Tuesday, June 29, 2010

HoundHaven Week 2

I am so happy this week. I am working so hard and I am finally seeing the rewards of what I do. Even though I only clean up and walk the dogs it is wonderful to see dogs go out to homes so that we have the ability to take in more dogs. I have been able to take care of dogs and then they get to go to home and I am able to start another relationship with other dogs and see how they are when they first come to shelter. These new dogs show me how they feel in this new place but thankfully we treat them so well and give them so much love that they adapt well in their new environment. These dogs have come to show me that even though they are in a kennel they are still happy because they have wonderful people loving on them. Of course there are many different kinds of people at the shelter that work in many different ways. It is interesting to see that there are people there that have been working at the shelter for many years and are not as excepted as I am and I have only been working there for a few weeks. I have made many friends and I am glad to provide my time for them. I have fallen in love with not only the dogs but the people as well. I have been able to learn about the dogs behaviors and I have given suggestions about the dogs and what needs to be done about the fighting in the yards. Even the owner listened to my suggestions and followed through with seperating the dogs that were fighting. I was glad to get to know the owner of the shelter and it felt good that she remembered me after she met one day. This shelter is teaching me everyday to love and cherish dogs that are in a bad situation and to not be afraid of big dogs or to even let them take you down or scare you. I love this shelter and the dogs and the people with all my heart now and hope to come back after the summer and keep working on weekends when I can.

~Rachael A.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Thailand post 5

Except for a few minor things, these past several days since my last post have been incredible. I'll get the negatives out of the way:
1. I am sitting here in bed, at 3:15am, sweating with khakis and a rain jacket on because i left my insect repellent in the car. I got probably 20 mosquito bites during my 3.5 hour nap before waking up for the game, which is bad news in the North where malaria and Dengue are floating around on the wings of these little annoyances...
and 2. USA is still tied with Ghana after 93 minutes of soccer...

But besides that, life is great! I left you with stories of night markets and pollution-filled runs, and now can add tales of elephant rides and clinic work.

So where did I leave off? On our day off after learning about occupational health in the Lampang Hospital, we ventured over to the Thailand Elephant Conservation Center to see some pretty amazing animals. Seriously, elephants are ridiculous, and we were only hanging around ASIAN elephants, which are much smaller than their African relatives. We couldn't leave without taking a ride, of course, and that was a lot of fun. To ride, two people get in this chair that sits atop the 'phant, and the only form of security is a little rope that goes across the front of the thing (think roller coaster, but much less secure). With every step I felt like I was going to slip off the seat and die. It was a lot of fun =)




On Friday, we drove up to Mae Sot, where I am currently sitting. After arriving, we went over the the Mae Tao Clinic (www.maetaoclinic.org), a displaced persons clinic (we are right near the Thainald-Burma (Myanmar) border, and there are a lot of displaced people, migrants, and refugees due to the ongoing political turmoil in Myanmar). Afternoons are slow at the clinic, so we took the opportunity to get a tour and get acquainted with the area.

We got back to the hotel, and Juriaan, Joey, and I borrowed bicycles to ride over to a soccer field for a pickup game. I think that was the funniest thing I've experienced in a while-- those were the crappiest bikes I've ever touched! Joey's was literally squealing as we rode the long 3 miles through town to the clinic, where we left the bikes and decided to go to a closer field than originally planned. oh my goodness, I laugh just thinking about his crooked back wheel and busted bearings...


So we walked over the the field where a few people were, and Juriaan's like, "okay, now we wait for a ball..." Haha. 20 minutes later, a ball and 10 more people arrived, and the 7v7 game began. I was the only female playing, and one of 2 white people (Joey Pedersen being the other), and I don't think I totally let my gender (nor nationality) down. Not TOTALLY. I mean, in no way could my performance be considered impressive, but I made a few steals and some good runs, so I'm happy. They definitely noticed I was playing. It was a lot of fun, and my knee didn't hurt a bit (YES, I thought of that before i started playing. I thought of it, and quickly decided not to worry about it. You only live once, right?)
After the game was tied 1-1 (probably...20 minutes?), the teams switched out (about 20 more people had arrived) and Juriaan and I headed to the volleyball court. This was a ton of fun too-- MUCH more laid back and much less competitive than the soccer. And it was probably 50/50 males and females. I should also mention that all [or most] of the people playing [both sports] were workers in the clinic, and almost all of them were Karen (a Burmese ethnic group). So even with Juriaan there to translate Thai, we couldn't communicate verbally, since they all speak some form of Burmese (Burman?) and practically no Thai at all. Regardless, it was a lot of fun, and a truly neat experience to be able to relate to people of a totally different world through sport. (also, after soccer, Joey went on picture duty, but, if I may say so myself, could have done a better job of capturing the experience...oh well, you can still see the people, the dirt field, and get the general idea)



Then today, my friend Laura and I woke up early and went with Juriaan to the clinic. He worked there for 6 weeks last summer, and I think 2 weeks at the beginning of this summer, and was heading over before the rest of the group to get a full day's work in. We went to the surgical department, where she and I helped dress wounds for the rest of the day. It was pretty crazy. So much for that whole See-one-do-one-teach-one thing. It's just Do one here.


By 10am when the rest of the group arrived, and Catherine, Laura, and I probably worked on 15-20 patients from 10am-12:30pm. Mostly, we changed dressings (gauze, etc.), cleaned the wound (saline and/or Provodone), and put on new dressings, but there were also a decent amount of abscesses in need of lancing, draining, cleaning, and/or packing. Those were the worst, because you could just tell it was dreadfully uncomfortable for them. [[[parental advisory. skip next sentence if desired]]] There were also 3 men who came in to get bandages changed after deciding that an injection of coconut oil (i think) into their penis would result in enlargement...I'm not sure if it worked or not, but I'm pretty sure that after this ordeal they would much prefer a small penis than one with a skinless shaft. Yeah. Sorry if that was too much info for you non-medical folks.

But the day was pretty great. I was incredibly thankful for my prior experience in a non-American clinic (Honduras, last summer), because it made the adjustment much easier. The environment is so different-- can't speak with the patients (or the medics, really), don't have the same materials/instruments, nor anywhere near the level of sanitation-- but it's still medicine when it comes down to it. I also had the opportunity to walk around and talk to a worker about the water purification/drainage system, which was pretty interesting from a public health standpoint. It really is a vital aspect than many people overlook.

Well, I think I'm just going to stop apologizing for the long posts; I don't think they're going to be a rarity at this point... But it's 4am, and USA just lost, so I'm going to bed. Peace and love.

City Hall Week 4: IT

Hello! (This blog is actually on time this week!!!)
I spent last week working in IT, and out of all of the departments I have been too IT was the department that needed the most help. At city hall there are only 4 full-time employees doing a job that they need 10 people to do. So needless to say they had plently to keep me busy. My main task for the week was inventroy. Its one of those things that is important...and has to get done...but other, more important things get in the way of someone sitting down and doing it. So I got to. It was cool to see how IT controls, monutors, and maintains all of the computers and software the city has :)

On another note,
I am also working at the CSL this summer and have embarked on a new project: Stetson Beauty and a Movie.
As some of you know, Maria, Tycee and Mary have worked really hard this summer to re-organize all of our community partners. In there effort it has become appartent that a lot of the partners want a group of Stetson Students (mostly girls) to come in and show a movie and have a fun night of hair, nails and makeup...so I am working on a program that will be in place year round and hit one community partner a month! So if anyone is intested in getting involoved please let me know!!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Hey All!

Hey there everyone!! So I was in Washington, D.C. for the past 4 days for the Results Conference. We learned how to lobby and actually went to capitol hill to lobby. It was insane. I just wrote it all up on my blog so I'll link you here if you're interested! Hope you're all doing awesome. I love reading through everyone's posts on here. Here's my ridiculous story. A tiny snippet: I missed the train on the ride home! haha
Jack Kelly's blog: Northsoutheastcoast

A week of Justin Beiber overload...

So I just finished my first week of summer of service at Girls Inc. The theme this summer is Girls Inc goes green. We are going to be doing recycling projects, gardening, and teaching the girls to cook with locally grown foods.
We actually did some really cool things this week. I helped the girls make bracelets out of ribbon and soda can tops, which actually proved to be more difficult than the instructions made it sound. We also painted and decorated old t-shirts using a cut up potato instead of the normal sponge. I know it sounds strange but we just cut a potato into slices and then make the slices into hearts, stars, and flowers, dipped them into the paint, and then pressed them on the shirts. They actually turned out really cute.
Today we had Funky Friday and so we made tye die shirts and took the girls skating. It was alot of fun. Some of the shirts didn't turn out too good because the girls didn't put the rubber bands on tight enough. The older girls had some really cool patterns though. We had a ton of fun but now I am exhausted. At the beginning and end of every day we have a little 45min dance party in the gym and all the only thing these girls want to listen to is Justin Beiber. They sing it when they walk down the halls, they sing it when they paint, I cannot seem to escape Justin Beiber. This is going to be a long summer if they keep this up lol. I think I might make them a new cd and hide that Justin cd so I don't go crazy. We will see...

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Filing and Friendships

Instead of spending my time in a closet organizing boxes, I spent my days this week helping out in the office. Although I love to organize and clean I was glad to have a change of scenery for awhile. The campus is desserted everywhere except the main office, so it was nice to spend time with other people.

My biggest task this week was to help with annual summer mailout. This mailout is basically a packet that gets sent to the families of every student. Inside the packet is each student's final grades, Stanford Test Scores (like the FCAT but for private schools), summer reading lists and a bunch of other information for the upcoming school year. The school is tiny (only about 250 kids), but coping, sorting and stuffing took us a really long time. On top of this, I had to file a copy of the final report cards and test scores for each student into the school's records.

Since stapling hundreds of papers and flipping through files isn't the most exciting way to spend an afternoon, I was very thankful for the fun conversations I had with the ladies who work in the office. It was so great to reconnect with them as we discussed Monday night's episode of The Bachelorette while eating M&Ms and popcorn! I am so grateful to have such great people to work with. It makes typical, mundane work fun and at the same time lasting relationships are being formed. This week proved to me that paperwork can be fun and meaningful when you are surrounded by great people.

The First Week at the CSL

So after a week and a half after Woodward's last day of school, I started my first day at the CSL on Tuesday. At 6am, I drove three hours to arrive by 9. As I got out of the car, Tyce was just about to go on a visit with Tiger Bay, one of our potential community partners on Inernational Speedway and he invited me to join. We hopped in his car and looked for Smokey the Bear on the side fo the road and then ahd to make a u-turn to get to the entrance. The meeting itself lasted for about and hour and a half. The two people we talked to, Veda and Steve are very excited about working with Stetson. When we got back to the CSL, I pretty much observed most of the day. I found a few phone numbers for my service partners, looked for a few grants and working on a project we hope to start soon. (Jarian, Tiffany, Amanda B - you guys probably can guess what it is.) We were going to start making phone calls to our community partners but it started to thunder...Maria and I decided that it would be best to wait till it was over. We ended calling them on Wednesday and invited them to participate in a new program for our incoming Bonners in the fall. Everyone that we spoke to were excited to be taking part in it.

Today is only my third day. I must admit, compared to my time at Woodward, this is definitely not my cup of tea. Maybe it's because I just started and Maria is doing a wonderful job. Although, it is cool to know the inside scoop before everyone else. Not that there's anythign we are really keeping a secret. I'm excited fo this coming year with some new ideas that we plan to implement. Maria's last day is on friday and then I'll be alone during the week :(

Pretty soon, I will be applying for the Pepsi Refresh Project for a grant for Woodward. This project is based upon votes throughout the month. Once it has been submitted, I will send everyone a link to vote. (Please vote!). There, you can also find details on what the grant would be for.

Passed the halfway point...

The other day I realized I had passed the halfway point of my Summer in Germany. I began to think of the different things I've done in the past few weeks and the successes and failures I've experienced. I clean floors, play chess and build friendships with underprivileged people, sing songs with kids and their mothers, pass out food to the underprivileged, chaperon kids' week, live with the best host-family, tutor English to students and help in an after school cafe for students. My days are so busy with these this and I don't realize how fast it's going by. I really love my job(s) here at the Salvation Army and the experiences that come along with it/them.

Cleaning floors is mildly boring but luckily it doesn't take a great deal of effort or time. I really enjoy my time spent in the cafe for homeless/poor/underprivileged people. One man there is a chess-playingaholic and usually indulges in destroying me in chess at least once or twice a day. Because the Captain of the Salvation Army can play so many instruments, she leads a Mommy and Me music program. I help out during the program and also with preparation and cleanup; mainly consisting of laying out and putting the mats away, as well as cleaning the dishes after the mothers have had a small brunch that we provide. During the program I sing songs with the kids and chaperon them when they play on the slide and with the other toys we provide. Every Friday night the Salvation Army hosts a soup kitchen at the main train station in Freiburg. We bring bread (freshly baked and donated!) and some type of warm meal, as well as a variety of drinks to the train station. There is always a line and usually some type of confrontation between a few of our... patrons? but it is really cool to see the type of community the Salvation Army facilitates for these people and what becomes of it.

The biggest challenge for me so far has been accepting that the Salvation Army is a religious movement and that, by working with them, I represent and support religion. I was raised a Christian but now consider myself to be Agnostic. Having to go to Church every Sunday isn't terrible but in some ways a nuisance. Not only is it a bit difficult to understand as my German isn't 100% fluent, but, like I said, I don't support the religion. It isn't a big deal and though I said it was my 'biggest challenge' it really isn't a chore or anything. I recognize the reasons why I must and should go to the church that the Salvation Army hosts every Sunday. I may not believe in the religion being preached but I should understand it and accept it as I am a representative of the Salvation Army during my time here and they were founded on religious values.

This weekend is 'Family Weekend' for the different Salvation Armies in South-Western Germany. I believe there are three different S.A.'s coming together on Saturday to have a big picnic and church service in a nearby park. It should be fun and I will of course add the experience in my next blog.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Thailand post 4

Don’t worry guys, I AM alive, I just haven’t had any internet for a while, so strap in— this is probably going to be a long one. The past several days have brought us out of Bangkok into the Northern region of Thailand. We flew into Chiang Mai for the weekend, which is the main city in the North (Thailand has four Regions: North, Northeast, Central [where Bangkok is located], and South).

On our last night in Bangkok, we went into Chinatown (yep, they’re in other countries, too) and walked around foreverrrr. We were in search of this one Indian restaurant that was recommended in someone’s little guidebook and was supposedly next to Chinatown, but finally gave up. Unfortunately, we had walked so far that there weren’t really any restaurants around, so before attempting to eat at a roadside vendor, but you can see how thrilled everyone was to be eating at the food stand…(that’s my roommate making the face, haha)


So we loaded into 2 taxis to head to a mall to eat. My rule of thumb with taxis has always been to always get in the taxi that Juriaan is in (he’s our new best friend; see earlier posts for info), and boy did it pay off. As we were driving, we stumbled upon the Indian district, hopped out of our taxi, and called the other group. But with phones dying, and a maniac taxi driver on the other end, they were never able to make it back to us and ate at a KFC. WE, on the other hand, ate an absolutely fantastic vegetarian Indian meal (Zack, Caroline, Joseph, Warren, Lacy, Hilary, etc: think Daru and FSU’s vegetarian lunch, but better). Afterward, Juriaan took us to a street lined with vendors and restaurants, where we bartered a little bit, and even caught the USA vs. Slovenia game on TV.

Then we flew out in the morning, and once in Chiang Mai, had a break from lectures and field visits. On Saturday and Sunday, we just toured around and shopped (in markets, as well as in various factories [silk, laquerware, silver, gemstones], which were all pretty interesting). The first place we went was Doi Suthep, a well-known mountaintop temple, where I had to rent a piece of cloth [there’s probably a real name for it] because my shorts didn’t cover my knees.

Chiang Mai is famous for it’s night markets, and they have them all over the city. Saturday night we went to one next to our hotel, which was cool, until we found out that the REAL markets—with actual local handicraft and not just touristy junk—is on Sunday nights. Woops. So Sunday night we went to the “Walking Street” night market, which is basically over a mile and a half stretch of road just completely lined with food, clothing, and knick-knacks. My most exciting purchase there was probably the bamboo worm, which actually didn’t taste too bad… (along with this ice cream on a stick thing, which (for Joseph) was milk tea flavored and was amazing.



On Monday, it was back to business, and we went to the Office of Disease Protection and Control for that district. We learned [again] about vector control [aka, mosquitoes] and also learned to make slides to test for malaria. Don’t worry guys, no parasites in me yet!


After that session, we drove further north to Chiang Dao, where we stayed at this really cool hotel—beautiful landscaping and architecture, but unfortunately our room (which was oddly and literally half the size of all the other rooms) had a bit of a bug problem. But we deal, right? I also got to run here (for only the second time this trip), and the quiet little mountain roads were so much better than the awfully polluted streets in even the small-ish city of Chiang Mai.



In Chiang Dao, we went to the Community Hospital and learned about the HIV and TB programs that they have (two very prominent diseases in developing countries around the world). I was actually quite impressed—they have a great community outreach program for HIV, for example, that involves HIV+ volunteers that can use their experiences to educate and empower other patients. After that, we took a trip to Baan Mitratorn, a Catholic orphanage (only the 3rd Christian establishment I’ve seen so far) for children who either have HIV, or whose parents died because of HIV. We brought them toys and snacks, and played with them for a couple hours. What an incredible thing. The orphanage seemed like a really great establishment, as far as those things go, and the kids loved us, even though we couldn’t even talk to them in the same language…



Right now I’m sitting in the hotel in Lampang. We went to the hospital today and did a daylong session on occupational health. it was super interesting, and probably my favorite day. Besides talking about all the occupational hazards that people in the community encounter (exposure to many physical, chemical, and biological agents from long days of hard work), we did a tour to see what kinds of things the hospital itself is doing to care for its employees. We completed one of the checkups they offer, involving flexibility, strength, endurance, lung capacity, body fat, and vision checks (the last of which ended with the woman telling me, “Be careful when driving car; you cause big accident.” Great…). We also completed physicals for several employees who work in the laundry and supply departments who had complaints of things like back pain and rashes.



A million years later, I think I’ve gotten you all caught up. Thanks for indulging in my long-winded storytelling : )
Till next time…

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Week 3: Parks and Rec

I spend last week in the Parks and Rec department. Out of the 3 departments I have worked in I have to say that Parks and Rec was the most fun. Monday I got to shaperon a Sr. Prom...and by Sr I mean 65 and older. They taught me the Foxtrot, the Jive, and I learned a little Poka too :) The next day I went with the "Lunch Bunch" (again I was the youngest by at least 35 yrs) to the Bahama Breeze for their one a month outing.

Wendsday I was asked to be a camp counsoler for the day with the Chishlom Center and went to Delone Springs with 85 campers.
So again I apologize for my inconsistancy in my blogging. This past week I was working in the Finance Departmen. I am not that great with numbers so I was a little worried but the finance staff is amazing! (if anyone is a finace major let me know because the Finance Department needs interns!!)

My task for the week was to a) go through all of the city's accounts recievavle (i.e. water/wastewater accounts) and mark the ones that were 3+ months over due. After I had all of these accounts market, I then had to figure out if people were just not paying their bills, or the bills were not getting to the people. To do this I had to look up the property on Property Apraiser. If the address matched then I filed a lean against the account, if the addresses do not match then I changed the address on the City's database and moved along.

This process took me two days. After all the research was done and leans filed, I started to address CODs...LOTS and LOTS of CODS...(630 to be exact).

Out of all of the departments that I have visted I learned to most in the Finance Department. Next week is Parks and Rec. so stay tuned :)

Monday, June 21, 2010

SoS Week 3...Ordering Supplies and...People?

So I never realized how many supplies it takes to run an office!!! This week, I was mainly an assistant to one of the counselors in the office who had the lovely task of ordering every single office supply needed for the upcoming academic year. We spent countless hours making lists, searching for good prices online, placing orders, looking up skew numbers, mailing orders, receiving orders, going through received orders, checking off what's been received, taking inventory, recycling used boxes, and finally...putting everything away!!! From paper clips, to copy paper, binder clips, to binders, message books, staples, tape refills, sheet protectors, and on and on and on and on....(sigh). Anyways, with each looooong order, I just kept reminding myself that these supplies are necessary to keep this office running, and without this office, hundreds of students would not be able to complete their years of higher education.

Apart from ordering supplies, I realized how hard it can be to have to "order around" difficult students. Although I truly enjoy my service here at the Office for Students with Disabilities, things aren't always peachy. There occasional difficult student does happen every now and then. One student in particular constantly abuses our policy of making free apointments with counselors as well as being difficult when told to leave the office if he's being too loud. I realized that some disabled students might not realize the extent of their behavior and it requires patience on our part to deal with these students in a respectful, calm, yet professional manner. The task of dealing with these students is often very difficult for myself in particular, because I have the type of personality where I want to be extremely outgoing and friendly with everyone. Unfortunately, with some of our students, being too friendly can lead to difficult behavior. Thanks to the support and instruction of the counselors at this office, I have learned how to professionaly deal with these students while still holding true to my outgoing personality.

On a happier note, I've figured out a very concise way to take notes for my disabled student in the Film and Documentary class that I volunteer for. The professor asks a series of discussion questions on the beginning of each lecture, but since I am not a film student myself, some of the names and terms he was saying seemed like a foreign language to me. Thankfully, he agreed to type up a list of the questions for me to have at the beginning of each class, so I can organize a section of question and answer notes for my student to more easily understand and study from. After every class, I put the notes in her folder, put the folder in her backpack that's attached to her wheelchair, ask if she has any questions about the notes, and hold the door open for her as we leave the class. She's such a joyful person and really lifts me up if I'm having a down kind of day. I know I've said this in pretty much every post thus far, but the students that I volunteer with honestly do so much more for me than I feel I could ever do for them. I'm so thankful for this opportunity, and look forward to every day I come in the office and/or classroom. This truly is NOT work, but rather supporting my second family.

SoS Week 2

I started off my second week of SoS cleaning and organizing a some of Meadowbrook's storage areas. Currently, the school is going through some major changes which include hiring new staff members and expanding some of their buildings. The principal is very excited about these new changes and informed me that we would be working very hard to get most of them completed by the end of the summer.
My first task of the week was to reorganize one of the storage closets that holds most of the costumes and props for the school's many plays and productions. When I first unlocked the door, there was hardly enough room to walk, but after a day of shuffling boxes and hanging up costumes, the closet was cleaned and there was plenty standing room! (I took before and after pics on my phone, but I can't figure out how to get them off of the phone and onto my computer) I spent the rest of the week working in the office filing and moving boxes from room to room. Although these seem like small tasks, the members of the staff never have time to get to them. Most of the stuff I was doing had been piled up all year! The office is pretty busy during the summer so it seems like any help is a big help!

CSL - Week 7

Yes, week 7. We're here already. Oh my goodness how time has flown.

My second to last week was an insanely busy - and extremely exciting - one.

First, I began interviewing people for my pseudo-CBR. I interviewed people (all women, surprisingly) from the Interfaith Kitchen, the Agape Clubhouse, Second Harvest Food Bank, and the Department of Children and Families (responsible for the distribution of food stamps, now known as SNAP benefits). During this upcoming week, I will be interviewing someone from the Neighborhood Center, and hopefully people from WIC (Nutrition for Women, Infants, and Children) and the schools where they offer free/reduced lunch. My findings thus far have been consistent with my "hypothesis" (there wasn't really an official hypothesis, but I had a mental one) that due to the economic downturn, more and more people are in need of food assistance. Many organizations, with the exception of the Interfaith Kitchen, have seen a dramatic increase in the number of requests for assistance. I've discovered that donations have increased exponentially as well, with most of the need being met. The Second Harvest Food Bank, which provides food for soup kitchens and more local food pantries, distributes food almost as fast as it comes in, leaving them in a precarious position. At the DCF, the economic decline has led to the elimination of numerous staff positions, while the amount of applications for SNAP benefits has increased dramatically. Fortunately, most applications are completed online, but people are still needed to run the numbers in order to determine benefits - also a precarious position. So ... they're managing. And as far as I can see they're meeting need. But then again, I haven't yet talked to anyone who is actually receiving the benefits. We'll see.

Lots of things were going on within the CSL as well. We're wrapping up our community partner interviews and completing our database. We've scheduled almost all of the rest of the partners who hadn't responded to our initial requests for appointments, which is fantastic. We're now working on pulling together the Community Partner Orientation, and condensing all of the material we've gathered into a pretty little powerpoint. Amanda and I also worked a great deal on revamping the experience for First-Year Bonners, something I am INCREDIBLY excited about. It's going to be a much more structured and, I think, efficient exploration period. Besides that, Scarlett and I are brainstorming a new group for the young women who participate with most of our community partners that will bond with them through "girlie" activities, helping to boost their self-esteem and self-image. It'll be fantastic :)

I think that's about it as far as the CSL goes.

Now for the last week........

Sunday, June 20, 2010

HoundHaven Week 1

~~This past week I have been volunteering with HoundHaven where they rescue dogs and adopt them back out to loving families. I was excited to start there and experience being around the amazing people that work there and the dogs that live there. I worked the morning shift and I learned how to clean the kennels and take care of the dogs. I was also able to learn how to take care of the sick dogs that need special medication. Working with the other volunteers was amazing. I talked with them and learned about there experiences with the program and many other places they volunteered. I like working with this place and I learn something new everyday plus there are new dogs coming in every week mostly. I love being around these dogs because they are so different from most other dogs in shelters. Most of the dogs are Labs and some are mix breeds. On Saturday I was able to go to an adoption day. Adoption Days are so much fun. They bring dogs to hopfully get adopted out to Petsmart. I was able to take care of one dog that day for over three hours. It was the first time that I was able to go to be close to the dogs and I was happy to get close to one of the dogs and begin a good relationship with her because getting a dog's trust is hard if they are always in a kennel without constant attention. I cannot wait for the rest of the summer to come so that I can spend more time with the dogs and the amazing volunteers that are giving up their time to help these adorable animals.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Well, Hello There

Alright, Alright it seems it's about time I weigh in on this whole blogging deal. So, hello everyone! I hope those of you who I haven't kept in touch with the past month have been having a righteous SOS, or simply, an awesome summer. So, I read far too much into the blogging thing and created my own blog while completely forgetting we had the Reflections blog..so if you'd like to check that out I've been updating it a lot at (Northsoutheastcoast.blogspot.com). Anyway, so I'm interning with the Bonner Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey right on Princeton's campus..and man is it beautiful!

The town is awesome and the school is just awe-inspiring. The internship with Bonner has been intense. Sometimes it's very intern-y...such as this morning, Wayne Meisel, the out-going President of Bonner found me in traffic and brought me to a parking lot (because our road in front of the foundation has been torn apart to be repaved..or something)..when we parked he told me he had lost his cell phone at a convenience store like 5 blocks away and asked me to go find it..and get coffee haha. But most of it we're making training videos for the National Bonner Network, working on creating, and defining the Bonner Advisory Board (quite the task), policy research, and working on leadership skills (which has been awesome). We put together and ran SLI (the Summer Leadership Institute) at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky two weeks ago and Sunday morning I'm heading to Washington D.C. with one of the other interns to attend, and make some videos about, the Results conference. We're going to be meeting and directly lobbying some senators too! It should be interesting..I really don't know too much about it.
Anyway, New Jersey is kind of an eh state. I live 20mi from the Foundation and it takes 1-1.5 hours of driving to get there in the mornings and night..rush hour is serious here! I was planning on coming here without a car because I sold mine a few months ago but luckily bought one two days before coming here..I would have been totally stranded without it! But, there's a ton of interesting shops to go in and out of so that's still keeping me entertained..and I haven't explored a ton yet but I plan on doing so once I'm back from D.C.
Ok so let me reflect for a sec: Firstly, Mariaaaa I'm pretty sure the Bonner Foundation would think your SOS is amazing! Trust me, it's more than a lot of people do and you're learning how to help a ton of people. I'd say they'd be behind that! Secondly, Bonner loves to do a lot of what I call "check pointing"..we have meetings a lot to gauge how we're learning and progressing and we keep getting the question "what did you plan on getting out of this experience?" Well, I realized today that I'm awful at questions like this. Why? Because I apparently don't ever create expectations, or really plan ahead. I never seem to think ahead to what I can 'take' from an experience - rather just go and soak up things. Maybe this is a good thing? Maybe it isn't? Who knows. At least it's a noticeable thing. Anyway, I've gotta get some food. I'm updating my personal blog pretty often, so if you're mildly interested check it out: Northsoutheastcoast.blogspot.com. Hope you're all doing awesome!! If you guys have personal blogs let me know what they are so I can follow them!
-Jack

Thailand post 3

Hello again! This post will be divided into three parts: 1. disclaimer, 2. activity recap, and 3. random comments. Let the fun begin...

1. As I blog about my Thailand adventures on this site devoted to all of these amazing Summers of Service, I can't help but feel guilty, because physical service is quite a limited aspect of this trip. Maybe the Bonner Foundation will find this blog and take my credit away, and maybe not, but I still want to argue why this summer of mine should count. These time of health care involvement and education is kind of like one big Training and Enrichment session (Bonners will know what I mean; family and friends, I apologize) for future service to come. This Thailand program is teaching me how to devote my future to a lifetime of service, and I think that is much more valuable than helping a couple of patients who will never see or think of me again. Right? Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this is legit.

2. Yesterday we went to the Ministry of Public Health (which made me think I was living in a Harry Potter story [Ministry of Magic]), and it was...interesting. We had several guest speakers talk to us about what the MOPH is doing to eradicate diseases spread to humans via insects and animals, like malaria, chikungunya, dengue, rabies, leptospirosis, etc. I learned a few things: "zoonoses" are diseases transmitted to humans from animals. fun word. Also, candy placed in front of me stands no chance when my energy is fading and I don't know anything about leptospirosis and can't really understand the presenter anyway. And, I learned that candy isn't really a great source of energy...Woops. Really though, it was a lot of good information, and we had Pad Thai at lunch-- Sue Snyder, your Bahn Thai dish totally dominated this one, so don't worry.
After the speakers, we went to the helminthiasis lab (parasitic worms) and got to play with infested poopy. yay. here's me examining the slide i made. and no, i don't mean i actuallllly made it--gross--I just prepared the slide from an already provided sample =)



then today, we visited the Children's Hospital and learned from this amazing 82 year old female pediatrician about Dengue Fever, Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, and Dengue Shock Syndrome (in order of increasing severity). We saw a few cases in the hospital, and I really feel like I left with a much deeper understanding of the disease. I also confirmed my observation that Thais switch their "L"s and "R"s when speaking English. It was kind of funny to hear them talk about birilubin levels.
Then we visited the vaccine development center at Mahidol University and met Dr. Sutee, who was the most hilarious tiny Asian guy I've ever met. Not comedian funny, but I guess I was just getting to that loopy-tired stage and was so giggly when he was talking. It really is quite incredible the kind of work they're doing to figure out a way to protect against this emerging disease. Here's a scientist inoculating a "giant mosquito" with the virus, followed by me doing my part to eradicate the disease...



3. These are all very unrelated, so I think I'll do bullet points:
-Correction on previous post: I was wrong about the ages of the group. Besides myself, age 20, the other members are 21, 27, 27, 27, 30, 30, and 42. But you get the idea.
-Last night, I went to bed, only to discover that the maids had taken my white pillow case (actually, my mom's white pillowcase) and replaced it with one of the hotel ones when they were changing the sheets. funny, but kind of unfortunate.
-on that note, the beds here crack me up, mostly just because life is too short not to laugh at things. they are rock hard. i mean seriously, the only advantage to sleeping on the bed as opposed to the floor is that the raised platform allows one to tuck sheets in. really, that's it.
-Dunkin Donuts is definitely not as good here. if you can imagine a chewy donut, that's what i was given today.
-Bangkok is a huge city. I mean, I knew it was going to be crazy busy like any other big city, but no, the geographical area is also huge, which I wasn't expecting for some reason. Today when we left the Childrens Hospital and headed to the university, we were traveling via van on a highway, with generally smooth traffic (50 mph average, maybe), and it took us 40 minutes to get across town. i thought the 20 minutes it takes to get to FSU was annoying. geesh.
-Mom, I think I accidentally grabbed your camera charger...But it seems to be working. Hope the one I left there works for you!
-since this website is the Thai version, I can't figure out a way to have cool font or colors, or even italicize anything, so you'll just have to deal with the template version =)
-love and miss you all! till next time...

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Week One: City Hall Administartion

So I am not going to lie...I kinda completely forgot that I was needing to blog each week. Luckily I am only in my 3rd week of my Summer of Service so I am not toooo far behind :)

So my Summer of Service project/sit is broken up into 3 parts. Part 1 - I am the Deland City Intern. Part 2 - I am an Americops Summer Associate. And Part 3 - I am the CSL's Community and Econ. Develoment Student Issue Leader.

So for the Deland City Internship I am spending 1 week at all of the different city departments, this week I was working in the administration department (with the City Manager, City Mayor, Commissioners, ect.). I was given the task of researching how to get Deland on a "Best of List" by the city manager Mike Pleus. This was really fun work and cool to see all of the different Lists that are out there. It turns out that Deland is on a list "Small Town Gems" but we are too small to make it on to any big, reputable list :(

For the Americops Summer Associate project myself, as well as Tyce and Maria, are catologing and interviewing all of our community partners. This is going really well and we have a much better grasp on what our partners need now!

And for the Community and Econ Project I am attemting to implement personal finance, personal development, community education, ect. classes for the Spring Hill area.

Training and Enrichment... German style

So, something really cool that I think I've forgotten to mention in my other blogs is that I've been to going to some classes (just shadowing a friend) while here in Germany. The friend works at the Salvatin Army with me and is studying to be, what they call, a social worker. To us it would translate to something like an activist... or non-profit administrator/orgainzer. Anyway, every week on Wednesday I go with him to Uni and listen to the presentations each student has organized about a different NPO that they have researched. It's been really interesting (especially since it is all in German) and has made me think more about finding a career in an international NPO rather than just one that focuses in Germany or the United States.

My host family is still AMAZING and, the most exciting news of all, I've found a rowing team here that I can stay/get in shape with over the summer ANNNNNND I might be racing in one of their boats in July.

I hate thinking about when I have to leave, it gets more and more depressing.

BUT! I think I have found a contact that can get me a job in his spa between December and April before my semester abroad in Germany starts in April.

Exciting, Exciting. Till next time.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Thailand post 2

First things first: It is so inconvenient not knowing Thai, mostly because it takes me ten minutes to figure out how to post a new blog on this darn page! Besides the stuff the students post, all the writing is in Thai script…iy yi yi! In all seriousness though, it’s quite humbling to be in a country where you can hardly communicate. Humbling, or frustrating, whichever way you want to look at it.
Second, you'll have to forgive me if the excitement of blogging has faded rather quickly...With two journals (one for a personal keepsake and one for the program), notes during the lectures, notes back home, and a blog, the writing thing gets pretty old. how many times can I write down what I've done today, really? But I'll try to save the fun stuff for here. You can be the judge of that comment.

So, where did I leave off? {{It is so hard to keep track of the days here-- my roommate and I had to draw a calendar on a piece of notebook paper to tape to the wall so we could "X" off the days and stay sane.}} After the welcome dinner, it's all business. Sort of. On Monday, we had our first lectures. Quick random background info first, if I haven't already said it: Doug is married to Noi, and he and Noi pretty much organize the whole program-- set up all the speakers and field trips to hospitals/clinics; Noi is Thai, and one of their sons [Jurian, age 23 or 24 maybe?] is here and is a wonderful help because he has no accent at all when he speaks English [he attends U. Utah]. Anyway, Monday morning, Doug introduced us to a nurse who spoke to us about the history of Thailand and outlined Thailand's health care system. it was very interesting, and made me feel bad about being so ignorant.
we had lunch in the lecture room. it was fantastic. Zack, forgive me if I come back 100lb. overweight...they were right: the exercise thing isn't very doable, considering the impossibility of running down the sidewalk, and the absence of a treadmill or [usable] hotel pool...

After the guest speaker, Doug spoke more in depth about his experiences on (in?) the international scene. I won't bore you with every detail, but basically, I loved his talk. The information itself was valuable, but mostly, it taught me about myself, and how I still have SO much to learn, much of which can only truly be learned through experience.
After the lectures, we took a water taxi into downtown Bangkok to explore. It took quite a while, but the ride was pretty neat-- it is so strange to see little tin shacks on stilts, over the river, right next to these breathtaking temples. Talk about contrasting landscapes. Downtown was cool, too, I guess. Just really crowded mostly, but it was fun to get to know the rest of the program members. everyone is very nice, but I tell you what, I guarantee the experience would be different if I didn't have the same roommate-- she is fantastic. In the picture, she's the one next to me in the black pants. Everyone else is older than 30 [except one who's 27], which isn't a problem at all, it's just that there's an age gap.

Then today we toured a Health Promotion Center, which I THINK is under the Minstry of Public Health (MoPH). I really enjoyed being there, seeing the facilities, and meeting the doctors, nurses, and patients. Two speakers also presented-- one was an OB and the other was the advisor on nutrition for the MoPH--and gave a lot of interesting info on Thai health care practices. Again, I won't bore you with the nitty gritties here (ha, like I'm not already giving way too much detail). A funny note: the nutrition advisor has a daughter who watches Gossip Girl everyday to improve her English. That made me chuckle. But on the tour, one thing I really found interesting was that although the facility itself wasn't some multimillion dollar modern marvel (in fact, it was only air conditioned in a few rooms), the patients still received good care, and quite possibly better, more personal overall care. We also had lunch provided to us here, and I'm just going to stop making you jealous by leaving out the meal details (except for dinner, I'll tell you that we went to Pizza Hut. yum?)
We also visited the old capital city of Ayuthaya today, which had ruins that were quite superb, as far as ruins go, I guess. you can decide:



Okay, well morning is right around the corner, and many long days lie in wait. I'm sorry if I have made your eyes tired from reading, but you know me...
Hope you're keeping everything in line for me in the States. till next time...

Monday, June 14, 2010

CSL - Week 6

This blog is mis-titled, as my 6th week was not spent at the CSL, or at Stetson, or even in Florida for that matter. For the past week, I've been traveling around the deep South (which is further north than Florida ... haha that never gets old :D ) tracing the Civil Rights Movement with students from USF, Stetson Law School, and our very own Stetson undergrad.

We toured Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; Oxford, Mississippi; and Birmingham, Selma, Anniston, and Montgomery, Alabama. We visited numerous Civil Rights museums, and met and shared meals with veterans of the movement, including those who had participated in the lunch counter sit-ins and Freedom Rides. We cried at the motel where MLK, Jr. was murdered and the church in Birmingham where four innocent girls died in a bombing, walked across the bridge that began part of the famous attempted walk from Selma to Montgomery on Bloody Sunday. We ate lots of fried chicken, and drank gallons and gallons of sweet tea (you think I'm kidding?) ... not that I minded.

Amidst the whirlwind of activity, I discovered an entirely new perspective on the Movement, having seen the places where so much history was made and so much freedom gained. Something struck me during the numerous conversations we'd had with the veterans. So many of them didn't realize the vast significance of what they were doing at the time. So many of them understood the potentially devastating consequences of their actions, and yet acted anyway. And so many of them, their fight apparently completed with the passing of the Civil Rights Act, continued on with their lives, having changed history through bravery and community. It made me think. What will future generations say as they look back upon us? What will be the moments that define us - and will we recognize them when they come?

People sacrificed their physical comfort, their safety, their pride, their jobs, their education, even their lives to fight for what they KNEW was right, what they KNEW they had every right to pursue.

And what are we doing?

I will end with three quotations:
"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love."
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
"They said to one another, 'Behold, here cometh the dreamer ... Let us slay him ... and we shall see what becomes of his dreams."

SoS Week 2...Sick but NOT Sick of Service

Soooo, this week was definitely a challenge for me. I woke up the 2nd day of service with the stomach flu and was honestly considering calling out for the day. While holding my phone with my finger on the "send" button ready to call my instructor, I quickly remembered that my student is struggling more and more everyday with her film class, and if she can push through this, then so can I. Once in the class, I began taking notes for her and explained to her and the professor about how I was feeling and thankfully, they were both very understanding. I really believe that God was watching out for me that day. The professor announced that the class would be watching a 2.5 hour movie. Because I can't take notes for my student during the movie, I quietly stepped out of the classroom and sat in a chair outside of the class for the duration of the film. I was able to hear the film and rejoin the class to take notes for her regarding the discussion of the film.

Apart from being sick, the rest of the week was great. I spent much more of my time this week being an assistant to the testing coordinator and one of our counselors. We had an emergency situation occur where a professor didn't send in a college math exam for three students!!! Needless to say, the students were in a complete panic when they came into our office and realized that their exams were MIA. We were able to calm down the students, track down the professor, make our way over to the department, pick up the exams, and allow the students to take the exams in our office. We have special testing accomodations at the FAU Office for Students with Disabilities. Depending on the student's specific disability, students may be offered accomodations such as extra time on exams, an isolated exam room, distraction-reduced settings, typing on a large screen computer (mainly for students with sight problems), orally recording their voice (mainly for students with physical disabilities in with their hands), or having a sign language interpretor write down the student's answers if the student is deaf. I have helped students in ever single one of these situations...except sign language. I wish I could sign!!! Anyways, I have also written for a music student who had a physical disability, since I know how to read music. He is such a talented guy!!! I love being able to help my students succeed in their courses! Working at this office is a blessing, and I'm already looking forward to Week 3.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

CSL - Week 5

Short week. I should really combine weeks 5 and 6, but week 6 has so much to discuss that I feel obligated to separate them.

So.... week 5!

I worked on a bulletin board for SLI, which afforded me the opportunity to learn about the issue-based meetings. I am so excited to participate in those in the upcoming semester! The other two days were spent going to meetings with community partners, brainstorming ways to improve the freshmen Bonner's experience, and developing a form for students interested in community service to fill out in order to assist them in finding their best site.

I'm really excited for the way the CSL is going to work next semester. I think it's going to be so much more efficient and effective. The relationships we're building, the database we're compiling, the systems we're developing ... it's going to make such a difference in helping students find their niche.

The staff next semester is going to be fantastic too. There are so many people who are passionate about their issue areas, who will be well-versed in opportunities, who are helpful and kind... Here's a shout-out to you all: YOU'RE THE BEST!!

Made it to Thailand alive and well!

So, I made it! Taylor Hetherington, your little detour north of the volcano’s got nothing on me! To sum up the length of my travel, I will quote an answer I gave to an American woman in the Tokyo airport before heading to Thailand. She asked how my trip was going, and I replied, “Well, the flights have been good, no delays, but I got up at 4am, and now it’s 1am (Eastern time), and I have 11 more hours to go.” Basically, it was a lot of traveling, but I’m really quite pleased with how relatively smooth everything went.
There were a few things here and there that could be worth mentioning, but it was mostly just 32 hours of reading (Born to Run, by McDougall), watching movies (Young Victoria, The Last Station, Leap Year, Did you Hear about the Morgans, Princess and the Frog…), tv shows (Dexter, How It’s Made, Weird Creatures, Fraiser…), eating (scrumptious airline meals, total of four), playing solitaire (on the iPod, 4 games), and sleeping, all in random orders for various amounts of time, all interrupted by PA’s in multiple languages. On the flight from JAX to Houston, I was able to see oil on the Gulf, which was a little sad. Then on the long flight, I didn’t see a whole lot, mostly because I’m a big wimp and didn’t want to wake everyone in the darkened plane by opening the shade and letting in brilliant light from the Alaskan wilderness below. (although I did muster up the courage once or twice during the flight—the sights of snow capped North American mountains as well as Japan shores were well worth it!) Land Ho!

Once in the Bangkok airport, I experienced my first bout of stress, due to my bag literally being second-to-last out of ≥300 on the carousel, and then me waiting for 20 minutes and having no idea where my group was. I eventually backtracked [a mere 20 meters], and found the program director, who then drove me to the hotel, since the van had already left me behind. Woops! (for the record, I was waiting where I was supposed to wait, they just went to a different spot for some unknown reason…)
Today, in Bangkok (well, in a district just outside of the city), we decided to just take it easy and hit up The Mall, right across from our hotel. It is ridiculous: big, crowded, and SO much stuff crammed inside. No exciting purchases this time around, unless surge protectors and shower shoes are your thing.
In the evening, we went to Doug and Noi Barker’s house (program leaders), where we got Thai massages, ate incredible food, and watched/listened to some great musicians and dancers. I talked to Doug for a long time, and feel like I’ve already learned so much about service work overseas. He has been working internationally as a PA (physician’s assistant) and educator for more than 35 years (got started as a Peace Corps member). Tomorrow, we will learn more about his work when we start orientation and lectures.

As for now, the jet lag is taking its toll, and this pillow is looking mighty fine.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Back to School!


I started my SoS this week, and I can't believe it has been a whole year since I volunteered at Meadowbrook Academy. Last summer, I completed my SoS at this site and learned so much. Although the actual work may not have been that inspiring, the relationships that I formed with the staff members of the school while working with them are ones that I will always cherish. Of course these relationships were already somewhat formed before I began my SoS because I had been a student at Meadowbrook since I was in second grade. Last summer the relationships that I had with the staff members became even stronger, and for that I am so grateful! Needless to say, I was pretty excited to come back and see everyone again.

It was the last week of school so everyone was very busy working on all of the last minute events of the year. My task for this week was to help with the Kindergarten graduation. At Meadowbrook, this is quite a big deal for both the kids and their parents. The graduation is themed as "A Day in Kindergarten" meaning the teacher and the students perform for the parents a small skit or song that relates to each subject they are taught. The students spend much of the second half of the year learning poems, songs, and skits to perform at their graduation. The weeks leading up to the graduation are spent practicing on stage and working on getting everyone ready to graduate. This week I was assigned to help with the backstage work. I worked with three other girls to make sure that each child had their costume/prop and that they were ready to go on stage and show everyone how much they had learned.

Although I was only with these students for a week, it was so much fun to get the chance to work with them even if it was only for a short time. After the graduation was over, many of them told us goodbye and the teacher thanked us for all of our hard work, I guess this just goes to show that it doesn't take long to make an impact.

*Above is a picture of the adorable Kindergarten class right after graduating!


Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Last Day

Yesterday was the last day of school. It was such a bittersweet day. We watched movies, signed yearbooks and shirts and enjoyed each other's company. During the last hour of the day, we packed up the desks into a corner, swept the floor and sat around in a circle. The teacher went around and said one thing about each student in reflection of the year. Needless to say there were tears! One student could not stop them! Poor kid. As each of them walked out the door, I hugged them...some came back for another, and another, and another. I didn't mind at all :)
I am really going to miss my students. They were the first class I worked with since Woodward has been my CLA site. I have learned so much from the them and my experiences. Many of them gave me a sweet sweet note or card thanking me for the year. One student gave me a picture. These small gestures mean the world to me. Even though they may not realize it, I feel a sense of accomplishment because I made some sort of impact on these kids. I gave them my email which I hope they will utilize to keep in touch with me for years to come.
Currently, I am home in PG for a week enjoying days with my family. I head back to DeLand on Wednesday and begin the rest of my SoS at the CSL.

Monday, June 7, 2010

My Last Full Week

The teacher is teaching fifth grade gifted next year and she has to move to a new room. Her students are amazing. Within the forty-five minutes, they packed up all her library books into boxes, labeled them and stacked them in the back of the room...along with other supplies around the classroom. As for me, I've been cleaning and organizing her closet in the pod, sorting her supplies and either putting them away or packing them. As a class, we have been on a mission trying to finish the required tests for each grade level, get grades put in and submitted. We are not sure how we did it, but we accomplished it. The students are a bit rowdy the last couple of weeks. They think that they are done for the year even though there was still much to do. Of course there are the over achievers but many have lost their motivation. Behavior wise, they managed themselves a little less with a few more disciplinary referrals than normal. I guess this is normal, right? We all get antsy towards the end of the year.
This past week, the students had their graduation and dance party. However, I was a little bummed that I could not attend either event due to SLI in Berea, Kentucky. Nonetheless, SLI turned out very well. Rina, Amanda, Savannah and I drove to the airport at 4am (way to early for my liking!) and met up with Tiffany. There we went through security (which I'm proud to say that I didn't get stopped and wanded!), and was headed to our desitination. Berea is a cute little town, much like DeLand. We stayed in Berea College's dorm rooms; our lovely coordinators and directors were forced to move due to a major cockroach problem in their rooms, hallway and bathroom. Gross, I know. This year, we celebrated the 20th Bonnerversary as well as Wayne's retirement. The workshops that I attended contained good information that I hope to implement for this upcoming year. In our congress meeting, Jarian, Amanda B, Tiffany and I came up with an idea for a new project. I'm hoping that I can start preparing so that we can be ready to go in the fall. I also attended a workshop that gave us some creative ideas for reflections which I hope we can do as well!

Kid's Week at the Salvation Army

So most of the kids in the part of Germany that I live in had this past week off of school. During this week the Salvation Army hosts a program (basically a babysitting type of thing) for the kids. This time the week was Roman themed. We played different games with the kids, including catapulting candy into the crowds of children and having them make there own sculptures and carve stuff out of rocks, as well as make rings and other arts and crafts. It was a lot of fun and the kids were amazing (and their German is a bit easier to understand and they don't mind as much when I make mistakes haha) . We took them to a Roman museum (pictures are on facebook) and that was cool and the kids were really interested.

I'm having an awesome time at work and at home. My host family only gets better and better.

Friday, June 4, 2010

SoS Weeks 1 & 2...Getting Situated

So, I didn't realize how incredibly much I have missed volunteering with the FAU Office for Students with Disabilities!!! As soon as I walked into the office, I was flooded with smiling faces, greetings, hand shakes, hugs, and lots of catch-up conversations. :-) I ended up running into a bunch of students who I used to tutor when I was enrolled in FAU High School and was volunteering fot the Disabilities Office for high school hours in order to graduate. I saw one student in particular who I used to tutor in biology, and he used to say he was my big brother and I was his little sister. We were very close...I even met his mom over the years! As soon as he saw me, he ran up to me, gave me a hug, and said, "My little sister is back!" That was an amazing moment! Next, I ran into a girl who is blind who I also used to tutor in biology. As soon as I saw her, I said to her, "Hey girlie, it's Angelina!" She screamed, because she was soooo excited to know that I was back for the summer. Next, I saw two other students who I have been friends with since I was fifteen. Boy, the memories came back as sooon as we all started talking. Now, my past students are all seniors about to graduate from college, and one even is working towards his Master's degree and wants to become a grade school teacher for special needs students. I remember when I was a sophomore in high school and they were sophomores in college...we were growing and learning together as we still continue to do. Enough reminiscing...for now. :-)

Now for my service. I started out taking notes for a middle-aged woman in a Spanish class who was also taking the course with her daughter. I didn't question why she was unable to take notes for herself. I just knew that I was there to help her succeed in a course and to help her earn a higher education....even if its just by taking notes. She seemed pleasant and very thankful for a notetaker. We clicked right away, and I would help her during group discussions and whatnot by helping her formulate what she was trying to say in Spanish, because she seemed a little slow. I just assumed that she had a Learning Disability (LD), because I had previously worked with LD students in the past and am familiar with how they are. She told me she was unable to use her daughters notes, because she doesn't like the way her daughter takes notes. Because the class was only a 6 week course, the class met Monday-Thursday for 4 hours a day...looooong class, but still enjoyable. One day during lunch, she decided to confide in me. I had noticed that she has a scar on the back of her neck, but didn't really connect that with her possible disability. She told me that she has tumors in her brain and her spinal cord and has had surgery after surgery after surgery trying to be tumor/cancer-free, but the horrible buggers kept coming back. She said the doctors estimate she only has 2 months to live. Her goal before she spends time with God is to earn her Bachelor's Degree and spend time with her daughter....this is the LAST course she needs before both her and her daughter graduate. She said the most important thing in the world to her are her children, and because her daughter is in school, she gets the best of both worlds by taking the class with her...her Bachelor's degree and spending time with her daughter. After the first week, I noticed an incredibly abrupt change in her mood and behavior. She would be in the middle of formulating a sentence, and completely forget what she was going to say. I remember a specific example where she was going to ask me a question about the notes, and literally forgot my name, who she was, how to read, etc. Its as if she became a toddler again for 30 seconds. Every time an instance like this happened, she would say, "It's happening again...the tumors are taking control of me." This broke my heart knowing that there was nothing I could do for her except smile and tell her that everything was going to be fine. Surprisingly, she still had a very positive outlook on life.
The next day, I received a call from the Coordinator for Notetaking Services (my volunteer coordinator) saying that my student no longer wanted a notetaker for her Spanish course. When I inquired as to why, Michelle (my volunteer coordinator) told me that Sarah (name changed due to confidentiality) was extremely rude on the phone and hung up on Michelle, but Michelle assured me that she had never acted this way before and is not a rude person. Sarah's doctors informed the office that the tumors were in a place in her brain that controls emotions, so the tumors were literally controlling how she reacted towards people. Because I am no longer Sarah's notetaker, I don't really know how she is doing, but I do know that if God decides to invite her to Heaven in the next 2 months, she will be leaving this Earth in peace with her children and satisified that she earned her Bachelor's degree.

The next chapter of my SoS novel is very positive, in fact. I was reassigned to a Film and Documentary class for a student named Emily (name changed for confidentialy) who is bound to a wheelchair because she is paralyzed from the waist down. Emily also has very little control of her hands, stutters A LOT when she speaks, and takes a while to formulate her thoughts. I truly enjoy taking notes for Emily though, because she has such a happy spirit, great outlook on life, and has the determination to succeed and never lets her disabilities, mental OR physical, get her down. She thanks me everyday after class, and says she'll call me if she has any questions about the notes I took for her, but I haven't received any calls yet. :-) She's very intelligent, and aspires to become a world-reknown journalist someday. I look forward to many more classes with Emily and her joyful ways.

Finally, on the days that I am not a notetaker in class, I am working in the office as a secretary, test proctor, or simply whatever the students need me to do for them. They always say thank you even if I'm just helping them type up a small paragraph due to a physical disability, but what they don't realize is I will never be able to do for them what they do for me. They keep me humble, and make me realize how eternally grateful we should be for being born without any physical or mental impairments. They make me realize that life is too short to not be thankful for every passing moment that we are given. Thanks to my students at the FAU Office for Students with Disabilities, I am given hope, endurance to succeed, and a much more positive outlook on life everday that I interact with the amazing students and staff in this caring and peaceful office. I know for a fact, that even if I'm not doing Summer of Service, I will continually volunteer my time for this office every summer I can. I'm so excited for what the rest of this summer will bring. Thank you!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

CSL SoS - Week 4

I can't believe I'm currently on my fifth week here. It has gone by SO fast.

During week four, I spent most of my time going out into the community to interview our partners. We averaged about four or five appointments per day, which meant our days were insanely busy. I'm thoroughly enjoying this part, mainly because it has been giving me an opportunity to reconnect with some of the partners I haven't seen in a while due to my British expeditions (Brenda at the Neighborhood Center gave me a big hug!!).

Every time I leave an interview, I want to change my service site to that partner. There are so many amazing things going on in this community to support and improve itself. At the same time, there is so much NEED ... it's almost overwhelming. I'm trying to figure out which site I want to work with in the fall, because I feel like I'm yet to find my niche. There are so many great options, but I haven't seen one that screams ME. Which is kind of frustrating. Perhaps with the CBR and with this database project, I'll find that place and get started making a difference.

Little progress was made last week with my CBR project due to our jam-packed schedule. Dr. Schorr looked over the questions I want to use to interview various food assistance agencies and approved them, which was an awesome step. Starting tomorrow, I'll start setting up appointments to meet with those agencies, a step I'm excited/semi-nervous about.

In the evenings, I've been preparing for the upcoming Civil Rights trip by reading dreadfully dull books and making futile attempts at writing the required essays. To be honest, I'm really excited to get this reading over with so I can relax and finally read some books for pleasure. I also can't wait for the trip itself - we get to go so many historically significant places and meet some incredibly influential people from the Civil Rights Movement. That starts Friday, so combine that with the holiday yesterday, and I've got a very short week this week!

Until next week!