Ways to Get Involved in Your Community

     Everyday there is someone out there who needs help. Whether it's simply a little bit of tutoring, working a birthday party, or even getting involved in an organization, there is always something out there to do. This Summer I got involved in working at a camp from 7:45am to 4:00pm (5 days a week and no pay), and not only did I rack up multiple service hours, I also enjoyed it! This brings me to the topic of this post: ways to get involved in your community.

Below you will find different and creative ways to help out in your community and enjoy it too. Here they are:
     1. Check out opportunities at your local recreation center. There you may find fun things such as city flash mobs or even teaching art to younger children each week.
     2. Search online for some elderly homes in your area and give someone who has no one left company for a day or two a week.
     3. Usually, libraries within different counties have ways for students to volunteer to put books away and to even tutor younger children who are struggling in school.
     4. When Summer time comes around there are always many opportunities to volunteer at a camp that needs people to watch the kids. There you may find people who need you babysit or work at their child's birthday party.
     5.  Join charity clubs in your school that help fund things such as wells in Africa or even the Ronald McDonald House.
     6. If you have a day off at your school, offer to become a teacher's helper by grading papers or even by keeping the kids occupied for awhile.
    7. There are always places that have become run down due to funding issues. Try to get a group of people together to work and landscape a place for a day to get the place back in check (My mom's company did this at the Haven and I helping by flooring a room and by mulching the front garden).
    8. Many non-profit organizations are out there that want to help people with medical or life problems. Check out websites for foundations like Relay for Life or March of Dimes to see what you can do to help.
    9. Animal shelters in your area may need help walking, feeding, or even playing with the dogs and cats on a daily basis. Give them a call or even gather up a donation to be dropped off. Maybe you could even adopt an animal!

     These are only a few ways to get involved in your community and there are thousands of ideas that you could play out. Not only does it help the people that you are working with, but it gives you a feeling of fulfillment. Additionally, your hours will give you more to put on a college resume!

     Next week I plan on giving you tips on organization. If you struggle to keep up with where you've placed something, fret no more and come back to my blog next week to be relieved of your problems!


Have a fabulous weekend,
Charlie

My Greatest Achievement

        This week has been very productive as I had an AP Human Geography test and I got my Learner's Permit! On the contrary to what my previous post said, I have decided to make the topic of this blog post to be my greatest achievement (as we had to write about them for school this week). Also, I will be giving you tips on how to reach and work towards your goals. 

My Greatest Achievement Video With Voiceover 

These are the awards that I earned at the end of last year, and I figured that my fellow bloggers would be interested to see that my academic endeavors are generally worth it in the end. 

Tips on how to work towards and reach your goals:

     1.The first step to working toward a goal is determining one. 

     2. Determine whether the goal is short or long term.

            -If short term (such as getting an "A" on a quiz), you may want to work towards your goal at least once a day (for example, studying).

            - If long term (receiving a letter of acceptance from the school of your dreams), you may want to keep up your endeavors steadily and work to improve at what you must to achieve the goal by building yourself upwards (such as adding extras to your life to add to your resume).

     3.Write a list of tasks out that you must complete in order to achieve your goal and check them off as you go (this also gives you a perspective of how far you have left to go).
     4. Never give up on your dreams, no matter how big they are!
     5. Be willing to accept help from others who have previously had the same goals as you.
     6. Leave wiggle room for your goal to change (such as letting it become greater) as you may change your mind as time goes on.

     I hope that these tips give you a new perspective on ways to work towards and reach your goals throughout your everyday life. Remember that even the some of the well-known people of today had to start at the bottom. Steve Jobs once said, "Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice." This comes from his heart as he came from a lower-middle class family and therefore had to work hard to achieve his goals in his life.

      Next week I will fulfill my promise of writing about tips on how to get involved in your community, I won't let you down! Come back next week for some helpful clues!

I wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors! :)
Charlie

Tips on Time Management

       I hope that you all had a happy holiday season! It's my first week back at school this week and I'm sure it is for many of you too. In addition to my arrival back to school I have two Biology quizzes in one week! Although, with extensive studying and sufficient review I believe that I should be fine as long as I prioritize my time wisely. This brings me to the topic of my post today: tips on time management.

In this post my goal is to explain to you ways in which you can take charge of your time to make the best of it. Here they are:
      1.When you have an extensive amount of work to get done in a short amount of time, it would be wise to do it in bursts of at least 30 minutes and then take at most five minute breaks in between so that your brain does not go on overload.
      2. Prioritize what is most important to get done in your time.
               - Example: If you are failing math and passing english but you have homework in both, then it would probably be to your advantage to begin with math as you seem to be mastering english better.                                                             
      3. Study main points first and go into the details later because if you do not understand key points, then you will most likely not understand their specifics right away.
      4. Do not wait until the last day to study.
      5. Do not stay up all night to study because then your brain will be tired the next day and it will be harder to focus on the task that you prepared for.
      6. Plan ahead by writing out when and where you are going to get things done.
      7. Work first and play later because you'll regret it if you don't.

      These tips are just a few ideas on what you can do to manage your time and to minimize your stresses about your tasks at hand. If you have other ideas, throw them in too, or let me know by commenting on this post, tweeting me (@RollasonCharlie), or messaging me on Google Plus.
 
      Next week I plan on delving more so into the community service part of my blog beginning with tips on how to get involved in your community. For now I'll leave you with some pictures of my school Pep Band and I marching in the Coral Springs Parade from this year in pictures 105-113. (http://www.coralspringsphotos.org/Events/2012/Holiday-Parade-December-12/27064998_wSk3Ks#!i=2270476278&k=9MVRRrc&lb=1&s=X3)

Thanks for reading!
Charlie