Live from mile marker 98 on Interstate 79, this is Josh’s
adventure to Charleston, West Virginia.
It’s me, Jake, Emily and Dad in the car for a few hours more
until we reach Charleston. We just stopped for dinner at Wendy’s and are back
on the road.
First of all, if I come back with an accent, forgive me,
friends. I picked up the Canadian dialect in a couple days. I love Canada. If I
pick up the southern dialect, well, it happens. At least I’m not in the Deep
South.
I’ve grown up pronouncing the Appalachian Mountains
(ah-pa-LAY-shen). In Charleston, the West Virginia Power play at Appalachian
Power Park, pronounced (ah-pa-LATCH-in). That will be interesting.
It was weird only being home for three days (Tuesday night through
Friday late afternoon), but then again I only spent a couple days at home at a
time this year so three felt pretty long in a way. I got to walk my dog a few
times and had the chance to jam on my drums this afternoon. That’s home.
I can’t describe my emotions for this whole endeavor. It
hasn’t even hit me that I’m leaving for the summer. It hasn’t even hit me that
it IS summer. It’s May 1st. Not June 10th. It doesn’t feel right that school is
over. It still really hasn’t hit me that I won’t see my friends for three
months.
I didn’t have a hard time transitioning to college, mostly
because I was basically familiar with Pittsburgh. I know absolutely nothing
about Charleston except where the ballpark is and where my apartment is. I know
nothing. That doesn’t scare me too much, it just means that there’s a lot more
to explore.
I do know that West Virginia is very mountainous. I know
that, right now, the clouds act as a beautiful canapé for this interstate
located mostly in between acres upon acres of blooming trees.
I’m writing this blog while mostly looking out the window in
awe of how beautiful my surroundings are. When I write on the road, I don’t
look down too much anyways, but now I have a good excuse not to.
The sun just set to our right and it was a gorgeous sight.
We are counting down the miles until the Charleston exit, which seems to go by
fast. The speed limit is 70 mph, which is making this a little quicker, I
suppose.
I do know that I haven’t been sleeping much the past two
weeks. Partially due to my excitement and anxiousness, partially due to me and
my friends using every last moment that we had with each other for the
semester. Despite this, I’m not tired, not one bit. I’m awake and I’m alive.
Hallelujah.
I finished this past semester with a 4.0, so there’s that.
This internship that I’m doing is for credit. It’s a class, technically. I have
to write a paper about it and log my hours and everything. My advisor is
supposed to fill out paperwork to act as proof that I’m actually working there
this summer. The school wanted it before I
started to work. It took a few emails, but I got around that. That’s one of the
first things I have to do when I get down there.
I also have a lot of West Virginia official paperwork for government things, plus the employee handbook. It says that I’m only allowed to wear Power or Pirate affiliated things, of course. I left all my Red Sox things at home and brought anything that has a Pirates logo on it from home, including my Sock Monkey.
I know that I don’t know what my duties will be exactly. I
know I’ll pull tarp and make videos, but I’m really clueless. As a side note, I
plan to update this blog weekly over the summer.
My pay includes a $600 stipend for each month, $500 of which
goes to rent. I will receive minimum wage for all hours worked during actual
games.
I have a lot of food packed to get me through as long as
possible. I’m not worried about running out of food or money. If it happens, it
happens. It shouldn’t, but I’m not worried about it. I can’t worry about
something I can’t control or something I don’t even know will happen. It’s
fine. It’ll all be okay.
I do know that I won’t have as easy access to home as I did
in Pittsburgh. If I needed something from home, it wasn’t hard to get. If I
needed to go home, getting me there wasn’t hard. This is different.
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| Appalachian Power Park |
I do know that I’m being thrown into a totally new place
with a different culture and way of life. I’m a city boy working in the least
city-boy state in this part of the country.
I do know that I’m going to have to make new friends
everywhere and most of them will probably be a few years older than me. I’m 19
and just finished my freshman year. The rest of the interns are more than
likely finishing at least their sophomore year. The rest of the staff already
graduated. This is their full-time job. I’m a rookie in every sense of the
word. I have to be at some point in my life though, why not now?
I do know that if I make good friends, I’ll have to say
goodbye to them in August. The difference between saying bye to these friends
and my school friends is that I won’t go back to Charleston to see them again.
I probably won’t see a majority of them ever again. I’m sure that if we all
work in the same field we’ll run into each other once and a while.
I’ve been riding the wave in life and just going wherever it
takes me. It took me to Pittsburgh, then San Diego and now Charleston. I didn’t
know what I’d get out of Pittsburgh and I got San Diego. I really didn’t know
what would come out of San Diego and I got Charleston. What will Charleston
bring me? What will it teach me?
Maybe this whole experience will teach me how to say goodbye
to people easier. Maybe it’ll teach me how to actually cook food instead of
relying on Subway and microwaves. Maybe this whole experience will teach me
that I want to work in baseball for my whole life. Maybe it’ll teach me just
the opposite.
Maybe I’ll meet somebody that helps me get a job in four
years. Maybe I’ll meet somebody who helps me get a full-time job now. Maybe
I’ll meet somebody who can mentor me. Maybe I’ll meet somebody who knows
somebody who will mentor me. Maybe I’ll meet somebody who will become my best
friend and be a groomsman in my wedding, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll meet somebody
who can cook me a good meal once in a while. Maybe I’ll meet somebody with the
Pirates that offers me an internship with them for next year. Maybe I’ll win
the West Virginia Lottery.
Okay, that’s a stretch.
Maybe.
I don’t know what the next three
months will bring. That’s the best part. I don’t know. I’ve written here before
that I love not knowing what is going to happen. I love spontaneity and
exploring. I’m sure there will be a lot of both of those things. It doesn’t
matter that I don’t know what’s in store and that I don’t know what’s about to
happen. Whatever happens, happens. I’m just going to ride the wave and hope
that it doesn’t throw me off.
If it does, I’ll recover my
surfboard and find another wave.
Because, why not?
Josh
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