To the Round Pegs in The Square Holes

“The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do” is a quote from an Apple marketing campaign that hangs on the wall of my office. I believe it wholeheartedly to be true...and I am a crazy one.

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Luckily, I am not alone. Yesterday afternoon I marched downtown with almost 2500 people who were crazy enough to think they could make change. And you know what? They did. Moms, dads, kids in strollers, community members, media, women in wheel chairs, and even men on horses gathered at Crispus Attucks High School. They marched down the street stopping rush hour traffic wearing hoodies, toting signs, and carrying Skittles and iced tea to bring awareness to the death of Trayvon Martin, a young man who was killed in Florida by someone on the neighborhood watch.

This case has received national attention because the man who killed Trayvon has not been arrested. Florida has a law that allows a person to use deadly force if they feel their property or person is being threatened. It is commonly known as the “Shoot First, Ask Second” Law or the Stand Your Ground Law.*

People listen to speakers while holding signs asking for justice and bearing Trayvon's face.

I think in order to change the world we must be willing to face the problems in society head on. We cannot sweep them under the rug because then there is nothing to address. We cannot blame others because then we can always be the victim. We must recognize difficulty, offer solutions, and be the ones willing to work for them. Yesterday I saw some of that. People united. People creating change. I was glad to take part in the demonstration, to lend my presence and speak out against taking a life because the law says it is okay.

There is much left to be changed. And it starts with you...the crazy ones.

*I encourage you to research these laws and this case. I am by no means an expert. I included links so you could see some of what's out there. I attended this rally because I do not believe in killing people and I wanted to show my support for this young man and his family. 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are mine and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of MCCOY. If you would like to learn more about how your voice can be heard, please sign up for MCCOY's advocacy newsletter, Youth Advocacy Council, or follow us at MCCOY_Advocacy.

A retrospective of my summers as a camp counselor.

Going into the summer of 2008, I was coming off my first year in college. It had been a year of growing and change, and I was ready for a break. I applied to work at a summer camp in Brown County with the intention of taking it slow, and regrouping for the next year of classes. I was looking for something that would add value to my summer after a grueling year of lecture halls and taking notes.

I remember going into the first day of work scared out of my mind. I had left all my friends and family for the summer, and I was determined to make this summer epic. I needed it to be.

My job entailed being in charge of a group of 5-8 kids every week. These kids were of all ages and abilities. The camp I worked at was inclusive meaning that they accepted all children and included them in every activity. We would travel around the camp grounds participating in activities like canoeing, hiking, painting, horseback riding, rock climbing, and community service projects...to name a few.

Not only was I their camp counselor, I took on a lot of other roles as well. I was their mom, their dad, their friend, their rule enforcer, their shoulder to cry on, their piggy back ride giver, their life jacket in the pool, and their lap to sit on at campfire. I tied their shoes, combed their hair, cut up their dinner, bandaged their boo boos, and stayed up until 3 in the morning with them when they were scared or missed their parents. It was like having a kid, except 8 at once. After a week, when I would get to the point of really knowing them, they would leave and I would get a new batch.

I learned a lot over the course of that first summer. Up until that point, I had never truly put the values of humility and self sacrifice into practice. I was always the most important person in my life. At camp, that changed. Every day I was the last one to eat, the last one to shower, the last one to lay down in bed, and the first one to get up. I never put on make up, and I barely looked in the mirror. I worked 22 hours a day, and my cell phone didn't even exist. It was just me, the kids, my fellow counselors, and nature. I needed those kids to have a good time, and I would do anything to make that happen. Tell them a 2 hour long bedtime story, let them paint all over my legs, face, and arms, eat disgusting combinations of food, let them dunk me 50 times in the pool... their happiness was the most important thing.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it was hard work.

I realized that working hard for a purpose that you truly loved and believed in wasn't hard at all. It was grueling, and difficult at times, but that's part of the reason that it was so enjoyable. I had found a drive to push myself harder than I had ever done before.

I spent the next three and a half summers at CYO Camp Rancho Framasa. It completely changed my life for the better. I found my calling as a social worker through my experience of giving at camp. I learned how to drive a school bus, how to start a fire, how to convince multitudes of teenagers that nature is cooler than their cell phones, and as a bonus one of my fellow counselors eventually became my husband. Karma?

In conclusion, summer camp changed my life.. If you've never experienced it in one way or another, I suggest you change that. Go camping, leave your cell phone at home, start a fire, roast a marshmallow, let go, sing a song, look at the stars. It will change you.

What do you know about Cerebral Palsy?

Before I became a caretaker for people with developmental disabilities, I didn't know the first thing about  Cerebral palsy ( pronounced seREEbrawl PALLzee). But working with these individuals over the past two years has taught me so much. March is Disabilities Awareness month. What better time to learn about CP?

 What is Cerebral palsy?

The textbook definition of  CP is " a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking" (A.D.A.M., 2009). But what does that mean? Basically, CP affects how the body functions and causes a lot of physical limits. These limits can range from very mild to very severe, only involve one side of the body or both sides, be more pronounced in either the arms or legs, or involve both the arms and legs (A.D.A.M., 2009).  There are also many different types of CP. The most common kind is spastic cerebral palsy, which means the muscles in the body are extremely tight and prevent the person from using them fully. A person with spastic cerebral palsy may be unable to extend his or her arm out straight or move their torso.This often affects  the ability to walk or do basic daily functions.

How should I act around someone with CP?

One thing to keep in mind about CP is that although the person may have severe physical limitations, that does not mean their brain does not work. Although mental retardation or muteness may accompany CP, you never know until you try talking together one-on-one. Don't make assumptions on first glance! People with CP still need the same care and respect as anyone else in the world. Try  talking to them and understanding their story.

One great example of this paradox is my friend Adam. Adam has spastic CP in all four limbs, which prevents him from walking unsupported. He is non-verbal which means he cannot speak. So from the outside it would be easy to assume he cannot communicate with you. That's not true at all!  To communicate he uses a board with letters and key phrases which he can point to with his arm or using a special hat. He also loves to surf the internet and chat or email online. On the inside Adam is just like everyone else. He is extremely intelligent and is studying business; in fact he owns his own video rental franchise. He tools around on an electric wheelchair and is truly a daredevil. Watch the video below of us riding the Skycoaster at Indiana Beach! Adam is loving every minute of it and I am screaming my head off :)

 March is Disabilities Awareness Month. . . educate yourself!

RIDING THE SKYCOASTER!

A.D.A.M. Medical Dictionary. (2009). Cerebral Palsy. US National Library of Medicine.    

              Retrieved from  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001734/

A disparity I've noticed

Before I came to work at MCCOY as an Americorps VISTA, I had very little experience with the nonprofit world or community service initiatives. When I attended my first few meetings at MCCOY, I was surprised by how few other men were present. I started to notice an interesting trend: the overwhelming majority of youth service providers who I met were women. Even on MCCOY’s high school Youth Advocacy Council, almost all of the members are girls. According to the White House Project, 73% of workers in the nonprofit sector are women. I’ve started to wonder why service is something that women do more than men.

Maybe service is something that is not as culturally important to most men. Maybe women tend to hear more messages about helping others than most men do and are thus more motivated to pursue service professions. While I can’t speak for others, I know that when I was in high school, I was so focused on sports that volunteering was very low on my list of priorities. Because boys are so intensely encouraged to pursue other types of extracurricular activities and hobbies, they do not appreciate the value of community service as much as they would if they were exposed to it more often. It makes me wonder about the underlying messages that society ingrains in boys and girls. When children get involved in activities outside of school, girls are taught to value traits like collaboration and helping whereas boys are encouraged to cultivate competitiveness and ambition.

Community service, ironically, is not something that only benefits the people receiving the service. Oftentimes, the person providing the service is personally benefited from seeing their actions have positive impacts on other people and from learning from the people they serve. Professions of service, when undertaken for the right reasons, can be extremely rewarding for the providers AND the recipients; it makes me wonder how many people are missing out on that simply because society has not encouraged them to serve others.