It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.

You know how you have good intentions of keeping a journal?  People say it's healthy and a good way to gain perspective on life.  Heck, I attended the UW Whitewater with all the good intentions of being a journalist and since that didn't quite work out this might be the next-best thing. I should mention here that while I'm not a journalist, I did take courses in Fencing and Portuguese. So, I've got that going for me.  This is my attempt at documenting the wonderful volunteer opportunity that has been offered to me to make a difference in the community as a United Way Loaned Executive (LE).

Almost missed the opportunity entirely...
My good friend, Sarah Weber, stopped in my office one day and asked me if I had applied for one of the 2013 United Way LE positions.  I'd been looking for a volunteer opportunity and until Sarah's visit the LE position never occurred to me.  What are friends for-right?

Long story short, I did toss my name into the pool, updated my resume, interviewed and received a call from AmFam HR while vacationing in Florida that I had been selected.  I remember a lot of high-fives with my sisters and mom after that call in March 2013.  I was equally excited to hear that Josh Erickson from Sales Technology, was also selected.  We've worked together in the past and Josh is...well...awesome!

After that initial call Mary Vertacic (who is equally awesome) and I had coffee and she encouraged me to talk with Former LE (FLE) to get a better understanding of the experience.  Without prompting, every FLE I spoke to said the experience was, "life changing".  I figured my life could use a little changing so all this is good news and adds to the excitement of things to come!  Like Tom Brokaw said, "It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference."  Stay tuned...........

P.S. I should mention that Mary is also the one who provided the little light which will guide Josh and I through our journey.