This past Sunday afternoon, I took a walk with a couple of friends through downtown and eventually past The White House. As we were nearing The White House, an official motorcade went by and closed down the street for a couple of minutes. Even though we have no idea who was inside the car, we excitedly tossed around idea that we just passed Michelle Obama or Vice President Biden. One of my friends said, "Can you believe we live here?" Even though this thought goes through my head all of the time, I was especially moved this past weekend. Last Friday, The Corps Network announced the six honorees of The Corpsmember of the Year Award who will be honored at February's Annual Corps Forum. We congratulated William Brandt (Urban Corps of San Diego), Corey Brown (Mile High Youth Corps), Shanice Long (Civicorps), Alejandro Lopez (Fresno Local Conservation Corps), Alisha Peters (WSOS Quilter Conservation Corps) and Quintin E. Williams (Utah Conservation Corps).

Personally, working with and getting to know The Corpsmembers of the Year at the 2009 Annual Corps Forum was one of the highlights of my time at The Corps Network. I was able to get to know six truly amazing people and see how their time in DC changed their lives. Reading through the applications of the awarded Corpsmembers of the Year during the past couple of weeks brought the same excited feeling in my stomach that I had when I watched last year's Corpsmembers of the Year stand up in front everyone at The Forum and told their stories. I know that this is the beginning of a life changing experience for these special six Corpsmembers and I am thrilled to be part of it.

Even though I can share my excitement about working with the honorees, I think Corey Brown from Mile High Youth Corps captures the moment perfectly when he wrote, "WOW! That is amazing! I am so honored! That has been the best news I have heard all month if not all year. I really did not think I would be selected. I was working at Mile High Youth Corps when I found the news from my boss. Me, my corpsmembers, and all of my bosses were jumping in joy and in shock. Thank you so much for this opportunity. I am so excited and cannot wait to work with you more on this."

As I eagerly await the 2010 Forum, I am constantly reminded of how lucky I am to be able to spend my time in DC. I cannot wait to be able to experience this wonderful city with The 2010 Corpsmembers of the Year in just a couple of months. Before then, I am looking forward to getting to know William, Corey, Shanice, Alejandro, Alisha and Quintin and helping them get ready for their time here.