Hey there first-years, current WC staff, and dear alums. :) Can you believe it's already the middle of July?! This summer seems to be FLYING by with the next school year around the corner before we know it!
I only have one more week for Upward Bound and cannot believe I will be saying goodbye to the kids in only six more days. I realize I mentioned UB in previous postings but did not specify what the program actually involves. Students ranging from freshmen to seniors in high school from the Cedar Rapids area participate in the summer program which allows them to take courses throughout the week which serves to prepare them for their next high school course, responsibilities and assignments they will be challenged with in college, and allows them to accumulate high school credit as well for many of these courses. My week starts with a 6pm staff meeting on Sunday and ends when the kids leave Friday around 3pm. Then during the week we also have Core Group Activities for our approximately, ten kids, which can range from sand volleyball games, to DQ trips, to picking up trash. We also had our UB Olympics with various sporting and academic events at Upper Iowa University with two other UB programs, and on Thursdays and Fridays we have fun activities such as bowling, going to baseball games, skating, doing service, and college visits. This coming week is our last week, so when finals conclude classes on Tuesday, we will then prepare and pack for our Major City Trip to Omaha, Nebraska from the 18th through the 20th. I'm incredibly excited for the trip! It should be a blast and a great way to end the program. :)
Our day of service yesterday was a great opportunity for the students to get involved in the community and to see how easy and fulfilling it can be to give back. The group of students I accompanied went to the Habitat for Humanity office off of 6th Street where we helped sort, move, clean, and repaint furniture, as well as construct shelving units. After several hours of volunteer work and before we left for Coe and lunch, I spoke with Joe who is in charge of many of the activities at the Habitat office. He was incredibly appreciative of our help there and spoke of the amazing amount of opportunities available to serve and volunteer there. Joe mentioned needing people involved in writing to interview people, take photos and write articles for the Habitat office. He also said the students in any of the high schools nearby, as well as students at Coe, could volunteer there anytime and that they would be happy to have the extra hands.
When I mentioned I work in Coe's Writing Center, Joe was thrilled, gave me his card, and was very interested in any help we might provide to Habitat for Humanity. I was involved in our Volunteer Committee my freshman year, not this past year, but saw this as a great opportunity for our consultants, and more specifically our Volunteer Committee to get involved, particularly where it involves those interested in journalism and photography.
I have also been busy with work for the Heritage Office. I have interviewed one of Coe's Physics professors, Steve Feller, as well as two of Coe's older alums now living in Florida. I am currently working on the articles for these two interviews. Through this job I've discovered what a careful process it can be to interview others, how important it is to ask the right questions, like when we're consulting other students and need to draw-out the right thoughts that will lead to a better paper. Writing the article itself also involves lots of writing, rewriting, revising, editing...and then repeat that process. It's really interesting though to conduct the interviews and to be involved on campus in ways I haven't in the past. There's so much history behind both the campus and the people who keep it functioning.
Also just a side note for you first-years, the next timeframe to submit your summer writing exercise is approaching, July 16th-19th, so happy writing! Remember...all three responses to the prompts should be submitted in one document. Please and thank you! :)
- Heidi Heaton
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