Excited to be writing my CSC story …!
Having served 2 years in Bulgaria as a Peace Corps volunteer, I was immediately drawn to IBM’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program.
Deploying with a team of IBMers and partnering with government, business and civic leaders in emerging markets to address high-priority issues such as education and health. Spend a few months learning about the community and challenges you’ll address and then spend four weeks on the ground working with local organizations to develop recommendations.
Sound like an incredible, life changing experience? It did to me.
In 2016 (yes, 3 years ago!), I was accepted into the CSC program. 9 months later I received my assignment. I was selected to go with a team to India in October 2017. The exact time frame Nolan was due to come into our lives. It wasn’t a tough choice to defer my assignment and become a first-time mom.
Fast forward to 2018. After 6 months of maternity leave and a few months back at work, around Nolan’s first birthday I received another CSC assignment to India slatted to leave in March 2019.
I was excited! I was nervous. I was scared. I was unsure. I had another opportunity to go on this journey and I had a week to decide.
A million thoughts were running through my head. I was still adjusting to being back to work, being a mom, balancing our extra-curriculars with my husband’s career in the Air Force, life, etc. … how can I do this too?
I wanted to be as excited as I was when I found out I was accepted into the program. I didn’t want to take the spot of someone who was 100% ready to go on this adventure. How could I choose to be away from my baby (and husband!) for a month?
After countless conversations with family, friends, and co-workers, I accepted the assignment.
Nolan will be taken care of by my husband, by our parents who will visit, by our friends. I am supported. I am encouraged. And that’s what’s motivating me. I’ve been given lots of advice but what has stuck the most …
“Nolan will look back at this years from now and be proud of his mom for living her dreams, for giving back, and for embracing something that’s challenging.”
I know now I’ll be able to give this assignment my everything. It’s going to be challenging, both personally and professionally, but I’m ready.
We’re writing this story together …
I hope you’ll follow along with my journey.
… find out where I’m headed in India with a team of 18 IBMers from 13 different countries in my next post!
