Guest Blog by Cornerstone Graduate: Kenia Perez
When I signed up for the Cornerstone Training class, it seemed some people were interested in knowing why I did it before thinking it was a good idea. (Ok, to be fair, they were probably thinking, "Geez, she's already crazy busy! Why is she packing more into her schedule?') My line of thinking in response was, "Well, why does anyone want to do anything?" But, rather than say that I actually did have a few good reasons to give them:
1. I'm not your typical girl. Ok sure, I like to dress up and I like sparkly things. But, in my book sparkly things that make me go "OOooo" extend the whole spectrum from shiny purses to tools. I've got the DIY-tendencies personality, so wanting to take this course was a "duhism" for me.
2. I wanted to volunteer. Being who I am (see point #1), I'd always wanted to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. I thought about how awesome it would be to work with my hands after a week of sitting at a desk, with the added bonus of helping families. Problem was, while I was familiar with basic car work, I'd never done any house work before. That leads me to point #3.
3. I wanted to learn. And boy did I learn. The extent of my nailing experience before this was limited to hanging up picture frames. It was immediately apparent that I seriously needed to improve my hammering skills! Luckily, everyone there was extremely helpful & supportive. Being in such a positive learning environment, I got the hammering down by the second night - and that was just the beginning. Over the next seven weeks, I learned more than I knew what to do with.
I now feel like I have a solid foundation to be able to march over to any site and make a difference. Cornerstone training gave me that confidence, and that, in itself, is reason enough for me.
Read more blogs about Cornerstone Training here and here .Labels: construction training, cornerstone graduates, cornerstone training, habitat for humanity of greater los angeles, skilled volunteers