AWW GT!

Those memes that show people dancing like crazy people at 8am? Thats my life for the first six weeks of the summer the past two years as an Orientation Mentor. Last year, I thought my love for being an Orientation Mentor could not grow stronger, but at the end of my second season of Orientation, I can say I proved myself wrong. This year I was student mentor for the Pepper Team. This meant I was a flex team, and helped students with advising in different college locations every day. I also held a leadership position this year in Orientation being a Central Stage Director with two other mentors. The three of us worked together in the month leading up to Orientation to write Central Stage and brainstorm what we wanted our vision to look like. Central Stage is a portion of Orientation where we offer students and supporters a fun performance and highlight different resources on campus and bits of campus culture.

Orientation offers me leadership development in so many arenas. I get the opportunity to expand my public speaking skills through giving daily hour-long presentation about academic requirements and speaking in a microphone on stage in front of 600 people every day. I am able to share my experiences as a CMU student and connect with students in order to help answer the questions and calm them with their nervousness of starting a new journey. I am able to connect with the professional staff that work Orientation and learn from them. I love this job, and I love the memories it gives me. I love seeing students make friends in my teams each day, and I love seeing them get excited about what their time at CMU will bring.

Orientation gives me a glow and confidence that few other things do. I have an incredibly strong support system from the other mentors, and I form some of my strongest friendships. Orientation staff is like family. This summer I am continuing to work as mentor for Transfer Orientations, and I will be ending my time at CMU next summer, the same way I started it, with Freshman Orientation, it just looks a little different for me this time around.

Power, Privilege, Oppression, and Intersectionality

In December, I was able to site lead an Alternative Break through CMU.  I site lead the Youth Development AB that went to Omaha, Nebraska to work with Youth Emergency Services, a non-profit organization that provides resources to homeless and nearly-homeless youth in the area. This AB challenged me in ways that other ones had not yet. Being a site leader, I had extra responsibilities, such as making sure everyone arrived safe, communicating with community partners, and facilitating community building and reflections with my group. I did this with a co-site leader, from who I learned from and problem-solved with. This AB also helped understand the depth of intersectionality more than my previous ABs had.

Through service we helped sort through donations, deliver donations, set up for a Christmas Service with the members of YES!, and help run the Christmas Service. Through working with the donations I learned a lot about how much privilege I have by having easy access to everyday products that I use and need. Specifically, I looked at this through the lens of being a woman. During service, I spent lots of time going through feminine hygiene products and was surprised at how many donations of tampons and pads there were. I then realized that if I had no income or way to pay for these necessities, I would have no way of getting them. Females NEED access to these every month, and it is something that is not often donated because it is overlooked. So, if you are looking to donate to a shelter, consider donating feminine hygiene products. I also learned from my community partner the terrifying statistic that once a female is homeless, within 90 minutes 43% will be a victim of sex trafficking. This AB made me think deeper about my privilege to have access to things that keep me safe and healthy but also how much of a privilege it is for me to even go on an Alternative Break. The ability to take off time from work and serve for a week is privilege. To have access to education is a privilege.

The Christmas Service was set up with donations from members and organizations in the community for those who utilize YES! to come and take what they need. This included, diapers, baby clothing, cooking utensils, toiletries, blankets, hats, gloves, coats, and clothing. Everything in the Christmas Service was brand new, it was a gift. This made me even more aware of my privilege because when I saw individuals coming through to take what they need, when given the choice of perfume/face masks or toothpaste/blankets, they chose the toothpaste or blankets or soap, because it was what they needed. They had the opportunity to take things that aren’t a necessity, and they would get excited about soap or diapers, because it was something they needed. I had one girl who was about 13 come up and ask me what all she should take in order to take care of her hair. In that moment, I realized that not everyone has access to learn about different elements of what we consider everyday actions, let alone have the materials to be able to do them.

I also learned how those in power are implementing policies that are harming these individuals. In Nebraska, one is not able to sign a lease for their own home or apply for a loan until 19. This means that the task of going to college or moving out is extremely difficult. This puts a large number of individuals without a home unless their parents can afford to help them once they are done with high school. It is disproportionately harming families from lower socioeconomic status areas and putting them in danger. This harm increases for communities of color, woman, and individuals with disabilities. This is one example of the way those in power have the ability to shape the lives of individuals.

Alternative Breaks never fail to make me realize my privilege and give me a resurgence in my belief that it is my responsibility as a person who has privilege to do my best to help those who have not had the privilege of being given access to the same things I have. I look forward to site leading another Alternative Break this summer.

Leadership Safari for Leadership Development

I have been involved in the Leadership Safari program heavily throughout my time at CMU. It has given the the opportunity to develop into the leader I am today, and it has opened my eyes into new experiences and involvements I would not have had without it. This year, after my second Fall Leadership Safari and my experience as a Spring Leadership Safari last year, I was able to be the Spring Leadership Safari Staff Assistant. In this role, I was able to plan the conference for incoming transfer students and second semester freshman. I did this through programming elements of the conference, working with campus partners to build a service project, and utilizing campus partnerships in different offices to recruit students for the program. This was only the second year of Spring Leadership Safari, and my GA, Haley Anderson, and I were determined to make it a great experience for the students.

 I have grew through this experience in ways that I did not imagine the role as a Staff Assistant would bring me.  I developed my own sense of authentic leadership, and furthered my discovery of what being a leader means to me. One of the best things being a Staff Assistant for Safari gave me was working with Haley. Through my relationship with Haley, I have truly learned what mentorship looks and feels like. Haley was always there for me as a human, a student, and a leader on the campus. She sought my opinion and insight on elements of the program, and she guided me on things I had no previous knowledge of. I was able to receive incredible amounts of professional development, and I gained a resource to help as I anticipate through the journey of post-grad life as well. She has given me incredible support in things that have occurred in my life this past year, and she helped me learn how to use my values and heart in my leadership. Now that my role in Safari is done, I no longer consider Haley my GA, but a good friend. I could not replace my relationship with Haley and the support and guidance she has given me for anything.

Through the development of my leadership, I learned how important it is to be critical of the programs and institutions you are a part of in order to make change. Through my high leadership role, I saw not only the incredible parts of the program, but also the parts that I thought could improve for the well being of the student leaders involved. I was able to see things through a lens, and use my voice to try and make change for the future in this program and campus. This position brought me a lot of stress, but I am grateful for the experience because I would not be the leader I am today without it.

As I enter my senior year, my journey will the Leadership Safari program is done. I look back on my safari memories with joy, but I have realized that sometimes things help you grow to a limit. Once you have experienced the growth you can in a program, it is time to move on to things that can further your growth beyond what staying with where you are comfortable can. I look forward to the growth I will experience, and I look forward to using the skills that the Leadership Safari program has given me.

Seasons of Service

Throughout my time at CMU, one of my favorite things I have been involved in is the Alternative Breaks Program (AB). The AB program provides students with issue education, service, and reflection with social justice issues through weekend and weeklong breaks that travel to different communities and assist them with whatever the community says they need. We are there to serve the communities.

When thinking about what the AB program means to me the one word I can use to describe it is community. The community comes from both the service we do with our community partners and the people that you meet.  The people that I have met through this program have become some of my best friends and support systems. The support doesn’t stop with just things occurring within the AB program but has brought me people and support that stretches outside of the AB web. I have gotten so much support in trying to figure out my professional goals and what I want to do with my life while also supporting any personal struggles I have faced while at CMU.  One of my friendships from AB, Shannon Dent, and I even made a remix to the song “Seasons of Love” about how much we love AB and Board. I wouldn’t trade our Thursday evening meetings for anything. These friendships all developed because of the sense of community and the conversations that Alternative Breaks starts. You are surrounded by people who have similar values to you and genuinely care about the people around them. Through office hours, long van rides, and service you gain the opportunity to be completely yourself and be extremely goofy at times and incredibly intentional at others. When going through an experience of growth with other people you create a bond with them that sparks that friendship and support, and I cannot imagine my time at CMU without the community that AB has helped build. It is because of the growth and community that the Alternative Breaks program has given me that I applied to be a part of the Alternative Breaks Advisory Board. This year, I was able to serve as a Site and Service Development Chair  (SSD) and a Site Leader and Orientation Chair (SLOT).

Through my involvement with Alternative Breaks this year I grew an immense amount in my knowledge of both the program and social justice. As an SSD I was given the task of planning the weeklong service experiences. This meant finding service and housing, writing Site Agreements, receiving Insurance from community partners, and making loads upon loads of phone calls. One of my favorite aspects of Alternative Breaks is the community partners we work with. I love being able to interact with them and learn from them. On all of my AB experiences I have been able to form connections and learn about different ways people are working toward social justice. As a Winter SSD during first semester, I had the opportunity to learn more about the community partners we work with beyond the scope of the ABs I have participated on and connect with them.

This year I also had an opportunity to experience the work that SLOT does.  SLOTs role is to train and prepare site leaders to lead their weeklong and weekend service experiences. This included writing trainings, writing weekly newsletters, and presenting trainings to site leaders. I was able to learn how important the role is to support site leaders and help them feel prepared to site lead their Alternative Break. I know for me through my site leading experience the time leading up to the break can be stressful, and I know I felt inadequate within my role at times. I utilized SLOT at those times and was able to have a resource to help me feel prepared. I was grateful to be able to use my experience to help prepare site leaders to have a successful, intentional, and growing experience while on their AB.

This program has helped me realize how strong my passion for social justice is, and it has helped me better understand the intersectionality of social justice issues and the importance of being an active citizen. I am extremely excited to complete my final year at CMU as a member of the AB Board as a returning SSD, and I am excited to continue to connect with community partners.

 

Working the Night Shift

This past summer I had a job that at the time I did not know would end up having as large of an impact on me as it did.  The biggest way to show how the large of an impact this job had on me is by simply looking at the fact that it has been a year of me trying to figure out what to say in a blog to do this job the justice it deserves.  I am writing this post to attempt to show how great of a time I had and also how much I grew and obtained new skills.

This past summer I was hired at Drew’s Assisted Living as the full-time third shift RP (RP literally stands for Responsible Person, lol).  As RP it was my job to be in charge of the Resident Aids (RAs) that were working, pass medication, chart on the residents, and also help with the assisting of residents.  On third shift I had only one RA on shift with me at a time, so I had the opportunity to really get to know the coworkers I would work with, and I also really got to be hands on with the residents.  Drew’s has multiple locations, but the location I was working at had up to 20 residents at a time.

I started the job with the mindset that I would probably gain a lot of insight what it would be like to work in a job with primary care, but left with not only that, but also a whole summer’s worth of amazing memories and people skills.  Each and every one of my resident’s taught me something amazing about life.  One of my most memorable residents that holds an extra special place in my heart was someone who lived the type of life I would love to be able to say I lived once I have reached her age.  She grew up very independent and focused on loving her friends and family wholeheartedly.  She was the first resident I was able to assist at Drew’s, and I was on shift the night she passed.  I know that for years to come I will remember the type of love and kindness I got to not only witness but experience from this resident.

Most people think that working third shift would be extremely relaxed and chill because the residents would all be sleeping right? ha wrong.  But of those nights where residents wanted to do anything but sleep I made some of the best memories.  One resident in particular that just really preferred to sleep during the day and I would spend the nights singing and dancing around in the living room, listening to the stories of each others lives, and laughing at the goofy stories she would tell about her husband and kids.  This resident in particular cried my last night when I told her that I was leaving at the end of the summer to go back to school, and I never would have guessed that I would be making such great connections and impacts on a resident.

Another resident that is important to mention is a resident who was extremely misunderstood.  This resident was not very vocal, and they would get extremely scared and violent when a worker would be assisting her.  A lot of workers would get very negative about working with this resident, and try and get other people to help her, but I had a very strong connection with this resident that I never knew how to explain.  I would just try and be the kindest person I could be to let her know that I was just trying to help.  I would let her move as slow as she needed, and I would constantly talk to her.  I also learned that she LOVED music, so if everything else was failing and she was getting violent, I would offer to go sit and listen to music while we worked on getting her dressed.  Anything to bridge the gap between a worker and resident to make it more of a friend helping a friend worked wonders in gaining her trust.

I have had many more experiences and residents that touched my heart, but one important and sad thing I want to note is that now, a year late, quite a few of these residents have passed away.  Passing is a very natural part of life, and this experience taught my first hand how to deal with it in a way where I can still be a person of support for others while still processing a loss myself.  I am happy I was able to have an impact and part in these people’s lives and help put a smile on their face towards their last days.

Another thing I would like to note about this job is that I got real life experience in responding to emergencies.  I have had lots of training and classes that taught me cpr, first aid, how to respond to an emergency, etc. but throughout the summer I gained experience in dealing with calling an ambulance due to an injury, providing care to a resident who was having a breakdown due to mental health, providing comfort care to a resident who was actively passing, and many more.  I became extremely comfortable in my ability to respond to an emergency and provide life saving care.

Overall, I loved my job with all of my heart and look very forward to returning to work in the end of the summer.  I had never been so sure of my choice to enter into the health field as I was after my job at Drew’s Assisted Living.  I can’t wait for the more opportunities to impact other’s lives and make connections in the future and to eventually become Dr. Varney.

Talk the Leadership Talk

Another class I took this year with my LAS cohort was Communication in Leadership.  A lot of the topics covered in this class are similar to the topics covered in my LDR 200 class I took freshman year.  However, being a year older I believe helped me understand and takeaway the material a little differently than before

The first assignment in this class is telling a story about a time you failed as a leader.  I was shocked when I heard this was our first assignment.  This is not something we are asked, and I was genuinely curious to hear all of these people who I consider strong leaders around me talk about a time they failed.  Most people told stories of times they were in high school.  This contrasted with our last assignment which was to tell a story of a time we implemented a topic from the course and were successful as a leader.  Most people told these stories from a time that was extremely recent.  I loved hearing this because it showed the growth in the each person because they were growing so much as leaders in as short of a time as from high school to college.

My favorite lesson from this class was talking about the types of ethical challenges in leadership.  I felt it was extremely applicable to the leadership roles I have now, and that I will have in the future, including my future career.  I think it is also arguably one of the most important because in order to be a strong leader, you have to be ethical. This is definitely one of my biggest lessons learned from this class.

Morality

One of the classes we are required to take for LAS protocol is a philosophy class taught by the one and only Gary Fuller.  I can honestly say this is one of my favorite classes I have taken so far at CMU.  Gary Fuller walks into the classroom with an unmatched personality and energy that creates an atmosphere that I do not think anyone in my cohort was prepared for.  Gary also has a deep amount of appreciation and respect for his students.  I still see Gary on campus outside of the classroom, and we have a full conversation every time.  He is a professor who genuinely cares about his students, and he even throws us a Christmas party at the end of the semester.

Aside from the professor, I loved this class because of the way it made me think.  This class added not only the question of if something was morally okay or not, but also why something was moral or not.  I have always been a person who was very strong in beliefs, and I am willing to vocalize them.  I was constantly being challenged in this class to be able to defend my beliefs and whether or not they are moral.  This class touched on a lot of topics that made people angry.  The topics paired with the 8ams caused for a large chunk of the class to often become disengaged.  This added even more to my overall takeaway from the class.

You cannot make people care.  I may believe something is or is not morally okay.  Someone else may believe differently.  We may have our reasons and that is where debate begins and change happens.  However, if people don’t have an opinion, no one is challenged.  There is a lack of growth, and there is a lack of change.  Discovering how actions and ideas line up with your values is essential to being a leader because it allows you to have the important conversations and to make a difference.

The Saddest Cancelled Trip in History (not to be dramatic)

Last year I had to the privilege of going on the LAS in the D trip with my freshman cohort.  As members of LAS we serve on a LEAD team, and I was super excited when I found out I would be returning to Detroit as a member of the LAS in the D lead team.  As a facilitator of the Detroit Service Trip I would get the responsibility of being paired with another member of the LEAD team to help facilitate a group of freshman.

Through planning this trip, the LEAD team was getting really excited because we were working with our three LEAD team co-chairs to help them make the trip the best and most service and education oriented trip yet.  We had a chance to meet with the freshman who were going to be in our groups for the week to do pre-trip reflections to get their minds in the right mindset to learn and help foster change. Things were looking great, and we were ready to go.

But, weather in Michigan does not always let us get what we want.  The Thursday before the trip we found out the Detroit Service Trip had to be cancelled due to weather.  This was extremely shocking and disappointing. I was not only sad that I would not get to experience and grow from this trip, but I was also sad that there was a cohort of freshman who would not get to have the eye-opening experience that I had the year before.

Out of this happening I learned mostly that there are things out of our control.  I had my time to be bummed, but there are ways to learn outside of going on this service trip that I should embrace.  Others may not have been able to go on the exact trip I did as a freshman, but in that in no way means I cannot encourage others to take initiative and try to educate themselves.  I hope next year I get the opportunity to serve on the Detroit Service Trip LEAD team, so I can help make the difference I want.

Which one is the Mentor?

As a member of LAS, during my sophomore year I mentor one of the members of LAS in the freshman cohort.  I had the absolute privilege of having Julie Martin as my mentee.  I have a great relationship with my mentor, Stephanie, and I was worried that my relationship with Julie was not going to be as strong.  I felt like I still relied on Steph a lot, and was nervous that I was not going to be ready for a mentee of my own.  Despite these initial fears,  I did know that I had a lot of love for CMU to share and I was going to be able to care for my mentee and help them with whatever I was able to.

From the start, I started learning more from Julie than I think she even knows.  Even as a freshman entering college,  I have never met a stronger human.  With all of the stress and things that were thrown her way from the very beginning of her college career, Julie showed the ultimate definition of maturity in handling everything.  I have never met a person in my life who can truly take a situation and look at it from every side the way Julie does.  Her strength does not even begin to compare for her heart.  Through getting to know Julie, I have learned that she has the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met.  This is what makes Julie such an amazing leader.  She cares about the people around her and making them grow.  She is the definition of authenticity and servant leadership because she is putting everyone around her first, but she does not lose who she is in the process.  When I am around Julie, I want to be a better leader.

One of the ways I have grown in terms of my leadership skills with Julie is my communication skills.  I have learned to ask what she needed. Feedback is a large part of being successful in any capacity, and our mentor-mentee relationship does not end here.  I have asked her what I have done that has helped her and what hasn’t.  This way in the future I will be able to help her in whatever way is best fit.

I know through these next years at CMU Julie and I will continue to have a close relationship, and I know that I will continue to grow and learn from her as I hope she is learning from me as well.

Learning to Lead

As an LAS cohort (plus one leader who is not a part of LAS) we take a class together called LDR 200L.  This class is a leadership class where we learn important skills needed to improve our leadership abilities. Throughout the class we had to facilitate different activities and learn about the different leadership theories.  Though there were multiple leadership theories that were applicable to my life, the one I found the most applicable was the Behavioral Approach to leadership.

A lot of time in leadership people focus a lot on the relationship between the leader and the followers.  Don’t be me wrong this is an EXTREMELY vital part of leadership, however I like how this theory focus a lot on how leaders can be a mixture of being very task-oriented and relationship oriented.  I consider myself to be a very personable person, however, when things are not getting finished or are left until the last minute I get pretty anxious, which will affect the people around me to become anxious as well.  I think knowing how to balance task and relationships is one of the most important parts of being a great leader.

I am going to be a guide for Leadership Safari this fall, so when I was learning the theories in LDR I would try to put them into context of how I can use my knowledge while leading a small group.  Behavioral approach was one of the most easily applicable in this scenario too because of the amount of activities that are fit in to such a short amount of time during Leadership Safari.  However, in order to make Leadership Safari an amazing experience for the participants, I will need to form fun and trusting relationships with them.  LDR 200 has made me feel much more comfortable with my leading abilities, and it also taught me that I have A LOT more room for growth; that’s a good thing!

I also learned a lot about how to debrief.  Going through LDR has taught me that debriefing is the most important part of leading an activity.  It is the part that connects all the dots and allows participants to see the bigger picture of what they are doing.  Debriefing allows the leader of the activity to learn as well and see a new a view point on things that could have not seen before.

A lot of people didn’t like going to LDR because it was three hour long evening class, but I can honestly say that I always looked forward to it because learning about things that were so applicable to our lives was SO FUN!