Calling all ugly, odd and misspelled thank-you notecards

I started reading 365 Thank Yous by John Kralik and became inspired to begin my own two-part project: 

1. Thank each and every person (workers and students) at Eagle Rock by August 2014.
2. Secretly engage the community (a collective term encompassing all workers and students at Eagle Rock) in writing thank-you notes.

Call to Action –

I am collecting 150+ unused thank-you cards. Does it have batman on the outside of it? Is there an old flower that reminds you of your grandma covering it? Did you keep a box full of cards, forgot you had them and now they look too old to use? Do you, your school, church or creepy neighbor have any of the above? GREAT! I am accepting any and all unused thank-you cards.

Jennifer Pearsall

2750 Notaiah Rd.

Estes Park, CO 80517

About 365 Thank Yous:

(Short Version) John Kralik’s personal, professional, financial and social life has fallen completely apart when one day he is inspired to write a thank-you note. He then makes a commitment to write one note every day for 365 days. Kralik finds himself trapped within his own mission where some days it appears there is nothing to be thankful for, but he perseveres. Does he finish this challenge? I’m not sure but I bet I will know by the time I finish this delightful read.

Sincerely,

Jenn

I did it! Wohoooooo!

Extremely, extremely excited to say my idea was approved. Here is the image of what my sample looks like. I could not have done this without going back and forth about relevance, material and especially design with Marcy, Becca, Denise L., and John G. Thanks to Jenn for giving me ideas on how to make this initial process (slightly) easier on myself and to Dan for (Friday) showing me how to make an online importing system survey for the students.

WOHOOOO!!! Next projects: making a document for each student and importing all of their past service, creating a weekly eblast with service opportunities, planning my second course & writing a song with all the acronyms this school has. Okay..so maybe the last one isn't quite a priority.

Much love!
Jenn

Wait, I'm supposed to MAKE money in life?

“If you could do anything (as a career) without regard to time or money, what would you do?”

I was going through some of my old papers and notebooks from college when I came across the beginning of an assignment that asked that question. It seems odd to me that there has to be such context of “without regard to time or money” but then I realized that we as people put limitations on ourselves, the way we think and in the end, what we decide to do.

Birth –> Preschool -> Elementary School -> Middle School -> High School -> Job & College -> Job -> Career -> Family -> Death

Yep, that’s my outlook on what life is currently.

Birth -> Learning how to read, laugh, love, walk, talk, hug, high five, explore -> Finding oneself, passions, interests, desires, loves -> Exploration -> Death

This is how I hope life can one day be viewed as by everyone. The events, and even the order, can be the same but what is valued is different.

So back to my assignment, I wrote two answers: 1. I would open a leadership camp and serve at-risk youth.  2. I would travel the world helping people for free.

The first is a risk but ends with a savings, retirement plan and health insurance. It offers stability, acceptance by society and structure. The second offers freedom, cultural experiences, varying viewpoints, connections and adventure. Both are great and I will always tend to lean towards the first because that is the safer route but in my heart, I will never be truly fulfilled.

Where is your path taking you and what would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money or obstacles?

 

Be true to your passions, desires, hopes, dreams,

Jenn

Embrace your Discomfort

My new backyard/view from Shaaman

 “Embrace your discomfort”

This past (nearly) week has been an experience of a lifetime and it has only just begun…but I’ll into that later.

If you haven’t noticed, I’m off on another adventure and will attempt to update this blog every so often. Last time (in Michigan) I focused more on my internal development: Who am I? What do I want? Am I okay? This time I anticipate professional growth and decisions: How will I start an afterschool program? How can I be more experiential and project-based? Where will I go? I also imagine I will have a collection of student quotes, which I can’t wait to share!

Back to this week: If I was to write about all the things we have done so far, this would be an essay. Do you want to read an essay? I didn’t think so. Here are some highlights:

•         Laying on a picnic table under the stars for hours just relaxing - Friday
•         Stopping to pee and seeing an entire arts festival – Saturday afternoon
•         Telling everyone I snore and sleep talk before choosing roommates – Saturday night
•         Having a $500 budget to spend on (at least) one week’s worth of meals for 12 people. This was more nerve racking than you think. – Sunday night
•         Life Maps – Monday and Tuesday
•         Learning to accept and embrace my own discomfort – Tuesday (I think)
•         Tour of Estes Park, icecream and meeting four students – Tuesday night
•         Sharing values, playing volleyball and discussing course possibilities with my IS (instructional specialist – aka: teacher and mentor) – Wednesday
•         Hanging out with my house parents (although not living with students, we are divided into houses, like Harry Potter) – Wednesday night
•        ROCKCLIMBING SHAAMAN!!!! Three different sides and levels of difficulty – Thursday
•         ????? – TBD 

Look at the small figures - this is what we climbed.

The view of Eagle Rock School from Shaaman. I live down there!

I am completely and utterly excited about this year. It’s a time filled with anticipation, fear, excitement, love, overwhelming moments and adventure. I’ve already learned so much from the staff and fellows and I cannot wait to learn a world from the students. This year I will embrace all my fears, doubts and discomfort to be the best person I can be.

What will you embrace?

Jenn