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