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Archive for April, 2010

A Mission Solano Event…

Written on April 22, 2010 by flacanda

Mission Solano is a well-known name for community service and help in Solano County. Partially fueled by volunteers and by donations, it thrives in more ways than most people know. I volunteered in a Mission Solano Event through my school’s KEY club earlier this month. When I first went, I didn’t really know what to expect. Sure, I’ve gone to a bunch of volunteer events, but all any of us knew was: we were going to feed people – that’s it! What I didn’t know was that Mission Solano had this HUGE (not to mention amazing, great, fantastic, and other redundantly positive synonyms) site to help phase the homeless out of, well, homelessness.

Praying for those who need the help

This Mission Solano site currently has some construction and beautification projects in the works, but it was still effective in its purpose. It houses single women with their children and whole families; but it did more than that. It enforced a positive feeling for those living there, and it’s lively optimism made me feel energetic and diligent. When we had the tour, we saw that the rooms for the kids had bunk beds and were all neatly made. The family units reminded me of a dorm and hotel room combination- everything was clean but at the same time was well fitted.

So I showed up on that breezy afternoon with a salad and numerous varieties of salad dressings in tow. I walked in and was greeted by over a dozen people living on the site. They were all walking in or sitting, chatting with each other, while the volunteers that showed up were scrambling to get the food organized. A man whose name I cannot remember announced that we should say Grace for the wonderful food before digging in. Out of 16 teen volunteers, we had enough food to feed the people at the site over the next days! I think that for all of us, it was empowering to know that sure, we’re “just” teenagers, but we still helped people right here in our own community. People…who are finding their way back into their own homes again, people who we never would have met otherwise. These people were grown adults and growing kids who relished the homemade spicy Indian soup, the Mexican enchilada casseroles, and the señorita breads that us teens pulled together for them. And it was a great time enjoying their company – even helping clean up felt more satisfying than cleaning up after my family during dinnertime.

This experience with helping Mission Solano was a prodigious one, and I would never pass up a future opportunity to help them if it comes.

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Write Between the Lines

Written on April 5, 2010 by theboneshavespoken

Filed Under: Advice, Solving a Problem

…Huh? You’re probably wondering why I butchered the popular idiom, “read between the lines.” I don’t normally butcher idioms, or anything else for that matter, but that cliché idiom just begs to be butchered, especially for the purposes of this article. I’m going to be talking about outlining – the ways outlining can be used, the reasons to use it, its qualities, its flaws, and its traps.

Writing Between The Lines

You probably hate that word, “outlining.” Especially if your teacher just told you to outline twenty pages from your history textbook (don’t worry, at least five of those pages will probably be sources – wink). Well, I like the word; it’s euphonic. (If you want a truly cacophonic word, try “drill;” nothing makes me wince like being reminded of the dentist.) Anyway, getting back on track, not only do I like the word “outlining” for the way it sounds, I like it for what it is, too. It’s useful for a couple of different things – like note-taking for school, or for forming the plot of a story.

Personally, I find outlining to be the best form of note-taking there is. (This must be said: Cornell notes, you suck. I’m sorry, but you do. You’re a waste of paper.) Especially, especially, especially if you’re outlining while you’re reading. (I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t flat-out read a history book to save my life. I’ll fall asleep within minutes, no matter how interesting the material is or isn’t. So writing while I read really helps me focus on what’s important – while actually getting through the reading.)

In addition, outlining makes your notes organized in a way that just taking straight bullet points never will. “Pilgrims sail to America…Colonies form…Wait, how did I get all the way to the American Revolution?” With outlining, everything is under headings, and each heading tells you exactly what you’re looking at (this satisfies the first rule of teaching: “tell them what you’re going to tell them”). That way, you don’t have to squint at your notes, wondering where the breaks are and why everything seems like one huge, jumbled pile of facts. Read More

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