Hello all,
My name is Jay Helmer, I’m coming to you from Salem State College where I serve as the MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA and Civic Engagement Coordinator. This is my second time around as a MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA, having served in 2006-07 before taking a two-year hiatus to pursue a Master’s Degree in higher education. I returned to MACC firmly committed to enhancing service and civic engagement, and because my first year as an AmeriCorps*VISTA was one of the most rewarding of my life.
As the first *VISTA at Salem State, I have the opportunity to help build a civic engagement program in two ways: first by assisting in the cultivation of partnerships with area community-based organizations, and secondly by creating and enhancing civic engagement opportunities for students, faculty and staff. As I write this, I have just cleared a huge stack of paper from my desk related to my first major project: coordinating a 19-project, 150-volunteer community service day for Resident Assistants and incoming students. My new position is in the Campus Center programs office, so it’s a hub of student activity, and the staff keeps me busy which is fun!
Today is the opening of the academic year and I am being formally introduced during a session for faculty and staff, so, as my supervisor said, “I won’t be anonymous much longer”. About a month into my year of service, my position has been everything I hoped it would be, and made even better by working with an incredibly talented tight-knit Corps of AmeriCorps*VISTAs.
Later,
Jay H
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Introducing Lindsay Laguna!
Hello, Folks! I’m Lindsay Laguna, proud MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA/Community Programs Coordinator at Boston University Metropolitan College. I’m serving in the department of Student and Corporate Outreach. Although I work in an office that does corporate outreach, I do not work directly with that aspect of the work. Instead I do more community outreach to prospective students at BU Metropolitan College primarily by spreading word about the Scholarship for Parents. I support other outreach efforts, but this scholarship really takes up the bulk of my focus. Rather than repeat everything on the Web site, here is a link that succinctly describes the scholarship:
http://www.bu.edu/met/scholarship/parents/
Before I go into more depth about my work and because I am serving at a university, let me give you a snapshot of my own upbringing and educational experience. I am 24 years old, was born and raised in Chicago, lived a few years in Park Ridge, IL, and graduated with a BA in International Studies with minors in Spanish and Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
After graduation, I worked in a variety of offices in a variety of universities mostly in Chicago. I did a year of service with the AmeriCorps program City Year Chicago. Since apparently I can’t get enough of AmeriCorps programs OR higher education, I now get the best of both worlds with MACC. I can’t think of a better fit for me right now.
I’ve only been with MACC/BU for a month, but this is probably the coolest work experience I’ve had thus far. I attended the Book Bag Drive (where I met the mayor), attend Middle O, a college fair, Chelsea’s Back to School Celebration, go on TV (BNN) with my manager Katherine and our Parent Scholar Joan, and got the scholarship on the BPS site under Family Resources (http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/node/39).
It is essentially my role to promote this scholarship to prospective Parent Scholars in the Boston and Chelsea communities. Since this is the 2nd year we are offering the scholarship, there is still much for me to do in terms of building community awareness of the scholarship and also keeping community members aware of the support that BU Metropolitan College offers to students “from application to graduation.”
Katherine and my VISTA predecessor Jessica have been wonderful in orienting me to BU and Boston in general. I’ve never felt so prepared for a new position, which means a lot since I’ve had quite a few positions these past few years.
That’s all for now! Till next time!
Peace,
Lindsay
http://www.bu.edu/met/scholarship/parents/
Before I go into more depth about my work and because I am serving at a university, let me give you a snapshot of my own upbringing and educational experience. I am 24 years old, was born and raised in Chicago, lived a few years in Park Ridge, IL, and graduated with a BA in International Studies with minors in Spanish and Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
After graduation, I worked in a variety of offices in a variety of universities mostly in Chicago. I did a year of service with the AmeriCorps program City Year Chicago. Since apparently I can’t get enough of AmeriCorps programs OR higher education, I now get the best of both worlds with MACC. I can’t think of a better fit for me right now.
I’ve only been with MACC/BU for a month, but this is probably the coolest work experience I’ve had thus far. I attended the Book Bag Drive (where I met the mayor), attend Middle O, a college fair, Chelsea’s Back to School Celebration, go on TV (BNN) with my manager Katherine and our Parent Scholar Joan, and got the scholarship on the BPS site under Family Resources (http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/node/39).
It is essentially my role to promote this scholarship to prospective Parent Scholars in the Boston and Chelsea communities. Since this is the 2nd year we are offering the scholarship, there is still much for me to do in terms of building community awareness of the scholarship and also keeping community members aware of the support that BU Metropolitan College offers to students “from application to graduation.”
Katherine and my VISTA predecessor Jessica have been wonderful in orienting me to BU and Boston in general. I’ve never felt so prepared for a new position, which means a lot since I’ve had quite a few positions these past few years.
That’s all for now! Till next time!
Peace,
Lindsay
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Will Dowd's Journey North Shore Community College!
Details quickly - names William Dowd, I studied print journalism and minored in political science at a small liberal arts college called Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. I’m 23, originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and moved to a small town called Wellsville, Pennsylvania when I was 11 years of age. I came to Massachusetts by way of Wellsville. I’ve been placed at North Shore Community College as a MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA - charged with developing a student leadership program tailored to community service. It’s going to take a lot of work on the College’s part as well as mine. I’m one of about 30 other VISTA scattered in patches in different higher education institutions located all over this beautiful and stunning state, whether it’s my fellow AmeriCorps*VISTA member Margo all the way out in Amherst, placed at UMASS Amherst or someone as close as AmeriCorps*VISTA member Jay located at Salem State College – we’re truly patched all over.
Well, it’s a sunny Friday. I’m sitting in my new office at NSCC in Lynn. Yes, the city with the jingle that goes like this: Lynn, Lynn. The City of Sin, you never come out the way you went in. This tune of sorts is quite misleading though, Lynn has its rugged rough parts, but I’ve only met nice people thus far. The city is right off the bay, next to a beautiful island dubbed Nahant. In reference to Lynn’s location on the North Shore of Massachusetts it’s just below Salem, Swampscott, and right above Revere. I remember before moving here my friends were always confused because they thought Lynn was a person. So, I had to correct them – “No, no, no, I’m not moving in with Lynn, I’m moving to Lynn,” it was quite tiring after a while though it surely faded.
The experience thus far from spending a week in Boston at Northeastern University to receive training, visiting Salem for the Salem Jazz and Musical Festival at the Willows, taking adventures to Gloucester’s Harbor Beach and Nahant, meeting a group of people who carry the same values as I do, and will all be partaking in a year of service is truly rewarding.
Alright back to the office. I have an office with a window, looking out on Broad Street in Lynn a very busy section of the city. My office is fairly medium sized I’ll give you a mental breakdown - family photo’s on my right tacked to the large cork board, cold morning coffee - next to my black keyboard and the mouse pad, and of course the staple Merriam-Webster: dictionary and thesaurus –got to have those. Imagine for a second a square room with a purple door, windows straight ahead, white walls, book shelves on your left as you walk in and a desk place parallel to the window. I’ve been doing work on the computer for most of the day, so, these eyes are starting to become dry. I’m in need of some water. Now, I’ve decided to update Massachusetts Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA blog with a post, to enlighten those who’ve been de-voided of posts and have just been dying to read the next.
I want to really just reflect on the last four weeks of my life living in “The Bay State,” - I can’t believe it has been that long. I feel like I just got here, the roller coaster, lifestyle of a VISTA for the first few weeks has been really go, go, go, here are the tools you need to succeed, now go make a difference in the world. So I’ve decided today to take a breather, step back, focus my attention on what’s happened and just let it flow. That roller coaster is starting to simmer down. Reflection is a huge part of service, I’m looking forward to this upcoming Friday’s reflection – it will be the first time everyone’s seen each other since we left Northeastern.
Prior to arriving at NSCC, as written before, I received a week of training at Northeastern University - we’re given a packet called the “work plan.” We got it on our third day of training, as vocal as I was about getting it, other VISTA’s started picking up on how wound up I was. But to me it was a big deal the work plan gives you a timeline of your project, has your job description, tells you who your supervisor is- and is pretty much a manual that guides your life for the next year. So that night, I must have skimmed through it like three or four times, as if I were reading Kerouac’s On The Road, it was like experiencing the taste of coffee for the first time. Most definitely, a rush was felt; I was already building a mental map of how to execute the plan. Not having any prior experience in developing a leadership institute, I was a little overwhelmed – but I understood that the plan has a mission statement, having four goals; the goals guide the mission statement, accomplishing these goals will achieve the mission of the institute. Hold that thought for couple of paragraphs.
The first three day’s consisted of nothing but meeting Vice Presidents, Directors and Deans who I had delightful, engaging, conversations with; they all have the best interest of students in hand. My supervisor and I ate at the International House of Pancakes on the second day; it was quite early in the morning, so coffee was in order. Lloyd is the name of my boss; he’s the Dean of Student life at the College and is the one who wrote the work plan and compiled the grant to get me - he’s a very sweet man wh0 also happens to be from the South – Mississippi to be exact. At the meeting we go over expectations and talk of our leadership styles, but we couldn’t help but get off track – we started talking about our taste in music and found out that we had some things in common, he also told me to take a Myers-Brigg test, wanting to know what type of personality I was, so he could best direct me. I made a mental note to use this with students.
After this casual morning meeting I walked out of IHOP full from two pancakes, 4 cups of coffee, two slices of toast, home fries, eggs – along with a new friend, a new professional colleague, and someone I know is going to be a great mentor. I am going to learn a lot from him within the next year.
It’s around 9:30 a.m. we arrived back at NSCC - I was greeted with my first office plant and a welcoming card both from the NSCC Human Relations Department. I’ve decided to call the plant, “Alfie” (I’m all about naming things, inanimate objects too) – the name in my opinion suits the small plant plotted in a squared yellow cereal bowl. I appreciate small acts of kindness like this one. Now, let’s see if I can take care of the plant, I’m betting on a couple of weeks, but I’m going to try to keep Alfie alive (especially since it was a gift too) as long as possible. This will be the test to see whether I can handle a cat or a dog later in life. Pam Nolan-Young a now dear friend of mine, a well educated woman, director of human relations gave me these gifts.
After meeting practically everyone in the College, I could finally sit down and work. First task - I needed to see how things would come together, that is grasping how to meet my goals, I worked it out with a dry erase marker in hand by pretty much locking myself in a room and a not allowing anyone in. So for three to four hours I created a web thoughtfully defining my goals, understanding them, and then tediously working out logistics. I’m having a meeting with Lloyd this week to go over it, before we present it to my focus groups, which will come later on in the next couple of weeks. Through my mapping and readings transcending departments is going to have to happen in order to meet the standards of higher education. Stakeholders aren’t just students, but all entities of the college.
My second week I started compiling a list of all the community based organizations in Lynn, Danvers, and Beverly – this took quite awhile, however, once it’s finished the end product will be useful. I also created a Google map outlining the community based organizations in the Lynn. Now, it’s time to set up one on one’s with these organizations to see what they need. So when students are looking for direct community service opportunities they intrinsically better themselves, but also meet the needs of the community.
My third week consisted of meeting with three community based organizations to perform one to one’s. I met with Lynn History Museum and Historical Society, Lynn’s alternative adult education program Bootstrap, and finally Gordon College in Lynn. My first big project is working with Diana Kerry, she is the Public Policy Institute director, and we will be collaborating to make hunger awareness and homelessness at the forefront of the College and Institute as for initiatives coming out of our offices. Beginning September 11th, a day of national service to October 9th NSCC will have a food drive to fill the food pantries all across the North Shore.
As we move forward and closer to the September 9th onset of students the energy on the professional side of NSCC is building. Our students will soon be walking through the halls in due course and in no time at all, they will be filling every nook and cranny of Lynn, Danvers, and Beverly campuses. It’s a sweet feeling to be a part of higher education, especially in a new environment, and on the other spectrum as professional. I’m excited to get the ball rolling. On September 9th – 10th at 7:30 a.m. in the morning I will be “Walking The Lines” for two days. “Walking The Lines” is a program for the first couple of days where faculty, administration, and staff hand out energy bars and water to students as they walk into each entrance.
All in all it’s going to be a great year; I mean it’s already off to a great start. Massachusetts is absolutely a beautiful state.
Peace out.
Well, it’s a sunny Friday. I’m sitting in my new office at NSCC in Lynn. Yes, the city with the jingle that goes like this: Lynn, Lynn. The City of Sin, you never come out the way you went in. This tune of sorts is quite misleading though, Lynn has its rugged rough parts, but I’ve only met nice people thus far. The city is right off the bay, next to a beautiful island dubbed Nahant. In reference to Lynn’s location on the North Shore of Massachusetts it’s just below Salem, Swampscott, and right above Revere. I remember before moving here my friends were always confused because they thought Lynn was a person. So, I had to correct them – “No, no, no, I’m not moving in with Lynn, I’m moving to Lynn,” it was quite tiring after a while though it surely faded.
The experience thus far from spending a week in Boston at Northeastern University to receive training, visiting Salem for the Salem Jazz and Musical Festival at the Willows, taking adventures to Gloucester’s Harbor Beach and Nahant, meeting a group of people who carry the same values as I do, and will all be partaking in a year of service is truly rewarding.
Alright back to the office. I have an office with a window, looking out on Broad Street in Lynn a very busy section of the city. My office is fairly medium sized I’ll give you a mental breakdown - family photo’s on my right tacked to the large cork board, cold morning coffee - next to my black keyboard and the mouse pad, and of course the staple Merriam-Webster: dictionary and thesaurus –got to have those. Imagine for a second a square room with a purple door, windows straight ahead, white walls, book shelves on your left as you walk in and a desk place parallel to the window. I’ve been doing work on the computer for most of the day, so, these eyes are starting to become dry. I’m in need of some water. Now, I’ve decided to update Massachusetts Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA blog with a post, to enlighten those who’ve been de-voided of posts and have just been dying to read the next.
I want to really just reflect on the last four weeks of my life living in “The Bay State,” - I can’t believe it has been that long. I feel like I just got here, the roller coaster, lifestyle of a VISTA for the first few weeks has been really go, go, go, here are the tools you need to succeed, now go make a difference in the world. So I’ve decided today to take a breather, step back, focus my attention on what’s happened and just let it flow. That roller coaster is starting to simmer down. Reflection is a huge part of service, I’m looking forward to this upcoming Friday’s reflection – it will be the first time everyone’s seen each other since we left Northeastern.
Prior to arriving at NSCC, as written before, I received a week of training at Northeastern University - we’re given a packet called the “work plan.” We got it on our third day of training, as vocal as I was about getting it, other VISTA’s started picking up on how wound up I was. But to me it was a big deal the work plan gives you a timeline of your project, has your job description, tells you who your supervisor is- and is pretty much a manual that guides your life for the next year. So that night, I must have skimmed through it like three or four times, as if I were reading Kerouac’s On The Road, it was like experiencing the taste of coffee for the first time. Most definitely, a rush was felt; I was already building a mental map of how to execute the plan. Not having any prior experience in developing a leadership institute, I was a little overwhelmed – but I understood that the plan has a mission statement, having four goals; the goals guide the mission statement, accomplishing these goals will achieve the mission of the institute. Hold that thought for couple of paragraphs.
The first three day’s consisted of nothing but meeting Vice Presidents, Directors and Deans who I had delightful, engaging, conversations with; they all have the best interest of students in hand. My supervisor and I ate at the International House of Pancakes on the second day; it was quite early in the morning, so coffee was in order. Lloyd is the name of my boss; he’s the Dean of Student life at the College and is the one who wrote the work plan and compiled the grant to get me - he’s a very sweet man wh0 also happens to be from the South – Mississippi to be exact. At the meeting we go over expectations and talk of our leadership styles, but we couldn’t help but get off track – we started talking about our taste in music and found out that we had some things in common, he also told me to take a Myers-Brigg test, wanting to know what type of personality I was, so he could best direct me. I made a mental note to use this with students.
After this casual morning meeting I walked out of IHOP full from two pancakes, 4 cups of coffee, two slices of toast, home fries, eggs – along with a new friend, a new professional colleague, and someone I know is going to be a great mentor. I am going to learn a lot from him within the next year.
It’s around 9:30 a.m. we arrived back at NSCC - I was greeted with my first office plant and a welcoming card both from the NSCC Human Relations Department. I’ve decided to call the plant, “Alfie” (I’m all about naming things, inanimate objects too) – the name in my opinion suits the small plant plotted in a squared yellow cereal bowl. I appreciate small acts of kindness like this one. Now, let’s see if I can take care of the plant, I’m betting on a couple of weeks, but I’m going to try to keep Alfie alive (especially since it was a gift too) as long as possible. This will be the test to see whether I can handle a cat or a dog later in life. Pam Nolan-Young a now dear friend of mine, a well educated woman, director of human relations gave me these gifts.
After meeting practically everyone in the College, I could finally sit down and work. First task - I needed to see how things would come together, that is grasping how to meet my goals, I worked it out with a dry erase marker in hand by pretty much locking myself in a room and a not allowing anyone in. So for three to four hours I created a web thoughtfully defining my goals, understanding them, and then tediously working out logistics. I’m having a meeting with Lloyd this week to go over it, before we present it to my focus groups, which will come later on in the next couple of weeks. Through my mapping and readings transcending departments is going to have to happen in order to meet the standards of higher education. Stakeholders aren’t just students, but all entities of the college.
My second week I started compiling a list of all the community based organizations in Lynn, Danvers, and Beverly – this took quite awhile, however, once it’s finished the end product will be useful. I also created a Google map outlining the community based organizations in the Lynn. Now, it’s time to set up one on one’s with these organizations to see what they need. So when students are looking for direct community service opportunities they intrinsically better themselves, but also meet the needs of the community.
My third week consisted of meeting with three community based organizations to perform one to one’s. I met with Lynn History Museum and Historical Society, Lynn’s alternative adult education program Bootstrap, and finally Gordon College in Lynn. My first big project is working with Diana Kerry, she is the Public Policy Institute director, and we will be collaborating to make hunger awareness and homelessness at the forefront of the College and Institute as for initiatives coming out of our offices. Beginning September 11th, a day of national service to October 9th NSCC will have a food drive to fill the food pantries all across the North Shore.
As we move forward and closer to the September 9th onset of students the energy on the professional side of NSCC is building. Our students will soon be walking through the halls in due course and in no time at all, they will be filling every nook and cranny of Lynn, Danvers, and Beverly campuses. It’s a sweet feeling to be a part of higher education, especially in a new environment, and on the other spectrum as professional. I’m excited to get the ball rolling. On September 9th – 10th at 7:30 a.m. in the morning I will be “Walking The Lines” for two days. “Walking The Lines” is a program for the first couple of days where faculty, administration, and staff hand out energy bars and water to students as they walk into each entrance.
All in all it’s going to be a great year; I mean it’s already off to a great start. Massachusetts is absolutely a beautiful state.
Peace out.
Friday, June 12, 2009
and so it goes...
Well. I guess it's June, huh? It's been a long time since I've visited this blog. As the students left campus and all the craziness of campus happenings came to a close, I guess it didn't seem like there was much to update about. However, today was the last day of our Close of Service retreat at the Cape and as I sit at my desk, still thinking about the last three days (and the past year) I feel like this is the perfect time to re-visit this space. The retreat was a three day, fun filled wrap up to our spectacular year together as a Corps. We spent a bit of time congregated, celebrating all of our individual accomplishments as well as the accomplishments we made together. It was perfect, albeit tough.
It's been a really busy, crazy year and the past couple months have been especially insane. I am leaving Framingham State to transition into the role of one of the AmeriCorps*VISTA Leaders for MACC next year and so for the past month or so I have been finishing up my work at FSC while also getting things ready for the new Corps to come in July. It's been a really exciting time for me and in all that, I kind of forgot that the end with this Corps was coming and today it hit me like a ton of bricks. As we sat in a circle and had our final wrap up meeting, it was wonderful to hear about what all my fellow AmeriCorps*VISTAs were going to be doing next year and to share with them what I got out of this year. Hearing everyone talk about their plans one after another was like somebody slowly but surely turning the faucet on and by the time it got to me, I was an inarticulate emotional mess. I couldn't get my thoughts together and I'm sure I had a lot more to say to the group but tried to stop speaking as I was pretty sure I was making very little sense.
I just need to express (once more, as I have so many times before) how thankful I am for everything that I have gotten out of this year. The professional and personal growth I have experienced will only grow deeper with the year ahead and the relationships that I have made have been life changing and I can't imagine my life had I not chosen to do a year with MACC. I'm sure, like this morning, I am not even writing very coherently now. So, with that, I'll leave you. It's been quite a year. Here's to one more.
- Dana
It's been a really busy, crazy year and the past couple months have been especially insane. I am leaving Framingham State to transition into the role of one of the AmeriCorps*VISTA Leaders for MACC next year and so for the past month or so I have been finishing up my work at FSC while also getting things ready for the new Corps to come in July. It's been a really exciting time for me and in all that, I kind of forgot that the end with this Corps was coming and today it hit me like a ton of bricks. As we sat in a circle and had our final wrap up meeting, it was wonderful to hear about what all my fellow AmeriCorps*VISTAs were going to be doing next year and to share with them what I got out of this year. Hearing everyone talk about their plans one after another was like somebody slowly but surely turning the faucet on and by the time it got to me, I was an inarticulate emotional mess. I couldn't get my thoughts together and I'm sure I had a lot more to say to the group but tried to stop speaking as I was pretty sure I was making very little sense.
I just need to express (once more, as I have so many times before) how thankful I am for everything that I have gotten out of this year. The professional and personal growth I have experienced will only grow deeper with the year ahead and the relationships that I have made have been life changing and I can't imagine my life had I not chosen to do a year with MACC. I'm sure, like this morning, I am not even writing very coherently now. So, with that, I'll leave you. It's been quite a year. Here's to one more.
- Dana
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
National Volunteer Week and Awards
As the semester rolls to a close, I've been busy around campus working on events -- and even winning an award. The week of April 19-25th was National Volunteer week; I reached out to our community partners and set up several volunteer opportunities for our students. Points of Light is the organization that heads up National Volunteer Week. Monday, we spent some time helping out the Boston Marathon, helping in the Family Reunion area. Tuesday we volunteered with Red Cross Blood Services, and I ended up helping in a medical incident with a donor, which was exciting, but not the kind of excitement I was hoping for. Wednesday, which was Earth Day, we volunteered with Earthworks an organization that helps do urban gardening. With Earthworks, we helped get a garden at the Hennigan School in Jamaica Plain ready for spring, weeding and doing other prep work in the rain! Thursday there were two projects, we volunteered with Cradles to Crayons, making clothing packages for needy children across Massachusetts. My last event was with Boston Living Center, where we helped serve a meal to clients living with HIV or AIDS. On Friday, there was a student run annual event known as Good Neighbor Day, which gets volunteers out into the local community.
In addition, this week I got to attend the 17th Annual Beacon Awards Dinner, an awards dinner for students and student groups. I nominated my ASB Group for the Award. Overall it was a successful night for our office; we had 2 students involved with our office winning major Beacon Student Leadership awards -- 5 students were chosen out of a pool of 30. Our Beacon Voyages for Service ASB to Galveston, TX also won the Beacon Student Group Service Award. I've got a beacon award sitting on my desk! We are excited about the success of our office this year, and I know next year will be a success as well! Here is me with some students and the award!
In addition, this week I got to attend the 17th Annual Beacon Awards Dinner, an awards dinner for students and student groups. I nominated my ASB Group for the Award. Overall it was a successful night for our office; we had 2 students involved with our office winning major Beacon Student Leadership awards -- 5 students were chosen out of a pool of 30. Our Beacon Voyages for Service ASB to Galveston, TX also won the Beacon Student Group Service Award. I've got a beacon award sitting on my desk! We are excited about the success of our office this year, and I know next year will be a success as well! Here is me with some students and the award!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
A Busy Time of Year
The end of the school year is literally around the corner! We’ve been busy finishing up the final touches for several events over the next week. We have 3 students who applied and were recruited to BLAST (Beacon Leadership and Service Team) who were put in charge or created 3 different campus projects which will occur from this Saturday to next Friday. A few months ago they attended LeaderShape and now they are ready to make a big splash on campus! The projects include a leadership conference (which I will be presenting at, currently I’m working on my PowerPoint), a Health and Fitness Expo, and Good Neighbor Day (an annual day of volunteering). All of these events I am looking forward to! In addition I’ve secured volunteering sites Monday through Friday for National Volunteer Week. It will be a busy week, but I’m looking forward to getting outside, volunteering, and really having an overall great time!
~ Erika
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Another day in the life...
Good morning! I just came off of a pretty busy weekend in Boston at the National Conference on Student Leadership. A fellow AmeriCorps*VISTA and I spent the weekend there as a partner of the conference tabling for AmeriCorps*VISTA and talking with students about the AmeriCorps*VISTA program. We got this gig from the AmeriCorps*VISTA outreach coordinator all the way down in PA after offering to help out at a career fair a few weeks ago. We got to stay at a fancy hotel and network with some pretty awesome people. One of the perks of being a AmeriCorps*VISTA!
March and April have arguably been the busiest months of my year thus far. After our return from Alternative Spring Break, things were pretty slow for about a week, but then the students came back and things sped up so quickly! With the end of the year approaching, all of the clubs that I work with are in a mad dash to spend the rest of their money, so I have had countless meetings with them regarding events they are planning, things they want to purchase, etc. It's been hectic, but also kind of neat to see what kinds of things they're doing. One of my clubs, Amnesty International, threw their annual human rights fest, AKA "Jamnesty" last night. It was really cool, they had a bunch of bands playing with petitions and educational literature in the back on some tables. Very simple, but cool to see them organizing for things that matter to them. One of my other students' clubs are hosting a Green Fest in two weeks, and I'm really excited about all of the stuff they'll have there!
In other news, a big part of our job as MACC*VISTAs is creating/maintaining sustainable partnerships with community agencies. I have been working with the United Way of Tri-County here in Framingham since my arrival in July. Things have been rocky and confusing for some time, regarding priorities and actually getting things done for the community. This past week, I had a meeting with my contact there and we went over our partnership agreement and sorted out what we have done and what we need to get done. We also talked about the path that the partnership is taking and whether or not we see it as necessarily beneficial for the two of us, and the Framingham community. I have felt for awhile that the partnership with the United Way was too limiting on the college and that we should be out in the community more, interacting and seeing what the community really needs from our students - something that given the current language of our agreement, hasn't really been happening. My colleague at the United Way was very receptive to what I was saying and agreed that our partnership could benefit from some restructuring to open it up a little more. Overall, it was a really productive meeting and I walked away feeling pretty hopeful. The students leave in the middle of May, and after that I hope to be able to get out and meet with some local CBOs a little more to identify their needs and how our students can assist them.
That's it for now... back to work!
Til next time,
Dana
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