If you're reading this for the first time, then allow me to say "Hi." If you're a returning member to the summer adventures of my life, "welcome back." If you are following this through the Facebook and/or Twitter posts promoting my personal ramblings, then "thank you" for clicking on the link to hear what I have to say. And if you're here because you have a few minutes to kill, then I hope what I have to say interests you enough to come back every week (or whenever I get time to post).
Allow me to introduce (or reintroduce) myself. My name is Jeff Ramdass, and I am currently a Summer Organizer for Organizing for America. I am a college student at St. Francis College (Brooklyn), a Speech and Debate Coach at Christ the King RHS (where I also went to high school and competed for), and last summer, I went on the Summer 2010 Voyage of Semester at Sea. All of those things led me to where I am right now, and all of those things lead me to where I am going. I'm a Psych Major looking for Graduate Programs for 2012 as well.
Sidebar: as the disclaimer says on the top of this blog, there is going to be no political affiliation, promotion, or endorsement of any politician, political entity, or political supporter. This blog does not, and will not function to comment, endorse, disclose, opinionate, or support any politician, political group, entity, supporter, or endorser. There are many websites and other ways to read those sorts of things. This is my personal story about my time in New Hampshire, and what follows from it.
So since I have been gone for about a week and a half, This first blog will be two parts. The first part will focus on the time before I got into NH, and the second part will describe my first week in NH.
My journey to New Hampshire began on 8/21/2010. That was the day that I came Back from Semester At Sea. And that was the day that I figured out that I wanted to do something in the world so that it could become a better place for all of us in it. I thought that it would be easy for all of the change to occur, especially after all of the work that has been done by the Summer 2010 SASers. 8/21/2010 was the day that 845 people realized that they either wanted to change the world, or that they weren't alone anymore in wanting to do so.
Then, the fall semester began. Four psychology classes, work, psychology club, friends, an internship as a student counselor at the freshmen studies office, and a hectic schedule made for an interesting semester. The winter in New York City was the first time that I did not have an Intersession class, but it was spent in two ways. First, There was the constant shoveling of snow out of the driveways and sidewalks because NYC had the most snow it has had in years (we called it the SNOWpacalypse because we didn't see our grass in the yard between 12/26/10 and Mid-March). Second, there was an epic 10-day California trip to visit Semester at Sea friends and to explore California from San Francisco to San Diego (and many places in between). The trip ended with me flying from California on a red-eye flight and landing at JFK at 8am. My first class for the spring semester was at 9:30am… the same day. The spring semester was 2 credits less than the fall, but the workload was also pretty strenuous. Between the classes, S&D coaching, psychology club planning, and friends/family, I was really busy during the spring.
And yet, there was an absence throughout the year. I spent 2 full years on Semester at Sea, and about 9-10 months actively planning and coordinating every aspect (logistical and otherwise) so that everything could have been done as close to perfect as possible. Granted, all of the planning served as a base for everything that was to come (because you really couldn't have planned everything during or after SAS). Nonetheless, I spent 10 months actively focused on SAS before I left. I then spent about 10 months AFTER SAS promoting it at home, and having it affect every decision I made.
Going into this summer, I didn't know what to expect. I figured that I wanted to try for something that could help me do something awesome and important (like last summer), but which wasn't related to Semester at Sea. I wanted some internship or job experience as well. So I looked into a few programs to try and get all of these goals accomplished. I found the Summer Organizers Program, and I sent in my application at the end of March (or early April). I also applied to MTV Networks for an internship, Camp Shane for a Camp Counselor position, a local summer debate teaching position, and a few other locales.
Camp Shane gave me an Interview, but they didn't have any more space available. MTV never got in contact with me. The local debate position, however, did. It wasn't what I expected it to be, but it seemed alright. However, at the same time, after waiting for 4 weeks or so to hear from anyone at Organizing for America, I got an email saying to schedule an appointment for an interview.
The next week or so was something. That Wednesday, President Obama released his Birth Certificate. That Saturday, the press correspondents dinner happened. The next day, Osama Bin Laden was brought to justice. That Tuesday, I had my interview for OFA.
I thought the interview went horribly. Or, at least, I thought the first half of the interview went horribly. The second half went better. But in the end, it seemed that the interview and the application process went well because I received an offer to work for OFA in NH! The next month was spent semi-planning my time in NH, and enjoying the time off from school and having fun at work. I had to make plans that I spent 10 months before doing and condense it into about 4 weeks. I went to my 21st Birthday Party event, judged NCFL Nationals, had a goodbye dinner, packed, and left to go to Portland…
If you're still reading this, then wow. Part 2 will come tomorrow. It'll explain my first 10-11 days in NH.
