Back in December or so Betsy and Scott had asked me to write for “The Graduate” blog and as a good student I agreed; but until now I didn’t have a lot to write about.  So my first post will be a summation of the summer until now and my search for an apartment.

My summer started with an apartment search in the Chicago land area where I will be working for Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) starting in July.  Thinking that I was searching for a place within a moderate time frame for landlords, I started my search about 45 days before I wanted to move and I looked at places in the city and the suburbs (where I will be working).  Unfortunately the trip just became an expensive search for food because all of the property management companies and private landlords do not post listings more than 30 days in advance.

In late May I returned to the scene better prepared and more stressed than the previous trip.  I spent one frantic day looking at place after place of overpriced dingy, poorly managed, and small apartments until I found the small one bedroom, two miles from work, and more importantly in my price range.

After seeing this place I worked frantically with the nervous-private landlord to close the deal before I left for Montana two days later.  Even though I had all of my references together and sent to the landlord that night I was still skeptical of whether I would get the apartment.  Before I heard much from the landlord, I was on a plane to Montana where I would not have email contact or cell phone reception for the first two weeks of June.  Luckily, the landlord flaked-out before she went on a two week vacation at the same time I was in Montana.  For two crucial weeks the apartment leasing process was put on hold with me getting more nervous by the day.  The Montana trip gave me a chance to forget about the apartment search and clear my head of the mess that was my post graduate life.

The reason I was in Montana for two weeks was to help build a straw bale house on the Northern Cheyenne reservation with The Red Feather Development Group.  This opportunity was presented and sponsored by HonorRoll Online (www.honorrollonline.com) (if you don’t know what this is talk to Betsy or Scott).  HonorRoll paid for my airfare, participation fees, and setup my travel arrangements for the two weeks.  I wanted to go on this trip to see part of the country I had not traveled and to give a helping hand to those in need.

Red Feather Development Group (www.redfeather.org) is an organization that builds sustainable homes for Native Americans, mainly on the Northern Cheyenne and Hopi Reservations.  The building materials are funded by the eventual home owner and the home is constructed by volunteers directed by Red Feather staff members.  Currently Red Feather is building two homes a year, one on the Northern Cheyenne and one on the Hopi Reservation.

Over my two week exposure to Red Feather I made a bunch of new friends, learned a lot about Native American culture and ways of life, and connected with people from all over the U.S. with similar interests and passions for helping people.  During my stay we experienced some of the worst weather that Red Feather had seen during a build and the project was set back by 5 days. 

Even though the weather was bad for the two weeks, volunteer spirit remained high and the days we could build we worked from dawn until dusk to try to catch up with the delays.  Though we weren’t able to make up for time lost, we still had fun, accomplished a lot, and left our two weeks of volunteering with a house standing with a roof.  The project will take another two weeks to complete all of the finishing work with new appliances donated from an assortment of large corporations and a beautiful timber framed porch provided by the local Amish community.

Returning from the Montana reality set in and the calendar started moving closer to a move-in date.  Thankfully my future landlord, the nervous lady who flaked-out on me, returned my barrage of phone calls and emails to inform me that I would be able to rent the condo from her.  My life then settled back into a lull of Midwestern gardening and preparation for the move to my new place.

I’m now excited to get started working mainly because I am broke with student loans getting ready to start repayment and to have something to do besides being my parents’ gardener.  If all goes as planned I will be writing a blog every month or so as I get settled in a new career and a new life.  To try and make the blog interesting I will do my best at describing every bloody detail of the life changing experiences and mistakes I am bound to encounter as I move and travel for the next year.