Hard Times and Stress……

I’ve been going through some family issues for the last week or so. I’ve had two grandparents in the hospital within the last week. My granny had surgery today and I’m completely stressed out. My mother is stress out about her father, my grandfather, who physically disabled and blind. He was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday. A few days before that I found my paternal grandmother had to have surgery to unclog an artery in her leg. Its just been a really stressful few days and I’ve been feeling really down about a few things. But before the weekend I did manage to get a couple of things done:
• Went to the Co-Op Office to ask about an internship for the summer or fall
• Planned a couple of volunteer projects for this weekend
• Met the director of the Black Star Project on Wednesday at the Jazz Showcase
• Sent my resume for a couple of internships through idealists.com

Just pray for me and my family…

Working Past My Fears.....

With my goal being to start my own nonprofit foundation and opening community center, I think its interact and volunteer with other organizations. I think volunteering with existing organizations whose main focus is to have personal interaction with the community and giving all they can. I always believed that volunteering is an fulfilling and rewarding experience that is somewhat priceless. I volunteer with several organizations since high school and these are just a few of my favorites:
• Habitat for Humanity
• The Black Star project
• The Glass Slipper Project
• Chicago Cares
• M. G. R. foundation's CareTeams
• One Brick
• And a few others that I can't remember it now

Recently I have reached out to move the directors of these programs for interviews but without receive any responses it. Yet! So sad.... but that doesn't discourage me from working with them and contributing to my community and city.

Fear. I have let fear deter me from so many things in my life back as far as I can remember. I'm always had a fear of public speaking and it would drive me into full-on panic attack, hyperventilating and all. Usually a good freak out would get me out of presenting a paper or project but rarely would I suck it up and just go for it. I would take the lower grade if it meant that I didn't have stand in front of my class. It wasn’t because I wasn’t prepared or didn’t know what I was talking about. I was the fear of judgment or ridicule that would make me just give up time and time again. I also flunked high school Speech because of it. Thankfully my stage fright has improved over the years and I have been able to push past the panicking. I believe my shyness had a lot to do with it. I know most people wouldn't believe that I was a terribly shy child but I was. I’m still working past public speaking issues because I know that it will hinder me professionally if I don’t get past them. Work in progress….

Pushing Forward.....

So I finally got a couple of my interviews out of the way…..

I’ve been avoiding these interviews for a number of reasons. Mostly fear. Part frustration. Because I change goal, I had no direction and just ready to give up on everything this class was trying to push us to do. After talking to Prof. Rock and getting to the guts to put myself out there, I believe I was relatively successful. I interviewed to interesting and remarkable professionals and here’s what they had to say:

First I interviewed Shelly A. Butler, the Executive Director of the South Chicago YMCA, and it was a relatively short phone interview. She is originally from Georgia and attended undergraduate and graduate school down there and focusing her studies on education and business management. She didn’t have specific reasons for apply to employment at the YMCA but feel fulfills in her work. We discussed the programs and the struggles of her work. She stated something very interesting to me: she says it wasn’t so much about your educational background when it comes to nonprofit work but about your character. You must understand the people’s socioeconomic status and emphatic to their individual situation. She stated that many of her previous interns were unable to grasp that concept. She invited me to come down, take a tour and talk more with her.

Second interview was with Tio Hardiman, who works with The Chicago Project for Violence Prevention. He’s an amazing man with an amazing story. We discussed things he went through in his childhood and they affected him overall. Discussed his educational background. I was most interested in his M.A. in Inner City Studies from Northeastern University. His work in several organizations around the city and what he found rewarding from each of them. I was so into his life story I didn’t take great notes. Our conversation was brief but dense. He invited me to contact him anytime to discuss anything I had a question about.

I also have a interview for next week with Cherita Ellens, Executive Director of the South Side and Wabash YMCAs

Done.

I give up. This class has become way more than I signed up for. I'm so done.

Reaching Out to Nothing....

Hello all,

Anyone that knows me knows that I like to get straight to the point. No one was trying to talk to me!! The only person that I was able to reach was Phillip Jackson of the Black Star Project but, unfortunately, he was unable to have a quick conversation with and told me to call sometime this week. The Illinois Board had a few changes in leadership so I knew I wasn't going to be hearing from them. Everyone else I'm still waiting on a reply from....

Since last week I have completely changed my goal and I'm feeling lost, confused and totally frustrated. I'm almost starting to despise this class. I thought I had everything figured out and now I feel like I have no direction at all!! How did all this happen in ONE WEEK!?!?!?!