Service and Research

So it is 10:18 PM, and I just thought of writing the blog now before I forget (again)... glorious.

So far my experiences at my service site have been so-so. While the program itself seems a bit unorganized and strict (in some ways), I have also been paired with a really great young girl, who is getting good grades and has organization skills perhaps even better than my own. I know I am supposed to rearrange all of her things to fit the program's system, but I have not done that. Her current system is working for her, and I see no need to change it. She is excessively organized and keeps track of her assignments and grades in her various day planners. If she begins to struggle, maybe her organization can be looked into; however, for now, she seems to be perfectly well organized and prepared for school. I actually question why she is in the program, but I won't complain--I like having a relatively easy mentee!!

As for my own strengths, I feel that I make myself easy to talk to when we are in the program, and I am able to relate to my mentee's situation. When we look at her homework I see why she could struggle, and then I proceed to tell her some of my own strategies for completing assignments to the best of my ability (e.g.: looking at the questions first so that I know what to look out for while reading the text). We worked on a worksheet about the Egyptian and Kush Empires... Now I am no expert in either of them, but we walked through the readings and completed some of the questions due later on in the week.

I have yet to volunteer somewhere else this semester, but maybe I will if I can find time in why schedule, which I should be able to do. I know there is a charity tournament on the 29th with the Tennis Club to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which I am considering participating in. I have a friend with type 1 diabetes, and this would be a great opportunity to contribute to a cause to which I have a connection. (Of course, even if I didn't know someone, I would still participate!)

In terms of the presentation today, it definitely made me a lot more interested in the idea of undergraduate research, even if I have no clue whatsoever what I would research. I love Brit Lit (poetry in particular) and everything German, but I do not know how to pair the two. I would love to travel internationally, but I feel like a lot of my research interests would be culture-based, so language could be a barrier if I went somewhere outside the English and German speaking world. (I would really love to do something in the Middle East or South America [or the rest of Asia or Africa or Europe or Oceania or Antarctica], but I don't know what...) I also love photography, so maybe I could so something like 'a culture in photos' or multiple different cultures. hmmhmhmm.. I'm just brainstorming here, but that is actually really awesome sounding. I just have so many questions about how it would work! Maybe I will email the Office of Undergraduate Research. For now I will probably just wait to talk to my advisor on the 20th.

I should go to bed soon, considering I have a 9:30 class tomorrow. Lamelamelamelamelame.

Auf Wiedersehen!!

Holland