One Email Account at a Time

Jason — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:59:59 +0000

I am ordinary. I would say I am quite ordinary but I wouldn’t want to attach such a robust modifier to a description of myself. So today, when Dom got a job and stood up in front of everyone in the computer lab to announce that he’d gained employment through “trusting the wisdom and guidance of Addison” I was floored. Now, I’ve been thanked for my near constant supply of breath mints before, and for my uncanny ability to guess the time of day to the nearest 15-20 minutes, but I’ve never been thanked for anything like “wisdom” or “guidance.” It felt strange. Dom got the job himself. He worked hard, applying to multiple jobs every day and never giving in when no one called him back for weeks on end. I had set him up with an email account and tried to help him feel more comfortable with computers, but he did the real work.

I feel like I had nothing to do with Dom’s success. I’ve noticed this is a constant, reoccurring feeling I have while at Chrysalis. I work hard, but I feel like I am always just scratching the surface. In my mind, I am never doing enough. The gratitude I get from the population I serve, however, suggests otherwise. I find this feeling alternately inspirational and a little unnerving. Inspirational because I see that I can make a difference in the lives of my fellow humans, even if I don’t feel I’m doing enough. It’s unnerving because I can’t help but wonder why I don’t always try to work a little harder, or why we don’t all try to do just a little bit more for one another.

Addison Callahan, EUIP Intern09-10

Jubilee Consortium » Urban Interns

One Email Account at a Time