Never Underestimate the Power of a Suit

This past forum Emily Baker, the Success by 6 director, came to speak to us about their program here in the Shoals. Success by 6 is a program of United Way, but there are 350 local or state Success by 6 initiatives across the U.S. Some of the initiatives are programs of organizations such as United Way, while others stand alone. The purpose of the Success by 6 program is to promote and support early childhood education. Baker told us that early childhood education is essential to breaking the cycle of poverty. As a child from a middle-class, two-parent household, it was astonishing hearing some of the facts that she relayed to us during forum, and to realize that I took and still take some things for granted.
Here are a few facts that Baker listed for us concerning the failings of early childhood education:

• Nearly 1/2 of America's kindergartners are behind.
• 4th graders without reading skills are not likely to graduate.
• Today 7 out of 10 fourth graders can't read on basic level.

These statistics are sad, but I am encouraged because programs like Success by 6 are available in communities. Baker also explained to us that each program is unique and tailored to the communities' needs that is serves. Therefore, you won't have some generic plan in all Success by 6 programs that ends up not helping everyone and potentially not doing what it set out to do. Baker also described to us the Better Beginnings volunteer program. It saddens me that they only had one volunteer for their program, but it also inspired me to want to help as well. Better Beginnings sounds like a great way to get involved in the community not just now but for the long run as well because of the impact we can have on those children's lives in the various day cares. I would love to play and interact with all of the children whose parents are working hard to provide for them.
Beyond the information about Success by 6 and Better Beginnings, Emily Baker also spoke to us about entering the real world after college, which is where I got the title for this blog. She told us never to underestimate the power of the suit, along with saying the advice, "Don't let lack professionalism be a factor for being passed up for a job." She said in the context that many young people lack experience, which is a main factor in being passed up for a job, so don't let not being professional be another strike against you!
<3 Best wishes for this upcoming week!
Lesley =)

You Cannot NOT Think About What You're Thinking About

So last week we had our first speaker, Kay Parker from The Healing Place, talk to us about working and enjoying a job based on service. She let us know that God can use ordinary people to do extraordinary things, among other very helpful advice as she spoke to us about how she started The Healing Place, a grief counseling center for children and young adults. Parker let us know that grief is heartache and gave us a breakdown on how to deal with it. First, you have to let yourself know that you are stressed so that you can let it go. Then, you should go through the next four steps:

1. Be honest (with yourself)
2. Be expressive (get it out)
3. Be physical (release the tension by actively doing something)
4. Be aware (what you're telling yourself and of what you're thinking)

Not only did she give us this advice, but she also let us know the difference between guilt and shame. I wrote guilt= I did something bad, while shame= I am a bad person. Many of the children within the program at The Healing Place struggle with these things, and the volunteers help them to get over these feelings. It is easy to see how people would like to volunteer at The Healing Place. Like I said before, there are so many options to volunteer here in the Shoals area and The Healing Place seems like a great opportunity! I am keeping it on my radar for now! =)

Better With Age =)

Well, we're back at it again! It's our second year in the program and we are focusing on civic engagement. As I look back to last year, it is hard to believe that I am already a sophomore in college! Where has the time gone? But now is not the time for reminiscing and wishing for times gone by. Now is the time for action, and that action is to be involved and help my community, and it is our responsibility during civic engagement forum to do whatever we can for our community while we're here.
As I mentioned several times last year on my blog, I would like to become a high school English teacher when I graduate, so people might assume that I would dedicate my civic engagement to education or possibly children. But I do not want to limit myself to numerous other opportunities or limit  where I can help out, not that I would not enjoy those activities, but I would like to branch out. Plus, over the summer I did loads of volunteer work at my church by teaching Vacation Bible School, teaching at a Reading and Math Camp, and even assisting with our ACT Prep course. I really did enjoy all of my teaching opportunities this summer and would not take them back for the world. Those experiences definitely lead me to believe that I am heading in the right direction with my career choice! But I would like to take into consideration some of my other hobbies when looking for volunteer opportunities.
Over the course of this semester, I would like to volunteer at a variety of places to get my feet wet and look at all of the possibilities before I declare my platform. There are so many different choices around the Shoals area that could use help. After looking over the Honor's Program page on the school's website, I saw so many opportunities that it made it hard to decide where to volunteer first. But my plan of action for this semester is to volunteer at my top three places on the list, and choose a platform based on what I feel will be most enjoyable and beneficial.
I wish us all success and is this coming semester and hope that we all find what we are good at!
Best wishes,
Lesley <3 =)