Leap and the net will appear

I didn’t get my feelings hurt because no one wants to blog. I’m disappointed in myself that I was unable to express the importance of a digital presence. When I was in college, the importance was stressed quite a bit. Technology is the future; embrace it. When I graduated, Clemson was 27^th in the nation. It is now 23^rd and they are still emphasizing the digital presence.

I have spent the last year getting connected in the physical world so that I could stay on after my service year. I have several great opportunities facing me with one year of real world, practical experience. I recently accepted a marketing position because of my networking capabilities and social media skills because I created an opportunity for myself. I spent my college career preparing for the world of the future, and then accepted a job in South Dakota. The agency I work for not only doesn’t have a facebook presence, employees aren’t even allowed to mention for whom they work on any social media site. Since non-profit is so competitive, this seems counter-productive to me. Even the statewide VISTA blog is highly suspect and discouraged, and it could digitally connect the fifteen VISTA Members throughout the state with resources and support. We are serving far from home, most of us, and working to make a difference in our individual communities. Most of us only connect with other VISTAs on our monthly conference call.

I am proud to have been accepted into WCLI and I think about this class all week. At my desk, I think of ways I can contribute to our success. Many of my ideas are far reaching, many are impossible. But I still ponder it. I don’t write as much as I think because I’m intimidated by all of you. I feel like I’m not communicating well, and actually (I’m sort of ashamed to admit) I don’t understand outlines. When I write them, I write out the paragraph and then click on outline view. I took a lower grade on every middle school assignment that required one. Thank you, Nicki, for posting it, though. I don’t speak the same language as the majority of people in the world, it sometimes seems. My teachers pulled their hair. My daddy is now bald.

I guess since I spent so long in school, homework comes naturally to me. And I read that learning to reflect is the way out of poverty. I reflect. With words. To myself, to the trees, to the moon. To a friend. On a blog. What good is reflection if there’s no one to share it with? You all are in this group. Who do you talk to about what we did in class this week? Your husband? Your best friend? Why not a classmate, too? I have a life, too (sort of) but while I’m wandering around in the Badlands thinking about how education drives economic development based on stuff we heard in class last week, I enjoy many hours of monologues; the only dialog exists between me and Socrates (If I don’t have someone to offer feedback my ideas go no further than the boundary of my skull).

Are you happy at your job? Are you looking for something better? When my contract ends this week, I am going to something better. I have spent my service year creating opportunities for myself. That’s how I got to Rapid City in the first place: I dream big and I leap. And I fall. And I sit in traffic on the corner of Omaha and Rushmore at 8:02am on Monday because my transmission went out. But not for long. I pushed it to the corner as soon as the light turned red because after a lifetime of being rescued, I don’t need it anymore. I’m kinda proud of that; this has been a difficult year. But I’m also blessed because I was able to handle the problem myself. This time. But my friends are far away. And I don’t speak the language here. But on the eastern part of the state, I do. I had an opportunity to attend a workshop by some guys from Sioux Falls that help businesses grow by helping to develop an online marketing strategy. After the workshop, I spoke with them about the WCLI blog. I mentioned that I was the only contributor and the other authors have been highly resistant to the ‘new’ networking opportunities. They suggested I continue the blog anyway, if only to update my own digital portfolio. So here goes...