In celebration of AmeriCorps Week, today’s guest post comes from Tedd Cherry who is in his 2nd year  as a full-time AmeriCorps Volunteer. We are grateful to him for sharing his story with us.

You have to hit rock bottom before you realize where you are and can make the decision to pick your head up again and move on.

In the spring of 2008, I found myself barely alive.

Lost in a world of a bad economy as well as a lost job at a local newspaper, I did not want to live, the depression set in.

Spinning out of control, I had to find a way to slow down.

Without job opportunities in sight, the depression grew deeper.

“What looks like a loss may be the very event which is subsequently responsible for helping to produce the major achievement of your life” -Srully Blotnick

While losing hope, I saw the light in the distance.

That light was a summer camp in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

Respite camp is a place for children and adults with physical and developmental challenges.

Never in my live has my soul been touched with the hearts of gold of the campers and staff who came to work there from all over the world.

They are partially responsible for my commitment to service.

Working along side AmeriCorps volunteers all summer, I decided to apply for positions with AmeriCorps.

The next week after applying, I was on an airplane to New Hampshire.

What is in New Hampshire, you may ask?

Besides the ocean, the mountains and the wonderful people, there is City Year where I lived and served with 50 amazing young adults being tutor’s, mentor’s and role model’s to middle school age youth.

My year at City Year was not an easy one, the long hours, the tears, and the physical exhaustion…

Above all I remember my time at City Year, with the love, joy, and feeling of accomplishment.

Even after my term of service with City Year, I couldn’t leave.

This place, my home, will be in my heart forever.

When I reflect back on my continuing roller coaster of service, I see the good times and the bad, though the good far outweigh the bad.

People can tend to be afraid of service, like I was.

You have to look at it as if it was a cliff over a river. You are terrified to jump the fifty feet into the air with only the Wisconsin River below you, but like I did, you need to close your eyes, run and leap.

You will never find out what is down there if you don’t try.

Take chances, loose yourself often to new possibilities.

Live for what it is worth.

No matter what happens, its not going to be the worst thing that happens to you.

“Just keep Swimming.”

Throw away inhibition and take the initiative to love yourself.

Now that my last year of AmeriCorps service is coming to an end, the time has come to look for employment and begin my life after AmeriCorps.

As a strong AmeriCorps alumnus I will continue to serve, because everything happens for a reason.