blog post 9

Wow.  I have absolutely no clue what to write about since I finished my volunteer hours a couple weeks ago.  For those out there who still read these things (which I know is like everybody in the class haha) I unfortunately haven’t met with my conversation partner in the past few weeks.  It’s unfortunate because I truly considered her to be a friend of mine and, like a normal person, I enjoy spending time with my friends.  Since I’m staying here over the summer I will hopefully get to see her then. 

I just thought, what if my community service somehow influenced someone else’s decision to volunteer at a location of their choosing.  Wouldn’t that be cool?  And then the same effect may take hold on someone else in a sort of chain reaction.  I guess that is what is meant by the phrase [One person can change the world]…or something like that.

The more I think about this volunteering stuff the more I think that it takes person to person interaction to effect a change somewhere somehow.  You can’t do it through a computer game or simulation or through gamification or some other made up technique.  You just need plain human interaction.  Face to face contact is the best way to let your personality come out and it is the best way for you to express your thoughts and feelings.  If you are giving a presentation is it better over skype or in person?  If you ask a girl out is it better over text or in person?  Which is more likely to produce a favorable response?  Now do I think some of what society can do with technology is neat?  Yes and no.  Some of it is neat but then again some of it is weird and unnecessary.  Cody talked to us about internet groups who fight to keep information free on the internet and participate in illegal acts of vandalism, and maybe terrorism (depending on how you look at it), and a picture he showed us that day stuck out in my head.  It was a picture of people in suits and Guy Faux masks holding up a sign that said “Don’t worry we are from the internet.”  At first I thought it was funny but I also thought it was stupid.  And the more I thought about the kinds of activities they did I came to think of that as stupid also.  If they want to accomplish something they should be going out into their local communities and persuading the people around them, face to face, to take their side and then they will see the change they want.

blog post 8

I’m going to keep it real.  Volunteering sucks sometimes.  A couple of Fridays ago I spent four hours helping out the international center set up for its annual fundraiser (the International Food Bazaar).  Immediately after I got out of class I headed for the international center.  Me and a few other volunteers then began loading up a few trucks with all the supplies we would need to set up at Saint Toms.  This didn’t take long at all, and mislead some of us to think that putting it all up would be a breeze.  About three hours later I left, it was 7pm, and they still weren’t done setting up.  On the walk home from Saint Toms it began to rain and I was headed to the other side of campus (hence my saying “Volunteering sucks”).  While I was working I spoke with a couple of guys who looked like they were in their mid to late twenties.  They told me that they were taking a communications class and that they were volunteering because it was also a service learning course.  Much like our blogs they had to write essays or journals each week.  So when I heard that I was thankful that I wasn’t taking that course.

After all that work I put into helping set up for the event I didn’t get to go because I had work.  Then this week I got an email from the people who run global café saying that it was going to be a chill event where we could just come and relax and hang out.  There was going to be free food which sounded pretty good but I didn’t end up going because I had homework.  I felt kind of bad too because I told myself that I would keep going to the events even if I didn’t need the hours.  However, I guess that is what next year is for.  So on the other hand Volunteering doesn’t suck sometimes.  In fact, it can be fun and exciting and the majority of my volunteering this year had taught me this.  I shouldn’t let a bad experience discourage me.  I guess next time I won’t volunteer to help setup something of that magnitude or I can just start my volunteering earlier so I don’t have to cram at the end of the semester if it’s for a class or something.

blog post 7

Unfortunately I did not get to meet with my conversation partner this week due to some pregnancy issues.  But I did get to volunteer at the international center on Friday.  Since it was the last “global café” it was a chill week.  Instead of having a student organization come to present we just hosted a karaoke knight.  Since not as many people as usual showed up we, the volunteers, had to provide most of the entertainment.  I saw it coming earlier that day when I had read the email that told us what we were going to be doing that night.  After a lot of coaxing by my peers I finally got up on the mic and sang smooth criminal by Michael Jackson.  Being the amazing singer that I am I had no problem hitting the high notes and after my performance I received a thunderous round of applause.  Actually I don’t think I sang that well but I had fun doing it with the other volunteers and even though I didn’t want to do it at first I ended up singing a few more songs.  Soon after I was finished a guy named James walked in.  Next thing I knew he had a guitar in his hand and he was playing “never say never,” not by Justin Beiber but rather by the fray.  He was surprisingly talented and everyone was impressed by his performance.  However, before that, the student who runs global café, Ashwin, also played us a song.  I was shocked that he knew how to play because I had seen him play a guitar before and I didn’t think he was very good.  He told us afterwards that he taught himself how to play which, to a musician such as me, was very impressive.  We even had one of the student volunteers play a song on the piano.  Sadly, no one else knew how to play an instrument or how to do anything else so we ended the final global café of the year.  I will definitely miss global café because it has been so much fun.  I think I might even attend in the future years to see the presentations, if not to catch up with the acquaintances I made there.