Community Service Jing

 A short video of me talking about my experience.

http://screencast.com/t/O5bwKKi3Qi9q

How It All Began

How did this all happen you may ask?
Well, this is my story:

 

 

 During my sophomore year in college I couldn't help but feel like I was missing out on so many opportunities that were available to me and felt that I was running out on my only chance to be a part of some life-changing experience while in college. So with that in mind I made it a mission for me to do something incredible with my 2014 summer. Like Miles "Pudge" Halter from one of my favorite books, “Looking for Alaska," by John Green (Who also happens to be my favorite author), I wanted to Seek a Great Perhaps. Staying at home and doing nothing with myself or being volun-told to babysit for another summer was no longer an option, I wouldn't take it anymore, and it was time to do something. With that in mind I mustered up all my courage and attended the first meeting through the religious department at the University of La Verne to apply to be a member of their Summer Service Program in which they sponsored students to go volunteer at different sites for 10 weeks. Once I knew my goal was actually attainable I would stop at nothing to make it into a reality. After completing a huge application, an interview with our University's chaplin, Zandra Wagoner (Who is an amazing and majestic individual), finding the site that was best suited for me, filling out another application, getting letters of recommendation, and doing my first Skype interview, I was finally accepted! I was so ecstatic! Looking back now it has been an amazing 10 weeks and a summer I'll never forget. Back to the present: So dear reader within this blog you will find excerpts from our assigned readings over the summer which were, "How Can I Help?: Stories and Reflections on Service" by Ram Dass & Paul Gorman and "Living Faith: How Faith Inspires Social Justice" by Curtiss Paul DeYoung. Each entry contains quotes taken from my readings that I found inspiring, worth sharing with the rest of the world, or that I just wanted to expand my own thoughts on. I hope to also include entries from my own personal experiences while living and working at camp for ten weeks along with pictures. I'm so grateful to have been a part of this amazing experience, grown as a person,  and have met so many wonderful people. I hope you enjoy and happy reading! :)

 Love,

Val <3

(Camp Name: Mystery Machine)

Treasured Pictures

 A picture taken on a rainy day after a hike I did with my friend Abigail to go find this "secret" tree-house that one of our older coworkers named Tony, who has been working at Camp Oakes for 19 years, built with some other coworkers during any free time they had. After a while we found it and hiking through the San Bernandino mountains was beautiful. We came back soaking wet but it was worth it.

Two of my favorite guys this summer Josh McMeans (one of my bosses)  and Dougie (Though he has cerebral palsy he is a beloved camper at Camp Oakes who stays with us for about 4 weeks during the summer to help out). They filled my days with laughter and happiness. I really miss them.

Some campers from Armed Services who came up the last week who I just loved! Their cabin group was called the Bubble Guppies and whether it be canoes, arts & crafts, or dance, they were so respectful and definitely one of my favorite groups to come up this summer. They painted and signed a tree cookie for me to put on my rag so I could remember them.

My favorite part about camp, the dances.

To my left is Raylene (Camp Name Sassaphrass or Sazzles) and to my right is Diana (Camp Name Princess Diana/Alphabet/Brownies "Brown-Knees"). These two girls meant so much to me this summer and I got the opportunity to be their councilors and the honor to tie their blue rags. It was an emotional experience for both of their rag ceremonies and am so fortunate to have met such amazing ladies. I love them both dearly. <3

The La Verne Girls. We came as strangers who only shared the college we went to and left as close friends sharing an amazing summer together.

Reflection Paper

Reflection Paper

Since my freshmen year of high school, I have been helping out at my church Saint Frances of Rome in my hometown of Azusa as part of their youth ministry program. Now a junior in college, it surprises me that I have dedicated eight years of my life volunteering for this incredible group without even realizing it and hope to contribute even more. Along with this, it was only just yesterday that I finished working up in Big Bear for ten incredible weeks for YMCA Camp Oakes as part of the Summer Service Program here at the University of La Verne. While I have done all of this, the irony is that for the first time in my life I am faced with the question as to why I do any of this. Community engagement has always been something I have done, but now I am digging deeper as to why I have made service such a significant part of my life.

I guess the best way to start off answering this question is by stating that service is one of the best things one can do in their life. It has been nothing but a positive influence in my own and I have seen it light a fire in others. For example, my church ministry group is composed of teenagers or young adults like myself who have experienced some of life’s greatest hardships. With those experiences we look to help the teenagers in our youth ministry who may be encountering the same problems. After being introduced to the YMCA community this summer I have recognized that we are all a bit broken on the inside through the different types of suffering we have encountered, but despite all of that we are not alone in our hardships and together we can help each other up. “I have seen much service born of suffering. And I see that our little suffering is not for ourselves. It can have impact throughout the world, that’s how much our lives can mean, that’s how much is possible.” [1] The greatest message service has taught me is that we are all connected and our trials and tribulations are not the end of us and that “We’re here to awaken from the illusion of separateness.”[2]

This summer at Camp Oakes I got to see the beauty of community engagement through the YMCA Rag’s Program. This was my first time ever being at a summer camp, and working with the YMCA, so when I first saw campers and councilors walking around with these bandana-type things in different colors with a symbol I did not recognize, naturally I got curious and started asking questions to find out more. They were called Rags and it was a part of a program started in 1914 by Thomas Caldwell and today these Rags are an outward sign of personal challenges or goals that that specific individual chooses to accept or wishes to accomplish. Each different color of a rag represents a different challenge:

Blue: Loyalty to God, country and one’s best self.

Silver: Acceptance of or re-dedication to a Christian way of life of spiritual growth.

Brown: Christian service.

Gold: Understanding, concern and acceptance of others.

Red: Sacrifice of time, talent and personal will.

Purple: A dedication towards excellence and noble living in all Christian service opportunities.

White: A lifetime of Christian service to youth

I had never heard of anything like this before and with each passing week as new groups came in, I saw more campers and councilors wearing these rags tied around their necks. I also began to notice that some were more decorated than the others or had little trinkets tied or pinned to their Rag. It was explained that these were gifts given by friends to show support for that person and for the challenge, or goal, they had made for themselves. All around me people of all ages, gender, mental and physical disabilities, were wearing these Rags and working toward becoming their best self. It was inspiring and awakened me into seeing that though we cannot see beneath the surface, everyone is facing their own battles and making their way through life as best they can. “When you begin to see with that inner eye, that inner eye everyone has, it all changes. Everyone is human, everyone is God’s child. Everyone is helpless, one way or another, and everyone is helpful too. We’re all here for each other… that’s how it is. And we all have something to give, no matter our condition.”[3]

It was not long before I wanted to become part of this incredible experience as well. I picked my friend Raven to council me for my Blue Rag and I’ll never forget that conversation we had sitting on the fishing dock and just telling her everything. I called my goal the “Let It Go” Goal, in the hopes of letting go of my insecurities, my fears, and my doubts and finally allowing myself to become the person I am capable of becoming. I’m not going to lie I cried during my Rag Ceremony because it meant so much and every time I wear my Blue Rag I am reminded to believe in myself. Not even a week later, two of my coworkers who had become close friends of mine asked me if I’d be willing to council them and tie their Rags. It was the biggest honor being on the other side and through "caring for one another, we sometimes glimpse an essential quality of our being. We're reminded of who we really are and what we have to offer one another."  

It is instances like these that truly motivate me to be involved in my community. "My own journey colors the way I see, interpret & present the journeys of others. Part of my soul is interwoven with the words and lives of these whose stories inspire and encourage me."[4] Though I’m no way like the great social activists from the past like Martin Luther King Jr, The Dalai Lama, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Rigoberta Menchu, or Elie Wiesel, I know that the smallest acts of kindness can make the biggest difference in the world and that I am changing the lives of others as they are changing mine. Through my experiences volunteering it has molded me into the person I am now, given me a sense of importance, and has allowed me to meet so many people from different walks of life.

While volunteering at Camp Oakes I have learned so much than I ever thought possible and those ten weeks I spent with people who inspired me are memories I will treasure forever. I’ll never forget Camp Titan and their amazing spirit at camp fire or Desert Families and the group of boys who gave me my camp name “Mystery Machine.” L.A. County Sheriffs and the kids they sponsored who came from bad neighborhoods who for the first time were able to just be kids. Simi Valley and West End with Rhys and his group of boys, Jackie and Tay and their amazing Pixie Hollow Girls. The Y of Orange County, Cerritos, and Long Beach who inspired me to want to get a blue rag. Salem Christian Homes and Easter Seals and their lovely campers who touched my heart and taught me that a mental or physical disability doesn’t in any way limit you from accomplishing anything. Armed Services whose campers have parents serving in the military and were the most respectful, caring, and hilarious group of kids I had all summer. Diana, Abigail, Raylene, Emma,  Raisin, Raven, Miranda, Gigi, Kyle, Dani, Chase, Dougie, Josh McMeans, and Andie for making this summer memorable and for your friendship. Even when I have struggled to love myself, these campers, councilors, and my coworkers loved me regardless and what they have done for me is more than I can express in words.

“To be a human being, then, is to be essentially alive in a living world…a naked human spirit that spills over into other human spirits as they spill over into us.”[5] The main thing I have come to realize is that life is composed of all the little moments and all the interactions we have with people. The times that I have felt most alive, or felt like I was doing exactly what I was meant to do, is when I was dedicating my time to helping others. There were days when the last thing I wanted to do was drive all the way back home to teach Confirmation or get up in the mornings to run program, but when I got into that classroom with my students, or saw the excited faces of the campers, it would make it all worth it. As Dogen Zenji would say, “To forget the Self is to be enlightened by all things.” They make it all worth it, this is why I do what I do, nothing compares to those little moments that mean so much.

From starting as A-Team my freshmen year in high school, doing my own Confirmation,  being a small group assistant, to a small group leader, a member of the Executive Planning Team, teacher’s aide, to a Confirmation Teacher, it has all been a wonderful journey. At Camp Oakes I was more than just Valerie, I was “Mystery Machine,” an Indian Lore, Arts and Crafts, Dance, Canoe, Mine chute Instructor, I was Ms. Valerie, I was a councilor, and I am a member of the Ragger Family all over the world. I would have never imagined myself capable of accomplishing all of this and reaching this far. How is it that I was the one who wanted so much to be involved and was called to help, but in turn my time volunteering has helped me to become all that I am now? I have been blessed abundantly.

As for the future, I hope to be engaged in the community by going where ever I am called to serve, or by responding to any opportunities that may present themselves. One of my main goals is to study abroad or go to a underdeveloped country and help build schools or help adolescents in that region. Though I may not know the path that is set ahead, I have faith that wherever it may lead me is where I am meant to go. I hope to continue to learn, meet new people along the way, and be inspired. But mostly I hope as Pastor Joseph in an excerpt from “How Can I Help?” says, “to give and to give and to give, and to know that is my riches. There is no tomorrow here. There is only today and what God asks me to do today.”

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[1] Ram Dass & Paul Gorman, How Can I Help? (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013), 92.

[2] Ram Dass & Paul Gorman, How Can I Help? (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013), 180.

[3] Ram Dass & Paul Gorman, How Can I Help? (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013), 145.

[4] Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Living Faith: How Faith Inspires Social Justice. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007), 6.

[5] Curtiss Paul DeYoung, Living Faith: How Faith Inspires Social Justice. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007), 90. Thurman, Luminous Darkness,94.