Final Thoughts

As I sit here and write my final blog I must admit I'm both relieved and bummed about it, more so relieved let's be real. I've come so accustomed to having to blog every week that it went from homework to actually kind of fun. I got a kick out of reading other people's blogs as well. Seeing what's going on in their lives, reading everyone's different writing styles, and their opinions on different things, ranging from our class reading to what's going on in social media, was always my favorite part.

Those words, "my favorite part" I thought I would never say when it came to the blogs. Initially I thought it would be a hassle, 3 blogs every week for 13-14 weeks sounded unbearable. Now I'm considering either keeping this blog or making a new one, I mean why not?

I even recently went back and looked at my first blog post, expressing my goals for the semester and how I planned to make my ideal goals a reality. I know for a fact that I didn't reach all of my goals, however after I came to my senses halfway through the semester I know that I came damn close.

I'm proud of myself and everything that I've accomplished this semester. I gave my all and nothing less, even sometimes my grades or attitude doesn't show it. So in the case that I do not continue to blog, I leave you with this final post, kind of bringing everything full circle.

Until next time, friends.... Hopefully.

Laziness At Its Best

Have you ever gone the extra mile to do something what you consider to be the, "easy way"? Lord knows I have, and I've recently took notice of that when I found myself using Snap Chat to take pictures. These pictures aren't normal Snap Chat pictures, meaning they're never sent, I usually just save it and keep it moving. I consider this to be easier than using the two other camera apps that I already have on my phone for one reason, and that's the shortcut tool. Since my front camera doesn't work I need to turn my phone around to take a picture of myself, as if I'm living in 2007 or something. So for me I find it to be a lot easier than turning the camera around and guess where the button is.

Another way my laziness helps me create flawed logic is by using Twitter for my news source. For example, when I saw someone on Facebook comment about Paula Walker's death I didn't believe it until I went on Twitter and saw that it was trending. Even then I didn't fully believe it until I went to Wikipedia and Google for the definite answer.

Lastly, back when I had an iPhone the front camera on that phone didn't work either, so whenever I face timed with my sister I would literally pull up Photo Booth on my laptop and turn my phone around so that she'd be able to see me and I'd be able to see her. I even questioned myself after doing that foe the first time, but after the second time it made so much sense.

I know I cant be the only one, so does anyone else have any outrageous lazy techniques?

A Non-Profit Can't Run Without Profit!

Recently I was elected as VP of Alumni Relations in Sigep, hold the applause, and since taking the position I was thinking of ways we could reach out to older alumni.I took a break of thinking and read my final readings of Measure What Matters, and Chapter 13 caught my attention. Paine talked about how to measure for nonprofits, and the importance of keeping in touch with your community. Since the organization is nonprofit it runs mostly on goodwill and volunteerism, so not keeping in touch will with your constituencies you will shoot yourself in the foot.

This, in my opinion, is happening with Sigep and our alumni. We keep in touch with alumni who've graduated with the last five years, but what about the guys before them? The only time we see them is at Homecoming and most of them just complain about how things are and how things look and, "Back when I was here, blah blah blah." When speaking with most of them I can tell that it all comes from not being kept informed of what's going on. A lot of the men are in a position to donate to the house so we can fix the things that need to be fixed, but that can't be done if they're left in the dark.

Paine tells us the ways we have to communicate with our community, such as social media, can also shoot us in the foot. Using low to no cost tools to measure your data can be difficult to keep track of who is in your community, which can damage your accountability and metrics. In this day and age nonprofits have to almost operate as profits to get donations. But again not knowing who your target audience is will damage your accountability.

Since I see this similarity now I want to take my position and work with the rest of EC, executive council, and work on our communication and relationship with our alumni. So in another words I'm going for position of the year this year.