Care Force Alumni Spotlight: Egypt Worthy
Karli, Eric and I were very excited and thankful to get to speak with Egypt Worthy over Microsoft Teams on Tuesday, September 22, 2020. We were able to converse about her past experienceswith Team Care Force and what she is up to nowas an Impact Manager for 鶹ƵPhiladelphia.
Serving with 鶹Ƶ and Team Care Force
Avery: Where did you serve your first year, and what is your favorite memory from that year?
Egypt: I served at 鶹ƵPhiladelphiain a third-grade classroom, and myfavoritememoryhas tobe field day. Field daywas our last day intheschool. My partner teacher decoratedthe 鶹Ƶ office, it was a dress-downdayfor us,the kids got to dress downtoo andwe had on our school shirts. My third graders got to sign their school shirts, andwedidn’t have interventions or anything like that, so it was a very chill day. It was a sad momentbecause it was the lastdaywe would get to see our students asAmeriCorps members. But it wasa greatfield day outside,playing music with the kids, dancing, things like that. Sothat is one of my top favorite memories.
Karli:What was your favoriteCareForce trip and why?
Egypt: Ithas tobe Nashville. Itwas the first trip that I got to go on that wasn’t inBoston,so weactually goton a plane and got to go to a different state.Itwas me,another one ofmy teammates Mackenzie,some鶹ƵCareForce alums, Civic Engagement alums, 鶹Ƶ staff,andBoston alums. It was very chill and very small. By chill I mean, we startedprepworkaroundabout 9:00 a.m.each dayandended about 5:00 p.m., and wewereable to go out to eat. It wasn’t a situation where we had to work like more than seven-eight hoursand onthe last day of the event,we were able tohang out together. So, it was a good experience since it was our first project.It was our first experience doing all the documents and preparing for out-of-state service. The food was great; the barbeque was amazing. I’m not a fanof country music, but it was cool to be out of my comfort zone. We just had a blast—definitelyoneof my top service days.
Avery: Do you remember whatkind of service you did at the site?
Egypt: The eventwas at a community center. My project was painting the walls in three different rooms. There was some constructiongoing oninside, canvaspaintinggoing on,andI believe we had some construction going on outside as well. We made picnic tables anddidmural work on the pavement. It was a pretty good mix ofprojects.
From 鶹Ƶ AmeriCorps member to staff member
Eric:What is your current position?
Egypt: I am anImpactManagerwith鶹ƵPhiladelphiaat aK-eightelementary school with 11 AmeriCorps members on my team. That role is managing the partnership between our teachers, principals and with鶹Ƶ. I am leading the corpsmembers at my school, but it’s more so managing the bigger picture. Such asbeing in the important meetings withsponsors,preparing the corps members for what service will look likeand preparing them for after 鶹Ƶ. We are virtual right now; that has been a hugechallenge,but we are making the best of it.
Avery:Is this your first year as an Impact Manager?
Egypt: Yes, I started in February, and then COVID happened three weeks after.
Avery:What skills did you develop while working withCareForce that you feel are relevant to your role as an Impact Manager now?
Egypt: I think flexibility was one of the biggest things. Just try to be flexible as much as possible, and be aware that changes may occur all the time, especially on service days. You may have a plan set, and then something goes totally wrong out of nowhere. So just being flexible and be in the mindset thatit’s okaythat something may change, and you justneed to have a plan B and C in case that happens.Such as,maybe the driver for the container came early, and again youhave tohave a plan.Thatdefinitely preparedme.It’s just very much working ina fast-pacedenvironment. CareForce was able to prepare me for situations that you had to think on the spot. It prepares you to know what may come next.
Karli:What piece of advice do you have for futureCareForce members?
Egypt: The biggest advice I would give is be open to being squishy. Beopento doing things that are way out of your comfort zone. For me, I had no background in construction or painting whatsoever, soconstruction was something that I really tried to stay away from when it came to projects.It’s justschematicsand all that stuffare tough.Imean I’dcut the wood,but I didn’t want to measure the wood.Just being open to being squishy, being open to try things that are out of your comfort zone and learning different skills. That would be my top one, just to be open minded;you might mess up,but you will grow from it, and it will make you a stronger AmeriCorps member and a stronger individual.
Finding fulfillment at 鶹Ƶ
Eric:What made you stick with鶹Ƶ throughmultiple 鶹Ƶs and come back on as an Impact Manager?
Egypt: I took a little bit of time off afterCare Force.I had two different positions after moving back toPhiladelphia. While they were great,and they definitelypreparedme for my graduateschool programthat I’ll be startinglater,it just really didn’t fulfillme in the way鶹Ƶdid. I love鶹Ƶ culture; I love the mission. I love being in the school and working with students. Ialso really enjoy being in the background and seeing the corps members come inatthe beginning of the year and growing and going offto other things. Whether they come back or do something different,helping todevelop those leadershipskillsis something that I really wanted to do and is something I really didn’t get to doin my previous jobs. Those are my top things as to why I wanted to come back.
Avery:Is thatsimilar towhy you wanted to do Care Force after your firstcorpsyear?
Egypt: I think most first-year corps members don’t know what they want to do; 11 months for some people can be very short, andI was just one of those peoplethat didn’thave a plan and didn’t know what I wanted to do.Then this (Care Force) was brought to my attention, and I had done somethingsimilar before 鶹Ƶ,soI thought,“Thisisintriguing; this is different.”I get to move to a new state, which was kind ofscaryto me. But again, I love鶹Ƶ, and I am stepping out of my comfort zone because Idon’t know anything about painting or construction,and I’ve never moved to another statebefore for anything.I just love 鶹Ƶ, and I am open to anything that isgetting to servestudentsand to get that different experience.
Lessons learned from service and staying engaged
Avery: Did you have any major learning moments inCare Force?
Egypt: The first one is alwaysaskquestions. Even ifyou feel like you got it,or you may feel uncomfortable asking questions because you may feel likeyou’re going to get scolded for not knowing the answer. That’s okay cause we areTeamCare Force.We arenot experts;we arelearning all of this as we go. So always ask questions.
“Nothing is wrong with being overly prepared; that is something that I learned. Someone may tell youthat youdon’t need that manyitems, but I’m going to take an extratwojustin caseto make it easier for myself later.
“When you’re tarping a school hallway, it’s better to rollout the wholeroll rather than cut it up piece by piece.”
Karli:In what ways have you engaged withCare Forceor 鶹Ƶas an alum?
Egypt: I came back tohelp outwithMartin Luther King Day; Iwasn’t able todo it when I was in Care Forcebecause of ourschedule. IbelieveI was able to do ittwotimes as analumni, and I did a Q&A with last year’s teamwhen COVID-19 had juststarted. Then I went to their virtual graduation. Also, once you graduate you can always support Team Care Force trips as analumni (Reserve) if it’sneeded.I went on a service trip to Canada. SinceAmeriCorps members aren’t allowed to travel out ofthe country for service, it was a staff- and alumni-only trip. Jake, one of my teammates, also attended along with some folksfrom HQ and another Team Care Forcealum. The project was verychill,but the service day was very long.We had to order pizza fordinner, but I was glad we were able to explore a little the first couple ofdays.We did an escape room as a team, which was cool and just enjoyed being in Canada. It was my first time leaving the U.S.,soI was a kid in a candy store. SoI try my best to stay up with things.
Adapting to virtual service
Eric:How has yourrole as an Impact Managerbeen altered duringCOVID-19?
Egypt: So as ofright now, we are all virtual. We are supposed to go hybrid after November17,but we’ll see. In person, Iwould beat the office for staff meetings and at the schoolwith the team, butobviously it’s a lot more difficult to be in contact with peoplenow,so there’s a lot of following up.As far as virtual, I’m stillfirst circling with my team. I’m stillfinal circling with my team. We still have team meetings; we try to add those鶹Ƶ culturecomponents. We still have a deliverable board; it’s an excel sheet, butit’s still there.Usuallyyou would be able toactually seethese things,rather than getting on your laptop all the time.Just instead of being in person, it’s virtual.Again,there arechallenges, but we’re making the best of it,my team is great. You know they don’t know what service looks like such as you andIdo, but that’s sort of the benefit. We arealsotrying to keep them engaged and as personal as possible. With students, there is a challenge with them not logging on or not knowing how to log on, but inperson you would just see them in class,and you are able to relationship build withthem as well as with the teachers. But again,we are trying our best.It’s only been three, maybe four, weeks since we have beenvirtual,and we have gotten a lot of good feedback from the school, principaland teachers. I can’t hype up my team enough; they have been doing an amazing job.
Avery: Arethere any skills you’ve developed from working at home that you might not havehoned in on if you were workingin person?
Egypt: I don’t want to call it a skill, but being home has given me the chance to get to know my teambetter. Not to say that if we were inperson,we wouldn’t get to knoweach other, butbeing in person is more “I see you every day,”but now we arevirtualso I feel the need to talk to you all the time and get to know as much as possible about them becauseI only get to see themthreedays out of the week. Whereas if we were in person,I would get to see them all the timeand notmake use ofour time togetherin asense. Now since we are virtual, we get to sit down and really process things a lot slower, whereas in person is very much on the go, back and forth,back and forth. One moment you are at the office, then back at the school, back to the office, back to the school. Whereas now I have a little more time to process and organize my brain a little bit.I wouldn’t call it a skill, butsome things I have become more aware of.
Karli: What are some activities you’ve started during the pandemic?
Egypt: I’ve been working out way more than usual,andIhaven’t been doing it as much right now,but I know whenCOVID-19first started, I was able to save a lot moremoney. Really justsaving andbeing able to dothingsthat I wouldn’t usually be able tosinceI’m usually at work.Sobecause I am at home,I can go to the gymearlyin the morningand come straight homerather thangoing to the gym, come home, get dressed and leave right backout. I have had more energy thanI wouldhave hadif I were in person.I am also just closer to thoseerrandslike the gym and the grocery store. If I was at work,I would have to travel 45 minutes to an hour to get to those places.It really has been working out, I have the time,so I think why not.
This interview took place on September 22, 2020.
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