When you decided to join AmeriCorps, what was the reaction of your family and friends?
Well there was excitement and a lot of questions. They had no idea what AmeriCorps was. I told them that I’d be in a school doing something – I didn’t know how to answer that question, honestly. More so, we were just focusing on the opportunity for me to get out of The South and see something different.
I saw this as my one opportunity for me to move, you know, especially across the nation. Just an opportunity to see something different, be in a different spot, different location, different mindset.
I never really went outside of the Southeast [before] , so I really didn’t know much and I had a tunnel vision and a very conservative mindset. So it was an opportunity to see what else is out there.
So you’re a man – and for a lot of men, service is the armed forces and that’s your way to get out of wherever you are. And you chose a different kind of service. Why did you do that?
Well, my brother served in the armed forces and he didn’t have the best experience, so that backed me off. The armed forces in Alabama are always in your face. I’ve seen recruiters at my junior high school. So they start young there and they’re presented that option and because that’s the only option that people know about, that’s the option that they take. This opportunity was just another way.
More after the jump!
