Let's see what else I was able to do in January...I was able to go to Atlanta with work and had a great time. I was in Atlanta for my training back in August for 4 days but didn't step foot out into the city because my bed at the Marriott was just too comfy to leave (This had only been a week after returning from NCCC in which I spent about 8 months total sleeping on an air mattress...) There was a donor who offered for 25 Big Brothers Big Sisters matches to take a trip to Atlanta the Saturday before Martin Luther King Day. And lucky for me staff is invited to go! We were able to go to the MLK monument which was cool because the bigs were able to teach their littles a little bit about what the day was all about. Then we headed to the aquarium where I absolutely fell in love and could spend the whole day there just staring at the amazement that exsists there. Just love it. And then we went to the World of Coke which in all honesty, kinda sucks. But, hey, got to see it so that's pretty cool. I got to taste a bunch of Coca Cola products from around the world, there is a lot of nasty ones, but I personally think apple soda is a brilliant idea. And then we ended the day by going to The Varsity for dinner. This was one of the things I had so many people tell me I needed to do while in the city. It is quite an experience. I had to wait in line about 20 minutes to order my food and I got a burger, onion rings and their "orange drink" which is just like Hi-C orange, but it was all very delicious and I'm glad I was able to experience Atlanta properly after failing to appreciate it when I went for training.
Then on Martin Luther King Jr Day us VISTAs were all team leaders for groups of people to go out and do a service project. I was so happy to get out and do some direct service again finally. But what did I get to do? I worked in a thrift store dusting shelves and putting price tags on clothes (sound a bit familiar Fire 6?) and I had a group of high schoolers who honestly just didn't want to be there. They were a part of an AmeriCorps group in which they go out and tutor kids in school, and as I asked them why they were here today they basically all agreed they were there "For the hours" and didn't want to answer any of my questions about MLK and made me really frustrated. I could have sat there for an hour talking to them about how important community service is and why they should be wanting to do this, but I held it in and let them go. I just got very frustrated that they felt they were there by requirement only. I wanted to instill in them what AmeriCorps is all about and that it is more than a resume builder (which that ain't too shabby either). But it made me think that maybe this is a good way to tie together my love for working with kids and my newly found love for AmeriCorps and community service. We'll see!
A while ago a mom in our program told us she was a part of a bike club and they wanted to raise money for us and mentioned they would like someone representing BBBS at their event on a Saturday. My co-worker had asked her the obvious questions, Where is the event? When should we be there? What is the dress code?...the answer was The Clarion, at 9:00pm (and that we would be going on after the lingerie show...red flag, right!?) , cocktail attire. So the Clarion is in a sketchy part of the city, so I told my Co-worker I'd go with her to be safe. So I start driving in and I call her and I say "This is a sketchy area" and she told me "just wait till you get to the parking lot"...I pull in and the parking lot is so full and there are biker people walking around everywhere! I pull into a parking lot behind the hotel and was quite honestly afraid to get out of my car. So we go to go inside and the place is surrounded by about 20+ FBI...not a good sign going into it...and the woman told us we would want to stay where we were cause the lingerie show was happening now and we probably didn't want to go back there right now. So we waited around as all these big motorcycle guys were walking around and women in some of the sluttiest outfits I've seen (a lot of sequence and sparkles...and a lot of skin...) So it comes time for us to accept our check and my brave brave co-worker agrees to be the one to go up on stage and accept the check (she was surrounded by about 20 of these women, looking a little out of place in her cute sundress and cardigan (I was wearing a sweater dress, also not blending in very well)) and she did a much better job than I ever could do! And we got out of there as fast as we could...not exactly appropriate for us to be there, next time we will know to just have them send us a check and that we are not available on a Saturday at 9pm after a lingerie show. Quite an interesting experience and don't think I'll be joining a bike club anytime soon...
A lot of you might have seen my FB status related to me MCing our volutneer appreciation banquet. We won some money from the United Way and had to use that money toward volunteers so we decided since January was National Mentoring Month we should through a little thank you banquet for our volunteers. So I spent most of the month planning out this banquet and trying to get as many people to this event as possible. I wasn't quite sure how the event was going to go but it went so amazingly. We had it at a restaurant called City Grill which is a fairly fancy place, so it was nice to be able to treat our volutneers to such delicious food. We had it setup that we had some people speak (a couple of board members, a Big Brother who has been with our program since 1999 and our CEO), showed a slideshow, and presented our Big Brother and Big Sister of the year with awards and videos of their little brother and sister thanking them (it was super cute). What got to me the most was the Big Brother that spoke. He told his story of how he has had 4 little brothers with our program and is currently in his 4th match right now. He still talks to 2 of his other little brothers, one even has a family of his own now. One of his little brothers asked him why he was in a job that he didn't enjoy and told him "you are always telling me to follow my dreams, what is your dream?" and he said how he's always wanted to be a teacher and they made a pact that they would both follow their dreams. The Big Brother is now a teacher at Spartanburg High School, and that little brother is a student there and he wants to become a lawyer. I sat there with my jaw dropped and told myself "this is exactly why I am here and am doing what I am doing." Had a little bit of a revelation and a boost that I had been needing to appreciate this opportunity I have been given to give back and improve a community that so deserves it. Especially for the children in this community who But I did a perfectly fine joare benefiting from a mentor they otherwise wouldn't have. b of MCing. I had a whole script written out to help me but I ended up not having to use it because I forced myself to introduce myself to every person who walked into the room so I wasn't talking to a bunch of strangers. So I got up there and let my personality shine and did a pretty good job for someone who absolutely dreads speaking in front of large groups of people. We got many compliments as to how well the event all came together, so I was very excited to hear that.
What's up next for me here at good ole Big Brothers Big Sisters is we are needing to make a certain number of matches by April in order to get a really big grant which would be amazing, so we are working our butts off to get as many matches made as possible. But also we have our biggest fundraising event coming up called Bowl for Kids Sake. Some of you might have heard of it before, I remember hearing about it when I was back in Maine, the BBBS there does one as well. No matter where you are you can be a part of this fundrasing event for your local BBBS by either getting a team together and raising money or finding out how you can donate. Enough of my promoting my organization. But I'm very excited for this event and hope we do a decent job of raising some money!
In other news, not much else has been going on here in good ole Spartanburg. I have started looking into what the heck I'm going to do with my life come August (yes, it is only 6 months away that I have to figure out the next chapter of my life, NBD...). It is an amazing yet scary thing that I can honestly go anywhere I want. I have considered Denver, DC, Maine, and staying here in SC as to WHERE I would go. But the other part (kinda a big part) is WHAT I want to do. Not only do I need to decide between a) Going back to school or B) Finding a job, I also need to figure out what I would go to school for, or what kind of job I'm looking for. I've been saying how it's crazy that I'm basically complaining that I can do anything with my life right now. But that is so gosh darn intimidating! If you know me, you know I don't like choices and having to make decisions, so when it's as open ended as these options, I'm going a little cray cray down here. So that is going to be a long and stressful 6 months coming up, but I know I'll be fine. I just have absolutely no idea where I'll end up because a year ago I certainly never would have thought in a millioin years I'd be living in South Carolina...I still honestly can't believe it.
As I look back at the last year and a half of my life I don't regret any of it. I have grown so much as a person and was exactly what I needed. 2 years ago I never would have said "Why, yes, I would love to move to Denver and travel every 2 months and not know what kind of conditions I would be living in" or "South Carolina is a place I've always wanted to live! I don't know anyone at all but sure, I'll pack everything I own and move there, I love meeting new people". But now with pure confidence I can say I invite new opportunities, new places and new people into my life. I love the idea of adventures and the unknown (or am at least much more comfotable with them) now. I am excited to see where I end up a year from now and hope that I can say that I love where I am, love the people I've surrounded myself with and most importantly am happy and content with what I am doing with my life.
Well. That was much more than I expected to share in this blog entry! But I'm sure it will have made a lot of you happy to know that I am doing just fine and am happy for the most part with what I am doing. If anyone has any feedback or suggestions as to what they think I should do or where I should go come August please feel free to text/call/email/facebook/skype me. (there are many ways to get a hold of me) Thanks all for reading, if you made it this far, I'll be very impressed and thanks for caring enough about me to read all my junk.
I will end with the poem that our Big Brother shared with us at our Volunteer Appreciation Banquet.
Our Deepest Fear
by Marieann Williamson
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.
And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.
And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
That is all. You is all nice and I like you (well, most of you)
