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Back in 2022, the TCF member Andy Wilson and staff member Chris Farzner interviewed Albertine Samson, who served with ��ɫ��Ƶ San Jose 2017-2018 and Team Care Force 12 (2018 -2019). Following her graduation from Team Care Force, Albertine went on to become a ��ɫ��Ƶ staff member with the IT Department. She now works as a Workplace Event Planner at Audible.  

Andy: So, what is your favorite memory from your first AmeriCorps year?

Albertine: My first AmeriCorps year? So, that was in San Jose. My favorite memory was when my team and I went to San Franciso. We got along well, and there was a teambuilding day where we went to San Francisco and we spent the whole day there. That was my first time there. We did a lot that day – we went to Golden Gate Park, we got food, we went to Chinatown there, and I just remember that day being really fun because, I don’t know, I feel like I got lucky with my team. Sometimes you get placed on a team where people don’t like each other, but I feel like we all, kind of just, had similar interests, and we all got along very well. And that day was very nice to just explore San Francisco with them.

Andy: That’s awesome.

Albertine: I can give you a day with the kids, but that’s the first memory I thought about. But let me know if you want to be like, children-focused.

Andy: No, that’s perfect. Thank you for sharing that. And so, in Care Force, do you have a favorite trip?

Albertine: Yeah, all the trips when we went back to San Jose were really fun. The first one where I went back to San Jose was my first time being back, after a few months. Maybe it was—yeah I don’t remember when we went back during my Care Force year, but it was great to see all the people that I served with—and just like, be back in that area where I lived for a year. So that was my favorite memory. The yellow jacket, I got to wear that again and, yeah that trip was really nice. I think my other favorite trip was the last one in DC, I got emotional at the end. The—I forgot what corporate partner we worked with on that one, but I just remember them being so full of energy. Someone brought their playlist that had African music—West African music and it was just a great vibe the whole day. Was a favorite memory.

Andy: That’s awesome. Do you remember the project you did for that last one?

Albertine: We painted… I believe it was the hallway… I wrote a paper on this, so I could try and find it… We painted the hallway… I’m sorry, that was like two year ago— Chris did it though—

Farzner: Was that 2019 Albertine?

Albertine: Yeah, it was in DC… it was in a school… I believe it was—

Farzner: Was that my project?! With Akin Gump?

Albertine: Yes! Yeah!

Farzner: Ohhh okay, that was at the Brightwood Education Campus. That was Liana Ponce school who was one of our alumni—Care Force Alumni from my corps year. From my senior corps year, Team Care Force #1, so we worked at the school in Northwest DC, called the Brightwood Education Campus, yeah… And what was your project? Where were you on that one? Were you inside with the murals?

Albertine: I was inside on the murals, yeah.

Farzner: Yeah, we got a little rain on that day…

Albertine: We did!

Andy: You’re currently with New Balance (Albertine has taken a new job since the time of this interview), can you tell us a bit more about what you do?

Albertine: Yeah, I’m on the North American merchandising team as a merchandise assistant. To sum it up, I essentially support the team in various ways. My manager is a key account manager who oversees the internet side of the business, including internet footwear and other brick-and-mortar stores. I help with those accounts and support him in that area. My role involves a variety of tasks, like managing the footwear samples, organizing account meetings, and setting up showrooms with samples for those meetings. I enjoy it because this is my first experience in merchandising, specifically on the product side of the industry, so it’s great to get exposure to everything. I’m still figuring out where I want to go next, so this position is a good opportunity for me right now. Does that answer your question?

Andy: No yeah, that’s awesome. Thank you for sharing about that.

Albertine: I essentially support the team with whatever they need, like setting up meetings. A big part of my job is managing the showrooms. Which, I think, is the most fun part of my job. I set up the shoes—it’s like visual merchandising, which I love. I get to do that a lot.

Andy: Would you say that there are things you learned during your TCF year you could apply to the work you’re doing now?

Albertine: Yeah definitely. And I think—this will be an answer for a different question; a part of why I got an interview is because I did ��ɫ��Ƶ, and my manager is always like, “Oh, when I looked at your resume I saw you did ��ɫ��Ƶ. In ��ɫ��Ƶ you have so many connections.” We have connections with so many different people all over the country, right? And I think that’s something I use in my job. In my role, I’m exposed to so many different teams and able to communicate well with so many different people and different sides of the business. I learned that from being in Care Force and my first year with ��ɫ��Ƶ, working with a diverse group of people, so I’ve been able to apply that to this side of my job, too. Just interacting with people, like when you want someone to do something for you, or you want to collaborate with someone, you have to be able to communicate well. I’ve only been here for 8 months. People already know me, like who to reach out to, and if I reach out to them too they will help me get things done. So, I don’t know if there’s a word for that.

Andy: No, that’s great.

Albertine: So essentially, I guess, working with people in a diverse group.

Andy: Awesome, thank you! What—would you say you have a piece of advice for future TCF or potential ��ɫ��Ƶ members?

Albertine: Um… advice…during my corps year, I didn’t initially see its value for my future career. It felt like a unique space where I had a lot of support, and I wasn’t sure how I’d thrive outside of it. But over time, I realized how important building connections and working within a community is. While being self-sufficient is good, In my culture, community is important. I think it’s important to remember that you’re building skills a lot of people don’t get. People come out of college and they go straight into the workforce. I think just to embrace the experience. I don’t know. Just like embrace it and know that it’s a special place. The skills I gained—like communication and empathy—are valuable in any workplace. I learned to appreciate those little things that often go unnoticed. For example, when creating meeting agendas at New Balance, I remember things like people’s birthdays or adding a ‘Happy Monday’ to keep things positive, just like I did in ��ɫ��Ƶ. It’s those small touches that make a difference.

Andy: That’s great, thank you. You kind of also answered a follow up question I had, which is just what ��ɫ��Ƶ culture piece do you incorporate in your current place of work. So if you want to expand on that or if you feel like there’s a culture piece that isn’t there that you miss, feel free to talk about either, though.

Albertine: A culture piece, I think about a lot is the one about getting out of your comfort zone and into your, what’s the word? your challenge zone? That one, I carry with me because I get nervous about public speaking, I get nervous doing a lot of things and I think ��ɫ��Ƶ helped me gain the courage to step out of that space of feeling, “Oh, I’m going to fail, I’m going to do it wrong and people are gonna make fun of me or look down on me.” Applying that now into my job, because I am new to merchandising, I don’t know any of it. So when people ask me to do things, people who don’t know that I’m new to the industry, I get so, overwhelmed. I’m like, “I can’t do it. I can’t do it.” I want to just like run away, but I pause and I’m like, “Okay, I will know how to do it after I do it. You know, instead of being afraid and trying to run away from it. So “I don’t know how to do it now, but once I ask for help and once I know, next time someone asks me I’ll know how to do it.” And that’s how I get out of my comfort zone of just doing what I normally do. You know, I’m trying something new and I’m learning each time, and that’s one culture piece I applied everywhere in my life, honestly.

Andy: That’s awesome. Thank you. So rolling it back to when you served as a staff member in the IT department, what made you stay at ��ɫ��Ƶ or come back to it? Like what made you come back to the IT department after your corps year.

Albertine: To be honest, I think I just needed a job. I wanted a full-time job, something that paid me more than a stipend. That was a big part of it. I did apply to other places I didn’t get accepted. There was a program ��ɫ��Ƶ did at the time where they pair you with staff in the office as your mentor. And I had a mentor. His name was Chris Mann and we meet, like, once a month. When I told him my ��ɫ��Ƶ program was ending, and that I was looking for a job, he connected me with a manager in the IT department. I applied for an IT job outside of ��ɫ��Ƶ and he found out there was a position within ��ɫ��Ƶ and connected me with my manager and that’s essentially how I got the job. The interview was easy. We just went to a little cafe and we chatted. But yeah, I was happy to stay at ��ɫ��Ƶ. I knew people there and, it was good for me.

Andy: Yeah, that’s awesome. Was there like a favorite part of that job that you had to something you really liked doing?

Albertine: We would do training for people on how to use some systems. I enjoyed doing those because, for me, I was doing something new and working on my public speaking skills. The first time I did it, I was nervous but after doing it a few times I got comfortable. Every time we did that, it was funny because I was trying to find ways now to make it interesting and not just like, “You click here and then you click this.” But I wanted to make it interactive. So it was fun working on it. I also got to design the ��ɫ��Ƶ, IT homepage. I don’t know what they call it anymore.

Farzner: Service desk!

Albertine: So I got to help design that. And I think that was a space where I was able to practice my creativity in that area. That was really fun.

Andy: Sure, that’s cool. My next question for you was, did you have, like, a proudest accomplishment when you were a staff member and it could be that, it could be something else?

Albertine: When I was a staff member, I helped design the ��ɫ��Ƶ homepage, specifically the SharePoint page. I was involved in designing various banners and organizing the information. It was important because people could easily find what they needed and resolve common issues on their own. This was helpful since we were receiving tickets for issues that we believed people could handle themselves. So by providing that information, it allowed them to solve problems faster instead of waiting for assistance, especially since there were only three of us on the service desk supporting all of ��ɫ��Ƶ. It was a challenging situation, so making resources easily accessible was crucial.

Andy: That’s awesome. What a great resource for them. When you were on Care Force, did you have a learning or aha moment that stands out clearly to you?

Albertine: I think I did. My team, which I’m sure Chris remembers was a big group of opinionated people, with strong personalities. And there was an actual divide. There was a quick trip to New Jersey to remove something – Chris do you remember that?

Farzner: Weequahic High School

Albertine: With Clark.

Albertine: Yeah.

Farzner: Yeah, we had to take out a fence that we had previously put in.

Albertine: And it was me, Chris, and Clark. And Clark was one of the people who I didn’t get along with. It was just a different upbringing, I think, different backgrounds. But being on that trip. I got to know him and I was like, oh, I actually like him. That is a big part of ��ɫ��Ƶ, bringing different people together, helping you learn how to interact with people and listen to people’s stories, instead of judging at first glance, what you think you know about them. And I got to know quite more about Clark because the people on my team who I did get along with weren’t there. So, it was just me, Chris, and Clark. We got to talk more. We talked at the airport a lot because our plane was delayed, so we got food and we chatted and I got the chance to get to know him.

Farzner: Was such a little like weird little—the three of us got on a plane, flew down to New Jersey, rolled up at a school, took a fence out, went back to the airport and they went home.

Albertine: Yeah, it. That was it in one day. Yeah, and that was not easy. Taking that fence out.

Andy: You will do everything in Care Force.

Albertine: Right. But I’m glad I got to—I was a part of that.

Andy: That’s awesome. I had kind of a similar experience last year, so that’s pretty cool. And so then you went to Puma after you were a staff member? So how did you translate your ��ɫ��Ƶ experience into that like external organization?

Albertine: So the position in Puma was an entry-level position, they were open to hiring someone willing to learn. Also, I was coming from a similar role, it was IT Service Desk, helping people with basic troubleshooting issues. When I was talking to the recruiter, she even said “I’d done work with ��ɫ��Ƶ”, so she knew a little about ��ɫ��Ƶ already and we talked about my CY experiences.  She was like, “I love ��ɫ��Ƶ people. They’re great.” And I think that gave me a little step up. So when I was explaining my ��ɫ��Ƶ experience to her, she kind of understood. I talked about how my time with CY translated into the role. I talked a lot about, helping people and that being my passion. And also having empathy and patience, because sometimes you think an issue is so obvious like, “Why can’t they get it?” But they just don’t know. I talked a lot about that.

Andy: Being a people person.

Albertine: And a hard worker, and a problem solver. So, I talked a lot about problems that I faced in ��ɫ��Ƶ and how I resolved them.

Andy: That’s interesting. A lot of times we talked to alumni and we asked, like, “What’s something you learned from Care Force?” Always like problem solving, flexibility. That’s like the answer and I think it’s definitely very true. Whenever you were at Puma, what was the work you did there?

Albertine: We have a system where we get IT-related tickets. If someone had a problem with their computer or issues with software, we helped them troubleshoot. My team supported Puma North America. So all of Puma NA, including Canada. And there were seven of us. It was a small team. The role was stressful, but it was fun. Everyone on my team was around the same age and had similar interests. It was the most diverse team in Puma. It was cool that I got to be on that team.

Andy: That’s awesome. Well, I just. I have a couple of just., quick little questions for you. So you served in San Jose? What was the name of the school that you served at?

Albertine: It was the Ryan Elementary.

Andy: OK. And you were with 4th graders?

Albertine: Yes.

Andy: Yeah, I saw that on your LinkedIn. What was your focus?

Albertine: It was English. I worked in an English class and I did the English tutoring during the day. ��ɫ��Ƶ San Jose has an after-school program. I also had 4th graders during the after-school program and I just helped them with their homework and planned art and STEAM activities that ��ɫ��Ƶ provided for us to teach them.

Andy: Where is your hometown?

Albertine: I am originally from Ghana, but I moved here when I was 7 and I moved to Boston and lived here since.

Andy: Did you attend college anywhere?

Albertine: Yeah, I went to UMass Amherst, OK.

Andy: Oh. And this is everyone’s favorite question that gets sprung on them. You have a fun fact about yourself?

Albertine: I roller skate.

Andy: Oh, that’s cool. Do you do rollerblades or you do quads?

Albertine: I do quads. I started over the summer, and I’ve been doing it every week. I go to a skating rink near me and I’ve been getting better at it. It’s fun. I’m learning how to dance on it.

Andy: That’s hard to. That takes some core strength.

Albertine: Yeah, It counts as a workout for me, so I don’t have to go to the gym.

Farzner: Cool. Any other last thoughts? Any other insights you have experience on or off Care Force?

Albertine: Last thought… I would say I’m grateful for my experience with ��ɫ��Ƶ. I took it for granted at the time and didn’t see its value beyond helping people. I didn’t recognize how it benefited me, but I see it now, especially in hindsight. Just like how many people know about ��ɫ��Ƶ, I’ve come to appreciate the experience and the skills I gained from it. I think it’s truly unique. I didn’t feel confident at all coming out of college, but standing in front of kids—who are naturally judgmental, as they should be—helped me develop that confidence. Doing that for a year and then leading corporate people into projects. Like speaking in front of them and doing the whole—what’s the thing we do before…?

Farzner: PT (Physical Training).

Albertine: Yeah, I liked doing things like that, they forced me to get out of my comfort zone. Speaking in public, and doing all those things helped me become a more confident person and see that I am capable of doing whatever I wanna do if I just apply myself and try it. And that’s a big part of what I learned in ��ɫ��Ƶ, yeah. I’m just grateful.