Oral History Project

For the past two weeks, I've been helping with interviews for an Oral History assignment in Dr. Cella's WIFYS class. This project allows freshman students to leave campus and interview people in the community, and then write an essay about their stories for publication in an anthology titled Community Connections. Usually, the interviewees are chosen by the students so the anthologies consist of stories from a multitude of careers and lifestyles, with different ages and different goals. This diversity is still shown in those interviewed this year, but Dr. Cella decided to use a common theme for this year's project to underscore each story-- literacy.

So, of course, the interviewees all work with the literacy council in one way or another. Among those interviewed, there are students of basic literacy and ESL, volunteer tutors,  Marie, the FCLC coordinator, and even translators. There have been two rounds of interviews so far, and currently students are working on their essays.

My involvement with this project so far has been to facilitate the interviews at the literacy council and help Marie when she needs it. I will also be helping the students in drafting their essays. It has been a valuable experience to see how something like this comes together, and I hope the people interviewed from the literacy council will appreciate their stories being told once they see them in print and get to take a copy of the collection home with them.

However, this blog functions not only as a place to record and remember the tasks I've completed, but also to evaluate what was useful and what I would change. With that said...

What was useful:

• Having the students carpool. An original idea was that I would be driving the students to their placement, but because I am a busy student, I was happy to hear that most of the students had cars. Of course, I wouldn't have minded-- I just drive a small car and it would have resulted in several trips and lots of gas money.
• Being able to interview both students and volunteers. I think at the beginning of the project Dr. Cella and I were focused on the students, but the perspective of a tutor will add a different dimension to literacy and address the issue from several sides.
• ESL students. I can't wait to read about the lives of those who are not native to America, and especially hear about their struggles with learning a new language and culture.
• Using Honors students. Not that this is a prerequisite for this kind of project, but I think it will result in a deeper contemplation of literacy and the struggles many face with it because the students seem very motivated to make this essay work. I don't mean to be offensive to non-Honors students-- they could definitely pull off this work, too-- but I think that since the students in these two classes have a better understanding of the writing process, they can focus more on the content of their papers and less on the building blocks of essay writing. Also, they may be able to better approach the touchy and sometimes emotional issue of an individual's struggle with literacy.

What I would change:

• The problem most people encountered was the language barrier. We underestimated how many translators we would need and how we should word the questions asked so they were understandable to an ESL student. A better understanding of how many ESL students are willing to be interviewed and what their languages are would allow us to better prepare for this in the future.
• This is one of those things that's kind of difficult to change, but the interview process was more unorganized than I would have liked. Perhaps because I'm somebody who is so organized it borders on neurosis, but I would have liked some sort of document that lists who is interviewing who and the time of the interview. In some sort of calendar or Excel spreadsheet. Color-coded (just kidding). But seriously, this would have made the inevitable surprises (so-and-so didn't show up, these students were late, etc.) a bit simpler to manage.
• Lastly, while making that schedule, I think Marie, Dr. Cella, and I should have met in-person rather than through email. Email is great because it's quick and requires no automobile, but replies to emails come in slowly and everybody seems to be on a different page by the end of it. Carefully planning a schedule that suits everybody should be done when the spokespeople are all present, just to make sure nothing is left out and everyone is prepared.

Overall, the interview process has been a success. Even with those surprises mentioned earlier, everyone got to interview somebody and I'm certain the stories are going to be wonderfully written and entertaining.

I'll write more about the project as it progresses!

(All images photographed by me.)

Finding the Balance

Well, I have successfully completed my first full month of volunteering at the literacy council and with Americorps VISTA. For any that are contemplating an application to the VISTA program next year (my spot will be free, I graduate in May), perhaps what is holding you back is the thought that you will not have the time to volunteer on top of all other obligations. This was my initial apprehension as well, so allow me to put it in perspective.

Without attempting to sound arrogant, I have a very, very full schedule this fall semester. With five courses, two part-time jobs, the role of president in Sigma Tau Delta, and graduate school applications this semester, I'm swamped. But I make time to volunteer because I feel that I have been blessed with the capability to balance all of these things at once and stay afloat. Some days I feel like it is too much, and on those days I am honest with myself and those who ask me to do something extra. For example, because my Tuesday through Thursday is packed to the point that I have no time for lunch (I just eat a sandwich between classes), I make sure my Monday morning is totally free. If I'm asked to help with an ongoing project on Mondays, I'll politely refuse because I know that I need that time to unwind, to possibly drink a few cups of coffee in the silence of my house and mentally prepare for the week.

Every so often I abandon my peaceful Monday morning to help with something that is one-time-only-- talking to Dr. Cella's class about the council, for example, or providing transportation to help with the oral history project. Sometimes I use that time to meet with professors about graduate school applications. Either way, it's my choice on Monday mornings. And I think that when someone has a schedule that is so demanding for the rest of the week, having that span of a few hours that are set aside for just slowing down becomes more important than ever.

And yes, sometimes the weight of all of these weekly obligations is a little too heavy, but it's never unbearable. If it were unbearable, I would opt out. But I think the true goal of my year is to prioritize my obligations so there is a balance between self-interested tasks, like studying to make grades that are only mine or applying to graduate school so that I can do what I want, and taking a step outside of my world to help somebody else. Looking at it retrospectively, I was totally self-interested last year when it came to my obligations. I never really carved out the time to pay it forward. On one hand, this selfishness allowed me maintain an impressive GPA, travel throughout Europe, and stand out as an English major to my professors. This time was undoubtedly productive for me as a person and it allowed me to figure out (as cliche as it sounds) who am I and what I want. But I was missing something in all of that, and it wasn't until I joined Americorps that I figured out what that missing thing was.

And yes, sometimes I get stressed, but I can tell you this-- I never walk out of the council with stress. I walk out of the council aware of my capability to do a good thing and to help change a life by disconnecting from my self-obsessed life as a college student. I walk away with a better sense of the importance of education, not just as it pertains to my personal life and goals, but as it pertains to the community as a whole. I walk away knowing that I can maintain my selfishness as a college student while also making time for selflessness.

If you're a person who is barely hanging on as it is, then perhaps volunteering isn't for you right now. An effective VISTA is a person who has carefully crafted the skill needed to balance multiple responsibilities at once, and at times it is tough. But it is always, always worth it in the end.