March 2016 - Blog Post 2

On March 27, the Indian Association of the Triad hosted a Holi celebration that was attended by over three hundred people. As a youth representative of this organization, I helped in distributing information, supplies (color and water guns), and entertainment. The weather was pretty dreary because it had rained a considerable amount the night before and the day of but it was awesome seeing how many people still bothered to show up and this is extremely cheesy but it really did not rain on our parade (ha ha)! I loved seeing how many people from our community, and not necessarily the Indian community, came to celebrate and join in! Even the staff members at the place we were at were joining in. I love celebrating my culture and being able to share it with my friends and family! I truly feel like a leader within the Indian community because I get to help with organizing the event and making sure it runs smoothly and I learn so much more about culture through events like this. It is events like these that make me feel more connected to where I am from.

March 2016 - Blog Post 1

On March 23, I had my last meeting session with the Youth Leadership of Greensboro. The theme for the day was Economy and Environment. First, we visited Syngenta. We specifically got to see the packaging room where we observed the different tests performed on packages to ensure their safety and durability. Next, we visited the Proximity. We took a tour of the entire hotel and learned about how energy sufficient the hotel was and it was probably my favorite part of the day. I had no idea this hotel was so invested in saving energy; every aspect of the hotel was dedicated to conserving energy and this tour intrigued me so much. The last place we visited was the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship. We toured the building and I find it so interesting and neat that the business is dedicated to advising and assisting smaller and local businesses. The environmental part of the day was interesting to me and I very much enjoyed learning about different applications of environmentally dedicated business. Something that does not typically interest me is the economy, but the Nussbaum Center really caught my attention because I really like how this organization is the root of many small businesses that have since grown into something much bigger and more successful than it was when it first came to Nussbaum. I really enjoyed the day and reflecting back on the activities, I definitely think it contributed to my leadership skills because I got to look at different aspects of my community and learn more about how I can help in the future and what is going on presently.

February 2016 - Blog Post 2

A club I am frequently involved with at school is Lunch Buddies. I have been the president of the club for the last three years. Once a week, I sit with the disabled students in Mrs. Miller's class. This experience has been extremely enjoyable and something I look forward to every week. I love talking to the other students because they are so much fun to talk to and sit with. They lead interesting lives and I love getting to hear about what they do. I have made some new friends with this club and it has been a lot of fun getting to know new people. I make a new friend each time and it's nice having people open up to me. Many of the kids are pretty shy and quiet at first but once they get used to me being there, they talk to me more and I love how much more confident and open they are. This is an experience I am grateful to have been a part of for the last few years and I definitely want to keep this up until I graduate.

February 2016 - Blog Post 1

I am a member of the Youth Representatives of Greensboro and we meet once a month to discuss and explore different issues and aspects of the city of Greensboro. For the February day session, our topic was Serving Society. We got the opportunity to go to Backpack Beginnings and help sort out food to be donated to Guilford County Schools and given to students who do not have adequate meals at home. This experience was so much fun and definitely a lot of work. We had to split up the food into over ten different categories based on expiration date and then further separate those by fruit, vegetables, pasta, etc. We had to put the food in giant boxes, seal them, weigh them, and put them in storage. This activity is definitely something I am going to go back and do on my own because it was an amazing experience and it is a solution to an issue that impacts a lot of children in Guilford County. Sadly, North Carolina is home to counties with some of the highest rates of hungry children, who do not have available food at home, in the entire nation! It was eye-opening hearing the statistics on how many children do not have basic necessities available to them and it really makes me want to do more to help out and this is definitely one program I want to be more involved with in the future.

January 2016 - Reflective Blog

Throughout my volunteering experiences, I think I have definitely grown as a person. A lot of the activities I take part in involve helping others in need. Volunteering to help those who need help has been a passion of mine since I was younger and I have my parents to thank for that. They have taught me from a young age to put myself in other people's shoes and really take advantage of what I am privileged to have. I know this sounds incredibly cheesy but it's extremely true! I like that I get to serve my community and help those in need and it truly is amazing seeing how small, kind actions can have a large impact on someone's life. I mean, it's nice and all getting CAS hours and contributing to my IB Diploma with these service learning opportunities, but I would still volunteer and help if I did not have these requirements to fulfill. Honestly, all of these experiences have allowed me to see life from different viewpoints and I enjoy having these opportunities to grow as a person and to help others!

December 2015 - Blog Post 2

1. On December 23, 2015, family and I volunteered at Urban Ministry as part of the Triad Hindu Temple. We made and served food to the homeless people, set up tables for people to eat at, and cleaned up afterwards. This was a fun experience because we got to help out those in need with a special holiday dinner and come together as a group.
2. I developed the thinker, communicator, open-minded, risk-taker, and caring IB learner profile attributes through this experience. I had to think about where help was needed and how I could best incorporate my assistance to benefit the people we were serving. I had to communicate with other people in the kitchen about tasks and the agenda for the night. I had to be more open-minded because I was assigned duties I was not familiar with but that needed help with. I had to take risks because I worked many sharp and hot objects, which was pretty unusual for me to be around because my parents typically do that sort of task at home. I had to be more caring towards the homeless people because I wanted to show that my sole purpose there was to help.
3. I got to make and serve food to the homeless people. I helped with creating the ingredients for meals and putting meals together. I helped with pouring drinks into pitchers and pouring the pitchers into cups. I also helped with the setup of the tables by putting chairs out and cleaning the dining room so it would be clean for the people we were serving. I also helped clean up at the end of the night by cleaning the dining room, kitchen, and all the resources used.
4. Of the seven learning outcomes, I addressed numbers two, three, four, five, and seven. I need to address one and six because in the future, I need to be able to help out with larger and more global problems to make a larger impact on the future and on issues.
5. This experience was an amazing experience because I got to help out many people who were in need of nourishment but lacked the necessary resources. I enjoyed being able to help out in different areas because it was fun doing different tasks and experiencing different things. It was saddening to see how many citizens were in need but it was great seeing the large number of volunteers and the huge amount of effort that went into this successful operation. This was something my family and I had done when I was younger but we slowly drifted away from this because holidays became more hectic as my brother and I grew older so it was nice being able to reunite with this beautiful tradition.

December 2015 - Blog Post 1

1. On December 12, 2015, I volunteered at Santa's Workshop as part of the Youth Leadership of Greensboro. I spent four hours helping families, in need of help, collect and pack toys (the toys were either donated and bought) for free to gift their children on Christmas Day. This experience was amazing because I got to help so many families who really needed this program during a stressful time.
2. I developed the thinker, communicator, and caring IB learner profile attributes through this experience. I had to think about which gifts were the most plausible for the ages and genders of the children they were packing for. I had to communicate with the families as I took them around to look at the gifts and I had to talk with them about which gifts were the best for their kids. I had to be more caring about the families because I wanted to provide as much as help as I could so they could have a wonderful holiday season.
3. I would take a family around a large gym organized with groups of different toys and help them with their selections. I assisted in their choices in picking from the donated toys, stuffed animals, and books area and I also gave advice on what they should choose from the new toys and stocking stuffers area.
4. Of the seven learning outcomes, I addressed numbers two, four, and five. I need to address one, three, six, and seven because in the future, I need to learn how to more of a leader and role model.
5. This experience was a wonderful experience because I got to help out many families who were in need of this program. I enjoyed being able to help parents and guardians pick out great toys so that their children would have a fantastic Christmas. It was saddening to see how many families were in need but it was great seeing the large number of volunteers and the huge amount of effort that went into this successful operation.