By Rusty. NCCC Atlantic Region Class 18 Member.
“We Are” – AmeriCorps NCCC Atlantic Region Class XVIII Induction Speech Good morning! I want to say welcome to all of you: family, friends, staff, team leaders, and corps members to our Atlantic Region Class 18 induction ceremony. Today is one of the most important days in all of our lives. It is the day that our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and friends set off for an incredible journey. It is the day that our staff and team leaders can fully acknowledge their teams as legitimate Corps members. And it is the day that I and my fellow NCCC Corps-mates can officially begin taking pride in our responsibility and privilege to wear the “A.” Today is indeed a benchmark in our lives; it is the day where we group together, learn to cherish each other’s strengths, collectively conquer our weaknesses, and come together to form one big, happy, “A”-wearing family. From this day, and for every day until our graduation on November 15th, we are no longer single, individual units; instead, we become one solid team of incredibly diverse, passionate, and capable Corps members who are ready to set out and make significant changes in the communities in which we will be involved. Today we become AmeriCorps NCCC Atlantic Region Class XVIII, an accomplishment we will carry with us (and brag about) the rest of our lives! Of course, this journey isn’t going to be all fun and games for us all the time. At some point we have to set Hot Seat, Paper Scissors Rock, and Ninja aside and get down to the nitty-gritty of things, and there will be a lot of nitty-gritty to get down to! At times, we will struggle. At times, we will fall down. And possibly at times we will want to give up
and call it quits. But we will NOT let this happen! We are one team, one family, and we will ALWAYS have each other’s backs when the going gets rough. We will ALWAYS pick each other up and ALWAYS remind each other of the fantastic work we are accomplishing. We will quote our AmeriCorps pledge in times of hardship: ”When faced with apathy, WE WILL take action. When faced with conflict, WE WILL seek common ground. When faced with adversity, WE WILL persevere!” If we always keep these things in mind, we can ensure that our whole NCCC family will have an amazing experience and carry on this journey through November. We are counting on each other, and that reliability on and dedication to one another is an unyielding, unbreakable force, one that will take the Atlantic region by storm as we spread our wings to improve our country. At this point, I’d like to quote our president, Barack Obama. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” This quote is a perfect summary of what we will be doing this year and of who our family is. We are strong. We are mighty. We are dedicated, motivated, organized, and powerful! We are a positive force of youth, and we are here this year to make amazing changes in the communities we have the honor to reach out to. We are the present, and we are the future. We are the change that our country has been seeking. WE ARE AmeriCorps NCCC Atlantic Region Class XVIII, and by golly, we are here to GET THINGS DONE!!!