"So what are your plans for next year?"

“I think it’s time I change the scenery, maybe I can get it right. And if I find I should be leaving, well maybe I just might. I’m takin’ time to search within me, find a way to change my life. ”

I was listening to Justin Nault’s It’s Just Me when I opened an email on April 3^rd, 2012, with the wonderful subject line “Congratulations- JVC Placement Offer!” and the following message:

Dear Kristen, 


Congratulations! I am happy to inform you that JVC is offering you the Odyssey Community Assistant position at Room In The Inn's Campus for Human Development in the Detroit Program Office as a Jesuit Volunteer for the 2012-2013 Program Year!

I finally knew where I was going to be the year following graduation: Nashville, TN. I could now confidently answer the inevitable question all soon-to-be college graduates face, “So what are your plans for next year?” I had a plan and I began counting down the days until I moved to Music City.

Now fast-forward to one year after I received that email; I’ve completed almost 8 months of my JV year, and the question “So what are your plans for next year?” has become dreaded in our house. It's an innocent enough question but it implies that my housemates and I should have some sort of plan for life after JVC. And unlike a year ago, I have no idea where exactly I’m going to be in August; the most concrete answer I have is “I’m planning on staying in Nashville”.
 

Words can’t describe how much Nashville has changed me (see previous post). I know if I stay, it’s not going to be the same as it’s been this past year. I won’t be living with the same wonderful women, I won’t have the same job, I won’t be living in the JV house; but I won't be left with nothing. I'll have the friends that I've made, the organizations I got involved with, my favorite places, my memories. This city first captured my heart 3 ½ years ago, and I’m not ready to leave it just yet…I just need a job, place to live and a car (you know a few minor details).