Service Trips and the Scary Future!

This week has been a week of ups and downs! It feels like February is barely chugging along. You would think since it is the shortest month, it would be by quickly but that is not happening for me! One of my favorite expressions in the world is "It's moving slower than a snail with a limp" or "it's moving slower than a stampede of turtles through peanut butter." This week has been a series of highs and lows but I think it is ending on a high note. I am really hoping that once February ends, things will pick up and be more exciting- I can go outside more, anticipate nice weather and do some more adventures and possible go home in April.

Americus, GA is located at the Red Star "A"

Service Trips are fast approaching and people are scattering around the office trying to get things done and send 55 students on service trips to Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Michigan. I am working on the logistics of getting t-shirt sizes sent in and printed, working on maps and booking hotel rooms, working on coffee and tea fundraiser, making sure all students have turned in and signed their waiver and all of that jazz. There are so many things that go into a service trip that I had no idea happened. There are so many factors going on- the office, the location we are going, the organization, service trip leaders, service trip participants, and then the weather. All of things are going on simultaneously and its hard not to miss something. I have multiple Post-it notes going and I am constantly checking my to-do list and calendar. I am very excited to go to Georgia, it will be a great experience for me because I have never been on  a service trip before! We will be helping at the Fuller Center in Americus, GA. This is an organization that is much like Habitat for Humanity, it was actually a part of it and then separated a few years ago. We will be building during this week- I am not sure what we will be doing yet, but I will assume its a house. I do not have much experience when it comes to building things, I can use a hammer and paint but when it comes to saws and drywall, I am not very helpful! I will definitely be learning new skills at this! I was looking into the statistics of Americus, GA and about 42% of the city is in poverty, only about 45% of the city has a degree above a high school diploma and most of the families are single mothers. This will be an eye-opening experience for me. I am learning that my role of an administrator is actually just to remain on the sidelines until I am needed. Things like credit card issues, getting lost, conflict management, and working with the organization first hand are things that I will be focusing on when things get tough but in the mean time I will be working just like the other students and letting the service trip leaders run the show, which is really cool! I am excited to see students lead and see different personalities come out. I think it is important for students to take initiative and do things and this is a great opportunity! I met all the students that will be going on this trip today and I think we have a good team and it will be a smooth and easy week of service!

Beginning of the snow

One downfall this week was pretty crappy weather. The East cost keeps getting hit with storms and cruddy weather. Harrisburg got about 5 inches of snow on Saturday but that snow and some ice caused my book binding class to be cancelled as well as hold my friend back from coming to see me and Pennsylvania. But, have no fear, she will be coming in April! So, I will patiently wait for that! We were able to catch up via Skype and she gave me advice and helped me calm down for my individual graduate school interview on Friday.
I had a panic moment on Friday when I received a Skype phone call on my smartphone that I recently got and it was the CSP program I am applying that for grad school and either I didn't understand what was happening or they got the wrong day, but I had a group interview that I thought I had next week. I had to leave Friday morning meeting and go on Skype. Because I was not anticipating this, I was wearing an Iowa sweater, slightly wet hair, jeans, and sat in a stairwell leading up to the 3rd floor in my house. The interview was a little awkward because I was the only person that was not physically there for the interview but I was able to give my opinion when it came to talking about a case study. I have confirmed the date and time for my individual interview on Friday and I will be completely ready for it. Having my group interview on a different day really caught me off guard, the good thing was I didn't have time to feel nervous or anxious, I just had to do it. I only hope I made a good impression on them, especially since I didn't look as nice as the people who were physically there. Also on Friday, I had an interview with Residential Life at MSU for a graduate assistantship program that I think went really well! I have applied to six different locations at MSU for this including: New Student and Family Programs, Learning Communities, Greek Life, Community Engagement, IMPACT, and Res. Life. I am eager and excited to interview for these, but I am not that patient when it comes to finding out if I get into grad school or not. I do have a back up plan if I do not get accepted- I will apply for educational leadership at MSU if I do not get into CSP. I would still be able to do higher education with Ed. Leadership, which is what I would like to do for a career!
This upcoming week is a big one- grad school individual interview via Skype, getting closer to service trips, starting and finishing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and going to Beauty and the Beast for Layla!
With me luck with my interview- words of encouragement appreciated :)