Kou Week 1

Week 1 of my summer of service started on June 8, 2012 (last Friday). I went on a civil rights trip with Stetson University College of Law for one week. We went to Memphis, Nashville, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham, and Atlanta. We visited some historic places such as the 16th street Baptist Church and Kelly Ingram Park. We also got the chance to talk to some of the people who participated in the civil rights movement. It's amazing how the participants of the movement stuck with the strategy of non-violence even when they were being beaten and spat on.

What made me really open my eyes was how frightened these people are for our generation. Many of them stressed the fact that we have access to news 24/7 but yet and still many of us fail to educate ourselves. Instead of fighting for a social cause, we spend our time on Facebook or texting. One of the Freedom Riders also blamed our lack of education on the school system. The Freedom Rider's daughter was assigned to write an essay on the Freedom Rides and her daughter received an F on the essay. The teacher said that the student was a liar and the stuff in her essay never happened. The student's mother had to come to the school and tell the teacher that she was a Freedom Rider and the events in the essay actually happened.

This trip was an intellectual experience that motivated me to want to do something and further instilled in me the value of helping others fight for equality. Anyone who feels that everyone should have an equal chance should go on this trip.

Lauren - Week 1

Hey everyone!

This summer has been a whirlwind trying to find a service site, as unimaginable as that may be. I thought I was going to be working at a reading camp, which fell through then I went through 2 other sites trying to get things set up, but finally I found Hlifax Hospice.

Monday June 11th I started for the first time at Halifax Hospice working in the kitchen preparing meals for the patients. I have gotten to meet countless amounts of other volunteers, and have also started working to help make the volunteer department more electronically friendly.

Alot of what I have been doing has included cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for patients and then cleaning up the dishes and the kitchen. It is heartbreaking to see some of the patients when I am delivering their meals, however I know that by doing the little things and making their meals look presentable and beautiful it makes their days just a little bit brighter as well.

Courtney Week 2

This one is a bit late but it's from SLI which happened June 4-7th. We woke up at literally the crack of dawn and met at the CCE to travel to Carson-Newman College in Tennessee.  We flew into Knoxville and from there took the "funniest" car ride into Carson-Newman. The conference was awesome (except the dorm rooms but you really can't complain about free)! We had a great time learning Bonner chants, watching talent shows, and learning more about B-Love. Michael, Scarlett and I came up with some really great ideas for next year and I think it's great that we all have our own areas of focus. Not only do we have our own projects but we were able to work closely to plan out our entire year together. I think that this time was very important for us as a group.
Some of the most memorable moments were just spending time with our leadership group and enjoying Amanda Nix before she leaves us. Those times are so important to us as an organization. Here are a couple of videos I think you'll appreciate! One is an original song titled 'Bonner Love' by Rachel Yenko-Martinka which I think you'll all hear a lot of this year! Another is a video made by Carson-Newman titled 'St*ff Bonners Say'. Both of these are great and I hope you watch!

Jay- Week 1

      I arrived at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp last Friday, June 8th. At first I was unbelievably nervous about what kind of people I would be working with. I was part of the first wave of counselors to arrive, the lifeguards. We had to arrive early to do extra training in order to get our certification. Slowly but surely all twenty two of us arrived on campus. To all of our surprise by the end of the first night all twenty two of us had become one family, we were a unit. Now that we are on our seventh day at camp,  have spent countless hours in classroom lectures, in-water training, and late night study/practice sessions, it seems we have all been best friends for years. Last night the unit directors threw us a lifeguard graduation ceremony in honor of us passing all of our tests and exams. It was an awesome, and incredibly fun way to finish out our first phase of camp. Now today we start all of the preparation work. We have to clean the pools, beaches, and some other parts of campus in preparation for the students. On Monday the rest of the counselors will be here! However, the campers will not be here until June twenty-seventh! This seems like SUCH a long time!!! There is SO much information for us to learn, and so many jobs to be done in preparation.
      Despite the long wait, time is flying by extremely fast! Despite the regimented wake up, meal, and sleep schedule, time has become one big blur. I can not distinguish events that happened yesterday from events which occurred on day one!
      Well I have to get back to my family now, they need me for some tall people required work!!!

Darina Week 1

Today was my first day at Food & Friends Inc. “The mission of Food & Friends is to foster a community caring for men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses by preparing and delivering specialized meals and groceries in conjunction with nutrition counseling” (official Food & Friends web). Another volunteer and I took the University bus to the Metro and then a shuttle from the Metro to the Food & Friends building. We were greeted by friendly staff and joined a quick orientation being given to a group of students from Ohio State University who are volunteering there for the week. We compiled personal meal packages for individuals based on their dietary restrictions or preferences. Cleanliness is very important! These packages are going to be delivered to people tomorrow by volunteer drivers. Some individuals have very restricted diets because they may be diabetic, vegetarian, have poor kidney function, can only eat soft or puree foods, can only eat mild foods, etc. We also met with our supervisor and talked more about the organization over lunch. Afterwards we did some more work in the kitchen and worked with a group of young students from Pennsylvania who were on a missionary trip. I am glad I get to meet and talk to volunteers from all over the nation. In addition, we get a small but cozy space in the office with a computer. There was a handmade sign on my desk that welcomed me! :D These first two weeks are what are known as “boot camp”. We should be learning various duties within the organization by taking part in them. Tomorrow we will be accompanying one of the delivery drivers and will get to bring meals to the doorsteps of many individuals. Later in the week we get to meet with other staff, volunteers, and dietitians.  I can’t wait!!! :D

Courtney Week 1

This summer, I'm doing a lot of different work over for my Summer of Service. I'm starting out at Woodward Avenue Elementary school to finish off the school year with the class I volunteer with during the year.  The past two weeks have been really crazy with the kids. I've been going for full days and helping out with everything.  I help the girls during lessons with reading and assignments. We have some ESE children that need to have their tests read to them, so I work on that as well.  I do A LOT of grading, but that's what my teacher needs so it's worth it.  Since it's the end of the year, the kids are constantly busy with parties and other events that are outside the classroom so we've been really flexible. 
I've really enjoyed getting to work with the girls on a daily basis now, which is something I don't get the opportunity to do throughout the year because of time.  I have made a great relationship with one little girl who I plan to work with over summer.  I am also working on setting up a position with Haven Recovery and I've been trying to fill out all of the paperwork with them now.  It's slow going though because of fingerprints, employee paperwork, and finding a specific job for me to do.  Hopefully by the time I get back from SLI we'll be ready to go!

Week 1- Jarian Martinez

This week I started out in the Cancer Center of North Broward Medical Center (the local hospital in my hometown). I learned how the chart system worked, how to find them in the file room, and how to refile the patient charts. I also ran the phones, helping out the patients that called with problems and such. The second day I made excel templates for the whole hospital's PMRs (performance maintenance ratios). I spent most of the whole day in the administrations office making templates and becoming familarized with what each department looks for in their performances. The third day I was assigned with the task of organizing the file room by taking out the old files and sending them to medical records. Once that is done, I will place all the charts in order by their numbers and add in all of the charts that have spilled over to the overflow cabinet. I also learned how to do the secretarial position so that I can help get the charts flowing faster and the patients in and out of the office quicker. The secretary position includes scheduling appointments, adding in patient exams, and copying prescriptions to file in the charts. It was crazy getting into the workforce like that, working 8am-5pm Monday through Friday. I am excited, though, for week two where I am already used to the work that I will be doing.