Flexibility

Greetings from the Winston-Salem, NC One Economy office. Ground Team Ike (Hurricane Ike relief in Texas) just rolled back in to town Friday, exhausted but ready to tackle daily office activities again. The past month of service in Texas was about VISTA flexibility.

Personal lives were put on hold. Social networks were strained. Seemingly ubiquitous world events, like the Presidential debates and the ongoing financial market crisis, became afterthoughts. VISTAs' families were asked to put the interests of strangers' lives first. And the VISTAs on Ground Team Ike and their families back home did so with grace and humility.

Always be prepared to bend to the whim of a storm, whether in the form of a hurricane or in the tidal wave of decisions made afterwards by the people you serve. But also be prepared to flex your VISTA muscles - build coalitions, renegotiate contracts, realign responsibilities. It's the flexibility to cope, persevere, and ultimately enrich any situation that makes a VISTA strong.

-Kevin Corbett