Poster Project? More like Disaster Project.

So far today I have done nothing except for work on this poster project. The whole time this project has been assigned I thought for sure that it would be easy to create a nice picture and a nice poster and get an easy A on this project. However, after working on this picture all weekend so far I have come to the conclusion that I am going to get an F on this assignment simply because I do not know how to use any picture editing program to save my life. Every time I use a tool it does something different that I do not want it to do. The same tools never do the same thing, and it seems that each time I go to use a tool it wants to perform a different function than what it did last time I used it. I have added in and taken out so many pictures and I now have no clue what I can even do to make this any better. What I have so far is very cheesy and seems simple to make, but I cannot make it any more complex because I simply do not know how to use the editing tool to make it any better. The Aviary program likes to perform different functions every time and it loves to mess up my layers and add in and take out random things from my layers. I would love to make this poster look way cooler and way more complex/diverse, but I simply cannot do that because my skill with this tool is unbelievable low and horrible. I have watched all sorts of videos and tutorials  but the tools never do what they do in the tutorials and my project just ends up getting messed up and looking worse than before. This project could be a very cool one, but I personally hate it because I do not like the idea of me being graded on my skills of using a software that I have 1) never used before and 2) have no skill with.

Community Service and what it means

I personally think that community service has the power to be a great and wonderful tool. I have a longstanding history with community service so I have seen the positive effects that community service can bring about. Throughout my life I have had to get so many hours of community service every year starting in sixth grade when we sort of officially became old enough to do things by ourselves. I had to get hours in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades because I could not pass CCD and become confirmed without these hours. And then, throughout high school, I proceeded to need a minimum of ten hours freshman and sophomore years and twenty-five hours junior and senior years in order to advance to the next grade and to graduate. These minimum were strictly imposed on us and we honestly could not graduate without the required hours. There are numerous true story examples of kids who did not complete their hours and then ended up not graduating. Therefore, that is my background with service.

Because of my longstanding history with service, I feel that I am well educated with it in order to speak this way about it. I personally think that service as great, as I stated earlier. However, I do not think that service is fulfilling its true purpose if it is something that is mandated by someone else. Volunteering is exactly just that, volunteering. If we are required to complete so many hours then that is not necessarily volunteering, now is it? To me, it becomes just another homework assignment that people hate doing. Once this service becomes mandatory, it loses all the characteristics that are supposed to come with it. People do not put forth the amount of effort that an actual volunteer would, and that, in turn, may end up actually hurting the company. Thus, I think it can be a great thing, but I do not think that community service hours should never be imposed upon someone unless court mandated, and they should definitely never be needed to pass a class.

Haunted House Adventures

On Monday, my fraternity, Delta Upsilon, designed and created a haunted house that we set up inside our house in order to raise money for College Mentors for Kids. It was officially declared that we would actually create a haunted house one month before it was actually set up. This, obviously, is a very short time period to begin planning a haunted house. As can be reasonably assumed, there is a lot of stuff that goes into creating a haunted house. All the materials have to be gathered, the design and layout has to be completed, and all the forms have to be completed and confirmed. This meant that we had to work fast, and we also had to still design a great house. During the first 3 1/2 weeks we got the materials, created the design, and completed all the necessary forms. The only thing we did not do was actually start building the haunted house... This meant that we had one weekend to build the entire thing before we opened it on Monday. To make matters worse, this was homecoming weekend so the house had to look great for the alumni. Because of this, we did not even start setting up the house until Sunday morning. We worked tirelessly all day. It was chaotic because everyone was in such a rush to get the thing put together. However, after much hard work, the haunted house was finally complete and was definitely ready for action the next day.

When Monday rolled around we were all very nervous. We did not know exactly how well the whole thing would actually go over. We grossly underestimated its popularity. We were supposed to work from 7-11pm, but we ended up working until the last group came through at 12:15pm; that is how busy the haunted house was. Overall, we raised $3600 and had over 720 people come. The haunted house was a great success and everyone absolutely loved it.  

BINGO!

Today I helped out at the Veteran's Home  by assisting with bingo. This was my first time at the Home actually working, the other times that I have been there I only had my orientation and training. So, as one could imagine, I was pretty nervous about working for my first time because I generally am not very good at jumping into to new environments or interacting with people that I have never met before. When I first got there, I walked to the volunteer officer, got my badge, and signed it. I then headed up to the auditorium to assist with bingo. There were a plethora of other volunteers there that were very warm and welcoming and helped me fit right in. Every person that I talked to was nice, informative, and helpful. They directed me towards my next tasks and always helped me along the way. I was never left uninformed or completely clueless. This was a great beginning because it definitely allowed me to open up much faster than I normally would have.

Once I opened up fully I could complete my tasks much easier and way smoother. The first task that I undertook was to put the $2 bingo winnings into envelopes. This was not a rigorous task by any means, but it was good because it helped me meet all the other volunteers and become acquainted with them. After this, I bring patients from their rooms to the auditorium for bingo. This task was easy as well, but it allowed me to become acquainted with the types of people that live here and that I am going to be around. It also helped me learn the layout of the rather confusing labyrinth of a building. I met some very outspoken and outgoing people, and I also met some very inward and introverted people. These people sort of upset me because I did not particularly know how to act around them. But over time, I began to feel a lot more comfortable and laid back. Overall, it was a great day for many reasons. The main one being that I opened up more and I now feel a lot more comfortable in the Home and working with the residents.

Greek Service Day

This weekend I partook in Greek Service Day. This day consisted of all the fraternities and sororities getting together and going about doing community service projects that were assigned to them. There were many different community service events going on that day, and no two groups went to the same place. The day began at 9 am and ended at 2 pm. It was a great way to get an easy five community service hours.

                My group boarded a bus at 9 am and headed off to Lafayette to assist in a charity run/walk for the disabled. Upon arrival we assisted with blocking off the roads that the run was going to take place on. We stood there and made sure no cars entered the lane so that the runners could make their way around the track safely. After we did that for an hour we assisted with the assortment of games that they had set up for those that attended, both kids and adults. We assisted there for most of the day doing various activities and moving all over the place. Once the games drew to a close they had the awards ceremony. After the ceremony we helped clean up the plaza by picking up all the tables, breaking down the tents, packing up boxes, and moving cones. The day, overall was a great success on the part of the charity organization and all the volunteers involved.

                I think that Greek Service Day is a great idea. There are so many Greek members and it is an easy way to get all these people to come volunteer. A volunteer group this large should most definitely be utilized way more often. It is such an effective way to get so much service done in one day and help out a lot of places that do not necessarily draw that many volunteers.