Monthly Archives: November 2012

Last Day at the Center

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I only stayed for an hour today so my tasks only compiled of walking two dogs.  As soon as I walk into the room full of dogs it always breaks my heart because they instantly come running to the door of their cages and are whining and jumping up and scratching the locks.  It is so sad to see.  The first dog I walked today was the same one as yesterday, the little white dog that looked like my mom’s dog.  The second dog was a Border Collie.  She was a sweet little dog but didn’t care much for being petted but rather just pulling me around on the walk.  She was a very anxious dog and happy to be outdoors.

There was no leadership to really be observed again as I was by myself walking the dogs.  Today, when I walked in the lobby there were five workers standing there talking and it was hard for me to even ask to get a signature from them because they had paid no attention to me at all.

I did not engage in any leadership activities.  I took two dogs for a walk, a half-hour each and then I was on my way.

I felt good about the day’s experience, like always.  The hour flew by and it felt good to be all done with my hours.  Looking back, I am glad I chose to do some of my volunteer hours at the Animal Adoption and Rescue Center because those dogs really do need volunteer’s to give them compassion and take them on walks and I am glad I could help fulfill that.

Third day at the Center

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Today I went in for a short period to walk a couple of dogs.  I took a cute little white dog on a walk and then a cute little brown and black dog for a walk.

Every time I go in to the Center I just ask for a leash and then I am on my own the rest of the way out.  There was a lady I believe I saw before and she is always really friendly.  Every time I came through the front with a dog she always made a comment about the dog and how cute they were or whatnot.  That was really the only leadership I saw today and it seemed to be enough for me.  As a volunteer the goal of coming in and walking dogs is pretty easy and needs little supervision to complete, so for her to simply make the environment friendly and welcoming makes me want to come back more often.

I did not engage in any leadership activities and there were no opportunities presented either.  I just simply walked the dogs by myself and was on my way.

I always feel good after leaving the Center because I love dogs and seeing them on walks makes me feel good about myself because, even though they are just a dog, their happiness makes me feel happier too.  Also, the first dog I walked was a little white Maltese Terrior mix and it looked just like my mom’s dog at home so that kind of hit home which was really nice.

Mini-Mustangs

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Our basketball team holds a three weekend camp for kids around the ages of 7 to 12 from the local community.  The girls team only has to attend one weekend and it is always a lot of fun to interact with the kids and see them playing the sport that we love too.

My tasks for this Sunday were to help the kids at my basket.  We are all split up before we start the camp, and there were approximately three to four kids at each basket.  We are there for three hours and cover several different things that need to be explained and then demonstrated.  We went over how to set screens, pivoting, passing, knock-out, and playing some 5-on-5.  At the end of the camp the captains stood in front of the campers and discussed the program of “Live 5”.  Live 5 is a program discussing 5 key characteristics of champions that athletes should abide by: Integrity, Responsibility, Sportsmanship, Servant Leadership, and Respect.

Our assistant coach, Jill, did really well at interacting with the campers in helping to demonstrate drills and encouraging them.  Jill also does a really well job at checking up on us college players and making sure that we were staying up-beat and encouraging also.  I noted some leadership skills lacking by the boys assistant coach, however.  He was very passive on helping and interacting with campers. Jill even asked him after she demonstrated a drill if he wanted to take the next one and he passed on it immediately.  Also even when the campers were split up and everyone was at their baskets, I noticed he wasn’t interacting with any of the campers and more or less just watching from a distance.

I engaged in a lot of leadership activities at this camp.  While at the basket, I took on the task of being the one to lead the screening drill.  This included explaining to the campers how to do the drill, demonstrating the drill, and then coaching and encouraging them through it.  I also demonstrated leadership at the end when discussing the “Live 5” model.  I presented the topic of Servant Leadership; explained to the campers with what servant leadership was and interacted with them with questions on the topic.

I felt great about the day’s experience because it was fun to share the love of playing basketball with these campers that are so young.  I was able to act as a coach for the day too which was really cool because it is always the other way around with me being the player.  The campers were full of energy and I really enjoyed helping them through drills and helping to make them better.