Community Partners

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Hey Everyone!

So today I will be discussing community partners within my class. I am going to be talking about the Day by Day Warming Shelter in Oshkosh as well as BEAMING in Neenah.

The Day by Day Warming Shelter is the one I chose to help out with throughout this semester. It's close to campus and an all-around convenient kind of thing to do. Plus, growing up I never really knew of anyone homeless where I live. Sure, I have heard about stories of them being in my city, but never really saw or met someone who didn't have a home.

The interesting thing about the warming shelter is that it is designated to take anyone despite being rejected from another place.

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That really warms my heart, but it's also heartbreaking because the shelter does only have, I believe, twenty beds available. I think it's really nice that the staff and the volunteers go out of their way to make the shelter feel right at home. They clothe, feed, and shower them. It's almost a family environment.

The second community partner I will be writing about is BEAMING. BEAMING is sort of tied to my family since I have a cousin who has gone through the program since he was really little. I even told one of the women who came into class about it and she told me that he got a business card and helped out in the barn this summer. It was nice to know because I haven't seen my autistic cousin for about two years now.

BEAMING aims to help kids and adults with special needs relax. To help them relax, they have the person ride a horse. I think it's really unique because it incorporates something that people in our society don't really get to see all that much. The children, besides riding horses, get to have fun and do activities with the volunteers. The program leaders have a theme every week and the activities usually coincide with that.

I'm thoroughly excited to see where my community service experience leads from here. I'm interested to see what kinds of things I learn about myself as well.
~Amanda

Gift Giving

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Hello Everyone!

Today I am going to be discussing the act of gift giving. I chose to go around the topic of our modern culture opposed to the medieval one.

Gift giving, I feel, is one of those symbolic things. Many people may not think it is, but in the art of giving a gift, we show our appreciation to this person. The gift may have just been a joke for a White Elephant Christmas Party, but the fact that you brought a gift still shows you care.

In class, we discussed a "Dear Abby" article whether or not it was okay to bring a gift to an engagement party that was announced on Facebook. I think it's okay not to bring a gift. I say this only because if they are inviting you via FACEBOOK, you shouldn't have to bring a gift. The invitation was impersonal, so it gives you the right to be the same way. In modern culture, especially on the technology side of things, we have given up on doing things that go the extra mile. The article was just a small example of that, the host could have easily spent a few minutes making a card on the internet and printing a photo announcement and mailing them.

In Medieval times, gift giving was seen as a form of status. These people liked to out-do each other. Our society is nothing like that anymore. I like that because if someone gave a gift that was better than mine, I wouldn't be mad. I just didn't know what to get them is all. Also, gift giving is a sort of ritual to celebrate that particular person whether it be their birthday or something of a milestone.

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Gift giving in today's society isn't to show each other that we're better than one another, but it shows that we care about one another. The art of gift giving is also about not being impersonal, you want to get that person something that will be memorable and not just "I liked it, so I got it for you!" So make gifts mean something, even if it is in reference to an inside joke.

~Amanda

Adjustment and Patience

Hello Everyone!

Today I am posed with a question:

What volunteer experiences or community experiences have I engaged in? What did you do? What did you learn? 

I'd like to begin by saying that my family is not the typical "community" type of family. My Dad is the person who works a lot, often working overtime on the weekend to bring in more income, and my mom would rather fulfill her time watching Netflix shows. My family has always been the ones to do what they can to survive and stay in our home. We also like comfort, we have always been the family to enjoy each other's company and live comfortably.

I myself have dived out into my local Appleton community. The one that really rings a bell is when I was a sophomore or junior in high school. I volunteered to go to an elementary school on a weekend and teach local children Spanish. We did a few fun activities and helped them with snack time. It was fun, I definitely don't regret that experience, but I did learn that Spanish was not my forte! Neither was teaching young, restless children. I give props to the teachers who teach 4-14 year-olds. They are a tough crowd!

This particular experience has taught me to adjust. Adjusting has always been something I had to get used to, especially after my grandmother passed away Spring 2012. My whole life I grew up next door to this woman and suddenly, she wasn't there anymore. Bringing me back to my point, adjusting in this particular situation aided me in helping these 20 - 30 students getting the most out of this Saturday that I could. Especially when they were cooped up in this small area for most of the day.

I also recall a second experience that started when I was in middle school. I went to a Kindergarten through eighth grade school, a Charter School to be more specific, and I was always one to volunteer myself for things. Most of the time, I often regretted signing myself up for these tasks, but other times it was quite enjoyable. This particular one or two incidents would be food service. 

My elementary/middle school is not a large school, there is one main lunch lady and she has to deal with the lunch numbers, etc. So to help her, the school enlists sixth through eighth grade help serving the younger minds. I was always eager to help the lunch lady because I had heard rumors about free lunch. I didn't just sign up for the free food (who doesn't love free food, though?!?), I signed up because I wanted to help out. I had always been one to help out in the best way I can even if I didn't have to.

From serving lunch once, twice, maybe five days a week, I learned to be patient. Little kids, especially five to six-year-old's are at the most unpredictable age. They don't know if they want green beans, they say they will and then continue pushing them around their plate until recess is called. Trust me, I've been there. It's happened to me.

A final thing I learned from this was that I just need to go with the flow. I can't control if I accidentally knock a can of peaches over with my elbow, it was in my way. We were in a cramped little space. There was about a foot and a half between the table and the wall. Not a lot of room. Anyway, I learned going with the flow is what more people should live by. Like today, I forgot my umbrella and it was raining buckets outside. I didn't sweat the small stuff. I just let myself get soaked as I walked the fifteen to twenty minute (very long) walk to my dorm.

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To quote New Girl, yes, "Schmidt" happens. It's about going with the flow and not letting things affect my daily life style. I take this to heart, we can't just control everything that goes on every single day of our lives. Things go wrong. That's life.

I look forward to getting into the community more, I am excited to see what kinds of different people are out there and what I learn from this experience. The more I get out into the world, the more I learn. 

Until next time,
~Amanda