Scouting for Food: Community Service

I volunteered with my Venture Crew last weekend, to participate in the nation-wide Scouting for Food service project. Scouting for Food, as the name might imply, is a food-collection drive organized by the Boy Scouts of America. Normally, the food is given to the local food bank. The food bank in our area relies on this November service project to stay stocked for the winter.

This project is done over two weekends. On the first Saturday, scouts walk through neighborhoods, tying plastic grocery bags to doorknobs. The action is significantly more productive and helpful than it sounds. Instructions are printed on the bags, asking the finder of the bag to fill this (or any other) bag with canned food, and to set it on their porch for pickup by 9 am the following Saturday. The bag also includes a helpful list of suggested donations, examples of what the food bank cannot accept, and a large Boy Scouts of America symbol, officially identifying the children who tied the bag to their door.

On the second weekend, Scouts go through the same neighborhoods, looking at porches and picking up bags of donations to take to the food bank.

Before continuing, I feel that I should explain why I, a female college freshman, was involved with this Boy Scouts of America service project. I am a part of a Venture Crew. Venture Crew is a part of the Boy Scouts of America organization, but it’s co-ed, high adventure, and for older kids. I am a terrible member, now that I am in college, because I have no car to get to Crew meetings and no time to get there even if I had a car. Technically, though, I am still part of my Venture Crew, and I still get the chance to crash a few of their events.

(Me and a couple of my Venture Crew friends on the 2016 Scouting for Food service project, because that was the year I took a picture.)

My Crew, Crew 3, teamed up with Troop 3. The second Saturday is always less work than the first Saturday. This year was no different. My group spent only an hour and fifteen minutes amassing food, then we took it to the food bank, sorted it, and boxed it.

I was glad to have spent the morning in such a way—serving the community and reconnecting with a few of my older friends. It was easily worth the cold. And when I got home, I still had time for a nap.

Attending a Studio Recital

Thursday night, I went to a Studio Recital in Mathes Hall. The night was dark, the wind was cold, and the performance was marvelous.

I am impressed by ETSU’s vocal students. I have always been impressed, but after last night, I am very impressed. Their manner was very professional, their performances displayed a range of ability, and their repertoire was beautiful.

Several of the songs were in foreign languages, and the translations were not in the programs. I desperately wanted to know what the words were when I was listening to them, but since I didn’t know, I tried to pull the meaning from the expression of the singers and the sound of the music. I hadn’t realized how much fun that could be, or how interesting it was to observe how those two aspects of the performance fit together and communicated meaning.

I took the program home, and looked the songs up. Most of the times, the meanings I’d guessed were far from the actual meanings. I usually don’t rethink individual songs after leaving a recital, but reading the translation prompted me to do that. While trying to interpret meaning, I’d paid more attention to the details of the performance than I might have otherwise, and I was delighted with what I remembered.

The talent in this school is very inspiring, and I hope to get a chance to attend another Studio recital.

The Pinning Ceremony and the Honors Social

Tuesday night, I attended both the Honors College pinning ceremony and the Honors Social.

I was late to the pinning ceremony, just by three minutes. I had left my purse in my bike basket, so after tearing up two flights of stairs to get to the ceremony on time, I had to turn around and tear right back down. To my great delight, I still arrived just before the ceremony started. The pinning ceremony was very formal, and I’d accidentally forgotten to change my light blue tennis shoes. I’m glad I went. I did not learn anything or laugh at anything, but it was valuable. The ceremony celebrated graduating honors college students, and while I watched the students walk up to receive their pins and take a picture, I thought of the vast amount of work that had led up to this moment.

The cake at the reception afterwards was quite pretty, and the fruit was astonishingly (and deliciously) fresh.

I got a ride with one of my friends that night, and we went to the Honors Social at Red Meze, a Mediterranean restaurant. I loved the social. I feel a lot closer and a lot more familiar with my honors friends, but this event gave me even better opportunity to connect with them even more. I think this social came at a great point in the semester; I know these people already, and I’m not as terribly awkward around them as I was at first. Now, I know them even better and love them even more.

There were lots of people there, and so many conversations going on at once. There were not many places to sit once everyone had arrived, but it worked somehow. The food was very interesting. I loved the gyro I ate, and the hummus was fantastic. The only thing, in fact, that I found hard to enjoy was the rice and herbs wrapped in grape leaves. I think it was called dolma. It looked like chocolate and tasted like leaves soaked in vinegar. I put one on my plate before I knew what it tasted like, and ate the whole thing with much effort and unhappiness. I realized, when I was done, that I was no longer in the eat-your-vegetables-before-leaving-the-table stage of life, and it was probably acceptable to have just left it on my plate.

There was a dance afterwards, affectionately nicknamed “nerd prom” (as I learned from several of the sophomores) and from the dance came the true adventures of the night.

I used up all 3 of my dance moves within the first 2 songs, unfortunately. The rest of my dancing was an awkward attempt to copy what someone else was doing and trying to make it seem like I was copying them because they were cool. My favorite songs were the cupid shuffle and cotton eyed Joe. The choreography was a blessing to my useless hands and feet.

All in all, though, I think I’ve enjoyed that dance more than any other dance I’ve been to. After about 10 minutes of dancing, most people had thrown off their goal of not looking ridiculous, which made the atmosphere much more fun and the dancing hilarious. I intend to be at every honors social from now on.