Week 2 (7/22-7/26): Each Stroke of the Chisel

My second week was, on the surface, fairly uneventful compared to my first week. I spent much of it reading and doing logistical work, such as finding out how I would be receiving a paycheck. I also started planning for future projects by summarizing all my Gardner Center reading and putting together a spreadsheet of all the research happening in Redwood City.

The reading was extensive and exhaustive (in every sense of the word), but necessary in order to understand what is going on in Redwood City. This is all an attempt to see what questions have been left unanswered by research. Ultimately, it is up to the Redwood City community to ask a question, but I hope that the summary of reading will expose gaps in research that lead to questions that the community may have not previously considered. 

So it is appropriate that the theme of my second week is “Each Stroke of the Chisel.” While each of the things I did this week were not glamorous or particularly exciting to an outside observer (unless that observer was really into watching someone photocopy documents), they were all critical tasks that needed to be done— necessary strokes of the chisel—in crafting the final masterpiece that is this fellowship. Without reading about the available research in Redwood City, I cannot help highlight previously uncharted areas. Without attending staff meetings, I cannot know what other people are doing research on, or may miss out on crucial information. Without turning in my documents, I cannot pay rent. This week set a very solid foundation for the work I hope to be doing down the road.

All in all, it was a quiet week. But one that was extremely valuable in my growth as a fellow.

Week 1 (7/15-7/19): Giving. Growing. Transforming.

“Give. Grow. Transform” is the motto of the Shinnyo-en Foundation , as well as a general blueprint of what I hope my year as a Shinnyo Fellow will be.

This year, I hope to give. Giving not only resources and time, but giving of myself. I really believe that service, especially in the sectors that I will be working in, cannot be effective without completely humbling oneself, without accepting the fact that one is working for other people. I hope to give myself to the youth of Redwood City, in order to serve them.

This year, I hope to grow. I feel that this time, having just graduated from college, is a time that has a potential for much growth. I plan on learning a lot about how I work best, the type of leader I am, and the type of servant I can be. I have the unique opportunity in this position to focus not only on growing as an advocate for the city of Redwood City, but my own personal and professional growth as well, and I hope to make the best of it.

This year I hope to transform, again, both others and myself. There is so much potential in this position to really impact the lives of many people in this community. The interesting thing about the idea of transformation, to me, at least, is the active/passive duality that the word has. One can easily imagine being transformed, just as easily as doing the transforming. I hope to embrace this duality of “transform” and use it to guide my work.

I came to this position through the hard work and collaboration of many people from many different organizations. The Haas Center for Public Service, Redwood City 2020, The John Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, in addition to the Shinnyo-en Foundation, have all put in countless hours to make this position possible for me, and I am so incredibly lucky to be able to serve all of them at once as I begin my journey.

The journey thus far has been one rife with information: research papers, staff meetings, how to properly label my lunch so it doesn’t get eaten. I’ve spent many hours looking at all the research the Gardner Center has done in Redwood City, and summarizing them in my own words. I’ve learned a lot about community schools, the effects of family engagement on academic performance, and the effect of chronic absenteeism on academic performance (SPOILER: it doesn’t help). At the end of each day, I met with my supervisor to talk about the findings of the studies and ask probing questions about the implications of these findings. This has been a really good method of summing up what I had learned that day.

Meetings have also recently become a bigger part of my life. In addition to these daily meetings, 2 more meetings were in store for me on Thursday. The first was a face-to-face with Manuelito, Pat, Jana, and other JGC staff who work in Redwood City. About an hour later, I was in an all-staff meeting for the JGC. Meetings, I’ve learned, are really helpful; they get everyone together, give everyone an opportunity to publicly celebrate successes, and get everyone on the same page.

Finally, I got to reflect on my experience not as a Shinnyo Fellow, or JGC or RWC2020 employee, but as a SPIN  (Stanford Public Interest Network) fellow, at the SPIN Fellow reception hosted by the Haas Center. This was a really wonderful opportunity to reconnect with my fellow postgrad fellows in a celebration of our accomplishments, while simultaneously networking and meeting new people. We were very lucky to also have the chance to get the perspective of outgoing fellows; they were a valuable resource to have, and great role models to strive to emulate.

So, overall, my first week went very well! I think it will take a little bit of time to get used to my new responsibilities, as well as my new schedule, but I am confident that it will continue to go smoothly. In the future, I am hoping to really be in the community that I will be working with: visiting schools, attending community events, meeting with community leaders. But I am positive that these experiences will come in time. Until then, I can work my hardest to ensure that the year I spend as a Fellow is not wasted, as I strive to give, grow, and transform.