I thought the meeting where we brainstormed ideas and plans for the future of goal was interesting. I hope that some of our ideas are put forth and put into effect so that we can witness the changes on campus. I found that it was easy to brainstorm of stuff that students wanted in five or ten years but found it difficult to find changes in the next 2 years that could be accomplished. I thought it was a good exercise and hope to see some of our ideas on campus in a couple of years.

Yesterday in the last crimson and gold meeting for the year we had a guest speaker Emily Saltzman which is the volunteer coordinator here on Coe Campus. We learned about the history of volunteering and what it means to be a volunteer. I find volunteer work rewarding and its a positve energy boost. I think that its great that it is a requirement on capus to have so many volunteer hours because it is a rewarding experience.

I finished off my volunteer hours by continuing to go back to Jane Boyd. I really enjoy spending time and getting to know all the kids in the after school program. Last time I went, we painted and watched a movie. I also got to help a few kids with their homework which I really enjoyed. I intend to continue going to Jane Boyd. It is obvious that they are in desperate need of volunteers, and I would really like to get to know all the children even better; they are all amazing.

Learning how to fail brilliantly was a fun and exciting experience. I enjoyed watching the film about the famous conductor who had a revolutionary approach to teaching. I believe that if you think that you will get the best out of others than many times you will. I found it interesting that he even had a positive saying for when someone failed! Overall, I really learned a great deal from this session.

I enjoyed volunteering for the sleep out for the homeless. I worked with the man in charge of the whole event. While we were taping boxes and getting things ready we discussed the event. I was really impressed by the fact that he seemed committed to seeing the work he was doing for the homeless grow. He was incredibly passionate and when he talked about all of the things that he had done to get ready for the event, he seemed energize and enthusiastic to share with me. I learned that the more excited a leader is to guide a group of people, the more that they are able to accomplish. Overall, I found my volunteering experience to be very rewarding.

I really enjoyed learning about the fish philosophy. I realized that my attitude as a leader does impact how I lead others. No matter what the task is, if I keep a positive attitude then not only will my experience be more enjoyable but so will the experience of others around me. Overall, it is a philosophy that will help not only in leadership roles but also in day to day living.

I recently took the Jung Personality Test because I missed the first session of Crimson and Gold. The personality test said that I am INTJ. This means that I moderately expressed introvert, intuitive personality, thinking personality, and judging personality. It says that people with the INTJ personality type are perfectionists, which I tend to be. It also stated that INTJ personality would be most successful in the science or engineering fields so it makes sense that I am majoring in nursing. Although I may not follow some of the ideas behind INTJ, it was interesting to find out what personality type I am.

I really enjoyed last Thursday's session to come up with projects for campus improvement. I only wish that something like this had been done my first year here. I am a senior now, so it was a really activity but I probably won't see much of it come to fruition. I think something like this should be more widespread. If they did it every year and to a broader base of students, it would help generate more ideas. Nonetheless it was a cool activity and the free drinks were especially nice. The last session of this program seems like it will be cool, but I am really looking forward to the speakers that will be coming.

I do not think that as a child I had to deal much with racism. I do not even think that when I was in third grade I really understood the concept of racism. I am multiracial, so I have felt like I was a part of everything. Seeing some of the action of the children in Coe Friends make me realize that there is definitely an issue with racism in America, even though there are people in this country that try and deny it.
There is this one boy in the program who is caucasian, only one of three caucasian students in the program of 16 kids. This little boy is constantly picked on by the other children because he is white. I see how they constantly make fun of him, never ceasing to make him feel hurt in some way or another. Last Thursday it just broke my heart when the children were leaving. This little boy went to the back of the line before they left and was actually crying because that is how hurt he was by the comments made to him by the other boys in Coe Friends. I actually almost began to cry when I saw this. It really shocked me that the boys would single out this little boy because he was white. They do not make fun of the other two caucasian students, but they tend to always be picking on this particular little boy. I have to the leader of Coe Friends, but am not really sure about how to approach this situation, especially because I absolutely hate confrontations. I know that the problem will not resolve itself and there is something that I need to do, but I am not sure how to approach this issue.

Every Thursday I volunteer with the group Coe Friends. The group of third grade students never cease to amaze me. I have previously volunteered with students, but these children are much different from the children that I have worked with previously. I usually tend to work with younger aged children, which might also factor into why I had never really worked with children like these. The act almost like miniadults, wanting to tell everyone what to do and how to do it. My little Johnson buddy, Mashyla, is very cute, but I have come to learn that she is much more than what I thought she was going to be; it thought that she was going to be very shy and soft spoken. She is not shy at all and is one of the loudest kids in the group. She is constantly yelling at the top of the lungs, sometimes wanting to have screaming contests with the other kids. I tend to feel guilty when I have to scold her for breaking the rules, but I know that she will not learn how to follow the rules if I do not inforce them for her.
And then we will sit down and she and I will have these immensely deep conversations. She will tell me about her family and her day at school. There have been a few times that she has not shown up at Coe Friends because she has had a bad day; she does not see that when she had a bad day that she should feel like she can come to Coe Friends because we are supposed to be there not only to have fun with them, but also to make them feel like they have a place where they are welcome to share their feelings about anything, whether it be about having a bad day or having gotten a good score on a test.

Jane Boyd

I started volunteering at Jane Boyd a couple of weeks ago, and I really like it. At first, it was a bit overwhelming. Tons of children EVERYWHERE! However, I have been there twice, and I am actually taking a liking to it. I enjoy helping the kids with their homework, and doing art projects with them. I think the art room is where I am going to continue to volunteer. I like art, and the kids are a little bit more calm in there. I intend to go back at least once a week depending upon my schedule.

HOW FASCINATING!
The juggling/how fascinating session, has definitely been one of my favorites. I agree with every single one of the ideas in the video. It really made me think of the times I stressed out about petty things, and how I really shouldn't take myself so seriously! I also liked his teaching philosophy. I definitely think Coe should look into it. :)

I recently wrote a paper that was obviously not going anywhere. I tried to revise and re word, and it just wasn't working. In the end I saved it under, "The Most Fascinating Paper of Al

The juggling was also very fun, and despite the fact that I wouldn't consider myself an expert in juggling, I think I may be getting the hang of it.

I really enjoyed Crimson and Gold last session. It was nice to see what everyone wanted from Coe. Most of the stuff that was said was along the lines of renovations, and new facilities. The ideas that I found most compelling where those about classes we wanted offered, programs we wanted implemented, and organizations/clubs we wanted started. I noticed that a lot of people had many of the same ideas. I think it will be really interesting to see how many actually come to pass, before we leave Coe. The free drink from The Pub was also a nice addition. :)

I have a few things to talk about. First, the session we had a few weeks ago, the communication one with the supposed jet simulation, was kind of boring. I didn't really learn anything new. We reinforced the importance of proper communication and the difficulties that can arise, but it sort of felt a bit like a waste of time. The videos we saw from Random 1 were very interesting. It certainly made me want to go out and do something. This most recent session's video with Ben Zander was very intriguing as well. He made some brilliant points and I wish more people would watch it, because a lot of it was true.
I have one more thing to discuss. I did the recycling day of service for a bit on Saturday, and I can definitely see some problems with the system. The recycling program should be given more work study students. They are understaffed, so the bins we emptied were overflowing. I worked in Voorhees, where the recycling is in a closet labeled waste and recycling. There is no waste bin in it, so this should be changed. We ran into quite a lot of rubbish thrown in the recycling bins, and I think part of it might be because of the way it is labeled. Also, there should be better education as to what can be recycled. We found a few items that were not in fact recyclable that were in the bins, and while I appreciate the sentiment and the desire to recycle, we should make clear what can be recycled and what cannot. On the flip side, I am sure there are many things that are not recycled that can be. Overall, it was a very eye-opening experience and a good time.