and I’m about
to have a taste of that back. I will be living in the same hotel and working at
the same office as two of my favorite Team Leaders. I have been texting both of
them non-stop this week ever since I heard the Jefferson City rumor. And now it’s
no longer a rumor—it’s my reality.
My team
leaves for Jefferson City Monday morning…we go straight to the office to get
in-processed…and then the day will be over and I will get to embrace some of my
favorite Team Leaders (and we will need to check into the hotel..)! I keep
having this little daydream where I walk into the office and bolt across the
room to give my friends the biggest hugs…but I know I can’t do that. It’s going
to be challenging to maintain a professional attitude and express my joy upon
our reunion. But that is a challenge for me to deal with on Monday. In the
meantime…my team and I will be packing up our lives in Urbandale to prepare for
our new adventure in Jefferson City.
Until next
time…
Ps. I just realized something really cool…I
will have lived in 5 different places in 4 different states in 6 months.
- San Luis Obispo, CA
- Lake Forest, CA
- Vicksburg, MS
- Urbandale, IA
- Jefferson City, MO
No comments:
Post a Comment