Hey Beardy

I just want to say that I so appreciate this class now that I look back at how much we learned and accomplished.  I'm glad for the selfless heart behind our leadership, and I'm thankful to be in a Program that cares about making us prepared for a fulfilling adult life.  What a blessing to have a reason to work hard in school and keep dreaming!

 Well, if you click on the link below, you'll  find my V-log presentation!  My practice video was about 12 minutes, and I couldn't even watch it because it was so boring and I rattled on way too much, so I re-wrote my notes and cut off the nonsense.  I figured the small package packs the bigger punch in this case.
 
http://youtu.be/ZARARz1OM7E

^  ^  ^

Check it.

Lame Turkey

Monday we have a blog-video due about this semester, what we learned about civic engagement, the steps we took toward finding a platform, and how it affected us.  I think the biggest thing that really struck me this semester is that volunteerism isn't always completely selfless.  It's more like voting for the President.  When you don't vote in an election, you're saying, "What I vote doesn't count.  In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't affect me.  What happens, happens."  It's kind of the same with volunteerism.  When you don't get civilly engaged, you're saying, "What do those in need have to do with me?  I'm doing fine; let them take care of themselves."  By choosing defeatism and apathy towards making a difference, you're not only choosing ignorance, but also cutting yourself off from a vein of rewards.  Because the truth is, what you do, does count.  Helping one kid in poverty realize he has a purpose and a chance in life could mean one drive-by shooting, suicide, or burglary avoided.

My platform, which I will either start up volunteering at over Christmas Break or maybe wait to start until the semester starts, is all about saving lives, and I will talk about it in my presentation.  My service this semester was pretty random, from running a 5K to helping restore a historical house to working at the Soup Kitchen,  but I believe the most rewarding experiences come from things that move you to passion: Something that makes you want to talk about it.  The ongoing theme this semester has been to volunteer in something you enjoy, and it won't be a chore to you. 

 

 

Nutella Boyfriend

Our very last speaker spoke on a book by Robert K. Greenlead,  who wrote about servant-leadership, which he said came from a natural feeling of wanting to somehow serve.  I don't think this feeling ever really comes to the surface in some people, who want only to serve themselves, but  I suppose there can only be so many good leaders in the world.  Anyway, he believed that this feeling was followed by a conscious choice to lead.  This goes along with what Mr. Rusevlyan spoke on a while back, becasue it has the principles of making decisions based on how it affects others:

The test our speaker presented us with is whther those firsr served, then led, are either benfited or not fiurther deperived.  Perhaps they will, themselves, become servants.  This abides by the  concept of preserving what is good and then making it better: "Responsible people build; they do not destroy."   This also holds to our forum's theme of sticking to our g uns and dreaming about how to help the world around us, no matter how daunting or time-consuming, because it is worth it.  He said, "Not much happens without a dream. 

The enemy of this way of thinking, we were told, lies in the strong natural servants who either have the potential to lead but do not, or choose to follow a non-servant, or someone who is into himself.  That inactive or misled person of potential is at fault, even if he stays out of the limelight and even if his actions are someone else's idea, simply because he shrugged off his responsibilty. 

Red Pumps, White Lace

One thing that I have noticed throughout this semester's Civic Engagment forum (and other Honors classes) is that people far more experienced than we echo each other's opinion on the importance of adapting our futures to the present.  By that, I mean that our world is changing, and the careers that we grew up hearing about are not necessarily open for hire now that the world of adulthood is open to us.  Now our professors advise us to be computer-savvies, math geeks, and graphic design artists because that is what our world is asking for.  This is also a reflection of America's falling status in scientific exploration on a global level - where we used to shine, our nation has sunk into the background of research and innovation. 

I didn't like this when I heard it last year, muttering,  "Not all of us are born to think in numbers."  But now I kind of get it.  You don't necessarily have to change your major to excel; you just have to get creative with what you are passionate about.  Make what you have to offer relevent! 

Anyway!  Our last speaker told us that when we get out, we will not get jobs in our majors. She said that the world is changing so much, what we should major in is change!  The main thing we can do to succeed in our journeys to a satisfying career is to be personable, likeable, and adaptable, "because that's how screwy the world is."  I can live with that :)     
 

Batman Never Loses

Tonight, we heard from John Rusevlyan, the immediate past President of the Florence Rotary Club.  What is rotary, you ask?  Well, I just looked it up for all of our enjoyment, and it describes something that is able to turn around on an axis.  Okay.

So the origins of this community club reminds me a little of Junior League, just the men's version.  It was founded just four years later by Paul Harris, and was described as a place "where men from different professions could gather for fellowship."  Well isn't that cute?  Thus, it became the world's first service club.  So, I guess Junior League isn't considered a club.

Mr. Rusevlyan encouraged us to do a few things:
1) Be consistent in what you do and how you do it.
There should be no identity facade among your personal, business, and community life.
2)  Have a service approach in all aspects of your life.  When you make decisions with the perspective of how it will affect everyone around you, you strip yourself of ignorance and actually become a happier person.  If you aren't sure how to live this way...
3) Try the 4-way Test! The things we do must be:

• True
• Fair to all
• Builds good will and better friendships
• Beneficial to all

Rosie the Riveter

Happy, happy Halloween!!

Bradley with Billy Reid was our last Forum speaker, and let me just say: My room mate and I visited that store and it is expensive!  I am pretty sure I saw a navy-blue knit sweater in there for $900.  They also had really stylish crocheted ties. 

The reasons behind their lofty design quo was addressed in class: Bradley, Billy Reid's digital design director told us that their competition lies outside our quad.  They're winning prestigious awards here in the Shoals while staying in competition globally with New York-style menswear.  So I guess Florence is pretty lucky to have them here, guys.

 I really liked the whole geographically-relevent quality to this guy and the store he represents in our downtown.  This is someone who affect things outside of his own town, and still manages to help his community.  Bradley himself is concerned with civic engagement when it comes to preserving historic sites within the Shoals.  He joined the city historical board because it helps him to gain control of what goes on in downtown Florence by keeping it unique and valuable - no Wal Marts,  for example.  By helping out with this, he hops to become a better leader and follower in his personal and business life.  How commendable!

He also acknowledged that although he is making progress, he still has a long way to go and is willing to take and adapt the wisdom that is passed on to those more experienced:  "I am a young man, and I still have a lot to learn myself."  He is trying to educate himself on what his elders consider the best way s to carry out orders of business.  He's all about absorbing and learning.  He also has to be at the top of his game to convinced everyone that his idea is a good idea, which can be hard in his creative field.  One pointer?  You generate interest with fun, crazy ideas that capture people.   

Super-Short Sunday

I think speakers are showing a little bit more apathy toward our Forum class this semester than they did our freshman year.  Well, the feeling's mutual, buddy.  One day, when a speaker didn't show up, instead of canceling class, Vince gave us his perspective on civic engagement and asked some of us on our progress this semester.  He gave us an explanation as to why we're even worrying about volunteering, and mentioned that the mean reason people shirk their civil responsibility is that they think it has nothing to do with them.  

My progress has been slow, but last week I finally found where I am supposed to be!  What surprised me is that I can literally walk to the site from where I live.  I'll be working with Shoals Sav-a-Life, which focuses on encouraging women not to abort their babies, but to give them a chance at life by keeping them or allowing other families to adopt them.  I actually teared up a couple of times while touring the facility, because I could really feel the reality of what these women go through, and the huge consequences of the choices they make.  These women made the first decision, which began the life inside them; they then choose whether to cut off that life or allow it to continue by not aborting it. I realize not all pregancies are the woman's fault, but choosing to kill a baby does not correct one rapist's actions; it pulls the woman down to his level.  It is not fair that she has to have a baby, but it is no more fair to murder a developing child.

Anyway, the only condition is that I have to get three references, besides the applications I already filled out.  That's not a problem, I just think it will take a while to actually get those reference letters back.  Meaning longer to wait to get my hours in. I think I can make my hours anyway thanks to other volunteer things I'm doing, but it would be nice to not have to hunt down the leaders of those and get them to sign.  But oh well, we'll see.