Since I couldn't attend the October 25th meeting, I watched the video "Hope for the Holidays." As a leader there are a variety of ways in which you can inspire change and hope in people's lives. Leaders set the tone for a group. If the leader is inspirational and believes in his group, then the group will perform better. Ultimately, since leaders are in a position of authority, thier attitude influences the attitudes of individuals in the group.

Since I couldn't attend the October 25th meeting, I watched the video "Hope for the Holidays." As a leader there are a variety of ways in which you can inspire change and hope in people's lives. Leaders set the tone for a group. If the leader is inspirational and believes in his group, then the group will perform better. Ultimately, since leaders are in a position of authority, thier attitude influences the attitudes of individuals in the group.

I recently helped serve at the Saturday Evening Meal Program (SEMP) at First Lutheran Church. They serve supper to homeless and low income families and individuals. It was a surprisingly humbling experience as is all my interactions with less fortunate people. Even with their poor disposition, the majority of them would smile as I said hello to them and gave them a piece of cake. One thing that surprised was how many people had ear buds in their ears. I don't know if they were for their phones or a music player, but I don't understand how they could afford a music player or a cell phone if they can't afford food. I had some very interesting conversations with the guests including one man who didn't want a cookie because he had no teeth. He then proceeded to laugh and show me his mouth which wasn't necessary because I believed him. I'm looking forward to serving at SEMP again in the spring.

On Sunday I volunteered at Wrapping for a Cause in the mall. This is put on through the organization called ARC of East Central Iowa. It is a nonprofit agency serving people with disabilities and their families. The Arc relies on volunteers so that they are able to provide events that bring together people in the community. This was a fun volunteer opportunity that only involved wrapping presents for the holidays!

The last Crimson & Gold meeting was "Serving as a Leader". We learned about the history of service learning and some of the options for service learning at Coe. This was a good meeting for the last one because it left us with something to apply to our own life and to take away from the Crimson part of this course. Although I volunteer once in awhile, I feel that this is an area that I need to improve on in my life. I think it is valuable and beneficial to volunteer in your life.

I thought the "Campus Cafe" meeting was an important one. At this meeting we discussed important changes that we would like to see take place. Some of the changes were short term and others were more long term. In my period at Coe I would like to see some of the changes that were listed for short term brought about. One such issue was that of better internet connections. Although our group represents a small portion of the student body, it would be more helpful to get the input of more students. Overall, I hope that our suggestions will help in improving the overall Coe experience.

The activity "How to Fail Brilliantly" was my favorite meeting of the whole CCG program. In this meeting we learned the basic techniques of juggling. I thought this was very cool, and after learning the basics I practiced my juggling the next two nights. By the time of the next meeting I could juggle pretty proficiently. Besides the fact that this was a lot of fun it also taught me some important lessons. You will inevitably fail a lot in life, but how you respond is whats important. You should not be hard on yourself, because everyone fails, instead just learn from your mistakes.

I found the "Guerilla Philanthropy" meeting for CCG to be very interesting. It was amazing how the two people in the video we watched devoted their time to helping others, without any benefit for themselves. We can all learn from this lesson. It teaches us to appreciate the opportunities and priveleges we have, and also the importance of giving back to your community and helping those in need.

One of my favorite activities with Crimson & Gold was the "ABCs of Communication." During this meeting we played a fighter pilot game. In this game we couldn't talk, and we could only pass notes to the person in front of us in order to communicate. Our goal was to accomplish a task that only the front person was aware of by passing notes. It was more challenging than I expected. I had a lot of fun with this activity. It also taught me the importance of communication and sharing your individual goals with the group so you are on the same page as the whole group.

My first activity with Crimson & Gold was "Earthquake!" I didn't really know what to expect at this meeting and was kind of nervous about joining this group. However, when we split up into groups everyone was very inclusive, open, and fun to be with. They made me feel welcome immediately. The activity was also very interesting. We had to list in order some actions we would take if we were trapped after an earthquake. Not only did it teach me about how to survive an earthquake, but also how to work effectively in a group. It taught me the importance of synergy, because our group worked more together we ended up beating out the other group in the earthquake survival contest.

Today Emily and I volunteered at Lindale Mall wrapping gifts. All of the money was donated to the Arc which is an organization that helps families with disabilities such as down syndrome or cerebral palsy. This was a fun way to help out the community. Because of the bad weather lately, it wasn't extremely busy but as the Christmas season draws to a close, I think it will become increasingly popular.

Thrusday was the last Crimsion and Gold of the semester and I felt that it was a good way to end it. We talked about the history of service and how leaders act. Service is obviously a large part of Crimsion and Gold and it is always good to hear how it evolved. It made me feel that our service is more worthwhile to know that in some places in the world service is not something of the ordinary. We also discused service opportunities on campus and in the community. I think that there are numerous opportunities in a good variety.