Post Graduation AkA the Art of Saying Thank You

After a week of Birthdays, Graduations, Graduation, Birthdays I am back in Indy and starting my 4^th month of service as a VISTA.

I have a lot to be thankful for, all the family that attended my graduation, the congratulations I received, the education I ‘officially obtained’, and the opportunity to continue to learn everyday as VISTA.

I'm really bad at writing thank you notes that don’t sound generic, boxed, and plain. This is probably because I ‘luv’ cliques.

There really is an art to writing the perfect thank you, and working in development I feel like I write an awful lot of thank you’s so I really hope that I’m improving in some way. I just sent one out to one of the sponsors for the Bill of Rights Celebration; it included pictures of the event and everything. Ooo doesn’t that sound glamorous.

All my grad thank you’s are going out in the mail tomorrow and I truly appreciate everyone who’s supported me through my 3.5 years of college as well as everyone who listens to my experiences in Indianapolis. I wouldn’t be here without you!

Get Service

Today I chopped 8 turkeys, covered 24 serving pans, and wrote out 3 days of community agency order forms. I reek of thanksgiving, and it’s May. Gross.

I do have a warm fuzzy feeling inside that I spent my day in direct service. Today might be the day I start my 29 days of giving challenge (http://www.29gifts.org/).

Things I learned in College

As I prepare for my official college graduation I thought it might be fun to share some of the important knowledge I gained throughout the past 120 credit hours, 40 classes, and 4 years.

• It's ok to eat McDonald's everyday if you get out of the car to get it.
• Textbooks bought on Amazon are cheaper but won't arrive till after the first exam.
• There's no need to spend the whole 300 dollars on an ipod, a 10 dollar pair of apple headphones will suffice.
• Professors eat, drink, and have children, and sometimes you might run into them with any one of those components, its OK.
  
• No matter what class you have in the animal science building you will still smell like cow by the end of it.
• Extra credit is rarely worth the effort.
• Never attack Russia during the winter.
• Watching desperate housewives on previously mentioned ipod does not constitute paying attention in stats class.
• All reporters are shady, even the good ones.
• Poetry does not need to rhyme, sound good or make sense.
• The most interesting information on any given day can be found written in chalk on the ground.
• Always take clothes with you to the shower, in case of a fire drill.
• If you lose your keys, don't lose the spare. If its the keys to your dorm room, you are really stupid.
  
• It's not possible to become friends with classmates in a political class during a presidential election.
• People used to live in underwater colonies.
• Vinegar, honey and tea will cure migraines, tonsillitis, the chicken pox, dehydration, athlete's foot, strep throat, pink eye….
• If you remove 32 doors, put all the screws in one box.
• If its 13 degrees outside do not jump in the lake.
• Save early, save often, save save save.
• There are few things more important in life then proper comma usage.
• Four girls need more then three closets.
• When the final is building a 2 foot tall stage flat there are some very excited puppet theatres nearby.
• If you watch a movie about a bouncing ping pong ball it will be on the exam.

Americorps Week '08

This week is Americorps week, a week designed to recognize active and alumni Americorps while actively recruiting fresh blood into the service world.

Personally I really like the "Rosie the Riveter" esck style logo.

In celebration of my service today I got a deliciouso chocolate pastry from my supervisor that was absolutely amazing with my morning coffee.

Theres also a group of VISTA's, myself included, who are going to push back from our normal task of capacity building and do some direct service with a poverty serving organization. We are volunteering for a shift at Second Helpings, an organization that accepts extra food from restaurants and turns it into meals for other poverty serving agencies. They also provide free lunches to VISTA's when ever we are in the area and this is our way of giving back to their organization.

Girls Bill of Rights Week!

Here in Indiana its spring time, the trees are in bloom, flowers sprouting, and there’s no warning of an impending blizzard. I was actually told that I can pack up my sweaters and jackets because I won’t need them again until October. Crazy… there are seasons here…

I finished my correspondence course yesterday meaning I officially have a minor in English to go with my two degrees, that is as long as I pass and the credits transfer in time for graduation. I’ll be back in Colorado for graduation weekend and I’m really excited to see my family and to walk after attending the last few graduations as a program distributor.

My most recent Americorps task has been to work on obtaining sponsorships for the Girls Bill of Rights Week Celebration. At the celebration girls are invited to our office to learn about the six rights that we believe are important for all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. So far so good, I had about 3 weeks to obtain 5 thousand dollars in sponsors, and I’m half way there with a week left. I have about a dozen cold calls to follow up on early next week so I think I’ll get there no problem.

We had a staff training a few days ago to discuss the rights and the advocacy statements that Girls Inc national has created over the years and I really enjoyed contrasting the current rights with the original bill of rights created in the 1940’s

Girls Bill of Rights 1945

• An American Girls has the right to the pursuit of happiness
• She has the right to wholesome companionship, constructive play, and group competition that she may acquire initiative, self reliance, courage, good sportsmanship and self-control.
• She has the right to a healthy body and a well adjusted personality.
• She has the right to know the outdoors.
• She has the right to become familiarly with good literature, drama and music by direct contact with them.
• She has the right, as an adolescent, to the companionship of boy her own age, under wholesome conditions.
• She has the right to train for her future all important job of homemaking and motherhood.
• She has the right to find somewhere in her community wise and understanding guidance by friendly adults, that she may learn to steer a safe course in a world of changing standards.
• She has the right to all these things, not merely because she is a human being, but because… as mother of our future citizens… she will someday hold the most important and responsible job in the world.

Funny thing is, for that time period this was progressive…. The current bill of rights is located online. My next task is to start seeking sponsors for the girls science and math summer camp!

Chipping away....

For the last couple of days and the next two weeks my entire focus has flipped to obtaining five-thousand dollars worth of sponsors for an event in two weeks. I have 77 businesses outlined to approach so I think it should all work out, none the less I really really really hate cold calling people.

The weather is starting to get nice here and we've had a couple of amazing days where you could event sit out in the sun and feel warm. I have heard tell that besides the occasional rainstorm the winter is gone from Indy.

Last weekend I went with a group of friends to see a performance of the Earth Harp at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The Earth Harp consists of thick wires that can be strung from any length to use a building as part of the instrument. The way the harp was set up at the performance I attended had 45 feet from floor to ceiling of harp, placing the audience in the body of the instrument. I liked the harp but the performance left something to be desired. It was entitled "Unlocking the Mayan Code" and I think it fulfilled my culture quota for the next year.

There so many quirky things to do in the city here. So far I've been to the IMA and the flower conservatory and the next thing on my too do list is bar Kurt Vonnegut frequented and a tour of the enormous cemetery... maybe I'm morbid, lol.

Its been a long couple of weeks

I've gotten a little behind on my updates after a couple of crazy weeks.

For St. Patrick's Day I celebrated by heading down to the Indianapolis Canal. The canal cuts through the middle of down town, shedding ambiance and elegance on the court building, historical society and several college apartment complexes. Apparently if you wanted to you could walk the 10 miles from down town to my job, as it runs unobstructed through the city. In honor of Indianapolis' Irish roots each year they begin St. Pats by dyeing the canal a translucent shade of green. The ducks don't seem to notice the difference but the green canal is difficult to miss.

I read an article that mentioned that for the first time n many years they cleaned the canal before the dying ceremony and found two bowling balls, 8 cell phones and an engagement bank. I'm surprised the canal wasn't green before the dye went in.

I took pictures that are still on my camera, once I upload them I will send the out.

As a VISTA one of my tasks is to learn about poverty, in essence by experiencing it for a year should help develop ways to combat it as best I can, even if that is simply by keeping an open mind. Because VISTA's receive a small subsistence allowance, we qualify for food stamps and it is recommended we take advantage of that opportunity. Now settled in I decided last week to begin the process.

Online it looks simple enough. You download the application, fill it out, and return it to your local welfare office. In 30 days you should receive a notice in the mail informing you if you qualify or not. I attempted to download the application, which didn't work, and knowing that since a lot of people don't have the ability to print the application anyways I headed off one afternoon to the nearest welfare office.

When entering the building you are directed to a large waiting room, full of uncomfortable plastic chairs. The 'GateKeepers' sit at a desk labeled information, next to another woman with a 'return forms here sign'. When asking the Gatekeepers were I should pick up the needed paperwork they directed me to a neighboring table full of forms for any kind of request. Of course the form I needed didn't happen to be on the table and they called me back after a few moments of confusion to give me the form that they were stapling when I asked for it.

It took about 15 minutes to put all my information in and I got in line at the return forms here table. Oddly enough that woman didn't want my form and I needed to return it to the un-informational information desk. The Gatekeepers asked me if I wanted to schedule an appointment or wait for the next available one. I scanned the room and decided that it might take an hour or so to get through and that was worth the wait.

The clock ticked by slowly as I wanted for my name to be called, sitting in the plastic chairs that after a few moments began to dig into your sides and make your back ache. Mothers with children joined me in the waiting room and the babies did all they could to remain entertained without crying.

Before I knew it over three hours had ticker by and they began calling people up one by one, giving them individual appointments for not the following day, but a week later. Considering that the next available appointment wasn't even that day it seems silly that they would ask you to wait.

My appointment was scheduled for this morning and I returned to the room full of plastic chairs after signing in. Once again those plastic chairs started to suck the life out of me. As the room overturned I noticed I had not been called and it was almost 2 hours past my original appointment time. I returned to the Gatekeepers and asked if they could check to see if my name had been called and I missed it.

She curtly informed me that she didn't know and had no way to check. She sent an email to my caseworker and told me that there was nothing else she could do and I should sit down.

About ten more minutes when by before a very nice woman with a quiet voice called my name from the front door. Oh I thought, that was the problem, I didn't hear her. Once in the elevator I apologized for not hearing her when she originally called me. She corrected me; she had never come down to get me because she was catching up from yesterday. Oh.

The caseworker reviewed my application, including blue booking my car because if it worth a certain amount they expect you to sell it before receiving benefits. After about 20 minutes of her entering information in she apologized and let me know that nearly 8 hours of sitting in a waiting room had qualified me for 5 dollars of assistance each month. Wow that carton of ice cream was gonna taste great.

She then realized that she had another VISTA that she did benefits for and she backtracked, reviewed their application and corrected mine. The second run through spit out a correct about of dollars for each month.

I was directed to another room of plastic chairs, where I waited for about ten minutes before beginning the process over again. The second woman processed my request through the system and explained what I would be receiving; she then took me to a third room on another floor.

An explanation of how benefits would be received was explained by the third woman. She asked if I was a student. "No, I am an Americorps VISTA. I'm volunteering for the year" "

"Oh. Well don't they pay you?"
"Yes, but it's only a small amount and the recommend we apply for assistance so we can understand where the people we serve are coming from"
"Well why don't you get another job?"
"That's not how VISTA works. You aren't allowed to have another job"
"Oh, well here's your card"
"Um ok, thanks…"

She rode the elevator with me to the first floor and I tried to explain to her why the being a VISTA is a good experience and has a lot of opportunities for learning and growth. I don't think she understood.

In reflection I can understand why it is so difficult for people who depend on assistance to go through that process. There were women trying to balance children and a having to take of time from their job to sit and be treated poorly by people who think they must have some power over the people applying. Overall, most everyone is friendly, and wants to help, you just have to get through the hierarchy first.

On the whole the entire experience was draining, but I gained a new perspective on welfare and the people who have to use it. Mostly it helped me to realize how lucky I have been and how thankful I need to be for the opportunities I have been given.