Progress

I've got an interview! Next Tuesday I will meet with Mary, the volunteer coordinator for Catholic Charities, for my interview as a volunteer. She promises she will keep the process to an hour. That's good, because what would we have to talk about for more than an hour?

I pitched this idea to my workshop group Monday evening and they really liked it. All the others in my group are writing memoir--the Christmas when a boy's dad ran over a bunch of deer in Pennsylvania and he thought he had killed Santa Clause; a Gen-Xer delaying adulthood as long as possible by contemplating buying the house of an ex-serial killer; a collage of micro-essays about the musical backdrop of one girl's coming-of-age. I have nothing against memoir narratives; in fact they can have a lot of value as literature and as entertainment, not to mention the psychic catharsis of confronting and examining memories. But Creative Nonfiction is so much more than just memoir. Besides, writing about other people is way more fun than writing about myself. Even in other people's writing, I lean toward reportage or investigative narrative, pieces wherein things happen, rather than essays. And that's what this entire project is about for me: making something happen so I can write about it.

Scheduling an interview is progress, albeit slow progress. I am learning patience while I conquer my fears this semester. So I will wait as patiently as I can for next week's interview, and accomplish much in the meantime.

The First Step

How does a white girl from the suburbs infiltrate the Hispanic community in her own town? 
I have been doing some writing about immigrants in Akron for a while, but it's been hit or miss: A mutual friend introduces me to someone who is from a different country; we talk and I learn about their journey; then I write a story about it. This serendipitous method has worked to a point, but now I'm stuck and need to do something new.
Recent census data indicates that Hispanics and Latinos have out-paced blacks as the largest minority in the country for the first time. I've noticed more Latino faces around town, but I can't seem to initiate the right conversations or contacts to get a story cooking. So I'll do something different!
Yesterday, I mailed an application to Catholic Charities Services to apply for volunteer work with their Hispanic Outreach program. This volunteer work will do several things for me--and for Akron:
1. It will allow me to reach out to members of my community who maybe haven't had all the advantages that I had as the aforementioned "white girl from the 'burbs;"
2. It will (hopefully) put me in some funny, challenging, or otherwise interesting "fish out of water" situations that I can write about;
3. It will give me an opportunity to learn more Spanish! (I'm fluent in French, but there aren't many francophone immigrants around here, aside from the few I've met from North Africa.;
4. It might inspire others to volunteer in their own communities.

So.
Once my application is received, I should get a phone call for an interview and background check. Then I can start giving back!

I plan to chronicle the entire experience right here, for the vicarious pleasure and amusement of all of you who are curious about your neighbors--and about my foray into volunteer service. I've not done much volunteer work in the past; wish me luck!