Service Learning Blog

Week 1 (29 Jan- 04 Feb)
15 Mar 2012

The first week working on my service learning I used to contact businesses and people to inform them about the event and ask the to donate. I called most of the stores in the Knight's Plaza. I also contacted the Sweets, in Waterford. A couple of these stores I had to follow through and email the corresponding store managers directly with a short message and the flyer and donation letter attachments. Asides from contacting some businesses I also spoke to a couple friends to see if they were available to donate their time. One of my friends offered his time and equipment to DJ at the event and a co worker offered to sing as part of the entertainment. This work allotted to about 1.5 hrs. My plan from this point was to contact some more friends that would dedicate their time and/or get the word out about the event.
This first week I believe I took more of a traditional stance on leadership. I had to effectively use my communication skills to convince businesses to donate to our event. Although, I did not lead in the traditional sense of being in charge of any specific task. Like in the reading of Huerta and Chavez I can closely relate the work I did to Chavez's traditional style of women leadership. This text explains a traditional woman leader to be supportive and to complete necessary but menial work.
My experiences during the week reminded me that as an individual you do not have to be in the forefront to be a leader. In the same breath having completed these tasks I felt like I had the ability and time to do more. The first week of helping with the YWLP basketball tournament served as an eye opener for me. I never took time to realize the connections I have made in college and the network of people I know. Not only was I surprised, but the interactions gave me more confidence and a sense of accomplishment. It was truly a great first week!