RSO Involvement

Wow, Senior year,  I am still participating in clubs at CMU. It is one of my favorite things to look forward to. Yet, my service organization is found outside of the college as I am passionaite in my hometown community services. Like I have been since early on in my life I have participated in Scouting. This year I was getting geared up to help call people to promote camping for summer of 2020. However, because of COVID-19 I was unable to perform this as now camping has become a scarce thing to do. I am considering on helping out after COVID-19 pandemic. I really hope for the best. My time for service was short this year BUT my service does not stop at college it never began at fulfilling requirements. It started because I cared for the betterment of my community.

LEAD Team

When it came to LEAD TEAMs sometimes not all glitter is gold but silver is just as good. I was placed in the Relay for Life LEAD Team and it was pretty good. I wasn’t able to contribute as much to the program because I was already booked up with school related work and other involvements to fulfill my LAS protocol. However let me tell you something about relay for life. I am a dedicated man who may not be able to put time into some of the best involvements out there but that doesn’t mean my admiration isn’t as credible. Relay for Life has a special place for a lot of people because Cancer sucks and we all want to find a cure. These volunteers that don’t have a protocol to fulfill took their Saturday and their time to raise more money than I ever could have for the program. I was able to raise $40 but some people raised $400 plus their goal. That is really something. I was able to commit to 3 hours of my Saturday to my LAS Team and I was really unsettled to see how my commitment was less than a lot of other groups. I was not so happy with myself but that Sunday I remembered that I had prior engagements that were equally as important. That is why I conclude that protocols are important but so is school work, study, social life, and leadership fits in there too. It feels like I may be sending the wrong message here but I think that along the lines in what I want to say is I acknowledge the work we were able to do however I hope to see much more in the potential that we possess in the ability to do incredible work for this Relay For Life team.

Leadership Role

To do something bigger than yourself is quite difficult and really exhausting. I don’t believe anymore I need to be bigger than myself because who I am and what I do is of the upmost best I can ever do. Leadership didn’t stop after I got a call from Dan Gaken after my boy scout meeting on a Wednesday. It didn’t stop after I saved someone’s life in a car crash and it didn’t when I got into college. My leadership is continuous and serves to provide the best experience for myself and others. When it came to this requirement I totally forgot about it. I was honestly worried on April 28th when I realized my LAS renewal was coming up. It took my friend Shannon S. to tell me how wonderful I am and how my blindness made me forget that I was the Vice President for Fabiano and I did so much for the community that I didn’t realize. In the 2nd half of the year I joined my community hall council because my Tuesdays were free and my friend Shannon said I should give it a try since she said I have the makings of a leader. My job was simple in my belief but Steely Peeg and Shannon S. would agree that it takes a lot of time and commitment to be me. One of the leadership roles I did was selling valentine’s candy and grilled cheese and quesos. All together that would come up to time well spent and donations went to our charity of choice. One of my biggest accomplishments was getting 2nd place for the mock rock that CMU put on and I helped put on with my friend Shannon M. It was a great time. I enjoyed my involvement a lot.

RSO Involvement

Not all clubs and sports can be found on campus. Sometimes people go outside the community they live in and become involved with other communities. This helps branches themselves in networking. My RSO involvement consisted of going to my hometown in Bay City Michigan at least once a month to prepare my older scouts in my troop to be prepared for college. The Boy Scouts is a non profit organization that involves scouting for all. My troop has a variety of boys who come from different places and have the same passion to be scouts. One of difficult things for an older scout is balancing high school and boy scouts because both require a lot of time. My scouts are all active in their community besides scouting. When it comes to sports, clubs, work, and social life I understand and I wanted to do something extra for my scouts. As an assistant scoutmaster I asked the troop committee if I could get an hour on a wednesday with the older boys who are in their junior year and senior year of high school. These two grades are the pivoting point of getting scouts where they need to go after they become adults. I would progress their goals and I would ask them various questions and provide an ear about how life is going. I found this to be good because the venting made it better for the boys. I gave them tips and tricks of how to get through college and applying for scholarships and colleges. I was important to the boys and I didn’t mind coming back every month for an hour. I owe a lot to the Boy Scouts. I think that my involvement in my club even after my time in the organization is continuing in the little ways.

RSO Involvement

Clubs and Sports are really awesome programs to be apart of at CMU. If you got nothing else better to do then try going to one of the RSO’s that are found on campus. They have a wide variety of programs that are offered to the public. For myself, I found a couple that I got invested in for a little bit at CMU. When it came to picking an RSO I had to work with my school time and my study time. I couldn’t go back to back to back like I used to or else I would be bogged down. I have been discovering portions of my life that I have not reflected upon due to the complexity of figuring out self awareness. It sort of became this elaborate design that manifested because I never could figure out this puzzling puzzle of who I was. I decided though after the summer of 2018 that I would take a rest for self caring and self help. Why this is important to know is because the RSO that I chose to help me get myself feeling self motivated was CMU TWLOHA chapter. TWLOHA which stands for “To Write Love On Her Arms” is a club about self care and health. It was a group of people that cared to pick themselves up and spread that around the campus. I was the only guy that was in the club and I was still accepted. I was deeply involved only for myself because I needed a place for an hour to just reflect and not worry about anything. I didn’t give myself daunting tasks so I gave myself the position with unison census of being the rep to go to the Monday night meetings campus council to bring back information to our group. My involvement was close with the group for the first semester than the 2nd semester because I had to balance more time to my classes. I did a lot for the group and it went recognized.

Volunteer Experience

Volunteerism wasn’t a really big part of my life during my sophomore year. I did the bare minimum though of at least 30 hours. That’s not at all bad for me to say but I could of definitely did more. Being a leader means putting time and effort into others. I could only do so much though because I was busy with getting my grades and classes in good shape. As a leader I always strive for better and I expect that I do better. This year was my earnestly worst time to volunteer. Yet, what I could do did make a difference none the less. For example, Sarah Cortez told me of all the benefits I would be doing for the community of Flint if I joined their F.A.C.T.S Team in the spring and I did! It was really cool. My leader was Jazmin from LAS and she did a great job at leading. What we did was we raked leaves and we also picked up a huge amount of trash. I was in shock on the state of Flint. I never have been in Flint till then and I assumed people exaggerated the living conditions. I know they over do the amount of deaths but honestly the amount of houses in shambles was not at all. I did at least 10 ish hours of service work that day. I don’t know if this counts but I also donated plasma every Tuesday and Thursday for the entire year. I don’t count it because I got paid but also it is volunteerism that made me do it because someone would benefit from my donation. I participated in several volunteer programs through the Program Board such as ushering for the Chris Fleming presentation on Ghost Hunting. I was also volunteering all day from 9am-5pm on picking up trash on Earth Day. Like it was not even an event I just wanted to pick up the trash because I love my Earth. It was good work and honest. I did serve I suppose another 30 hours toward getting my OA lodge all set for the year. Oh my God, I didn’t do bare minimum! I forgot about the OA events that I help put on! I am so happy. What I am talking about is I spent a total of 100+ as the OA service chair for Elangomating. I can’t believe I forgot. That is so great.

Alright, so the big take away is that I don’t care for number of hours of volunteering because I volunteer for the people that benefit from me. I don’t count the hours by the hour because what i do I do it out of kindness and I really don’t like it at all when I am required. It’s a basic human instinct to help others and I find it enjoyable. So I guess I can say that Leadership isn’t always about the work you put in BUT the impact that you will have on others. It all depends on how you see yourself and what you do as a person that makes the difference.

Residential Experience

You know what is scary? Being alone. Being unable to be with familiar faces everyday. Having to reestablish who you are to your surrounding environment. It really does suck. It makes you feel closed off and having the fears you’re missing out with old friends. This year was a huge 180 degree turn of what I was expecting. My friends I knew from Freshman year were now in a different hall, they moved out and got an apartment, they just got busy and less likely to hangout. It was frightening to me. I had a lot of weight on my shoulders that finally made me succumb to some unexplainable feelings. Under these terms they are social anxiety, depression, anxious feelings, and confusion. I never felt these before until this year at full impact. I was now in between a rock and a hard place. There was though hope and a lot of untapped potential. It started off with being contacted by CMU cheerleader L.J Holmes. L.J was my roommate for my sophomore year in Emmons Hall and he said that he couldn’t wait to meet me. You see, I was surrounded by unfamiliar faces waiting to meet me and I was very skeptical because I wasn’t ready for people to enter into my life and meet me. LJ introduced me on my first day to Luke Hartsuff a big fan of CMU football team and Riley Halligan an equipment manager to CMU football team. I was surrounded by people that really gave me hope and a lot of it. Not only that but I met Ben Rutleg who is extremely reliable at being friendly and open to conversations. I had met my neighbors which were Mylia, Rachael, Sam, and Jordan.  I had opportunity to meet new people. Now you expect it was easy but I still suffered from all these conflicting interests that made me on my days terrible. I branched out though and got supportive help. I tried my best to see old friends and tried my best to not feel these feelings of wishing I could spend more time with them. It was really difficult and it was not at all fun. Yet, there was still reasons to keep a smile and try getting better because I love my friends and family. To see them hurt more than me would be devastating. Peeling back layers of me was a huge new experience. I wasn’t doing okay and I had to really tackle the situation. It got better though because of a lot of internal thinking and supportive friends I have made. My supportive friends included old high school friends, college friends, family, and myself. They gave me more of a trusting feeling that i never felt. I always felt afraid to make mistakes with them or feel like I was below. They made me feel better about myself. In all, I am still learning on how to tackle this, but got better.

The take away from this was that my residential experience was not all what I expected. Yet, it opened me up to relieving the pressures I had on myself. Residential experience isn’t always about the fun and enjoyment I had but also the things I learn. Of course I had fun with my new friends. Of course I won’t see them as much, but it gave me hope that being the travelling roommate that I am is really not that bad. I develop more friends, I hear more stories, and I really get a chance to network. I am not at all feeling bad for blogging this as a residential experience because it’s the truth and genuine. I feel so alive now I feel okay being who I am for the better. I got this and I am looking forward to next year.

 

Mentoring

Dear Shelby Arnold,

Being your mentor was a great honor. Yet, it was an AMAZING experience to meet you. I know I tell you all the time what you mean to me and how this helps me but I will say it again. Being a mentor isn’t honestly a job it’s a role I took upon myself. Especially when it came to being your mentor I chose you. It wasn’t because of your grades or your past. It was what you needed. You asked for a leader to be there for you and help when ever possible. You asked for someone that can be friendly and kind. You asked for someone that could care about you. I believed that I could deliver all that and more. When it came to mentoring there wasn’t a lot to mentor honestly. You were on TOP OF THE GAME. It was impressive! I assumed I would need to help more than I had. Little did I know it was because you were self reliant and a straight forward person. There was never a time where you needed me as a mentor because you had it in yourself. This reflects back to if I was doing my job correctly. I was! A mentor in the LI isn’t suppose to be a hovering figure they don’t see you as a baby with no clear goals or ideas. They see you equally as a leader. We are there in case you struggle because that is what everyone is for. We want nothing but the best for you. Does this mean I am off my guard? Heck no! I want to be involved still in your life and continue to text or call or come over because I love you as a person. There was no daily chore for me. I gave you all the space you needed and I learned exactly what to ask you or talk to you about. You were always kind and caring and always expressed interesting in talking and telling me what’s up in your life. I feel like mentoring has this big idea to it that you need to teach all the skills but I didn’t because you had a knack at this. This is why the LI recognized you to be apart of the program because you took it upon yourself to be self sufficient and reliable. You never said no or help without trying first. You always took the steps without second thoughts. I find that admirable. Little do you know but I learned from you. It may be a cliché thing to say but it really isn’t because it’s a truth that all teachers like yourself will learn. You will never stop being an incredible person Shelby I know it. The take away from my experience mentoring is that you learn to adapt and you how to form your leadership skills to another persons and that way it’s not overbearing. I learned that people like you exist in the world and it gives me hope that I may see more. No body else though will ever compare to you and your self. Congrats on completing your first year of college. I hope sophomore year is great and continue being awesome! 

RSO Campus Grow

Planting is perhaps the most relaxing thing besides taking a nap. I found a club on campus ALL by myself and I couldn’t be happier. Campus Grow is one of the reasons why we have beautiful garden areas around campus. They are the reason why we have a spice garden patch on campus. I was highly involved during the Fall semester because they had met every week on Mondays. However, in the spring they had stopped meeting every week and sparsely did through February to April. It was so bad I had to stop going. I met people though and learned how to dry plants. I received a lot of helpful tips on how to grow my bulb plants that would sprout into these big beautiful plants. I was highly involved in growing plants in my dorm room. I was involved as much as the program had offered. We learned how to grow microgreens and the benefits from different types of plants for medical reasons to edible reasons. I got involved because the group shared my same passion for growing plants and conserving the trees. I was happy with my involvement in the group. Next year I see myself coming back and trying to get a position chair. I really want to because I want to make sure we have meetings every week and have more to talk about and give membership a chance to grow itself! 

RSO Program Board

Music, Movies, Comedians, AND COOL Sweatshirts? Count me in! I had a blast being a part of the CMU Program Board as a member. I would show up when I can so that I could have the most fun possible. Of course, I could not be involved a ton because of commitments to my grades and classes. Yet, everytime I was there the staff would know my name and say great things about me. I guess they really cared about their members. One of the big things I was involved in WAS being involved in the events that CMU program board had put on. I would occasionally go see a movie like Spider-Man and Black Panther and I would help out with events like the ghost event with Chris Fleming. I knew that my semesters needed excitement and I had to be super involved in events. It started off seeing the people that took down Pablo Escobar. I had won a free meet and greet with the men who took down a coke kingpin. They were leaders that went through a lot to help the people of Colombia. I got their signatures and shook hands with them and said my thanks. I went to Papa’s pumpkin farm with Program Board and ate RAW corn. IT WAS SOOO GREAT! Then I went to another Program Board event with Chris Fleming as the guest speaker. I won a free meet and greet with Chris and I got his signature, shook hands, and a picture too. I got to go on a ghost tour with him too. Sadly, no ghosts could be seen or barely heard. CMU is safe. Then, my final program board that I got involved in was winning tickets to see Jesse McCartney. It took me a lot of searching to find the items to get the tickets and it took me a while to find the president of Program Board to get free tickets from her. Overall, I won 4 tickets and took 3 of my good friends. Not only that but I got to meet Jesse and shake his hand. I got his signature on a CD album. It was really cool! I tried my best to be a part of the team as an E-Board member BUT I was overqualified! I had a lot of fun in this group and I couldn’t ask for more.