"The Border Patrol State"??

This whole article was about how the Border Patrol is so strict and mean and pulls people over based on how they look and their ethnic background. Well, in some cases, it might be necessary to pull people over because they look "suspicious". I'm not saying pull over every single person that isn't white, but some people do look suspicious and I know I wouldn't feel quite as safe around them. I think the Border Patrol is a good idea to keep illegal immigrants out of the country. If they're hiding in trunks to get in the country, then they're probobly not the people we want in our country to begin with. They're already breaking laws just to get in to the country, what makes people think they won't keep breaking laws once they're here in the US?? I'm not saying it's ok to beat people or shoot people just for driving down the highway, but the Border Patrol is a good idea and good effort to keep the country that people died for safe. Oh yeah, and who talks back to a police officer (or Border Patrol person) and doesn't expect a bad reaction?????? Weirdos.

The group I'm working with is Gear Up, well, sort of. Gear Up is a group that works with Holt High School (http://holt.tcs.schoolinsites.com/ ) tutoring students in various subjects and helping them to prepare for the Graduation Exam. Well, just my luck, the hours that Gear Up operates just happens to be the same time as English, which is the whole reason I'm working with Gear Up in the first place. I went to Gear Up on Wednesday morning because they were having extra practice for the Grad Exam, and I explained my situation with Julia Thames, the Gear Up leader I guess you would call her. So right now she is trying to get me worked into an english class at the High School as a volunteer. I'll be doing the same sort of stuff, just not under the "Gear Up" name. I haven't heard back from Julia since I emailed her my schedule, so I don't really know what to do next, but we'll see.

Now, about my first day at Holt. I had no problem finding the school, which is great for me considering that I can definitely be direction impared. I did however pass the school and have to do a u-turn in the middle of the street. I got turned around and went to park my car. Well, the curb at Holt is super crazy high, and I accidentally ran my car into it. Then, I went to the wrong door to enter the school. Believe me, I'm probobly the only person this would happen to. I finally made it into the school and found out that Gear Up was in a different room than they usually meet in, so the secretary had to walk me down the hall. I finally got everything figured out, and got to work with this one student who was studying for the english grad exam. I was thinking "This won't be bad at all, just review the basics and go over how to eliminate answers". Wrong. We had to start at the very beginning, as in nouns (singular and plural) and verbs (all tenses). It turned out to be a really good experience though. I got to brush up on all the english that I just assume I know and help a great kid study and learn. My student said that I really helped him and that he felt better about taking the exam, which is the whole goal of Gear Up. I hope I really did help and he wasn't just saying that to be polite, but I think I did help to make a difference and help him understand a bit more. Truthfully, I'd be just as happy knowing that I made someone's day just a little brighter as I would if I helped them ace a test.

Wow, so I definitely wrote a lot more than I intended to, so I hope I didn't bore you to death. Sorry if I did, but oh well, you have to read it. Wish me luck with getting this whole volunteer thing straightened out!

Ok. I swear I'm done typing now!!!

Hello There

I'm Caitlin Shepherd from Dothan, Alabama (which is only the greatest state ever!). I'm a freshman at the wonderful University of Alabama and am majoring in nursing. I've never blogged before and don't really "get" it, but I'm going to try the best I can to make this thing fun and interesting ( I'm also not the biggest fan of writing). Wish me luck!!! (Oh yeah, and I love exclamation points!)

So in English, my reason for this entire blog, we had to read an article called "Act from the Heart" about all of these people who did things to better their community. Jimmy Carter and his wife worked with Habitat for Humanity, some guy started an education group for black and latino men, another guy played the saxophone in a New York subway and gave the money to homeless people, and a woman taught homeless mothers how to take pictures of their kids and she showed them in a gallery. They all started very helpful things that I could never see myself starting. Maybe joining and later taking over, but not starting. There was also a quote from a Tibetan Buddhist in the article that said,

"We already know how to enjoy
ourselves. When we are enjoying ourselves, we
are productive and creative. It's
just a matter of bringing that enjoyment
into everything we do."

That is so true and something I need to remember when I'm not so happy about whatever it is I'm doing. I'm pretty creative, so I should be able to find a way to make my tasks more enjoyable.

I love working with others and helping them better themselves, so this semester for English, I will be volunteering at Gear Up. I'll be working with lower income high school students who want to go to and graduate from college. I used to tutor kids when I was in high school, and it was so rewarding to know that I helped th