It's not quite 5:00 p.m. and I just changed into my pajamas. I'm not sick; it's just a cold, rainy day in Jacksonville. I was out all day and got several good drenchings. There's not much point in putting on other clothes when I'd be putting my PJs on soon anyway. It would have been so easy to call in and not go to my volunteer commitment today. I've had a bit of a rough week, but I had committed to being there. It's funny that I often come up with excuses in my head -- not only for volunteering but for other appointments as well -- even as I'm driving to the destination. The reason it doesn't make much sense is that I find volunteering extremely rewarding, especially with this particular group. And today my being there made a real difference.
Respecting client privacy, I can't say a lot about why today was perhaps the most rewarding of the many sessions with which I've helped over the past two years. I will say that for the most part, our clients (for a community employment development program) have low-levels of skill and education. The lady I worked with today (usually I have at least three clients, in mock interviews, but today I spent an entire two hours with her) is highly educated and very skilled. The problem is that English isn't her first language. Neither is Spanish, which is often a marketable trait, especially here in Florida. She is having a very difficult time finding her niche, so much so that she didn't have materials prepared for today's mock interview. As a result, she was quite upset and discouraged. The director asked that I work with her. We had many more volunteers today than usual (normally we have three to four; today we had six), so being hand-chosen by the director was meaningful. I can relate so well to what she's going through, without the added burden of not having completely mastered the English language. It's a tough market out there, and even low-level jobs are hard to get when you have a high level of education and experience.
The client was a delight, and by the time we finished our session, her mood had completely changed. I went "off-script" -- a phrase I had to explain to her -- and at the end of our time, she asked if I would join her for a cup of coffee. Of course, I did, and we had a delightful time. She had baked a cake for the group, but she gave it to me instead. (I'm taking it to my son tomorrow; I've worked too hard on losing weight to eat a cake! But I appreciated the sentiment.) We're planning to meet up again soon. In the interviews, I have evaluation sheets I'm supposed to fill out. On hers I simply wrote, "We're working on it. We came up with many great ideas!" And we really did. Some were practical, related to her finding a job. Others were ways for her to build confidence and find a sense of purpose. Perhaps that is why we got along so well. These are struggles I have faced (and sometimes continue to face). Wouldn't it be nice if we ended up helping each other?
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