Evelyn Stones
April 30, 2020 8:46 PM
Could I maybe . . ? [Marijke McLeod] by Evelyn Stones
OOC - This is before the thread with Heinrich and before Evelyn has gone to her dad's house.IC -
Many of the most momentous occasions in Evelyn’s life started with a knock on a door. The good occasions usually started with her knocking on the door. The bad ones, with someone else knocking on her door. The really bad ones were when they didn’t ask and just came in, so Evelyn rarely did that. At the McLeods’ house, she most often was knocking on open doors, which was an entirely different sort of thing and one Evelyn had grown quite fond of. She always knew where people were and she always knew whether or not they minded company.
On this occasion, Evelyn rapped her knuckles gently against the room Marijke was occupying and smiled a little sheepishly when the woman looked up. “Could I talk to you about something?” Evelyn asked softly. “Nothing bad,” she promised. She didn’t feel like she should promise that, but it usually wasn’t true so she wanted to make it real clear that this was not a day-ruining sort of conversation.
At Marijke's encouragement, she took a seat and a deep breath. This was a topic she’d been thinking about for years, but not one that had been real pressing until now. She was about to start her fifth year at Sonora and it suddenly seemed very important. She was going to be sixteen soon and maybe learn to drive and stuff. She was becoming an adult and that was terrifying. In one more year, she’d be of majority age in the wizard world. In two, she’d be of majority age in the non-magical world, too.
“I have exams this year,” she began, trying to go chronologically. “And I will be picking classes and such soon. And . . . a career. Or something.” She wasn’t really sure whether she even wanted a career. She mostly just wanted to exist and be happy. Be with Ness, be with Heinrich. She was easy to please, and also impossible to please. She took a steadying breath, trying not to stammer because she wanted to seem as grown up as possible, and she really wanted Marijke to say yes. “After I graduate, I’d really like to work for the McLeod Foundation. I know you have training and stuff for the people who work with community members who need your services, and I’d really like to be one of them. But . . .“ She paused, unable to help herself. This was the scary part. “I wasn’t sure if that would be a possibility. If it is, I wondered what classes you thought might be most helpful to take. And if it’s not, then that will help me pick classes anyway.”
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Evelyn Stones
Could I maybe . . ? [Marijke McLeod]
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Evelyn Stones
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Marijke McLeod
May 07, 2020 10:49 PM
You'll have to ask what it is first by Marijke McLeod
Marijke was in her office, going over some case files, though her door was ajar in case any of her family needed her. When there was a knock, she closed the file - paperwork for a young person seeking emancipation from their family (because it wasn’t just parents who could disown their children - sometimes it went the other way too) - and called for the person to come in.It was the young lady of the household. Evelyn was very definitely not a little girl any more. She possibly hadn’t thought of herself as such the first time she’d entered this house, but she had certainly looked that way to Marijke. But she was definitely growing up now. She was going on dates. Marijke had tried to be warm and enthusiastic about that without being overwhelming. Not good for you that you are able to do this. Just… normal. Happy for her. And had, as with every previous summer, assured her that if she wanted to invite anyone over, she was very welcome to. She had not pushed that. Yet. She thought if Evelyn really did start dating this Heinrich boy properly she might insist that they got to meet him.
She wondered whether this, or any of the many adjunct teenage worries that went with relationships, was the reason why Evelyn now wanted to talk to her. About ‘nothing bad.’ She reacted with a neutral nod of acknowledgement to that. She was relieved to hear it, but she didn’t want to make Evelyn feel like bad news was unwelcome. Bad news needed telling when it happened.
“Have a seat,” she invited.
Although Evelyn’s question was about the future, it seemed to be a different facet of it that had brought her into Marijke’s office. One which caused her to smile as Evelyn explained her tentative plans.
“I think it’s a definite possibility - there’s nothing that would rule you out,” she confirmed, wanting to be clear that she was merely saying there was no reason Evelyn should be excluded from such opportunities, not that she could guarantee that she would get them. The style of Evelyn’s questions - the what work would I need to to do to be considered - assured her that she understood that well enough. “Working with our community members covers a lot of areas. In terms of direct work to support clients with what they’re going through there’s legal, counselling, life skills coaching.. Outside of that, there’s all the roles like advocacy, trying to campaign and get the law shifting in the right ways, fundraising…And just a lot of practical day to day stuff to keep the center running. It sounds like you’re more interested in the people side of things. A lot of our roles involve humanities type skills, being able to make articulate arguments, or use nuance in how you’re communicating with people. Courses that require essays and arguing a point of view can be useful. You can also pick ones that tie more directly into the field you might want to go into. History was good for Kir because he wanted to do politics. Do you know what you see yourself doing, or do you think you’ll work that out as you go along?” she asked, her tone conveying that both of those options were perfectly valid.
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Marijke McLeod
You'll have to ask what it is first
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Evelyn Stones
May 08, 2020 1:59 PM
IwannahelpwiththethingandI'mscaredtoaskandahhhh by Evelyn Stones
Evelyn smiled, a sigh of relief helping her loosen up when Marijke said there was nothing that would rule her out. She hadn't been sure whether people who had received services - albeit not directly through the foundation as through the family itself - could work for them afterwards. She knew that volunteering was a thing that people could do too, and she was definitely willing to do that, but she knew she had to think longterm at some point, too, and that was the scary bit.She hadn't counted on the fact that there were so many different pieces that went into the foundation, though. It made sense and it was inspiring to realize just how wide the scope of care was that the foundation could provide, but it was weird to think about, too. She wondered how many people knew her story by virtue of seeking help here? Not very many, probably, and even fewer than most of the people who came for services. But if anyone had to know her story, she was glad it was Marijke and stuff.
That being said, the woman was also right about Evelyn wanting to do more stuff with people than on the political side of things. However, she'd also said something that struck a chord with Evelyn, and one she hadn't expected.
"Actually," she said quietly, not sure if she was being unrealistic to even think she could begin to be good enough for a job like this. "The legal side sounds really interesting. After everything . . . like, I've seen Ms. Heidi work really hard but she deals with a lot of lawyers and stuff and it doesn't always work well for her. And then all the lawyers and judges and stuff I met and stuff when I was eleven. It would be nice to be able to do better for people than I've seen people do for me, or for Ms. Heidi." She paused, trying to imagine herself in any of the roles Marijke had mentioned.
She'd never really thought about herself in any of these positions until it had crossed her mind that it might be something she'd be interested in, and even then it hadn't seemed real. But now Marijke made it sound real. Of course, the woman was also not being overly positive, which was one of Evelyn's favorite things about her. She was realistic; just because Evelyn had been here didn't mean she'd be the right fit for what she was thinking. Sometimes, the things people want don't happen, and that was okay most of the time. It was good. And even if she graduated and things didn't work out with working with the McLeod Foundation, she'd have still gained some useful skills herself. If there was anything in life Evelyn had gotten used to, it was accepting the unexpected and rolling with the punches. Maybe that was her Pecari streak.
"If not that, I think life skills coaching and stuff would be nice," she decided. "It would be good to help people get on their feet."
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Evelyn Stones
IwannahelpwiththethingandI'mscaredtoaskandahhhh
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