Welcome! We are excited to have a fun, new, and different leadership program this year. First year students will be participating in the Crimson Program and upperclassmen will be participating in the Gold Program. Both programs will be responsible to design a citizenship project together. A citizenship project is a service or advocacy project, which correlates with a problem on our campus or in society. If you completed the Gold Program last year under the old structure, you will have the opportunity to graduate with honors this year. I look forward to working with you all and reading your wonderful responses!!

A few weeks ago, three upperclassmen, Katie Roger, Mitchell Lincoln, and Lucas Novotany, came to talk to us about leadership at Coe. This was very influential to see how right here in our community we can try to make a difference. It is not easy, and it takes some time management and hard work to achieve this status but they showed that it is worth it. They also touched on what kinds of leaders they are, from the class President and club involvement leader, to the day to day life leader. This person leads by example, they are not always in the spotlight, but they are noticed and their peers follow them. All of these leaders are needed in the community and do make a difference. It was great to hear from peers here at Coe who can relate to our situations better than a CEO from a large company.

I enjoyed the session about Big Brothers Big Sisters by Linda Henecke. She is a Coe graduate who has made a full time career off of a company that was never around a few decades ago. She showed how to have a passion for what we do in our lives. It was also interesting to see how much money it takes to run a program like this one and where all of the money comes from. I like how they show the pictures of the children waiting for a potential brother/sister in their lobby because it does help to show why they are there. I also think it is sad that there are more boys waiting for a brother which takes longer for a match to come up. She is a motivated individual and I enjoyed listening to her speak.

I just got off the phone with Normand Cartier. He was the man in the film Lost in Woonsocket. This weekend, he will be in Cedar Rapids speaking at the screening of the film. I have been organizing this since June and it feels great for the day to finally come. This of course means I am feeling the pressure of making this event a success. As I have been fundraising, advertising, and meeting with people, I am very encouraged to hear how much people are looking forward to seeing this film. At the same time, some days I feel like there will be a lot of people coming, and I may have to figure out what to do with very large crowds, but other days I don't think many people will show up at all. People continuously tell me how apathetic the community is and how hard it is to get people to come to an event like this. I am hoping that putting up 400 posters, playing announcements on the radio, having articles in the Gazette, and having KCRG cover the story will help fill the seats on Saturday. Saturday April 19th 9:30am and 10:00am Collins Road Theater 1462 Twixt Town Road, Marion.

Erik Albinson taught me a lot of things I didn't know. I had never really thought too much about what advantages I have for just being a white male. Of course, I had heard about all the racism that has taken place in America. However, I was apparently nieve to think that it doesn't happen as much anymore and that it was mostly in the past. Over spring break, I saw the movie Beyond the Gates. (http://beyondthegates-movie.com/) Please watch the trailer. It probes the question "What would you risk to make a difference?". It shows the genocide in Rwanda with two Catholic Americans trapped in the middle trying to save lives. No one in the theatre could hold back their emotions. It really made me think about how useless "hate" is. Why do we hate people we don't know? Where do those ideas and motives come from that cause people to murder others just because of their race or ethnicity? Why?...Why?

Linda Henecke has quite the giving spirit. I have been praying that God would show me where he wants me and how he wants me to work for him. It's refreshing to see people like Linda who have already found that. Everytime I see someone who is giving their heart to help others, I always think, "I wish I could be like them." The best part is as I say that more and more, it becomes, "I want to be like them" then, "I think I could be like them", now it's "What can I do right now to become someone like them" and "I know that I need to be like them". That was all a lot of incoherent rambling in order for me to say that the most important goal in my life is to change people's lives and show them how amazing they can be with God in their life. After college, I plan on doing some mission work. Then, I want to go to seminary or bible college and be a youth pastor.

I really enjoyed Diana Patten's presentation. She really helped to show what qualities a leader needs to have. As I am taking on more and more leadership roles, the resources of others is becoming my greatest asset. I need to know how I can use other members of the group to their fullest ability rather than me trying to do everything myself. I am becoming better at delegating. I also agree with her that Apollo 13 is a wonderful film. It is incredible to think about how well those leaders reacted. They wouldn't accept "We can't do it" as an answer. They had to find a way to bring those men back, and they did. They were able to think on their feet quickly, delegate properly, and problem solve using all their resources.

When I went to volunteer at the elementary school today, it was a little different. Instead of working with just one kindergarten student, I got two. It was bit more difficult because being so young they didn't listen to well. My goal was to keep them on task and to follow the rules. It was a little difficult, but fun once I told them we were going to be playing Word BINGO if they behaved. That seemed to do the trick. Playing the game was fun, because even though they thought it was just a game they were actually learning new words. It was fun helping them read the new words and it made me smile to see the one boy that I have been working with all semester speak more English than he has before.

The presentation Diana Patten gave was very helpful. I found out about Career Services which will be very helpful in the future. She talked about the different types of leaders there are, and what key elements make up a leader. I think my favorite part was the trust activity we did. I was the one who was leading the person with their eyes closed. It made me happy that the person trusted me and we got through the maze just fine. I learned though, that my instructions had to be very clear, and I had to be confident in what I was saying otherwise my partner would be a little skeptical when taking steps.

Volunteering in General:
All in all, I don't feel as though my volunteer experience was as well-rounded as it should have been. Although I do enjoy sticking with one organization and concentrating my time and effort on them, I think I should have spent more time exploring all of the volunteer opportunities that were out there. In the end, I found an excellent organization, Jane Boyd, that I look forward to working with next year and the years to come.

Involvement on Coe Campus:
Another one of the Crimson and Gold Sessions I really enjoyed this semester was the one that Katie Rogers spoke at concerning campus involvement. I have been rather involved for my first year at college, but there is always more that I want to be involved in. Issues such as time management and different ways of being a leader were appropriately addressed. It was nice to hear about the Coe experience from the upperclassmen. It was both relatable and helpful.

File Sorting:
I am starting a new volunteer project to finish out my hours for this semester. I will be volunteering at Foundation 2 with file sorting. It sounds extraordinarily boring at first. However, it turns out that the organization has thousands of files of people they have helped in the past that need to be looked through. I had never heard of Foundation 2 before I decided to do my volunteer hours there. They actually have a relatively broad category of services. They do crisis help for both youth and adults. They help homeless families obtain food, and they help children moving out of their homes for the first time find decent appartments.

Diversity:
I believe my favorite Crimson and Gold session this year was the one that Erik Albinson spoke at concerning diversity. The topic of diversity on Coe's campus is actually something I had a discussion about with a group of people the previous night, and his talk emphasized some of the things we had discussed. I am really interested in getting more involved in the diversity movements on Coe's campus, and I am hoping I will have enough time next year to do just that.

Jane Boyd:
I am continuing to go to Jane Boyd this semester. I have allready been back 6 times. I really enjoy every time I go. I really love the kids. They are a bit crazy, but I can handle it. I am currently working on a project with Jane Boyd in attempt to implement an art program. It is currently on hold until the fall, but I have made the appropriate contacts and I have my plan of action. The art program I want to start will allow the kids to create their own projects and put them on showcase in order to raise money for Jane Boyd. I am extremely excited!

The presentation that Erik Albinson gave was really intersting. The pictures he showed were really shocking, and it's amazing to see that there are people out there who are so closed minded. I think a good thing to take out of the presentation is to be open minded to anything, and don't fear the unknown.

Erik shared a story about how he became friends with someone while he was an RA at college, and his friend had never been friends with anyone from a different race. I think that is a great example of stepping out of your comfort zone to learn more about the world and about other cultures.

I've been working with ELL students at an elementary school here in Cedar Rapids, and I've really enjoyed the experience. One particular event that was fun, was helping a class build a city. The class and I walked around the neighborhood by the school, and identified key things that are needed in a neighborhood to make it safe. The kids pointed out a hospital, fire station, and police station. It was really fun helping them out. One thing that I really enjoyed is that while walking with the class, one little boy said that in the city he wanted to put a building for recycling. I never knew that kids that young would even think about that. I also noticed that while we were walking this same little boy was picking up trash that he saw. It was just nice to see kids take in interest in trying to help keep the city clean.

I thought that the last CCG session we had about Big Brothers Big Sisters was really interesting. I think it was good to learn all the behind the scenes stuff that goes on in order to make the program work. I was also very impressed at how many companies donate money to the program because it shows that a lot of people think it is important. I really enjoyed how the speaker gave different ideas in order to promote the programs, and she gave good tips on how to be an effective leader. Seeing as how I like working with kids, I think it would be very fun to have a little sister or brother that way I could hopefully have a positive impact on their life.

Last night was my sixth meeting at Crimson and Gold and Linda Henecke was there to talk to us about Big Brothers, Big Sisters a volunteer program that she runs. She told us to do something that we were passionate about and follow that dream. Her stories were really interesting especially how the program is continuing to grow and her own personal stories with the program. I participate in the Lunch Buddies program at Polke elementary which is associated with this program so it was neat to hear the history of the program and listen to her views about leadership

I really enjoyed the session with Diana Patten a few months ago. She had an intriguing presentation that was very active and informative. Leaders come in many shapes and sizes and she showed us that very well today. I had not previously known the numerous leadership roles so this was exciting to see. She is also a member of the Career Services team and told us about that as well, which was very informative for me. We ended by having an obstacle course that involved a blindfold. This would have been really challenging if the person being blindfolded did not have someone there to guide them. This was a great exercise to show how much a team needs reliability and most of all trust.

Over Spring Break this year, I went to New Orleans to help rebuild houses with a group of students. I went down there with the mentality that we were going to get a lot done and change the city. In reality, the city changed me. This city was nearly destroyed but what I enjoyed the most was seeing the light in places I never expected. Listening to some of the survivors' stories put things into perspective for me. We have all heard the statistics of how many people died and how many houses were destroyed, but now I know that these people are just like you and me. Some had lived in their house almost their whole life until Katrina came in and left nothing but memories. Of all the volunteer work that I have done in my life, I felt like this is was a true service to our society. We spent a week putting flooring into the house but I feel like I have done so much more. If anyone has the opportunity to travel to the gulf coast to see the destruction, I suggest to take the chance.

Ken Morris’s presentation was fascinating. I did not know a whole lot about energy plants. He articulately wove in information about his power plant with his leadership experience. Morris had some really valuable information about being a leader. It was clear that he had read books on the subject and also had hands on experience. Having graduated from Coe, Morris offered insights regarding getting involved and becoming a leader on campus. His perspective, having already graduated from Coe was incredibly valuable.

I went to the University of Iowa to participate in polling. The purpose of the poll was to see American’s opinions regarding presidential candidates. It was an interesting experience as some people had some weird responses to the questions. I also volunteered again to enter post-caucus polls. Volunteering was a great way to learn more about politics, outside of the classroom.

Diana Patten’s presentation was a wonderful learning experience. Her information about different leadership styles proved to be very informative. Her presentation enabled us to learn more about her leadership experience and recognize our own leadership experiences. The obstacle course that she had for us at the end was a great culminating of activity.

I really enjoyed Erik's presentation. I found the messages of the white supremacists to be shocking. I honestly thought that the KKK was a thing of the past. It was eye-opening to realize that they are still around and actively recruiting members. In a day and age where we consider ourselves to a racially integrated and welcoming society, it was appalling to realize that people are racist. I was inspired to see what I could do to help improve this situation.

I made another trip to Mission of Hope this last Saturday to volunteer for a couple hours. I hadn't been there in a while, so I was amazed when I was welcomed in by Pastor Barb with a warm smile and a hug! She was so excited to have the three of us volunteers there. Again, we did not accomplish much. She had a tour group coming in and the two people I brought along joined them since they had not been to Mission of Hope before. I answered the phone and cleaned up a bit. Then we all went to see the Mission of Hope 24 hour shelter house. It was so nice. Mission of Hope really is a great organization and the two people I took there really enjoyed it. I feel that just by connecting them to Mission of Hope (they are already planning on going back) I did more than any amount of work I could have accomplished Saturday afternoon.

A few weeks ago I attended the presentation by Erik Albinson. I had heard this presentation before in RA training, but it was not any less moving. He touches on some really hard, deep-down scary issues. One could spend a lifetime learning about these and hoping to understand them. He also brought up other points, too.

One theory he talks about I find very interesting: the broken window theory. If one window in a building is broken and is not fixed, eventually all the windows will be broken. The story he shared was were a mayor decreased crime in a large city by 70% by simply painting the subway trains every morning to eliminate the graffiti and arresting those who jumped over the toll wheels.

I have always believed that small acts make giant impacts, and this incident definitely confirms that. By offering a small gesture of kindness or a simple act of leadership, we can have a lasting effect on the world around us. This idea really makes me happy. It also makes me wonder why there are so many problems with hate and crime. Supposedly it could all be prevented by a few simple gestures. This seems to be a thought process that could go round and round in circles forever.

For my hours of community service for this semester I have been working as a Big Brother, Big Sister and I meet with my Little once a week. I love how excited my Little gets to see me, because it gives me so much joy that I'm making an impact on her life. I try to find fun things for us to do like coloring or making projects but also helping her with homework or other things she's stuggling with. I've really enjoyed meeting with my Little and I'm sad that my time is almost up with our school year nearing the end, but I look forward to starting up my visits again in the Fall.

Today Erik Albinson came to talk to us about making a difference in the world. We talked about very difficult issues like oppresion and race. His presentation was amazing and shocking. In my Human Relations class we are learning about similar issues that involve race and ways that we can help stop discrimination from happening on campus and in classrooms. I think that these are very important issues to address and make aware of problems are society still faces today.

When Robert Temple came in to talk to us about leadership roles he shared about running a Nuclear Power Plant. I think running a Nuclear Power Plant is a huge responsibility and I was really impressed on his role as the supervisor of the plant. I think the most important thing I took away from his speech is leadership is something that is hard to define and there are always different definitions on what leadership means. But I feel that it is important for each person to define what they believe leadership to be.

I just returned from New Orleans on a mission trip with twenty other students from Coe this spring break. The power that a trip like this can have on a person is beyond belief. If you take the time to listen to the community of New Orleans they have many powerful words to share and so much trust and hope for what little they have and how much they have been through. The little things that don't go just right in life don't matter so much when you witness a place of such devastation. What hurt the most was that I was in Biloxi two years ago and when I went down this last week I was expecting a dramatic change. A community starting to rebuild instead I saw some areas that were partially re-built and most areas that looked like a hurricane had just went through yesterday. I was very disappointed and frustrated at what had NOT happened in the past two years. I am still trying to understand why. When I first got there I was furious but after a few days I realized that all I could do is work my hardest while I am down here try and come back as much as possible and most importantly come back and tell America that the south is far from being rebuilt and they need our help. Much of the city looks like a third world country and that should NOT happen in America. Therefore I want to spread the word that devoted volunteers and leaders are needed to help rebuild because the people need you and appreciate every nail that is put in and every board that is put up!

Wow, Erik Albinson had an amazing presentation that he presented today. He brought to my attention so many things that I had never thought about. The points that he made and in the ways that he did so were absolutly amazing. I do not feel that someone could criticize how he discussed this very difficult topic. I was very moved by his speech and as a new addition to Residents Life it helped show me the opportunities that I have ahead of myself with the postion I will be holding.

Thursday nights speech from Robert Temple was very interesting. Learning about the nuclear power plant that he runs was exciting. I never knew how much went into running a nuclear power plant before or even what they really did. He had many new takes on what holding a leadership role is. He was a firm believer in that there is no true definition for a leader and I agree with him on that. Leadership is not something that you can put into one sentence it is the type of character that you portray and the life that you live. Each person has their own way of being a leader. He also talked about his career and how he got to where he is now and he said that all the leadership opportunities that he participated in helped him get where he was but being a leader doesn't automatically mean that you are going to get that job/position that you want it is everything put together that makes you qualified.

Diana Patten was a very informative and exciting speaker. For one she taught me a lot about the career services office that I did not previously know. I look forward to using their resources that are available in order to progress in my career. The activity that she did for us was very interesting and involved a great deal of trust and when you have a leadership role it is important to have trust in your peers. Her power point made many good points on what being a leader is and is not. She also pointed out how many different types of leaders there are and that was a new perspective that I had not looked at ever before. Going through high school I always thought that a leader meant that you had to have a higher position but it does not mean that at all and she made this very clear in her speech.

I thought that Katie Roger did an excellent job speaking. It really inspired me to get more involved in campus activities. Seeing people that are just like me so involved in Coe College helped me know that I can be part of all of it too. All of her props were excellent things to bring with her to help us visualize her speech and keep in fresh in our minds. Also having Lucas and Mitchell was nice to have other perspectives because all of them had different leadership involvement. It was great to hear all three of their stories and how their involvement at Coe has shaped their leadership skills.

I really enjoyed the session where Katie Roger came in to talk to us. Its good to have students from Coe relate a message to us because they know what were going through and they've been in our shoes. I really liked what Mitchell said, where being a leader doesn't have to be a defined role like being the president of a club (doesn't require a title) but it can mean just being involved and trying a bunch of new things. And I think thats really important to know. From this session I learned a lot about starting new clubs or organizations on campus and how you can get funding for those organziations

This exercise showed that people can accomplish more when they work together. This is because when I combined my answers with other people I improved my score. This exercise was very important because in life so many things that we do are with groups. If you want to be successful in life you must be able to work with other people.

Ben Zander was the most positive man I have ever seen. He was more concerned with the process of learning rather than grades. It would be great if all teachers would be like Zander, because if that was the case we would not have to worry about grades. This would be great because in college grades put a lot of pressure on students.

These videos showed how important it can be just to go out of your way and help one person. It shows that you can change peoples life. The video when the two guys helped the cook was my favorite, because it just showed that someone can turn their life around with the help of other people. In the future I will try to help people that may be struggling with life.

My favorite session was the "How to Fail Brilliantly", this is because I learned how to juggle that night. After leaving the session I was addicted to learn to juggle. I ended up practicing all night, and it payed off because with all the practice I was able to juggle 3 balls at a time. This session also gave me a different perspective on how to fail but keep a possitive attitude. In the past I have always been very negative when I failed at anything.

I have always considered myself a leader and am continually placing myself in leadership positions. But this last semester, I seemed to hit a slump. I wanted to be excited and involved, but I just didn't quite feel like my heart was in it. I became less involved around campus and kind of lost. Tonight Diana Patten and her "Leadership: Landmines, Lessons and Life" presentation really got me going again. Leading my blind, burnt partner around the tipped chairs and deadly Little Debbie's was a lot of fun. I felt the thrill and exhilaration that accompanies leadership and helping people that has not been present for me this year. It was that--heck yes I can accomplish things--feeling. It was awesome.

When attending Bob Untiedt's 'MLK, Jr,. and Why I Find a "Day of Service" Inappropriate', I expected a presentation much different then the one given. I had never heard about the two different types of volunteering--prophetic and pastoral. I realized that my volunteering consists of pastoral work. Prophetic volunteering seems much more difficult, but also necessary. I hope to participate in more prophetic work in the future.

Last weekend I volunteered at Mission of Hope. I organized this volunteer opportunity for Alpha Lambda Delta members and there were three of us members who made it. Mission of Hope is a Christian based mission for ex-convicts. People can come for meals and worship throughout the week as well as pick up food and essential clothing. We were told that we could help clean, organize or bake cookies. Upon arrive, we met the founder of the mission--Pastor Barb, and received a tour/brief history that lasted an hour and a half! When we were finally sent to work, we were able to bake nearly 180 chocolate chip cookies to be served after worship services later that weekend.
Many of the volunteers at the mission are also people who utilize it's facilities. We met one particular woman that day named Cindy. Cindy is a big lady, with a stooped posture, clumsy grace, and slurred speech. While working at the mission, she helps keep the kitchen clean and organized. While home, she bakes a lot. This met that while we made cookies, she was constantly in the way, always picking up before we were finished, and giving endless instructions and critiques. She was driving me crazy! I tried to be understanding, but it was not until Pastor Barb came over and the two had a discussion about the progress Cindy has made since coming to the mission. I realized that Cindy had been helped out so much by the mission that she had an overwhelming desire to give back. Her quirks and odd ways were the best that she could give and I gained great respect for her. I plan to go back and hope to learn more from the people there.

One of my favorite sessions was the "Campus Cafe". This is because we got to give some ideas on how Coe College could improve. Some of my ideas included bringing bigger bands to Coe College, improving the cable and internet, longer weight room hours on the weekend, and improving the meal plans. Most of these ideas are selfish because they would all improve my own college experience. But I feel the most important one is improving the meal plans, because many students waste a lot of money just because they do not have very many options when it comes to choosing a meal plan.

The last session that I attended was "Serving as a Leader", this was a very good session to have before break. This is because it gave me ideas for places that I could volunteer at. I ended up completing all of my volunteer hours over the break. And because of this session I was aware of how to blog my hours, which I will be doing this week.

Blog Updated for the Spring Semester!
The schedule and requirements are to your right ---->

Treat evey failure as a learning experience. This is what I feel to be the overiding lesson from the CCG juggling session. In this session we learned to use our failures as learnig experiences and take from these experiencesthe lessons they offer. This is something that I have been working to implement in my own life and I admit that it has not bee easy. It is so much easier tobecome frustrated and quit when we fail at a specific task. This way we have to do no self-examination and we do not have to change. With the juggling activity, I realized that for me, I had the "try, try, try again" attitude but lacked the self-examination that went with truly gaining frommy failures. Now whenever Im confronted with failure or an task I hve truble completing I can step back and examine what I can do to turn this failure into a success and this process alone will most likely benefit me more than success on my first try.

The Random 1 stories emphasized for me the impact that human beings have onone another. One philosophy I try to carry with me everyday is that every encounter with another person, no matterhow minute impacts the life of that individual. Even if you dont recognize it right away, the smallest things can really influence how we feel or act or communicate with one another. For example if your having a really bad day where no one seems to care or notice you at all. Then on your way to the store or wherever you pass a woman on the streets who never even met and will most likey never see again. She smiles at you, a pure genuine smile and kindly nods her recognition that you even exist. All of a sudden you might not feel as bad as you did before. You might feel as uf things have finally started to go in your way. Or even better you might actually smile back and feel a complete turn around. That one tinyencounter had the power to really impact you. The same can go for negative expereinces. You can be having a wonderful day and all of a sudden someone rudely pushes pass you as they walk by. Now, instread of happiness you feel anger. That one small encounter again, was able to impact you. Knowing this, I try my best to make sure that I make as many possitive impacts the lives of those around me as possible. I may never know the impact I had on any specific individual and this is why I try my best to make possitive ones. The Random 1 series illustrates this philosphy to the fullest; possitively impacting the lives of people. The more this is done the more willing individuals will be to making possitive impacts on the people around them.

During the first CCG meeting we took a personality test that assigned us a color based on our specific values, attitudes towards life and of course personality characeristics. I have taken numerous test such as these before and everytime I recieved a different result. I think I took two important life lessons from this CCG session. First, this session reinforced my belief that people are always changing and this is a constant fact about life. I can think back to the person I was four years ago, a freshman in high school. Now I feel as if that person is so very far away from who I am now. It is a little daunting to accept the fact that who we are now might not be who we are five years from now. But I also think it is important to understand so as life's chnges come we can grow, adapt and adopt greater meaning from all of our experiences. The second life lesson this session reinforced for me was the fact that as a people we need to be concious of the reality that we all percieve our world in different ways. How one person interprets a situation may be completely opposite to how another sees it. However, we are constantly at conflict with each other because we refuse to try ti understand things from anothers perspective. I think if more people tried to understand the different perspective in which this world is viewed than most of the conflict and toubles could be resolved because we gain sense of understanding.

For my last post I thought I would reflect on some sessions of Crimson & Gold throughout the fall semester. My favorite session was when we watched videos of the group that helped the one man find a job. At the beginning of the video he was mad at the world and blamed his problems on anything he could find. He went to a couple of job interviews and finally found an owner who could hire him soon and at a decent position. When the film crew showed up over the holidays to see how he was doing, he was surrounded by his family including the daughter he thought he would loose. He was happy and doing something he loved. It is amazing to me how something so simple can change a person's attitude and perspective on the world. I also thought the Earthquake session was interesting. When we did the begining part by ourselves, I would have made some simple mistakes that would have probably killed me, but when we got into groups, we worked well together and we talked through each step. We comprimised on the order of things and ended up getting a very good score.

About two weeks ago my younger sister and I volunteered to bake Christmas cookies and deliver them to elderly in our community. This was a service project through the confirmation classes at our church. The class joined one Sunday afternoon and baked homemade cookies which were then blessed and we set out to deliver them. The elderly lady that we delivered our batch to was a widow who lived a very quiet life. She had one son who was now married and she told us some stories about her childhood. She only went to school until the sixth grade, which was the norm at the time. It was very interesting learning about how much the quality of life has changed over the years. This was a great opportunity to share the holiday spirit with people so close in the community who are often forgotten.

When I got home, I went to do some volunteer work with my church. We went to help some of the people in our community. What I did was help clean the yards of elderly people, or people who weren't capable of doing it themselves. It was hard work. There was a lot of us, and we cleaned up a lot of houses. It was nice to be able to help someone who needed help, and the people were very grateful. I was a little reluctant to volunteer to do this, but in the end I felt good about what I did. Not only that, but I also got to talk with a few of the people who I helped, and they had some very interesting stories. I think overall it was a good experience.

xThe session where we watched the video about the man who was looking for a job was very moving. I was really happy at the end of the video when he finally found himself a job. It was amazing how they were able to find him a job in one day. At the end of the video, I couldn't help but think how lucky this one man was to be approached and helped by two other people who did not know him. This video made it seem like anything is possible, all it takes is a little hard work. Also it was nice to see the generosity of other people. In today's world it is not seen very much, but because of two men, another man was going to be able to keep his apartment and not be forced to live on the streets with his daughter.

Random1 is an incredible idea. Last April, you had John Chester and Normand Cartier come to Coe and share their story and the film Lost in Woonsocket. After seeing the film and reallizing that only 9 people came to watch it, I was very dissapointed in the students at Coe but moreso at the poor planning and advertising of the event. (It should have been broadcast to the public). Because of that, I have been in touch with John since April. He has since formed a new non-profit organization called Lost and Found in America (http://www.lafia.org/) which looks for incredible stories of hope and recovery. They plan to make more documentaries highlighting these people along with heroes in the communities. Money made is given to organizations in cities to aid homeless people and those less fortunate. It has been my goal to work with this organization to arrange a film screening of Lost in Woonsocket for the Cedar Rapids community. It will be run as a benefit for Mission of Hope and ASAC. In one of my phone conversations with the Director of Productions, David Riordan, he warned me that he wants this to be done well because they have seen screenings flop when it was organized poorly. He mentioned one screening at a college that only had 9 people come see the film. When I explained that was Coe, he knew I understood his concerns.

Throughout this process, I have discovered many obstacles. Recently, I've gotten in touch with Charles Daugherty who is already a irreplacable partner in this project. He is the director of Serve the City and also runs Linn County Area Evangelics (LCAE). He invited me to an LCAE luncheon where I made numerous contacts with individuals and organizations in the community. He has also arranged for me to help serve meals at several organizations including House of Prayer. He knows everyone in the community, and I have been told by many, that Charles is the man to know if you want to accomplish anything with the churches' involvement. After working with him I have hopes of getting several hundred people to come to my screening.

There are still so many things I have to accomplish including raising approximately $4000, putting together a brochure or pamphlet, deciding the proper ways to advertise, contacting newspapers and TV stations, deciding where to show the film and every little detail about the location including sound and lighting equipment and ticket booths. After typing all this, I reallize I need to kick myself a little harder in the next couple days if I want this to happen in March.

The good news is, as I have been showing the film to staff members in organizations, I have found nothing but complete excitement and anticipation for this event. I know that I can't let the community down.

The Mission of Hope is an incredible organization run by Pastor Barb Furhman. If you have never been there, I encourage you to check it out. It's located across from Hyvee on First ave. It also now has an emergency shelter open just around the corner (I believe on Park Court). I first got involved with Mission of Hope in March of 2007 when my small group from church decided to volunteer there for an afternoon to organize all the clothes they had available for the public. A couple weeks later, I walked down there to ask what I could do to help them on a regular basis. Tina (Barb's daughter) walked me down to the shelter which was under construction, gave me the tour, then said "Well, I'll let you get to work." I hadn't come to actually work that day, but I figured I have a few hours I could help out a bit. I spent almost every day for the next 2 or 3 weeks there helping them finish the construction. Because they were so desperately in need of help as their deadlines approached, I sent out a mass e-mail looking for others to help one afternoon. The one reply I recieved never showed up, and after going door to door in my hall and calling all my friends I was not able to find anyone to help. It became clear to me that others had different priorities than me and preferred to spend their day playing the same video games they play every other day.

The shelter was eventually finished, and they officially opened on April 27th. Since they've opened, I've spent several days at the shelter talking to those living there. Several times, I ended up discussing philosophy, religion, science, and the meaning of life with homeless people trying to turn their lives around. That was quite a humbling experience. Before meeting them, you have so many steriotypes about the homeless. They are homeless because they don't have a job. They don't have a job because their too lazy to get one. Their too lazy because they spend all their money on booze and drugs living off of societies hand me downs. Let me tell you how wrong that is. Every homeless person I've met is such because of a series of unfortunate events. Often times that leads them down a bad road of drugs or alcohol, but it doesn't mean they don't care or are too lazy to get a job. They've tried, or are still trying but are unsuccessful because of employers' steriotypical views and society's barriers. I plan to continue visiting the shelter as my heart has been led to care for and relate to the homeless and less fortunate in our community.

I really enjoyed "Going Fishing". It made me think about my life a lot. I am aware that the average person changes their career 7 times in their life. I really like changes and am looking forward to where my life may lead me. When I came to Coe, I thought I had everything figured out. I would major in Physics. Then I would go to grad school, and ultimately do research for a living making discoveries and shaking the physics community. I wanted to make a difference in the world. I believe that last statement will always be true. The part that might change is how I do that. I have felt it change since I came to Cedar Rapids and became involved in the community volunteering. I talk to so many people who spend their lives helping others it's becoming hard to tell myself to go into science and spend my time time doing research. I feel I am most useful in the community helping people. While I was watching Random1 with my girlfriend last night, I told her, "I want to do that... I want to help people for a living." I have shared this dilema with many of the people I know and have continually been told to look for a happy medium. They tell me I can do both. Currently, my vision is to change the world through Christ. This may be through science, closing the gap between Creation and the scientific community, or simply becoming a leader in the community through serving people.

I reallize my rambling has gotten a bit off topic, but my point is that Going Fishing made me re-evaluate what will make me happy in life. I thought about if I can accept making much less money if that means changing people's lives more directly. I feel I am on the right path and am very happy with my current endevers. I am always listening for God to lead me in the direction he wants me in.

I really enjoyed participating in the Earthquake exercise. I felt prepared going into it because of my experience as a boy scout. Several times a year, we would be put into scenarios involving disasters and peoples lives in danger. Some were people falling through ice, avalanches, collapsed mines, and cliff rescues. The only difference was in boy scouts, we had to actually perform the tasks. We had to evaluate the environment, decide the best approach for helping the victims without endangering all of our lives. Communication was always the most important. Someone would have to step up as the leader. People would voice their ideas. The self-appointed leader would then delegate responsibilities. Even though we were never told how to handle a mine collapse or avalanche victims specifically, we would use what knowledge we had and adapt it to the situation.

I remember one of my early years in scouting, we were attempting a cliff rescue except in our simulation we were on a very steep hill (some times it actually was on a cliff and we had to use climbing gear). The victim was a younger, hyper active scout at the bottom of the cliff with many injuries. We loaded up our sled(a large dog sled) with first aid gear and lowered it down the hill on a long rope along with two scouts to perform the first aid. After getting the major injuries taken care of and the victim loaded into the sled, we began pulling him up the rocky hill. About two thirds of the way up, the sled got caught on a large rock, and the rope broke. The young scout inside began to panic. We did our best to keep him calm and still knowing that if he moved too much the sled would slide backwards down the hill and he would quickly become a real victim. A senior scout immediately grabbed our end of the rope, we lowered him down, he tied it back onto the sled and we pulled them both to safety.

In Earthquake, our group had a leader naturally begin to take charge and decide how things would be run. While others involved may have felt less important, much like the scouts pulling on the rope rather than performing the first aid, their input and assistance was very much needed. Not one of us had all the answers, but with everyone's input, we were able to survive.

On campus this type of leadership is important. Whether it's in a lab or a club, nobody can do everything themself. It's important to step up as a leader and deligate. Organization can make tasks much more efficient and enjoyable.

Because I missed the Random1 meeting, I spent last night watching videos on their website. As you know, I've been involved with John Chester and his new organization Lost and Found in America. I took this opportunity to sit down with my girlfriend and have her watch about 4 of the videos with me. We discussed them afterwards and decided we both cared very much about helping others. In "Out of the Woods", John makes a very good statement. "The more people you have involved in helping a person, the better chances there are for it to actually have an effect, because money doesn't solve problems... people do." I continually get inspiration from other people's stories. I wish Random1 were still on the air. I would be addicted to it more than any other show out there. I remember the discussions we had last year in CCG after watching the Random1 videos. I believe it was the most inspiring and influential meeting of the year.

I have compiled all my posts together because I just started writing them as a Word document because I have not had access to any internet for awhile (the hazards of living in the country). Each post is dated according to the session it corresponds with.

Sept. 6^th- Jung Personality Test

My score was:

• slightly expressed introvert
• slightly expressed sensing personality
• slightly expressed feeling personality
• moderately expressed judging personality

The percentages that went with each of the personality traits are pretty much summed up with those few sentences.

I recognized the introvert score and I wasn’t surprised by it at all. I love being with people, but I have always been most comfortable in my own space. I have never needed to be with other people to be content. Many of the people who know me are surprised by this because I always seem so comfortable in crowds, but the truth of it is that I am a country girl at heart. I am an only child so I have always had to accept the pleasure of no company but my own, and I can see my introverted tendencies are a result of that.

I don’t understand the second personality trait… sensing personality? I’m guessing that that means something along the lines of empathy. Which is a very useful thing to have in one’s personality; if I assume that we are talking about empathy, then I must admit that it would be very unfortunate for any woman to not have empathy. What else could you use to describe a mother listening to her children’s worries and then comforting them? It is difficult to sincerely comfort anyone if they see that you can’t empathize with them, and children are very observant of their mother’s sincerity.

Feeling personality… I group that with the things I said about empathy above.

Now the one that makes me cringe is the “moderately expressed judging personality” that makes me think of my father about thirty seconds after the first time he met one of my best friends. Of course this best friend was a boy… and he was very gay. I thought this kid was great, and we still are good friends. But my Dad was and is very judgmental of any of my acquaintances that may be a bit different from his 1950s Midwestern background ideas of who is good enough to deserve his “precious princess’s attention.” I’ve never thought of myself as very judgmental, but maybe I am always judging people and it is because I see it that I am able to control it and appreciate pretty much every person I meet.

Oct. 11^th- Get Your Message Across

I was immediately amused by the first sentence of this article: “The purpose of communication is to get your message across to others clearly and unambiguously.” This statement reminded me of my 8 year old cousin who is incredibly smart but struggles sometimes with communicating what she knows. I have seen her start talking about the animal she just learned about on Animal Planet yesterday and then she starts talking faster and faster in an attempt to get all of her ideas out before she forgets them. It is always funny to see how she rushes to convey her message when she has so much life left ahead of her that she needn’t rush so much.

I can sympathize with her because I struggle to get all of my ideas out fast enough as well. My struggle comes with writing my thoughts down. I can’t always type fast enough and when I re-read what I wrote sometimes I wonder how I ever manage to successfully communicate everyday because the words I just pulled out of the air make no sense even to me. Communicating to yourself is as important as communicating with others. I don’t know how many times I’ve written myself a note to remind me of something, only to discover that the secret language I developed for that specific note is no longer a language I understand. I have managed to perfect this in college because I now take all my class notes on my computer. This creates a challenge when I need to convey a visual idea, but I am learning my own language for that.

Oct. 25^th- Random 1 videos

Watching the Random 1 videos certainly gave me a new way to think about some things. It never occurred to me that a group of people would be willing to tour the country and just help people. It breaks my heart to see people who have given up, or are close to it, but it is a beautiful thing when they find a new purpose and pick themselves back up. The trouble is that not everyone has enough steam left in them to do it alone. I love helping people, but sometimes I feel like I am limited in the ways that I can help other people. I don’t have a team backing me up to help find the answers to whatever struggles I might find in someone else’s life. I have always felt drawn to helping people who have had trouble in the past that has scarred them in some way. In the future I want to have the opportunity to be a foster home. I might not be able to help every child who needs a home, but if I focus on the ones that do come into my life I can hopefully make their life richer.

It’s not difficult to send some money in the mail to some cause that helps starving African children, but it’s not enough to just stop there. The true leaders in the world go out and change the world with their hands and hearts and not just their checkbooks.

Nov. 1^st- Ben Zander

After watching this video in class I was both inspired and amused. Ben Zander’s philosophy hit a chord with me that I hadn’t expected it to hit. I have been struggling with my first semester in college… much more than I ever expected to. In high school everything pretty much came easily to me and even thought I had to work hard because of a big work load I never struggled. Since August I have felt like I have been drowning, and only just keeping my head above water. It’s a terrifying feeling, made all the more difficult by the fact that while I am at Coe I am over 800 miles away from anything familiar and comforting. In my struggles I have found one great strength, if you could call it that, in myself… my strength seems to be my great aptitude for stubbornness and commitment to something once I make a decision. My stubbornness has kept my head above water for a very long time, but no one can tread water forever.

When I watched that older, well dressed, English man throw his arms up and shout “stop taking yourself so damn seriously!” it startled me, and then it made me chuckle because that was exactly what I needed to do. So I did, and I don’t feel like I’m going to drown anymore. The waves are still crashing into my back with surprising force, but I am slowly wading to a dry beach where I will find comfort, if not the familiar, from somewhere in myself.

Home is still 800 miles away. I’m still terrified of being on my own, but now I am able to see what I have done- that I have accomplished what I set out to do- and I will stand on the beach and let the warm rays of the sun shine on my face as I shout to the world “How fascinating!” because I know how to save myself from drowning again.

Nov. 8^th- Campus Café

1. Laundry machines on each dorm floor

This is one thing that is a bit too ambitious to actually be put into affect at Coe because a laundry room on each floor takes up too much space and is not energy efficient. But it emphasizes the frustration that many of us feel at only being able to wash our clothes at 3am because all the machines are taken every other time of the day or, if they aren’t being used, they’re broken. It’s a petty thing to worry about, but it just another thing that adds stress to a day at college.

2. Outdoor Activity/ Camping club/organization

There are a lot of people on campus who are interested in getting more involved in the outdoors. Coming from Colorado myself, I miss being able to drive an hour and be someplace to camp and hike or go river rafting or rock climbing on naturally made rocks. I understand that Iowa has its limitations, but sometimes my friends any I feel fenced in by the fact that we can’t easily pursue healthy and safe outdoor activities because we are not familiar with the outdoor recreation that Iowa might have to offer.

3. regular Friday and/ or Saturday night activities in the Café to help encourage students to pursue activities that don’t include alcohol

I think the FREE club is an amazing idea. I totally support everything they do, but I wish that there were more activities offered on a regular basis. As I spend more and more time in college I am beginning to get a bad taste in my mouth for all the partying that goes on. I like to have fun and occasionally make myself look like an idiot just as much as the next person, but sometimes things get out of hand. I was motivated to become more supportive of what FREE does when I had to call a friend’s parents at 2am because she was in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. It made me feel awful that my new friend had gotten herself in this position because she just fell in with a group of kids who drink regularly and she had never been exposed to alcohol before college. Sometimes I can see her inching her way towards alcoholism, and that scares me but I hope that a good influence from people who care about her will help her see that you don’t need to look through the bottom of a bottle to have fun.

Nov. 29^th- Service Learning

When I was told that part of my graduation requirements at Coe were to do 20 hours of service learning I didn’t think much of it. I had to do 200 hours of service learning in the International Baccalaureate program at my high school, and I completed my Girl Scout Gold Award, another service learning-esque project. I think that my exposure to all of this service learning has given me a greater appreciation for my community in Colorado, and now my Coe community. When you do service learning you are not just giving from yourself, you are also receiving. It is a wonderful thing to teach a child to read at a volunteer tutoring group, but it is even more rewarding when you are learning from that child too. Service learning is not your regular community service because you will get as much out of it as you put into it. The only problem with this is that if you don’t engage yourself you wont be able to gain anything from the experience. Service learning teaches you how to be a more rounded leader because leaders don’t just give orders, they learn from the people they work with and for.

I have always tremendously valued the traditions of the holiday season, not because of what others give me, but what I can give to others that might not have the Christmas that they wished for without the help of others. Every year, my mother’s job collects gifts for children that might not otherwise receive gifts during the holiday season. After the gifts were collected, my mom, sisters and I sorted the gifts and went through the wish lists to make sure that there was a gift for each child. We wrapped the gifts and then distributed them a few days before Christmas. The children are always so excited to know that they have their own gift to open on Christmas morning. I know that these kids would have a special gift and that I was part of making their day even better. I wish that there was more that could be done; if everyone gave at least one person less fortunate tan themselves then there would be a more peaceful atmosphere in the country and possibly the world. Helping give children that would otherwise not have gotten gifts made me realize how often I tend to forget to be thankful for the things that I have in my life. We grow accustomed to a lifestyle and tend to forget that there are people out there that do not have the things that we take for granted. This service was very humbling and made me realize that it’s not what we get during this season that matters, but rather what we can give of ourselves that truly matters.

I never really realized how valuable my community service was until the last Coe Friends of the semester. The original plan was to take the children to Planet X and have a fun filled afternoon so that they would have a good end to the semester and give them a god start to their winter break. As nature would have it, the plans would end up completely different. That day, several inches of snow fell and we wondered if this exciting trip would take place. The group of Coe students awaited the call from the group leader telling us that the trip had been canceled, but the call came from our leader telling us that the trip was still on. So we piled into a car and began our journey. After about 20 minutes in the car and only a mile later, we receive the call from the leader telling us that by the time that we would arrive, the children would only have ten or so minutes to play, so there would be no point in trying to get to the place. Later that evening, the leader told us about how disappointed the kids were that they would not have the fun filled afternoon that they were promised. How felt so horrible for the kids because they had been looking forward to this trip all semester. They had been looking forward to not only playing games, but also getting to play them with us students from Coe. I never realized how much these kids looked to us for consistency in their lives. They have us in their lives for one hour, one day a week, but that hour a week makes such an impact on them. They have shown me that even the slightest amount of attention is extremely valuable and my time commitment to this organization is extremely worth it.

So on of the first volunteer activities I did was working with ESL students at hoover elementary. I've been doing it for a while, and what I do, is work with two students, one who is in the second grade, and the other who is in kindergarden. So far it's been really interesting, helping them learn and having them read to me. I like encouraging them, and like seeing them happy when they learn a new word, or get a spelling word right. It's something fun to do because I like little kids, and I get to help them learn.

ocaThe ABC's of Communication was really interesting. I was so confused because I din't know what was going on. I think everyone was confused because none of us were able to talk. I learned how hard it is to communicate without language, but also that it is important to give everyone the same information. Our group was able to figure out the symbol we all had in common, but I had no clue, that that was the task we needed to do. I thought it was a good activity that made me think on a different way to communicate instead of just using words.

The ABC's of Communication was really interesting. I was so confused because I din't know what was going on. I think everyone was confused because none of us were able to talk. I learned how hard it is to communicate without language, but also that it is important to give everyone the same information. Our group was able to figure out the symbol we all had in common, but I had no clue, that that was the task we needed to do. I thought it was a good activity that made me think on a different way to communicate instead of just using words.