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ira service

Summertime is the best time to complete service in the community.  There are a number of things that you can do to gain volunteer hours and help your community at the same time.  Below are 10 possible ides for ways you can give back this summer.

  1. Assist with a community garden. Gardening is a big trend and a lot of people and organizations are making the choice to grow their own and provide more organic options.
  2. Help at a local homeless shelter. There are a variety of options for families, just children, just women, and just men. Find a shelter that speaks to your desire to assist.
  3. Support a good cause.  Many organizations will host summer events such a races, carnivals, awards banquets, and more outreach events. Find a cause that is near to you and see what they have on the calendar.
  4. Donate time and supplies to a local camp.  Summer camps run throughout the entire summer and can be found everywhere from local churches to YMCAs.
  5. Clean a park/playground.  Find a park or playground that needs some attention.  Now find the organization responsible for the upkeep and find out how you can help. Even picking up trash could make the difference for the animals and children.
  6. Go abroad. Find a mission trip to be a part of and assist those in other countries.
  7. Build a house.  Habitat for Humanity and similar organizations will work to build or repair existing houses for those in need.
  8. Play with puppies.  Animal shelters need your special skills to play with animals awaiting adoption.
  9. Support a Food Bank. Lend a hand at a local bank to help organize and package items accordingly.
  10. Create your own project. Examine your passions, community, and issues affecting you or your family.

This list will hopefully jumpstart ideas within you that will stir some excitement in giving back. Once you have identified how you would like to give back, now you have to determine how to get involved.

There are a number of ways to research ways to get involved.  You can scour the internet using a variety of search terms based on your topic of choice. Get creative and don’t just search for volunteer opportunities in my city.  You may have to do some cold calling to organizations in your area of interest and let them know who you are, what you want to do, and how you could be of service to them.

You may have to step away from the computer and conduct your search in person. Smaller and start-up nonprofit organizations may not have big robust websites.  However, they usually have an office and you showing up in person could provide you with a better opportunity to landing the volunteer opportunity.

Lastly, get out into your community.  Look at local newspapers, go to local community centers, visit town hall meetings, reach out to local fraternity and sororities to find out how to get involved.  You can often see posters or ask local librarians or community center directors about upcoming opportunities, projects that organizations are working on, and ways you can get involved.

If you cannot find the project you are looking for, consider starting your own.  Develop a name, come up with a mission, and fundraise to help achieve your goals. Start off simple and small and allow the project to grow organically.

Be prepared that you may have to go through an interview process or you may just get thrown into the project.  Expect and be prepared for both. You should ace the interview by knowing a little bit about the organization, their mission, and how your skills, passion, and education can benefit the mission.  You should treat this experience like a real job; interview seriously, work hard, and be professional.  At the end of the experience, be sure to ask for a letter of recommendation or a document indicating how many hours you completed and your responsibilities.  Keep this information handy as it could be useful when you want to apply for scholarships, jobs, and future volunteer experiences.  It is important to get the information on paper right after the experience versus two years later, when people that were around when you volunteered are no longer able to assist.

Find some time this summer to give back in at least one way.  Use your social media to track the event and to hopefully inspire others to get involved.

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Happy New Year!!!!

It is a new year, which means a new semester and a new set of goals.  Before you begin to form your list of new goals, you must reflect on the goals from last semester. Take a look at the short and long term goals you created last semester. How did you do?  Did you accomplish everything on your list?  Did you surpass what you set out to do? Let’s take stock of what you have accomplished (and did not accomplish).  Look at what you were able to do! Congratulate and reward yourself for a job well done.  Look at the factors that affected why you were able to accomplish the goals.  What formula did you have in place that allowed you to succeed? How can you apply that formula to the new set of goals for yourself? 

 

At the same time, reflect on the goals you were unable to achieve, hold yourself accountable for the goals that you did not obtain.  Now is not the time to beat yourself for not achieving your goals. This is where you evaluate the goal(s) you did not accomplish and discover why they were not achieved.  Were there factors within your control? Were there uncontrollable factors? Did you almost meet the goal?  Look at all of the factors associated with each missed goal.  A missed goal does not mean the goal is lost forever.  It could just be bad timing or the lack of balance.  Pinpointing the reason why the goal was not accomplished will help to decipher if the goal is lost or should be revisited.  If it is salvageable, add the goal to the list of goals for the new semester. If the goal is not salvageable, evaluate all of the reasons why you were unable to accomplish the goal and try to prevent those factors from reoccurring.

After evaluating your goals, reflect on how you would do things differently.  Did your goals challenge you, did they push you to the next level of your (personal, professional, academic, financial) life, did you accomplish your goals to fast? Ask yourself these things and gear up for the new semester.  Make a list of the things you would like to accomplish this semester. Divide the list into short term and long term goals; indicating items you would like to accomplish at the beginning of the semester, items by the midpoint, and items to complete by the end of the semester. Ensure there is variety within your goals and you take a holistic approach to your goal setting.  Becoming stronger and more competent in one area of your life will not help you most in the long run.  You want to ensure you are developing and balancing all aspects of your life. Focus on your personal growth (spiritual, social, physical, financial), as well as, your professional growth (academics, experience, and skillsets).

Goal setting can be challenging especially if you are coming off a semester where you did not accomplish all you hoped.  Try to look at goals as small pictures that will come together to achieve one big picture. Accomplishing the small goals, step-by-step will help you to tackle the bigger goals piece-by-piece.  Instead of saying you want to lose 50lbs; try saying you want to lose 4lbs a month.  Instead of saying you want to earn an “A” in Molecular Biology, try focusing on earning an “A” one assignment at a time. Instead of saying you want to make new friends, try one new activity a month. Each of the smaller goals are a part of the bigger picture and as you accomplish the smaller goals they will propel you towards the bigger goal.

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Have you gotten involved with campus activities/organizations? Why not? What are you waiting for? College is about growth inside and outside of the classroom. What are you passionate about outside the classroom? What do you like? What do you want to learn more about? The only way you will get involved outside of the classroom is if you venture off and take a chance.  Find out which campus organizations are active on your campus.  You can find this information on the website, in the student activities office, or by asking other student like student governments, classmates, and your roommate.  You will find organizations from intramural sports, to drama groups, to political groups, to special interest groups such as anime, ballroom dancing, and much much more.

Identify a couple of organizations that might be of interest to you.  Find out when they meet.  How? Look for flyers on campus, use the email listed on the student activities website, or follow them on social media.  When they host events; go! When they have a meeting; attend! When they need officers on the executive board; run! This may sound easier than actually doing it, but going is the hardest part.  Once you arrive others will welcome you with open arms, because they want some who is there to support the mission, do the work, and share the same interest.

Are you afraid you won’t fit in? It’s okay and it is normal. Go to the meeting and be yourself.  You will find people that will appreciate you for who you are.  You will not have to pretend, people will navigate towards the natural you. If you attend the event and things are not what you thought they would be stay (know that you do have the option to leave at any time) and give it a chance.  Come back again, you will be a little more comfortable and you will recognize some familiar faces. After giving the experience a fair chance, if you still feel like this is not the organization for you. Go back to the drawing board; choose another organization and try again.  Continue to try and put yourself out there.  You will learn more about yourself, expose yourself to new social situations, and benefit in the long run from the experiences.

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Now is the time in the semester, where you should be asking yourself “why did I sign up for this class?”  This is NORMAL.  Every student has this moment at least once a year if not once a semester. Sometimes courses are required, sometimes it is a matter of which professor is teaching the course, sometimes the course description did not do any justice in accurately describing the class, sometimes other courses influence your ability to do well (perhaps taking 7 biology classes at one time is too much for you to handle, but if you took 3 this semester and 3 next semester you would be more successful), and sometimes the workload seems unbearable and you feel like you are in way over your head.  Whatever the reason, this is NORMAL.

Take time to evaluate your feelings and determine if you may need to drop the class.  Is it really because you are in over your head, you are not grasping the concepts; you cannot keep up, and failing assignments or is it because you are not giving the course the adequate attention and preparation it deserves? Is it because your friends are in a different section of the course and they complete a fourth of the work or because your professor challenges you in new ways?  Is it because you thought the course was going to be geared towards certain topics and you are now discovering a newer level of understanding on a topic you did not care to know more about? Before considering dropping a class, ask yourself these questions and really get to the root of why you want to drop the class.

Have you done everything in your power? Met with the professor, gone to study group sessions, sought out a tutor, dedicated more time to studying and understanding the information, or created new ways to study and absorb the information (flash cards instead of an outline or recording the lecture and reviewing them, etc.).  Each semester and each course may require you to change your habits and thought process.  You cannot approach your college level classes the way you approached your high school classes or approach 300 level courses the way you would approach 100 level classes.  You have to review the syllabus, listen to the professor and work with others to see what the course is requiring of you.

After you have thoroughly assessed the course and determined it is not just you wanting the easy way out or having a dislike of the professor and you truly think you are in over your head and your continued participation in the course will result in a failing grade, now is the time to research your options for dropping a class. There are certain cut-off dates that you need to be aware of and be sure to meet.  There are opportunities to drop the class without penalty as if you were never there and there are opportunities to drop the class with it being indicated on your transcript.  Obviously dropping the class without it reflecting on your transcript would be preferred, but withdrawing from a class is a better reflection on your transcript than a failing grade.

Take time to meet with your advisor, let them know what you are planning and what plan you have in place to replace or retake the course. Be sure to know the deadline and work to get everything needed submitted before the deadline.  Depending on the time of the semester you are dropping a class you may be required to get the signature of the professor or even the dean. As you can imagine, they may not be readily available to sign your form, so give yourself time in case they are not immediately available.

On a personal note, this topic reminds me of the time I signed up for a philosophy course entitled Love and Relationships.  Of course I thought we would explore our ideas of love and discuss relationships for 15 weeks. Instead we discussed Socrates, Plato, Shakespeare and other enlightened philosopher’s definition of love written in a very difficult way for me to understand.  Immediately I wanted to drop the class, because it was not the “love” story I thought it would be.  However, I needed a philosophy course to fulfill my graduation requirements.  I had to determine why I wanted to drop the course, what would be the alternative, and why I wanted to run from the course.  In the end, I stayed in the class.  It was not the most fun I have ever had in the classroom, but I stayed with it, gave it my best, communicated with the professor when I struggled, and passed the class in the end allowing me to be eligible for graduation.

Trust me when I say you are not alone when considering if you want to drop a class. Wanting to drop a class is a normal feeling. You want to make sure you are dropping the class for the right reasons and before the deadline.  If you can, meet with your advisor and allow them to assist.  College is all about challenging you and pushing you to become a different version of you. So do not shy away from a challenging class it could turn out to be the ONE class that forces you to see life differently.

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College is not all about the books and learning in the classroom.  College is really about learning from various life experiences and taking in all that college has to offer.  Last month we challenged you in our January 11th blog, to make short and long term goals to explore what your campus has to offer.  This month we echo those sentiments to get out and explore what your classmates are doing.  You have talented colleagues that will go on to do some amazing things.  Now is the time you can see them display their truly raw talent, before the limelight, the professional contracts, and the record deals.

Take pride in the awesome skills and talented abilities offered by your classmates.  Go to the Big Game and cheer on the full back from your psychology class.  Give a standing ovation to your chemistry lab partner.  Buy tickets to support your Resident Assistant at the music recital.  Showing your support to your classmates helps to boost school spirit, helps develop relationships, and connects you to the university.

A major focus is placed on academics and doing well in classes, but success outside the classroom is just as important. Participating in activities outside the classroom, allows you to develop your interpersonal skills, provide networking opportunities, and allows you to reduce the stress from the class room.  Accepting our challenge to be more engaged on campus, coupling your classroom room experiences with your out of classroom experiences, and supporting your fellow colleagues will increase your chances of having a well-rounded college experience.

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It is a new year and a new semester.  It is around this time of year when resolutions are brewing and there is an openness to change.  What better time to introduce yourself to something new that you have not tried at the university.  Last semester is done and in the books. This semester think about all of the things that you did not get a chance to explore, try, or do on your campus. College is the perfect time to go and explore things free or very low costs.  Commit yourself to trying two new things this semester.  Go visit a play in the theater, go to a sporting event, or participate in an intramural activity.  Join a club, already in one? Take on a leadership role.  Take a class that peaks your interest as an elective, volunteer in the local community, or look for a part-time position on campus. Think about Greek life, take a fitness class, or start a community garden.  Join an honorary society, have lunch on campus somewhere you have not dined, or get to know you RA.  There are many ways to get involved and to try new things.

Take the first few weeks of the New Year and decide how you want to map out your semester/quarter.  While mapping out your plans, be sure to create a list of short term and long term goals.  Your short term goals should include something you will accomplish in 4-8 weeks and your long term goals should be accomplished within 8-16 weeks.  Make your goals varied in focus, interest, and difficulty.  Academic, personal, and achievement should all be included.  Perhaps your short term goal is to join an organization and your long term goal may be to join the executive board for next year.  These are obtainable goals and will allow you to push yourself into new roles you may not have considered.

Take in the New Year and try something new.  Each semester you should push yourself out of your comfort zone to try something new.  If you don’t like it you can always try something new and hopefully be able to share your experience with someone else.  Ready, set, go…create at least two goals of trying something new this semester/quarter.

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February is a great time to review your current load.  You have been to class, taken a look the syllabus, and possibly completed an assignment or had a quiz.  Now is time to reflect on your progress in your currently enrolled classes.  If you think that the material may be too much for you to absorb, if you think you have taken on too much, or if you think the class load will hinder your academic success, now is the time to consider dropping a class. The best scenario is to drop the class without it having a negative effect on your transcript. You want to make decisions that will not affect your chance to graduate on time or to graduate with a higher grade point average.

Dropping a class is all about timing.  The registrar’s office will have specific dates that you must adhere to in order to successfully drop a class.  Sometimes the steps are quite easy and will simply allow you to just drop the class.  In other classes you may have to obtain a signature from the professor, an advisor, or even the dean.  The second factor to consider is how “the drop” will appear on your transcript.  Your preference is for “the drop” not to appear on your transcript at all; this of course is the best case scenario and will be the earliest deadline.  The later the deadline is in the semester, the more detrimental it will be toward your grade point average.

Dropping a class is not necessarily a bad thing.  It is a mature decision that almost all students have to face at one point in their academic career.  Dropping a class should also not be a way to avoid hard work.  As you progress through your academic program your courses are designed to become more challenging and pushing your complex thinking to the next level.  Shying away from hard work or a more challenging professor will not prepare you for your professional field or life after college.  Consider the course is only 12-16 weeks and in the end you will benefit the most from it.  So before dropping a class consider your true intentions behind dropping the class.  Meet with your advisor and discuss the class and the ramifications of dropping the class. Consider getting a tutor for the class or seeing if the professor offers one-on-one sessions or has any other resources to help you be successful.  If you find that the class is just too much for your current load, you can also consider retaking the class next year or find a suitable replacement.

Dropping classes is a great option to have as a student, but before dropping classes ensure that is the best solution in the long run.  Making a quick decision should not have long lasting effects on your academic career.  Consult your advisor, exhaust all of your possibilities, and make the best decision.