Recently in Project Category

Well since my last post, my application to be a volunteer at the YMCA-Midway was accepted and has been cleared. In addition to that I have started and completed Chapter 2. I neglected to start my Chapter 2 until Friday and it was due Monday. Big mistake. Oh well, I got it done. It wasn't my best work but I guess that is what I deserve for not starting earlier.

Now I look forward to starting my work at the YMCA. I plan to go over to the YMCA sometime this week and start my work. I also plan on doing a large amount of hours over Christmas Break. Well so long for now.

Well, I wish I had more to write about in the way of what has been happening in my project. I turned in my paperwork to the YMCA on Tuesday before I left to go see my parents and brothers. Then we traveled back this way to visit my mom's parents for Thanksgiving and to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. In addition to turning in my paper work I have been thinking about Chapter 2 for the project. I have also been working on planning a schedule as to the best times to try and work at the YMCA.

 

So in the coming week, I plan on volunteering at the YMCA and working on my Chapter 2. Before I get to doing actual volunteer work I have to finish the on-site requirements that the YMCA has for me. I hope to be working with the YMCA over Christmas break and doing a number of exciting activities with people of all ages. I am worried that I won't be able to provide the people that I end up working with the support that they need, but I'm going to try my best.

I have always liked the number three. For some reason, the number three provides comfort, maybe it's because I'm a baseball player. The third hitter in a lineup is usually the best hitter. Well any way I'm on my third post. I finished my project contract and turned it in on Monday. I also was able to finish Chapter one for my project on time, again Monday. Well, I've made it through a tough week two tests, two papers, and a project contract. So now all I have to do is turn in the paper work for the YMCA and I should be good to go. Finally I'm getting a start on my project.

 

Well as I said above, I need to turn in my paper work for the YMCA and then finish their requirements and I will officially be a volunteer working at the YMCA. I think that I'm really going to enjoy this. I hope to be working with poor and marginalized children as well as adults. I think that most of what I will be doing is working with these people in a weight room type setting, but I also expect that part of what I will be doing is working with them in a mentor setting. I hope that I can show that hard work and determination can out do brains and brawn any day. I hope that I can draw both on the experiences that I had growing up in West Fargo as well as the ones that I have had here at Concordia to help these people eventually pull themselves out of the situations that they are in.

Well, since I did not have a project for a while. I was unable to post. Bummer for me, since I have fallen a little behind. Well, I now have a project. I am working with the YMCA. The specific branch that I am working with is the Twin Cities: Midway. I met with the Executive Director, David Dominick, who will be my on-site coordinator, last Friday at 8 am. It was really early in the morning, but I needed a project. From talking with Mister Dominick, there are a number of opportunities for me to work with marginalized and poor people. I simply need to choose which opportunities are the ones where I think that I can have the most influence on people's lives, both spiritually and physically.

I'm thinking that I would best like working with people in the weight room as well as in the gym's playing sports. I really hope that there is an opportunity for me to work with people lifting weights, playing sports, and even running, as much as I hate it. I would also like to work with the youth that come in with their schools to use the gymnasiums that the YMCA provides. I hope that I can be as much as a help to the YMCA Twin Cities: Midway as they have been to me.

Well that's essentially what I have been doing. I still have to finish up my project contract and hopefully begin Chapter 1 of the project as well. So I plan to post again in the upcoming days.

So I met with Professor Jean Rock on Wednesday to discuss my possibilities for my Honors project. According to her, it is a dead give away as to which topic I am passionate about, baseball or math. I think that any person that knows me would have answered the same. I like math but baseball is my true passion. Professor Rock and I decided that I should work on contacting the Twins to see if I could become involved in their RBI program. RBI stands for Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities. I got this suggestion from my coach here at Concordia University St. Paul, Mark "Lunch" McKenzie. I think that the RBI program will be a great way for me to reach out to inner city kids which fits into the categories of the poor and marginalized.

Professor Rock thinks that this will be an extremely good fit for me because of my strong background in baseball. Some added benefits of working with the RBI program are I will be closer, hopefully, with the Twins organization and I will see how a huge baseball program like this works. I have been a coach of youth players before but that was only in a small program in my home town. There we only have 5 to 20 teams depending on the age group. I have played in and therefore been a part of huge programs like the RBI program but never as a coach so I think this will be an interesting and eye opening experience. Hopefully this all pans out for me. I'm praying that it does.