Archive for the 'Spring 2010' Category

April 30, 2010 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",2nd Semester,3rd Semester,A Whole Latte Trouble,Adv Children's Lit,Book Stuff,Book Two,Creative Writing II,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Financial Mgmt,Life in General,Mentors,Nonprofit Explorations,Prescott College,School Daze,Spring 2010,Summer 2010,The 4-1-1 on Me

Today officially ends the Spring semester.

I made it through another semester without having a little breakdown.

This is good.

Kristi Edwards, North-Central Region advancement officer for the Arizona Community Foundation, and the Director of the Yavapai County Community Foundation, was my mentor for my Nonprofit Explorations course. The only mentored course I had this semester. Being a newbie in the NP world, she gave me a great overview of the NP sector in general, so now I have a better foundation–no pun intended–for the other courses in my degree plan. She was a wonderful mentor and I look forward to working with her again in the Fall for my Fundraising course.

I turned in my mentor evals and now I’m waiting for them to be signed. I get a whole month off before the Summer session starts. And, unlike my first two semesters, it’s going to be balls-to-the-wall 3 classes up until graduation in Dec next year.

No more whining about feeling overwhelmed.

I’m just going to have to suck it up and remember to breathe.

This summer, I’ll be taking:

~ Creative Writing II: Revising Your Novel mentored by the wonderful Georgia McBride, founder of YALITCHAT. I’m so looking forward to this class because I’ll be working on revising the first 100 pages of DA Book 2. A novel that I finished a while back, and started to edit, and then…stopped. So, it’ll be nice to revisit that story.

~ Advanced Children’s Lit: an online Moodle course through Prescott College

~ Sustainable Financial Mgmt mentored by Chantal Sheehan, COO of local nonprofit New Global Citizens. I met with her this evening and got a really good vibe from her. I think it’s another good mentor/mentee match. This organization is doing wonderful things with youth, so I’m very much looking forward to gleaning all I can from her.

Can’t wait to get started.

Technorati Tags: Kristi Edwards, Arizona Community Foundation, Yavapai County Community Foundation, Georgia McBride, YALITCHAT, Chantal Sheehan, New Global Citizens

April 4, 2010 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",2nd Semester,Life in General,Nonprofit Explorations,Prescott College,School Daze,Spring 2010,Sunday Scribblings,The 4-1-1 on Me,WriterMentor,WriterVolunteer

Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Mentor

Last year, I had the immense pleasure of being a mentor. From Sept to Dec I was a mentor through Free Arts AZ. For 14 weeks, another girl and I were placed at an all-girls group home. Every Saturday morning, for an hour, we drew, painted, wrote, cut and pasted, made bracelets…whatever. Basically, we played. These girls started to get used to us being there every week and couldn’t believe we were taking the time out of our lives to spend time with them. For free.

It was the best, most life-changing experience of my life.

I’ve been wanting to volunteer for a youth-based organization for a long time, but I was looking for a specific organization. And I found it with Free Arts AZ. They fit with the business I plan to open and I was able to utilize my writing skills there. I still volunteer for them when they have events on the weekends. If you ever get a chance to be a mentor for youth, do it. It will so change your life. I promise.

Currently, as I’ve mentioned numerous times before, I’m attending Prescott College to get my degree in Nonprofit Management. That business I mentioned above? I want to open a nonprofit writing center for teens. Actually, when starting out, it’ll probably just be different writing workshops, and not so much a building to conduct them in. I want to focus on putting these programs into public schools and youth-based nonprofit organizations.

But I digress.

The students who attend Prescott College create their own degree plan and then find mentors within their community—or nationally—to “mentor” the courses. They offer some online courses, but the majority of your degree plan is created by you. I’m actually looking for mentors for my classes right now, so if you’re interested, read all about it here. Since I know nothing about the nonprofit sector, I’m learning from the ground up and I created courses that, I hope, will prepare me for opening my own nonprofit. The Spring semester is almost over and the mentor for my Nonprofit Explorations course, Kristi, has been amazing. She’s also going to be the mentor for my Fundraising course. The difference between this college and other 4 yr colleges is that you’re learning by doing. You’re working side by side with a professional in the field and you’re getting hands-on experience. I think I learn best this way because I’m applying it as I learn it. And I’ll have all this knowledge for later.

The only thing that sucks for an introvert like me is going out and asking complete strangers to be my mentor. There’s a lot of stepping-outside-my-comfort-zone goin’ on, but I’m meeting some great people. And hopefully, I’ll be working with them in the future. On a professional level.

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings

March 18, 2010 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",2nd Semester,Life in General,Prescott College,School Daze,Spring 2010,The 4-1-1 on Me

As you all know, I am currently a junior in the Adult Degree Program at Prescott College obtaining my Bachelor’s in Nonprofit Management. Prescott College is a very unique school in which the students are allowed to create their own degree program and find mentors within their community–or nationally–to mentor their courses. This is a hands-on, learning-by-doing method of education for which I think I am best suited. I’m very much looking forward to working with the best and graduating in December 2011.

I am looking for professionals within the community to mentor the following courses:

Volunteer Management
Strategic Planning
Marketing for Non-Profits
Human Relations
Social Entrepreneurship
Program Planning for Nonprofits
Laws and Legal Issues for Nonprofits

In ordered to be considered, Prescott College requires potential mentors to have a Master’s Degree in their chosen field; Extensive teaching experience in the chosen field can eschew a Master’s degree. As a mentor, the time you give will be considerable but valuable, and you will be compensated by the school. If you are interested in mentoring one of these courses, please send your resume to acolston[at]prescott.edu

March 15, 2010 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",2nd Semester,LAS: Community and Social Change,Life in General,Movie Queue,Nonprofit Explorations,Prescott College,School Daze,Spring 2010,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up

We didn’t do a whole heck of a lot, to tell the truth. The most exciting thing we did was try a new place for breakfast on Saturday: Butterfields Pancake House. I liked their coffee, but Steven and I agreed that their pancakes were too fluffy.

Yes, it’s true.

You can stop laughing now.

I’m a pancake connoisseur and hate pancakes that are so thick they soak up syrup. I love syrup. I love my pancakes drowning in syrup and butter. The best pancakes are the ones where you only have to use the bottle of syrup once. One time. Not multiple times and surely not the whole damn thing in one sitting (for the record, no that’s never happened to me).

The really cool thing about this place, though, is their orange juice squeezer machine…thingy. They advertise freshly squeezed orange juice and you actually have proof that it’s freshly squeezed. The juicer sits right out in the dining room, up against the wall near the kitchen and they use real oranges (y’know, as opposed, concentrate. LOL). They have crates upon crates of fresh oranges sitting right next to it. If the pitchers are running low, you’ll see the servers work the machine right there. It was pretty cool. I’m not a fan of orange juice, but it was pretty cool to see.

We ate at Ron’s Place, our usual place, on Sunday, then went to check out these townhomes. I just wanted to see the area, but the one unit we saw online didn’t include a refrigerator. I’d like a refrigerator already in the place, thankyouverymuch. We’re looking to sell our house and rent a townhouse. Not sure when it’s going to happen, hopefully by the end of the year.

On Sunday, we went to see GREEN ZONE. We liked it. I think Matt Damon makes a great action star. I think I might like to see him a romantic comedy, but he’s doing very well in the action genre and should probably stick to that. I could even see him doing an action/sci-fi flick. If you’re reading this, Matt, there’s a suggestion for ya.

Got some homework done, too. I have two assignments due this week because I’ll be out of town for 4 days next week and I’m not bringing the laptop. I’m attending my job’s annual records mgmt training in Alexandria, VA. Never been there and I’m really looking forward to going. My supervisor and I got on the list to tour the White House and we hope to see Obama at the Medal of Honor Day ceremony on the 25th. Squee! I’ll have pics, I promise.

So, that’s it for me. How was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: Butterfields Pancake House, GREEN ZONE, Matt Damon, White House, Obama, Medal of Honor Day

February 21, 2010 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",2nd Semester,In the News,LAS: Community and Social Change,Life in General,Prescott College,School Daze,Spring 2010,The 4-1-1 on Me

Borders-Sky Harbor Airport is sponsoring a journal drive for my Write it Out Journal Drive project. If you’re flying into or out of the Phoenix area FEB 21-MAR 13, 2010, be sure to stop by the Borders in Terminal 4 and support our cause.

Not visiting Phoenix, but still want to donate? No problem, for details on the project and how to donate, check out the Write it Out Journal Drive website.

Technorati Tags: Borders-Sky Harbor Airport, Write it Out Journal Drive