Whoah, i can't believe my last post was when Mama Laur was here! Woops on that one. Time has just been flying past. I can't believe i only have four weeks left here! It seems like too soon (especially since i just made a list of all of the assignments i have to do before i leave... lets throw another woops in there).I guess i will just clump everything together since i fail.
Lets start with Work...
It has been going pretty well, and since Teresa left I've been receiving a lot more responsibility in the office and in the community. Recently, i've been working with one of the residents to get her dental care without insurance. Girl's club has been going well (with the exception of one rough day yesterday when we took them to the air and space museum) and last Tuesday Natalie and I got them nutritious food and they actually ate vegetables!! We're trying to add healthy meals to teach them good nutrition. Lately, I've felt really good about the after school programs because the girls have really started to open up to me. It has definitely been a good learning experience working with them.. that is for sure.
I also got to attend a workshop recently provided by Fairfax County government. It was about rewriting your mission statement. Sometimes when nonprofits achieve goals, or find different goals they have to revamp their mission statement. BWUFA is starting a five year plan to revamp our organization. One of these goals is to change our mission statement.
The Washington Center...
This past Monday we didn't have programming (which was good because i was driving back from the 413). The Monday before that (April 6th), we went to the Foundation Center which is a center for nonprofits. It has information for nonprofits such as grants available and a research center. But it also has information for the general public, it is especially useful when you're looking for a nonprofit. Most of the website is free, but some of it is for members only. If you're doing research on the web you have to be a member, but if you go to the Foundation center, or participating libraries its free. You can find these libraries on their website.
March 23rd, we had a Presidential Lecture Series where we viewed clips from the movie 14 Women. It was about the 14 U.S. senators. It was pretty interesting, especially when looking at the lack of representation of women in the U.S. Congress. We need a revolution dude.
For the Washington Center we have to do a civic engagement project, some of my friends and i decided to volunteer with Audrey's organization Washington Parks and People. They work to perserve and create green space in D.C. especially in impoverished areas. We cleaned up this little green space that had become a dumping ground. There was so much trash that everytime you would get through a layer you'd find another layer. A group of about 30 of us worked for three hours and got a lot accomplished i'd say.
Class...
Has been pretty good. We got our midterms back and i did better then expected :). I really enjoy class, in class on the 6th we did an exercise where we picked something interesting out of the chapter and then passed it around. Each person then added a comment, at the end we got our paper back and we got to see everyone's comments and opinions. I thought it was a cool exercise because each person got to share their views. In the next two weeks i have to finish my final draft for our final paper. I'm writing mine on BWUFA. The paper is a summary of the organization, but also an analysis. We then have to give a presentation on our organization.
Cheery Blossoms!
Yes, they are here.. and already leaving. Last week was the "peak week" for them. No wonder why people make such a huge deal over them.. they're beautiful and make DC very crowded. The weekend of the 3rd Rachel had her crew down from home. They are soo nice and so much fun. I will definitely be joining them on adventures this summer. We walked around the festival Saturday the 4th and it was insane but so beautiful. It was the perfect day to walk around and see them.
Home!....
I made the long trip home to the 413 this past Thursday (April 9th). Rachel, Sabrina and I got up at 5:30 a.m. and we were out of the house by 6. We rode the metro to Chinatown where we said bye to Sabrina. Then Rachel and I hopped on the red to Union Station. From Union station we took the MARC train which is Maryland's public transportation. We took that and got off right near BWI, we then took a shuttle right to our airline. We checked in and headed on a 40 minute flight (in a tiny commuter jet) to Philadelphia. There we had some pizza (at 10:30 in the morning) and hung out. Then we hopped on a hour long flight to Albany.
I was greeted by Papa Bose who then took me to lunch. After a belly full of spaghetti and a nap in the car, i finally was home! After 11 weeks, can you believe it? I feel like i just packed up the car and drove down here. I got to see Banker :) (our Dalmatian) who surprisingly wasn't a beast.
Thursday night i went to Applebees with Ashley. We filled each other in on our lives and stories, and also had some really good dessert.
Friday i got up and got my haircut. I made an impulse decision to cut it all off, and i have to say i'm pretty glad i did. Sometimes you have to switch it up, as Ms. Coates always says... never left your left hand know what your right hand is doing. After this, i headed to UMass. It was kind of weird driving onto campus and seeing people get out of class. It was even weirder going to my apartment and seeing other people living there! I must say, i have missed being on campus. I was recently named Publicity and Recruitment Manager for this year for band and after talking to perspective students (via email :p) about band I'm soooo excited for next year. Not only for band, but for the gang to be back together. I met up with everyone at the hatch and we hung out for a little bit, then moved to North. It was so nice to catch up with everyone. I even got to spend time with Jenn & Antonio who were leaving for the weekend. I saw briefly KFunk and Andrea just long enough for a hug or two which was great because i was afraid i wasn't going to be able to see them! Friday night a group of us went to the Hangar and ABC and had soo much fun.
Saturday i went out to breakfast with Molly & Emily May at the Long Wolf. It was sooo good. I feel like i'm finding all of these great places in Amherst right as i'm about to leave! Then Emily and I drove back to the berks and had lovely chats. When i got back i went to the verizon store with Papa Bose because my phone was messed up. I thankfully got a new one! That night Em Rosselli and i went to FYP for some chatting, i've missed this because we used to do it twice a week at school! After dinner i met up with my other half Stephanie and we went to the bowling alley with the family (and by family i mean the Burdicks) for some drinks and bowling.. on a WII. I've missed her!!!!
Sunday.. was Easter! It was the perfect day of lots of (really good) food and family. In my old age, i've turned into kind of a softy and really enjoy family time, call me crazy. That evening i slept over Rachels in Springfield so we could get up before the sun and hit the road to the Dirty Jers to get Sabrina and head back down to good ol' D.C. the trip was long, but fun. We jammed, we had energy drinks (that prevented me from taking a nap before class) and had many giggles.
Life has been very good, and i know i left a lot out of this post. I guess that's why good bloggers update regularly! I have a lot of pictures on facebook, so check me out there :)
♥ Steph
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