I volunteered to sell prom tickets on Fridays.

I volunteered to sell prom tickets on the following Fridays; 3/12, 3/19, 3/26, 4/09, and 4/16. I will be giving up my lunch periods for this but at this point I don't mind. I'd rather be spending my time for something productive and beneficial to the group as a whole, and of course I will have something to eat with me when I do this. Right now I am the only person who put my name on the sheet for these days, and a minimum of three people have been requested for each day, and I hope someone else volunteers because it'd just be nice to have someone else there.

One of the skills that I hope to increase by doing this are;

1. Managing my own schedule and keeping track of what I have to do and when. Sometimes if I have an obligation to something and my presence is required on a day that is not typical of my week to week schedule, I will often forget and later remember, "OH NO I was supposed to ________". This would be a good time for me to make use of my agenda/planner that my mom bought for me before the school year started, and I will write down the days on which I will be selling the tickets, just as a reminder so that I will not forget and then remember either ten minutes before lunch on these Fridays, or after I was supposed to show up and did not. I want to learn how to keep track of events that are not typical of my schedule.

2. Learning how to make organized lists. As people are buying the tickets, I will need to make a list of who bought them or who would like to buy one but does not have the money on them, and it is in that situation I'd get confused. I have OCD so with me, everything has to be either completed, all set and clarified, or I panic and feel like the job was not completed or there is still something up in the air so to speak. I would probably feel this way if someone said they'd buy a ticket and to write their name down but they'd actually buy it later when they had money, as I'd feel like I'd have to seek them out later to ensure that they do this, or it'd just throw me off balance. I'd prefer to have everyone buy a ticket, pay, and that be it, but life is not so cut and dry and I hope to learn to fight my OCD-driven tendencies and learn how to handle situations like this and still remain organized.

I'll probably try and persuade one of the other prom members to sell tickets with me, preferrably someone organized who would not be inclined to distract me the entire time with incessant talking. But whoever ends up helping me, I will be as polite as possible and tolerate their presence, regardless of how I feel about them, and if it's someone I like, even better. As long as we get the job done and sell the tickets, I'll be happy.

I haven't blogged about Prom Committee for a while,

I decided that I would like to help out as much as I can with the selling of prom tickets in the next month, so I talked to Mrs. Hyer and I am going to give up some lunch periods to sell some of the tickets in school. I want to help in any way I can, and Mrs. Hyer said that the selling of the tickets is largely going to be a result of the efforts of the juniors, since the seniors are going to be busy and won't have much time to help. I want to contribute, which will help me maintain my commitment to Prom Committee as a whole, which is one of my learning objectives, and to also be a working member of the group and to make a difference. I feel as if I haven't lately been giving Prom Committee my full effort, since I'd been shrinking back from being a leader (with the fundraising) to letting everyone else make all the decisions in terms of decorations and food. I mean, I did voice my opinions when given the chance, but I am much more productive at fundraising and selling, than I am at choosing decorations, which had been the topic of discussion for the past few weeks. I would honestly be happy with whatever the rest of the group comes up with, since for me, prom is more about the people that you spend it with and the experience than the decorations, so I am more than happy to voice my opinions but overall I don't mind letting some of the other members have a stronger say. I want to make sure prom happens, and that as many people go as want to, which is another reason I want to run the ticket sale table; I might even try and persuade people to go who are considering not going, because it IS a memorable event, and also, the more tickets sold, the more money will be left over to give back to those who donated to us for our benefit.

I decided not to run for Key Club office.

I had the opportunity to go to today's Key Club meeting and at the last minute decide to run for one of the positions for Key Club office, such as treasurer, secretary, president, vice-president, or editor but I chose not to, and decided to simply vote. I am aware that a position like that is looked at very highly by colleges but part of the reason I chose not to run is that this weekend, I thought long and hard about my own limitations and my priorities, and I came to the conclusion that I am not sure how much more I can handle.

I already have a full plate in terms of activities, homework, work, etc. and I am always overwhelmed and stressed, and I feel like if by some chance I actually had won a position, it would be too much for me to handle on top of everything else I have. I know this makes me sound weak or like I am afraid to take risks but that's not it at all. I have pushed myself very hard so far to participate in as many activities as I can, join two school clubs (Key Club and Prom Committee), and to do my absolute best on every homework assignment and put in my best effort, and I still attempt to maintain a part time job on the weekends. The difference is that running for office for Key Club requires tutorials and attending meetings and giving it much time and effort, and it is not an easy job from what I hear, and I just do not think I would be able to balance that and my other priorities and still be able to get everything else done that I need to, because I am running out of available free time to fit other things into my schedule.

I acknowledge my own limitations and I am still going to try and push myself to do more and more, but something extremely professional and VERY important such as Key Club I don't feel should be put in my overwhelmed and temporarily stressed hands, and I felt as if the positions should be for people who truly want them and will do a better job, so I chose not to run.

Key Club - should I run for a position?

At this week's meeting, I found out that it's coming time for the Key Club office positions (treasurer, president, vice president, secretary, editor), etc. to be switched up, and we were told to write our names on the board under the position we might want, and next week a ballot will be made so that the rest of the members can vote for who they would like to see in that position. I am aware that all of those positions require A LOT of serious work, and that Key Club is quite official and important and accurate figures and information must be taken, and just about every one of those positions entails that level of responsibility. In addition there is some kind of tutorial/program in the next few months that has workshops to teach people how to correctly fulfill the positions.

I would like to volunteer, however I am not sure what it entails and I am not sure if anyone in Key Club would vote me into the position I want. First, I need to figure out what I want to volunteer for, and I am going to talk to Ms. Vari about each position and see which one I find manageable. I want to volunteer for three reasons; one, so I have some experience as a leader of a group and so I can build my own leadership skills, two because I was told it looks excellent to colleges, and three because I know I am capable of whatever I put my mind to and I do not want to waste opportunities I have to do something good and beneficial, and help the group as a whole. Even if I don't get chosen, I will feel good to know that I put myself out there and took a risk, and that I always have another chance in the future if I'm not chosen.

I will need to think about this further, talk to Hyanna and Ms. Vari, and then I will be able to make the right decision. I talked to my mother and she thinks I should volunteer and look into it more, and I want to, but first I would like to know the responsibilities that I will have and see what is required of me. It's possible I might not even get chosen but if I was to, I'd need to know what I was chosen to do. I still need to decide what I want to volunteer for, so I will give it some thought and post an update here once I decide.

Prom Committee - still going/helping any way I can.

I've been continuing to go to Prom Committee, except for a few weeks ago because I was having a rough week and needed to catch up on some homework assignments.

There isn't as much hands-on work to be done at this point (fundraising or otherwise), but I have been doing whatever I can to help. At the last meeting, Mrs. Hyer needed someone to write phone numbers and names on the back of raffle tickets and then put the ticket stub into the envelopes that would be sent to the buyer, and I chose to do this to help out. I did this the entire lunch period, even though the meeting was let out early because there was nothing left to go over.

As much as I wanted to go out to lunch in the remaining time like everyone else, I stayed inside and finished filling out every needed ticket. I said I would do it, and I did. At this point for me the main challenge for me in Prom Committee is that I often would rather be outside at lunch, or with my friends. After three classes in the morning, a breath of fresh air (literally and metaphorically) is often what I need and what I want. But at the same time I made a commitment to join Prom Committee and I see that as more important than going outside to talk to my friends at lunch. I am learning that when making a commitment to something, somewhere down the line I may wish to break the commitment and not fulfill my duties but the honorable thing to do, and the unselfish thing to do for the group as a whole, is to stick with my commitments and do what I promised. And it actually turns out that I enjoy the prom meetings once I am there, but the few classes before lunch I may be thinking, "I've been in a classroom all morning, I just want some fresh air and to be out of the building for the entire lunch." A year ago, I would not have been this willing to follow through with my commitments but now I think in terms of the greater good for the group, being helpful, and learning that sometimes, I may not always want to do what I should, but I need to do it anyway and learning this has made me a stronger person.

Key Club service as of January 5, 2010

I attended the Monday meeting and Hyanna asked for volunteers to stay after on Tuesday to help take down the Christmas decorations that still lingered around the school, and I volunteered to help. I didn't know how much would need to be done but I wanted to help because not many people were volunteering and I want to do every little bit I can to help the group as a whole. I wouldn't have minded taking down all of the decorations myself and when I showed up on Tuesday outside the room we meet in after school ended, no one else was there. I was standing there waiting for ten minutes and I wondered if anyone else was going to come and help and eventually, they did.

The items that needed to be taken down to the basement were;
- All of the decorations in the front display window in Ms. Messersmith's room (consisting of wrapped boxes and other wooden decorations, the artificial Christmas tree in addition to lights)
- The Christmas cards made by French students that were on a bulletin board the front hall, as well as the wrapping paper covering the bulletin board
- All the decorations in the very front of the school where the chairs and tables are, which were lights and boxes.

As a group, approximately ten of us got everything taken down and brought to the basement and stored in boxes within a half hour, and I did the most I could to help - I did about ten trips to the basement and carried as much as I could each time, and I continually asked Ms. Vari if she needed help with anything else. I enjoy helping other people, and contributing to a greater good and that is one of the things that Key Club has given me the opportunity to do. If something needs to be done I like to offer to do it to eliminate other people's workloads and to also get the job done and it wasn't until recently that I felt this way. I used to only look out for my own interests, and seeing how tired I was that afternoon, a year ago I would have thought ' there are enough people volunteering that my presence shouldn't matter, I can just leave and go home and nap', but tired or not I made a commitment and wanted to follow through. I also appreciate how we got the task done as a group in a relatively short amount of time and teamwork was not one of my strong areas until high school, so I appreciate the opportunities I have to work collaboratively with others to get a task done.

I plan to offer my assistance in the future wherever it is needed and continue committing myself to the group, and I hope that I will become closer with some of the other Key Club members - none of them are close friends but we all have a common interest - community service - so it might provide opportunities to build friendships in upcoming months.

Update on Key Club contributions

I have continued to attend every Key Club meeting, and I have to say that I enjoy being a part of Key Club. Of all my CAS activities, I feel that it is the hardest one to maintain commitment to, but I have made sure that I have continued to do so, which is helping me to achieve learning outcome number 5 - to maintain commitment to the activity and do my part.

Often times, on Monday I want to go out to lunch, and sitting in a classroom for my lunch period is not what I want to be doing, but I have been putting aside what I'd RATHER do and instead, attend every meeting. Each week I look for opportunities to contribute to the group and to do my part, and last week I did this by selling tickets during Friday's lunch period to the semi-formal dance. Volunteers were sought out to take their turn selling the tickets and I wanted to make sure I contributed one way or another, and I did. I made copies of the flyer advertizing the dance and hung them up around the school in different places, hoping that people would see the flyer and buy a ticket. I also sat at the table, with a couple of other people, to collect money for the dance which would then be given to Hyanna so she could keep track of it. It's still been difficult for me to find time to participate in activities over the weekend due to my busy schedule with work and other CAS activities, but I plan on making the time in the future and as of now I am looking for opportunities to participate during the school week in any way that I can, because I want to make a difference.

The way that this activity is helping me is that it is teaching me that sometimes, how we want to spend our time is not how we should be spending it, that is instead of going out for lunch with my friends on Mondays or last Friday for instance, I give some of my time to benefit the group as a whole and do my part, so that the work and effort will be more evenly divided and so that I will have done my part. I am learning to put first what is most important and give up my time where need be, and it's teaching me to be less selfish and to be committed to activities and tasks that I commit myself to. A year ago I probably would have gone to every other meeting so that I wouldn't have had to give up my lunches and I probably would have sat in the back and let everyone else take responsibility for tasks that need to be done, but now I want to step up and say I will do this or that, and that I will take responsibility for my share of the work and that I will volunteer when volunteers are needed. I'm learning to be less selfish with my time and put others and good causes first, because I KNOW that Key Club is a good cause and that everything we do is benefitting other people, and that's what I want to do. I want to make a difference in other people's lives and by maintaining commitment to the activity, I am hoping that somewhere down the line I will have (and will continue to) make a difference.

Tag Sale a great success!

Today was the day of all the big fundraisers. It was a half day and there were going to be four main fundraisers set up - chili sales, tag sale, bake sale, and raffle tickets. Since I was the one who came up with the idea for the tag sale I was also one of the people who sat at the tables to help sell the items.

Oh and you better believe that when we first unloaded the items onto the tables in the back of the school today during break, there were A LOT of items. Each of the three tables was packed full with items of all kinds - books, stuffed animals, household items, kitchen utensils, gardening tools, and anything else you can possibly imagine, and when I took a step back and looked at all of the tables, it was hard to believe I wasn't in someone's attic. The amount of items and the space everything took up was overwhelming. I was worried that people wouldn't want to buy those types of items, that nothing would get sold, and the whole tag sale would have been a waste of time, given how much preparation and thought it took. I didn't want to leave today feeling like all of our effort was a waste of time.

Luckily, the end result was the exact opposite. Of all four fundraisers held today, the tag sale made the second-highest amount of money, with chili sales first of course. I went to the tag sale tables immediately when school let out, because parents were to be coming in right away to talk to their kids' teachers. As parents started coming in, we (Emily, Marissa, Deanna, Kiki and I) began to sell items for the prices that they were marked, depending on their colored tags, with an occasional dollar-off or buy-one-get-one-free here and there if giving a bargain meant the difference between the item being purchased or not. I feel that if we did not do this, people would have not bought as many items, and that a dollar off here or there made all the difference. I learned one of the secrets of selling items - it's better to sell more for less, than to not sell the items at all and sell fewer items for more.

At some point (around 4:00), we had sold at least half of the items on the tables. I didn't realize it until I stepped back and looked at all of the tables and realized that there were so many less items than when we had started out, and the whole area went from looking like a messy attic to a gift shop. It was now that I realized that we had to sell as much as we could in the next two hours and that meant giving items for free if necessary or even charging only $1 for an item or a group of items. Whatever could sell more items and get them out of our faces so that there would be less to cart off to the swap shop later, the better. I also tried to tell the customers that they could have a number of items and tell me what price they thought was reasonable, and I, in a subtle way, tried to convince the customers they needed specific items. "Oh, what a lovely Christmas gift for someone special!" or "Would you like to buy this as a gift for your son/daughter?" were not uncommon to be heard today. This worked pretty well, and by the time the day ended, only about 1/4 of the original amount of items remained, and Mrs. Botsford came and took as much as she could for her theater class, for free.

At the end of the day, around $250 was made! I was proud to see that the tag sale was more successful than originally anticipated and that a lot of items WERE sold. It felt good to know that something I had spent a lot of time planning and trying to make successful had actually been successful. I am glad that I in some way contributed to prom, but of course I can't take all of the credit because everyone who helped today did an excellent job and was just as committed as I was, and I commend their efforts sincerely. I was also glad to see that I can be trusted with responsibilities and that I am able to be responsible for something and to commit to it, because to be honest it was difficult at times to make sure posters got printed and hung up, that items were moved and tagged, etc, because it took up a generous amount of time to prepare. But I like having responsibilities and commitments because it lets me know that I am capable and that I can handle having a lot on my plate and not end up crushed by the pressure and workload. Most important to me is that I helped to make prom a better place, because how boring would it be if prom was just like any other school dance? It has to be special and as the prom committee it's our job to make sure it's en event to remember :)

Key Club/Turkey Drive/Food Drive, November 19, 2009

I have consistently been going to Key Club every week, and I am determined to find time to do some of the weekend community service work as opportunities present themselves in the future. So far I have not been able to attend many due to a packed schedule, with other CAS activities over the weekend (such as bowling) and work, however I did trick or treat for UNICEF for Halloween and this week, I helped to coordinate a food drive for Thanksgiving. It is by the Community Action Committee of Cape Cod & Islands, and it is where food items such as canned goods, frozen turkey, or a gift card for $25 can be brought in as a substitute for the frozen turkey.

My job was essentially to spread the word to the different advisories and encourage them to participate. On Tuesday during advisory, I went to each advisory and checked to see who was participating and to encourage advisors to participate, and I made a list so that today, I could go from room to room and remind the advisories that said they were participating that on Friday, canned items can be brought in and on Monday, any perishable items can be brought in no later than noon. I made that much clear, and I also said that items were to be brought into the supply closet near the front office by Monday, but they could also be brought in on Friday. I went and talked to Ms. Carman after I did this, she asked me if I told the advisors that their advisory's collection of food items needed to be placed in a box specifically for their advisory's items before being brought to the supply closet. I forgot to do this, and I had 5 minutes before class was to begin and advisory to end. In a flash I ran to each advisory a second time and checked to see that each had their own box or bag so that their items could be kept separate and not mixed in with other advisories' items, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was already taken care of.

I learned something very important today. READ THE HANDOUTS I AM GIVEN VERY CAREFULLY before spreading the word. Of course, I did not pass on any inaccurate information but because I was in such a rush because of the time constraint of advisory, and the fact that some advisors kept me longer to ask questions so I could clarify, I was in a rush and forgot to mention about the boxes. Next time I volunteer to help plan something important, I will make sure I am 100% informed before I attempt to spread the word, to prevent any confusion for the people I introduce ideas to, and to save myself time so I don't have to explain more than once or go back and add in points that I forgot to mention the first time. It was a careless mistake on my part but luckily this time, my mistake didn't have any impact on any of the advisors or the good work their advisories have done - there were A LOT of people participating and items have already been brought in. I will just make sure that I read the handouts more carefully in the future, to increase my own understanding of the event in question so that I can pass on accurate information to others.

One of my learning objectives is #5, which is to maintain commitment to the activity. I have been trying my best to do this with Key Club, which is difficult at times because often times on Monday, I'd MUCH rather go out to lunch than go to a Key Club meeting, but I have not missed one meeting yet and I don't plan to. I have a busy weekend schedule and I cannot always participate in weekend activities, but I make sure I do as much as I can during the school week which is why I volunteered to help with the food drive. I wanted to make sure that I'm not a useless Key Club member and that if there's any way I can help, I will. I will try in the future to find a way to fit the weekend activities into my schedule, which is difficult, but it will help me in the end in terms of how I prioritize and can fit a lot into my day to day schedule. Learning objective #6, which is to engage in issues of global importance, is carried out here because the food drive is helping the less fortunate, and I want to do as much as I can to help those less fortunate. I take for granted all I have and I feel that I should be more sympathetic toward those in need, and what way is better to do that than to help them as much as I can?

Tagging tag sale items is actually sort of fun!

So it's been a little over a week since items started being brought in for the tag sale, and many more items have come in than what I initially expected. There are now several boxes (at least 7) in the school basement of items that have been labeled by price (with little colored tags that represent a different price) ready to go for the tag sale. It's surprising that so many items could be tagged in about an hour, but it took a lot of teamwork to get it done.

I stayed after school with Mrs. Hyer and three of the girls from Prom Committee and we first took the items out of the boxes and made a key with the different stickers (red, blue, green, and yellow) and the price that each sticker would represent on an item. A $5 item would be tagged red, a $3 item would be tagged yellow, a $2 item would be tagged blue, and a $1 item would be tagged green. A white sticker would represent an item that is over $5 and the customer can bargain with us for a price over that amount, and items that were not tagged at all were under $1 and customers can also suggest a reasonable price for the item there too. I was told to tag only the very valuable items for $5 because we want to sell as much as we can for affordable prices and that we should sell items for less if it comes down to it. There were a lot of items and a variety of items too, with everything from pillows to pants, to coffee makers to books, and even vases, cups, mugs, containers, and more. Some of the items will probably sell fast, such as some of the mugs, books, and electrical appliances such as coffee makers and the hair straightener that someone brought in, but some of the other items might not sell, such as clothes and pillows, in which case those items will be sent to a swap shop. I tried to price most of the items for $1 or $2, but some items, such as some of the bigger books and vases and mugs I felt were more appropriately priced at $3. I rarely marked anything $5, but a good number of items were marked for that price.

After all of the bags and boxes of items were emptied and marked, we got boxes out and put all of the items marked $5 in one box, all of the items marked $3 in other boxes (more than one was needed), and the items marked $2 and $1 are now in a few boxes, and the boxes were moved closely together so that people who go in the basement will see that the items belong together and are for the same cause, so that nothing gets moved or misplaced before the tag sale.

Every time I contribute to Prom Committee I always remind myself why I joined in the first place. One of the reasons I joined was so that I can make some new friends who share a common goal (in this case, fund-raising), so that I might learn how to take on new challenges (learning objective 2) and so that I can learn to work collaboratively with others (learning objective 4 right there). I have definitely been trying to achieve both of my goals, and I am doing it more and more week by week. Today I was forced to work collaboratively with others, and to get a job done within a specific time constraint (an hour). We got the job done relatively quickly and were all on the same page and were determined to get it done. Two of the people I worked with today, Emily Setzko and Rachel Crafts, I have never really spoken to them much and wasn't sure what to expect, but they both turned out to be really nice. Before deciding on the price for an item, we checked with one another to see if we agreed as a group, and we worked together to place all of our tagged items in the same place in an organized manner. I am also taking on new challenges because the tag sale was my idea and I am ultimately responsible for its outcome. Without my commitment and hard work it would not happen, although I am not about to take all the credit as I have had much help from others, which I appreciate. This experience has helped me learn to be a leader and to step up to the plate and get a job done, and I am looking forward to the outcome of the tag sale, which I will make sure is a success. In addition, today was sort of fun!

I can honestly say that I didn't expect it to be as successful as it has been, but with my hard work and the hard work of everyone else involved, it has been successful.

Prom Committee update, November 12, 2009

I was thrilled to see the number of tag sale donations brought in, they were piling up and there were MANY more items than I had initially expected! I was also excited because the tag sale was my idea and it looks to be having a successful start, but I also keep in mind that if I want the outcome to be successful and I want to sell a lot of the items and make a decent amount of money to contribute to prom, there is a lot more work that needs to be done, by me with some help from others as well.

There are more items that were brought in since lunch today, after the large majority of the donated items had been moved to the basement, so I volunteered to help move the remaining items down to the basement during break tomorrow, and I think I can handle it on my own. Next Monday I also agreed to help Mrs. Hyer tag the items according to price, and someone is making a poster that serves as a key so customers will see a certain colored sticker and know that means the item is a specific price, so it is easy to keep track of when choosing items that they want to buy. With a lot of commitment and effort on my part, and with some help, I am sure the tag sale will be successful, and I am excited for it so I can see whether or not my idea and our planning in prom committee for the event as a whole was successful.

I honestly can say I didn't expect that coordinating the tag sale would take as much work as it is, and I didn't even expect people to bring in that many items. I am actually happy that it's more work than expected because I get a sense of accomplishment when I do something well, and this experience is helping me learn how to better cooperate with other people and to incorporate my ideas into others' ideas and vice versa. I also like taking on responsibilities and getting things done, and seeing these ideas pay off in the end for the group as a whole. If there's any way that I can help make next year's prom a good one, I am more than willing to help in any way necessary :)

Key Club update & Trick or Treat for UNICEF

This is my first time blogging about Key Club in a while (although I have attended every single meeting), since I had not been able to participate in any of the weekend activities (of which there have so far been two on two different occasions), but I was finally able to participate over the weekend by trick-or-treating for UNICEF.

The goal was to collect money to send to Uruguay to help underprivileged children, and this money was to be collected in UNICEF donation boxes on Halloween. I took three of the boxes and my goal was to go with my neighbors when they went trick-or-treating and to collect money rather than candy. I figured that it'd have been rude of me to cause my friends to wait, since it would take longer for people to go and get their wallets to get some money than to just hand candy, so I went around my neighborhood by myself before meeting up with my friends, and I collected about $15, plus the $5 of my own money that I put in there before I left the house. I noticed that my neighbors were very eager to donate a dollar or two once I explained what I was collecting for, and it was great to see how eager they were to donate.

Each of my friends who I was going to go trick-or-treating with, donated a dollar and there were 9 of them, so by the time the evening was over I had about $29 total, plus some change that my neighbor's mom had that she wanted to get rid of. The truth is that none of my friends actually wanted to go trick-or-treating as we had originally planned, so that was the extent of my collection for the evening. However the next day at home I looked for change around the house and asked my family (mom, grandmother, aunt) if they had any spare change or money they wanted to donate and between the rest of us, about $20 more was collected, a lot of it was change. I filled all three donation boxes and I was glad that I collected enough money to make a difference, even though some of it was my own.

Today in Key Club, we had the option to make a card for a sick child in a hospital, and the names were written on the board. I decided to make one, because I feel bad for the children who are terminally ill and can't enjoy their lives and time with their friends, and I wanted at least one child to know that there IS someone out there thinking of them and who wants to make even the smallest difference in their life. I decorated my card and made it look nice and wrote a nice message inside for a girl named Heather, and then gave the card to Hyanna so it could be mailed out with the other cards. :)

One of my learning objectives is number 5, which is to demonstrate commitment to the activity. I have been showing up to every meeting, even if I am not able to participate in that week's activity due to a busy schedule, but I am going to make time for future activities, like I did for this one. I was originally scheduled to work on Saturday but to enable myself to have the time to go trick-or-treating to collect donations for UNICEF, I switched shifts with someone and ended up working Friday instead to give myself Saturday off, to have the time to participate. In the future I am going to make time for key club activities the best that I can.

My other learning objective is to engage in activities of global importance or importance to the community, which is objective #6. I did this in two ways (collecting money and making a card for a sick child) but I would like to continue participating in activities in which I am able to either help those less fortunate, or do something that is giving back to the community. I am fortunate to live in a decent community and to not have to deal with some of the misfortunes that others go through in poorer countries (such as Uruguay in this case) and I want to do my best to better the lives of others. I feel so ungrateful sometimes knowing that I have everything handed to me and if I can help to improve the lives of those less fortunate, I will feel good to know that I did the right thing but I will be even happier to know that the other person's life has been improved. I am normally selfish and only worried about myself and by continuing to participate in these activities, I hope to become less selfish and more grateful for what I have, and aware that others may not have as much as I do.

Selling Raffle Tickets, October 20, 2009

Today I went to Open Mic Night (I am actually there right now, everyone is performing and everyone who is going to be here is here so I have time), and I sold raffle tickets to raise money for centerpieces. I also handed out the flyers that advertise the tag sale.

I was a little disappointed, as only three sets of parents showed up. However I sold a raffle ticket to all three families, raising $60. I put the money and the stub of the raffle ticket with the contact information in the envelope provided. I handed out tag sale flyers to the same people who bought the tickets from me, so I accomplished as much as I possibly could have given the limited number of adults who showed up.

I am definitely learning how to give my time to do things that do not directly benefit me. My reason for volunteering to sell these raffle tickets is because I knew someone needed to do it, and I thought I should do whatever I can to help raise money for prom.

I was also happy to see that people have been bringing in tag sale items! I plan on bringing in a number of items from home as well, because I planned the tag sale and I want to do whatever I can to ensure that a tag sale does occur! I am learning how to be more responsible, as the money that I am raising by selling the raffle tickets is in my care and it's my job to ensure that people give the right money when buying the ticket, and that they fill out the correct information on the back. I like feeling like I am able to make a difference and be responsible for something that benefits others. I have also worked with others in the process, such as Lauren who was at the table helping me today. I have noticed that prom committee and the volunteer opportunities that come with it are an excellent opportunity to make new friends!

I am going to continue advertising the tag sale, it's in a little more than a month!

Prom Committee, October 15, 2009

Today was another Prom Committee meeting. I volunteered to sell raffle tickets on October 20 at the Open Mic Night, and I also told Mr. Hyer that I will be part of the group that is going to focus on fundraising opportunities, of which there are 4 or 5 other members of prom committee that I will be working with. I am excited, because I enjoy volunteering and I want to do my best to help with the fundraising and contribute to the effort. I am going to admit that I do not like one of the people that also volunteered, but if I have to work with this person I will put my personal feelings aside and work cooperatively with them.

I also have been thinking about what to do to encourage people to bring in tag sale items. I was glad to hear that the office has sent out emails about it to the parents. I don't know if parents will send items in with their kids, but the most I can do at this point to help is to continue thinking of ways to advertize the event, and to gather items from home and from other family members to sell. That way, even if other parents don't have items sent in with their kids, there will still be plenty of items to sell. I have many household items that I don't need and I know my mom has some too, so I will start getting them together soon so they can collect over the next month before they would be sold.

I know that every time I volunteer to help with fundraising opportunities or every time I come up with ideas, I am getting closer to achieving the chosen learning objectives for this activity. I am going to keep in contact with Mrs. Hyer throughout the week so I can see if there is anything going on that I might be able to help with, and I still need to find out the date for the Open Mic Night so I can be sure that I can attend.

Prom Committee, October 8, 2009

I went to the meeting for Prom Committee at lunch. Basically, we discussed different fundraising opportunities and how much money has been made so far, and ways to make additional money. I am going to admit that I was a little bit nervous during the meeting and found it difficult to pay close attention, partly because I had a test in algebra next period and I did not know if I understood the material well enough, even though I had studied for several hours the previous night. 

I was disappointed to hear that no items had yet been brought in for the tag sale. I have put a bit of effort into organizing the event and advertising it, but I am going to continue to advertise it, and even bring in some items from my own house to sell. Even if not a lot of items are brought in, I still will feel good to know that I did my best to help, and was able to plan something and go through with it. I am not ready to give up though, I am going to continue to commit myself into making the tag sale effective/successful.

I also reviewed with Mr. Hyer, the google spreadsheet that is keeping track of the expenses. As soon as I receive new information about expenses or profits, I will fill in the appropriate information.

I am enjoying Prom Committee, and being an active member, although I am going to continue to volunteer to help in as many ways as I can.

About Key Club, there was no meeting this week.

And tomorrow is bowling.

Open House/Prom Committee - October 1, 2009

Today was the Open House at school for the parents, to go from room to room and meet the teachers, and for Prom Committee, tables were set up in different places in the school with various sales and raffles going on; there were raffle tickets being sold, cookies and brownies being sold, and I handed out flyers to parents and students about the tag sale that will be held during parent/teacher conferences, so parents and students would be informed.

These past few days I have done all that I could to be busy and an active Prom Committee member. I designed a flyer on my computer advertising the tag sale that we are holding on November 23, which was a bit of a challenge for me because I am not good at designing flyers, even on the computer. I have not one artistic bone in my body. However I did the best that I could, using the necessary information (date, place, time, asking for donations of household items to be sold), and the flyers came out looking nice. I also made 150 copies of the flyer, two per page, and then cut them perfectly so that they were all the same size and looked neat. 

I did the best I could to help tonight at the open house. I sat at the sales table, and offered the flyer I made to parents and students who walked past the table, and I would tell them everything they needed to know about the tag sale, and I informed them that the money made from the tag sale will directly benefit the prom. It was difficult to hand out the flyer to every parent and student but I handed them out to as many people as I could. I also counted money at the table and decided to plan ahead and request that a copy of all of the profits could be given to me so when the time comes to organize the information on Google Spreadsheets, I would have the necessary information. 

I was also a bit nervous when I first showed up tonight, because while I know just about everyone else who was there to help, very few are really close friends. I was wondering if I would fit in, seeing how many of the students who are on Prom Committee this year were on last year's as well and know exactly what to do, and how to do it. I surprisingly warmed right up to everyone and even think I made a few new friends. I learned about myself that ahead of time I have a tendency to think that my social skills will fare worse than they actually do, and I end up being relatively social, especially if with people who I have met and spoken to before. Had I been surrounded by people I didn't know at all, I would have been much more nervous. I definitely think that my social skills are improving, although a lot of the time I still feel like I say things that sound awkward to others or that I ramble on about something unimportant so it looks like I am more comfortable with the people I'm with than I actually am. 

I feel like this week I have continued making progress toward achieving learning objectives 2 (taking on new challenges) and 4 (working collaboratively with others). Designing a flyer, making copies, handing it out, gave me a sense of responsibility and showed me that I can use my own ideas and come up with a plan and carry it out, as is the case with the tag sale. It was my idea and without me to ensure that everything gets done (advertising it, keeping track of the items brought in), it wouldn't get done. I feel responsible for the outcome of this event and I feel like that shows that I am making progress and learning a new sense of responsibility. I am already responsible in that I get my schoolwork done, but I am not used to coming up with an idea and going through all of the steps to carry out a plan, and I like it. I am also working collaboratively with others, more than I ever thought I would. I thought I'd be the reject member of Prom Committee, the one who didn't know what to do and sat off to the side but today I took part in the open house and did my best to help others with what they needed to do, and I did my best to make sure I was contributing to the group. 

I find that I am capable of way more than I initially thought I was, but I still would like to take on more responsibilities, particularly more difficult ones, so I continue to challenge myself to do the best I can do. 

Key Club - My first meeting (September 28, 2009)

Today was my first Key Club meeting. I didn't know what to expect. I originally decided to join Key Club because I thought that it would enable me to become a part of something bigger than myself (which learning outcome 6 refers to - issues of global importance), and I want to do something that benefits the community. In addition Hyanna had told me that it would look good on college applications so she thought I should join. 

I went into the meeting and Hyanna began explaining what needed to be done. $15 needed to be brought in by next Wednesday (membership dues I believe) and then she said that every weekend, on either Saturday or Sunday, there is one community service opportunity available and that in the beginning of every week, starting with the meeting, she will ask for volunteers to participate.

It was then that I realized that my already packed schedule or so I thought (which consists of Prom Committee and anything related to it, homework, and work on Saturday and Sunday) is going to need to be reorganized if I want to do at least the requested 50 hours of community service for Key Club. Up until this school year, I had PLENTY of free time and was able to work every day after school (at Stop & Shop) and still manage to complete all my homework. This year however it's not that easy - I already work only 2 days at my job (the weekend) and after hearing that the Key Club activities are on the weekend, I realized two things; I need to prioritize (for example, put Key Club and my schoolwork before my job). To keep track of when the different community service activities are on the weekend, I decided I need a calendar of my own where I can write down the dates so I can plan ahead, ask for the required days off from my job, and therefore enable myself to participate. 

My first thought by the time the Key Club meeting was over was, can I do this? Do I have enough time? Should I say I can't do it? I came to the conclusion that instead of giving up before even trying, I need to prioritize and make time for Key Club. I spoke to my manager at work and she said if I tell her on Monday what day I need off on the weekend for Key Club, she can work with me on it to find another time for me to work, which I was thankful for. I WILL be able to do it, and I am going to do my absolute best to prioritize, to organize my schedule so I have time for everything (particularly what is important), and show that I am committed to every responsibility that I undertake. Now that I've thought about it, it shouldn't be that hard; I can do Key Club activities every other week AND keep my job, do Prom Committee and get my homework done. I am on my way to realizing what learning outcome 5 requires (commitment to the activity) and I will do whatever it takes, fully acknowledging that it is not going to be easy but will pay off in the long run, for me and for others as well. 

By the way when I say that I have a packed schedule, I am referring to the fact that I have homework in every class every night, work on the weekends, and little free time. It's a big change from what I am used to, but that doesn't mean that I can't make time for what is important. 

Prom Committee - Getting Involved (September 24, 2009)

Today in Prom Committee I decided to get involved and to do as much as I could to make myself an active member. As a group we were discussing fundraising opportunities, so I saw this as an opportunity to get involved in two different ways. One of the ideas for fundraising is during the Open House next Thursday, selling raffle tickets, and Mrs. Hyer asked for volunteers to attend the Open House and take turns selling raffle tickets and handing out flyers at booths to the parents and students who attend. I decided to take this as an opportunity to help, so I wrote my name on the list of volunteers. I see this as taking my first step toward achieving learning outcome 4, which is to work collaboratively with others. I did not know for sure who else would volunteer, and to be totally honest, I am close with some people in Prom Committee, and others not so much. Volunteering to help at the Open House is what I consider to be my first step toward working collaboratively with others because I volunteered and promised myself and the group that I would work together with whoever else volunteered for that evening, and do my best to make the evening successful and productive with the help of other people.

The second way I pushed myself to get involved was to suggest an additional fundraising activity, which is a yard sale. I thought it would be a good idea to have students and teachers bring in items from home that they no longer want, and once enough items were gathered, we could ask for volunteers from Prom Committee to sell the items. I suggested the idea, and Mrs. Hyer told me that since it was my idea, I can help to organize the event. When I heard this at first, I decided to put on an enthusiastic face for everyone and begin immediately asking questions for clarification ("Who will I go to, to confirm that this can take place?" "When? Where?"), even though on the inside I was really thinking this; 'Oh god. I may be an outspoken person and I may talk more than my share, but I can't persuade people to do anything, I don't have the ability to convince people to do things. How will I persuade people to bring in enough items? How can I make my idea sound like a good one to the rest of the school so that they will get involved?' In the past I was always hesitant to do things I wanted to do, because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make my ideas sound good to others, and that I didn't have a powerful enough voice to make a difference. This held me back from joining student government these past few years, but I need to become a leader. I need to be able to take on a leadership role and present my ideas to others in a way that works, and accomplish something. I saw this as my first step toward achieving learning objective 2, undertaking new challenges. Stepping into a leadership role, organizing an event, and presenting my ideas to many people and spreading the word is a challenge for me, even though it may not seem like it to other people. Part of it is because I am afraid that people don't like me, and therefore will shoot down my ideas and I won't get the support I need in order to get something done. However this time I really do think I have a good idea, and that it will benefit Prom Committee and raise some money, so I am taking this as an opportunity to spread the word to others, and carry out my idea and make the end result worth the effort.

I saw this week as me taking my first big jump into becoming an active member of Prom Committee, and by doing so, I am hoping to step away from being a quiet voice, and hoping to become a leader, a contributor, and someone who is able to put my ideas to action, and to help others do the same with their ideas as well.