Welcome to the World of Green Collars

There’s one word to describe my two weeks at MHYC… INTERESTING. Wait, that’s not the only word, but probably the best one I can think of at the moment. I have met other young people from around the country and the world. I think representing something like 18 states and 4 countries. That was the most interesting aspect of orientation… along with the great American past time known as “Yee Haw.”

In all seriousness, I feel very fortunate to have seen an ad on Craigslist looking for youth to work in the green collar industry. At the time all I knew was that I was applying for something I think I could do, and something I wanted to learn more about. Blue collar and white collar jobs have been around for a long time, this “green collar” thing is relatively new. Another new thing to me was having fun in the workplace… and being treated with respect in the workplace. It’s like I was living in a black and white world and then when I joined the MHYC team, it’s like everything was in color.

So in the next 5 months I’m looking forward to mastering the art of pulling toilets and screwing in shower heads. But, it’s more than that. What we do really does make a difference in our community and in a smaller way, the world. I think this is a job that gives you a great sense of pride, which is very important to me. Although this term is only for 5 months (Conan O’Brien I feel your pain brother) I will make the absolute best of it and I feel confident that my fellow Corpsmembers will do the same.

This blog first appeared in Mile High Youth Corps' blog and was written by Corpsmember Dylan Miley.