city year program

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tds91

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Has anyone done this program from americorps? How was it? I am taking a gap year and I am considering this.

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I've heard very good things, though it will be very difficult attending interviews. Make sure you know you'll have time for that beforehand.
 
I just finished my year of service to City Year. Long story short, there were 6 of us that I knew applying to medical school in the program. All 6 of us have gotten into medical school now (perhaps that says something). The program itself is amazing and working with the kids was a truly rewarding experience. The nightmares in City Year come from the way management treats their Corps. You will only have 10 days off throughout the year. This means if you have to fly out for any types of interviews, there go 2-3 days. Management will try to work with you, but in the end they will force you to make up hours by spending extra hours after your already 10hr work day. I loved helping and working with the kids, but many of us felt like indentured servants the way higher ups took into consideration our plans/goals. There where constant trainings that felt useless to some people, and we never got spring break or a true winter break. Even days that kids have off, we were still required to work at some food bank or shelter.

If you are truly committed to helping underserved youth, I highly recommend it. But be prepared to work insane amounts of hours with an hourly wage just below $5. It was a very tough year. I do not regret what I did, but would never put myself through that again.
 
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I actually have a City Year sweatshirt in my locker right now because it is very cozy and it has been damn chilly when I've been rolling into my ICU night shifts.

Anyway, I did City Year in Boston between college and med school. I had a great time, met a lot of awesome people. Getting to interviews was challenging but manageable. My coworkers and supervisors worked with me, and I was able to attend everything that I had been offered.

It was a great experience and I'm super thrilled that I did it.

It also made first year of med school feel like a breeze, since I had just spent a year used to constant hard work, and suddenly it actually seemed like I had less work and actual vacations on occasion.

I would definitely do it again, although admittedly I probably had a different experience from Luna Lights because I didn't work in a school but was part of an office-based team working on a program that has actually been phased out nationally as City Year has refocused on its school-based efforts.
 
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I have always seen City Year as a sad, ghetto bootleg of the Peace Corps, but I suppose if it only lasts a year and adcoms look upon it favorably then it could be a good and efficient way to spend your gap year. I wonder if you could indicate an interest in health to your managers, or perhaps convince them to let you design your own health-related education project to present to your charges?
 
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The difference between City Year and Peace Corps would be that the former is domestic rather than international, and is very much focused on education of children as its mission. They have different commitments in terms of length, location, and goal.

The condescending passive aggressiveness is a little confusing, but whatever floats your boat.
 
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The difference between City Year and Peace Corps would be that the former is domestic rather than international, and is very much focused on education of children as its mission. They have different commitments in terms of length, location, and goal.

The condescending passive aggressiveness is a little confusing, but whatever flaots your boat.

Sorry if I offended you... I grew up in the city and had to ride the subway with these sad sacks in puffy red coats and timberlands, imported from rural Oklahoma and dumped in the bronx with an access card. From a few random conversations, I came to see how disillusioned they had become about the "difference" that they were promised that they would make...
 
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Sorry if I offended you... I grew up in the city and had to ride the subway with these sad sacks in puffy red coats and timberlands, imported from rural Oklahoma and dumped in the bronx with an access card. From a few random conversations, I came to see how disillusioned they had become about the "difference" that they were promised that they would make...

YMMV

I had a great time and felt I did make a difference, although maybe that's the perspective I have. Your goal is to impact kids so that when they become adults they are less crappy humans. That's the long game, and humans sadly have a hard time appreciating the long game. I imagine it is probably pretty demoralizing just living in New York City on an Americorps salary after being used to the Midwest.
 
If that is the purpose of it, then I hope the program grows and is successful in its mission. I wouldn't even mind if they conscripted people if it would turn NY into a kinder, gentler city in another generation. I guess I just saw the whole thing as a giant exercise in futility (counting the days until I can get out of this dump and into LI), but I guess it seems like a good experience for some people at the very least.
 
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Which part?

i just thought it was funny how it went from "Have fun and do nice things for people!" to straight up paramilitary cult "Don the Red Jacket and Shed Your Identity on the Path to Awareness Ushering in the New Millennium Consciousness While Working Out in Formation"
 
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i just thought it was funny how it went from "Have fun and do nice things for people!" to straight up paramilitary cult "Don the Red Jacket and Shed Your Identity on the Path to Awareness Ushering in the New Millennium Consciousness While Working Out in Formation"

Oh, that's an odd interpretation.

It's actually somewhat like "put on the jacket, and you're representing a organization now. Put your ego to the side, you're here to help the kids and make a difference in their daily lives". It's an important message, because working with kids isn't easy. Working pretty long hours every day isn't easy. It'd be easy to get frustrated and focus more on how it sucks for you and less on how it is good for someone else. But the whole point is a year of service work, so it is important to hone in on the latter and not the former.

The formation thing is called pt, or physical training, which is sort of a joke of a name, since it is basically just coordinated activities (rather than any real exercise) done in some public area generally intended to raise the profile of the organization. More or less a holdover from the earlier days when it was an extremely small group and they needed to find novel ways to get the name out there to secure donations (which was the lifeblood of the thing, since Americorps didn't exist when City Year was founded).

It can be useful to learn all the little movements though, since kids seem to like doing crap like that in after school programs that City Year folks often run for them.
 
I didnt do city year, but im in my second year of AmeriCorps with the national health corps. There are community health corps too. My experience has been invaluable and I've had an unbelievable amount of hands on patient interaction. I can't speak highly enough about my own experience, however not all experiences are great or even good. AmeriCorps of any sortsis hard and you are really poor for a year. Be highly selective of what program you choose and make sure they are clear on your position requirement and aresupportive of your long term goals. 6 people in our program also got into med school this year if that is telling at all.

Good luck to anyone applying though!

nycnative brings up some important points about AmeriCorps being hard and how you need to be a person who is in this because you seriously want to work with underserved populations. It will be a huge challenge if not. even though he is condescending rude and misinformed, if you sift through the garbage there is a good thing to consider

Safety can be an issue I'm some instances, but programs are good about ensuring member safety.
 
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i just thought it was funny how it went from "Have fun and do nice things for people!" to straight up paramilitary cult "Don the Red Jacket and Shed Your Identity on the Path to Awareness Ushering in the New Millennium Consciousness While Working Out in Formation"

My guess is that you've spent little time in a classroom with City Year Corps members. If indeed that is the case, I would caution you on speaking negatively of students that are electing to spend a year of their life, in their 20's, entirely committed to furthering the education of underserved populations.

Sitting on the subway in the Bronx is one thing. Being in a classroom everyday is something different entirely. If this is not something you have not experienced, I doubt you have much room to speak disrespectfully on the issue.
 
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I would like to know how the City Year ensures their Corp members' safety. I am disappointed that they recommended the new accepted members to live in those very dangerous and rough areas that are close to the schools.

In these types of positions, safety can be an issue. It's the nature of the assignment. If you're smart, chances are you'll be fine, but I do know of people that have been injured in similar positions. Welcome to underserved areas. For many, and certainly the students, this is their entire life.
 
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