NCCC does USA

AmeriCorps loves acronyms and AmeriLingo, so I figured it'd be a good time to introduce a few vocabulary words on here so as to reduce confusion when I use them later.  You might even get to learn a bit more about the program along the way.  Let's play some Jeopardy:

NCCC - National Civilian Community Corps
What is 'What I'll be part of for the next 10 months?'  (See also: What is an amazing national government-funded service program which engages youth from around the nation in a range of service projects after training them at five regional campuses?)

CTI - Corps Training Institute
What is the part of NCCC in which members learn about power tools, get CPR certified (for the 7 millionth time, in some cases), and get to know each other for a month in Perry Point before heading out for their first projects?

TL - Team Leader
Who is the person who leads a team of eight to twelve 18- to 24-year-old Corps members on our projects (and also dresses in green rather than Corps member grey for differentiation purposes)?

PT - Physical Training
What is the mandatory three-times-per-week fitness training that members do throughout their term of service, beginning with 6 AM trainings at the Point during CTI?

Spike
What is any project more than 60 miles from the base (e.g. Perry Point), for which project members will live near the site rather than staying at the base?  (Most NCCC projects are spikes, though teams often have one project near their base for which they live on campus.)

In-processing
What takes place the first days CTI during which members hand in paperwork, receive the uniforms which will always be worn during service (and which will have their own lesson, 'How To Wear Your Uniform Properly' or such, at the start of training), and generally start getting sorted out at the Point?

ISP - Independent Service Project
What is the name of the 80+ hours of voluntary public service Corps members do beyond the 1,700 hours of service performed through spikes and in the course of the structured team activities?

Wow, you sure are NCCC-wise if you got all of those.  If not, keep following along and you'll start getting the hang of all these new terms.  You might even get to see pictures of me in my cool new uniform in a few weeks.

In other news, I got my travel arrangements yesterday, which is quite exciting.  AmeriCorps books all travel for members (unless we choose to arrange it ourself), paying government rates to get us down to the Point.  I like this, as not having a paying job works better when your non-paying job (I do get a living stipend, which is much appreciated) is willing to fly you to your first day.  When is my flight, you ask?  It's at the lovely hour of 6:35 AM ten days from now.  It's also out of Logan (in Boston), two hours from here.  I'm already planning to spend the night before out in Boston so I don't start my first day of in-processing by waking up at 2 AM for a 2-hour drive.  I am very happy about the early flight, though, because it means I'll be on the early end arriving in Baltimore (the flight is well under two hours) to meet some of our TLs and hop in a van to the Point.  I've been waiting long enough for February 8th to arrive that it'll be nice to have it start on an early note.

That's all for now - happy tidings to you!