Lauren Maack's Main Service Site

I'm doing my local service at salt lake regional medical center. I am in the labor and delivery department where I take calls, help the nurses with anything they need, and talk to the patients along with getting them anything that they need.

Stephan Buma's Main Service Site

I volunteer at the Intermountain Medical Center, in Murray, running the main lobby information desk. My jobs range from looking up patient rooms to flower delivery, to anything else visitors ask of me. I love volunteering there. The other volunteers I work with are incredible and I've made some great friends. Also, seeing how grateful most visitors and patients are for the volunteers is a great feeling. It's really cool volunteering there because you have to be able to think on your feet. Not all visitors know exactly what they're looking for and can have some pretty interesting requests that don't have any easy solutions. Sometimes it's a little difficult because some visitors aren't the most friendly and don't communicate what they want effectively. Besides those few unfriendly visitors I have loved volunteering at the Intermountain Medical Center and I am very grateful that I am able to fulfill my service obligations there.

Taylor Porges:

"I have been volunteering at the Park City Christian Center for my main site. There I work either in the food pantry (organizing meals for those who have membership), in the boutique (helping organize whatever merchandise is being sold at the time), or outside (helping manage incoming donations and deciding where we could use them most. So far my experience there has been wonderful and I have been able to become friends with many of the other workers."

My experience at Real Life.

     Way back in December of 2012, I went to my first activity with the teens at Real Life--the Christmas party. I was overwhelmed with the number of people who showed up, both volunteers and teens. I was very hesitant to pick Real Life as my main service site. I didn't know what to expect, if I'd get along with the teens and the other volunteers, or if I'd even enjoy volunteering there. Luckily though, a few of my friends convinced me to regularly attend Real Life. . so I did, and I honestly cannot express how grateful I am that I did.
Some of the highlights from my experience at Real Life include:
--ice skating at the Gallivan Center
--learning about finances, and career choices
--doing team builders
--playing minute-to-win-it
--making visual journals
and so many more. Going to Real Life every week, and hanging out with all the new people I've grown to love, and created such great friendships with was definitely the highlight of my week, every week. I've become so close to each of the teens who regularly attended, and I've come to appreciate the friendships I've developed with them. I never really realized how strong the friendships we've made were, until it occurred to me that this was the last week. I've come to know more about each teen. Examples include that Peter runs track-he's a sprinter, and he's pretty dang good. Estefanus plays varsity soccer for Cottonwood. I remember when our soccer team (Hillcrest) played Cottonwood, at Hillcrest. I went to that game, and it was so awesome to be able to watch him play! Also, Paw wants to be a professional dancer when she grows up. These are just some of the countless things I've learned about these wonderful teens.
     Real Life has taught me more than I could ever write in this blog entry. Not only have I learned the importance of education, and to embrace the opportunities I have to learn, it's taught me about the value of friendships, consistency, and patience. Sometimes it got to be really loud, and frustrating at Real Life, especially when we were trying to explain a concept, or a game, and everyone was talking. However, I know that even in the most stressful, difficult times, I was taught something. I've also learned to be grateful for everything I have. This service opportunity also taught me the valuable concept of having fun! Sometimes we get so caught up in the things we have to do, that we totally overlook the little things that can provide fun and entertainment in our life. I know there were times when I needed to finish a huge project for school, or seemed to have an endless amount of homework~so I didn't want to attend Real Life that day. I can honestly say that I never regretted going to Real Life, once I went. It provided a wonderful outlet for me, to just relax, and forget all the stress of school, to just enjoy life, and have fun with some of the best friends I've made. Real Life is textbook definition of service, in that I gained way more out of this experience than the teens did. I can say that with a surety. I have grown so much for the better. Real Life has become such a huge part of my life, that it kills me inside to think that it's over.
     I am going to miss Real Life so much. Words can't adequately explain how much fun I've had, how much I've learned, and how much these teens have made me a better person. I will be infinitely grateful to everyone from Real Life for the rest of my life. I know that sounds cheesy, and a little cliche. But it's one of the most sincere statements I've made. Thank you, a million times over.

❤Lisa Schneider

REAL LIFE!

First of all......Here is the winner of our Real Life T-shirt contest!  This is the T-shirt that got the most likes on our Real Life Facebook Page!

On Monday we played Minute-to-Win it games!  With this game we were put into teams and each team had to spin a roll of toilet paper around another team mate and the first team who ran our of toilet paper won!  

In this game one person from each team had to stack 4 cups and 5 plates while balancing it on their hand.  The team the stacked the fastest without any dropping one won and their team got a point!

With this game one person from each team had to keep three balloons in the air at the same time.  If one balloon touched the ground then they were out!  The person who kept all three balloons in the air won the challenge and their team got a point!

On friday we played a real life game of Life!  The kids got to pick if they were going to college, where they were going to live, what kind of clothes they were going to buy, what their career would be, and so on.  Then we added up all the cost to their budget for one year and who ever had the most left in their savings won!

Walk MS Volunteering!

The Guatemala had some teammates represent at Walk MS. We had a ton of fun and attempted some new cheerleading skills! Doing service together was a great warm up for our trip coming up! Big thanks to Madeline for telling us about this great service opportunity. Thanks to Addie, Maicy, Erika, Claire, and Julie for your service!

Recently at Real Life!

Recently at Real Life!

Recently at Real Life we have had the opportunity  do some very fun activities!  One week we covered a table with paper and finger painted, the kids loved it!  They drew pictures of their name, their country, we even did handprints.

        

 

 The next week some of the kids taught us how to play a game from their county that's kind of like jump rope.  It took us a while to get it down but we finally got it!  Two people hold the jump rope above the ground.  The others run up to it and try to get both of their feet over to the other side without touching the rope with their hands.

 We also had a wonderful lesson by one of our Real Life volunteers on basic health and CPR!  The kids learned CPR and then practiced on a dummy.  We later got into groups and had to act out a scenario where someone got hurt and we had to figure out the best way to help them!  Whether is was to splint there arm/leg or give them CPR.

                      

 We also played a fun game of tag outside that the kids really loved!  One person started in the middle, and the rest had to run to the other side.  If you were tagged, you had to stay where you were and try to tag those where still trying to get to the other side. The last person standing was the winner!

  Later, we got to go rock climbing again, the kids had a blast!

                                            

Real Life is a great after school program for refugees in the area.  Volunteering there had been such a great experience that I have asked one of the  Real Life volunteers one of her most memorable moments!

"One of the most memorable moments I have had is when we interviewed the teens.  I loved learning about where they came from and how they came to be at Real Life.  It was cool because one of the kids was from kenya, which is where I'm going this summer.  So I got to ask him a few questions about it.  Also it was great because it helped me understand so much more about the teens and I love hearing their stories!"  -Lauren Holmstrom