Final thoughts on service experience

The video below explains what I learned from my service experience.

Final Thought on Carnegie Volunteering

My final thoughts on the Carnegie Center are explained in the video above.

Final Thoughts on the Carnegie Center

After three months, my time volunteering at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning has come to an end. Here is a video with some of my final thoughts and reflections on my overall experience with this service site. 

Final Thoughts

Sadly, my time working with the Carnegie Center has come to an end. It was a great semester working some really interesting events there. To conclude my Service Learning experience, I have given some of my final thoughts in the video below.

The Carnegie Center: A Final Reflection

The Carnegie Center Logo

I have volunteered at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning for about three months now. As this experience is drawing to a close, I thought I'd share some thoughts about the center itself and also volunteer organizations in general. Because I have had only limited experience with this organization and indeed with organized volunteer groups in general, I would like to preface my opinion with the confession that I am no expert. This being said, here is my video reflection. 

 I fell in love with the Carnegie Center's building, gifted by Andrew Carnegie. Below is a photo of the gorgeous old building. 

This photo of the Carnegie Center found on University of Kentucky SeeBlue Website. 

Carnegie Center "Fear and Loathing" Fundraising event

A woman dressed in 70's gear talks to a man

 Fear and Loathing 
This event is the Carnegie's biggest fundraiser and it was a lot of fun to work. The best part about this event was seeing everyone's costumes and there wasn't much required of Caitlyn and myself so we were just able to sit back and watch. While the event was interesting it wouldn't be something I would personally sign up to go to. You could tell that the attendants were passionate about their community and the cause but the event was more geared towards older people. 

This is the inside of the venue, as you can see the event had a great
turnout.

This is the lizard room where the band was located guests
spent their time floating throughout the rooms

This is the band performing in the green lizard room. The crowd
seemed to like their authentic 70's sound.

The night ended with a drag show, guests were very
excited for this event

Drag queens take the stage.

Celebrating culture at the Carnegie Center

One of the things that I love most about the Carnegie Center is their acceptance of diversity. Actually, not only do they accept diversity, but they celebrate it. At the most recent event I attended at the Carnegie Center, they made it a point to do just this. We had the tables set up with crafts for the children, some of which were loosely based on thanksgiving, which was coming up soon. When the children came, we gave each of them a piece of construction paper that had been labeled to look like a passport. For each craft that they did, they would get a stamp on their passport. The kids made bracelets, colored, did origami, made head dresses, and made  turkeys out of foam and feathers.

                                     A turkey made by one of the children.

 I think that it would have been more meaningful to match the stamp at each table with a craft that was similar to something done in the place on the stamp to be more consistent with the idea of teaching diversity, but it was neat to watch the children discover different places they didn't know about. It was also interesting how many of them did not know what a passport was. After we did crafts, we watched a performance by “Music Works”, which is a small orchestra consisting of local children. Some of the children said that they had been practicing with their instruments for years, which astonished me because they didn’t look any older than 8 years old. Although I’ve never been into music that much, it was really impressive what those kids could do with instruments I didn’t even know existed when I was their age. Altogether, I enjoyed myself quite a bit more than expected. 

                                                                   A brief description of the events that took place.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

    

Along with several other students from CIS 112, I volunteered at

Hunter Thompson as seen in Rolling Stones

the Carnegie Center's event based on the book Fear and Loathing

in Las Vegas. The book, written by Hunter S. Thompson, is 

mentioned on a Goodreads as, "The best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken." Prior to the event, I volunteered by posting posters advertising the event in local shops around campus and the chevy chase areas.

     I also volunteered at the actual event. The event included music, open bar, drag show, and food. Also, several artists created paintings and drawings inspired by the book.  The event included music, open bar, drag show, and food. Also, several artist created paintings and drawings inspired by the book. 

     Below is the cover of the book, which is illustrated by Ralph Steadman. 

Ralph Steadman was the very skilled illustrator who created all the images in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. 

At the event, guests dressed up in 70's style costumes, drank alot of alcohol and ate a lot of food, and they seemed to be having a great time. There was also a Russian roulette table, at which guests one various small prizes like candy and sunglasses. I was stationed at this table to monitor and hand out prizes. I stayed by the table, which was next to the open bar and donut bar, for the two and a half hours that I worked the shift. It was quite an experience, and I certainly was not expecting it. I did not know anything about the book prior to the event, and honestly I was expecting something much different. However, it was a unique experience, and I am glad I was able to help.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

After months of waiting, the Carnegie's Center for Literacy and Learning finally held their annual fundraiser. This year the theme was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, based on a novel by a Kentucky-raised author, Hunter S. Thompson. In order to make the party resemble the atmosphere of the novel, the entire building was transformed into a 1970's Vegas hotel.

Libby and I with one of the drag queens.

On Friday, November 6, a group of us went up to the Carnegie Center to begin setting up the decorations and rooms for the party. We set up tables and chairs, decorated prize wheels, organized the bars, and even blew up plastic palm trees and cacti to give the rooms more of a Vegas-feel. Because this was really my first chance to work with the organization, I was not sure what to expect; however, I was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming and warm the workers and other volunteers were. I personally set up with the director of the Carnegie Center and he was very enthusiastic about the organization and the upcoming event. Everyone seemed a little stressed with so much to prepare, but also excited for the event to finally occur. It was a long day of running around and doing whatever task needed to be done, but I could tell how much the workers appreciated having us there to help and was happy to assist in any way I could. 

                      A snapshot I took of the crowded food room at the event. The line was always out into the hall, but the food was well worth the wait.

Saturday, November 7, was the night of the main event and the building was buzzing with enthusiasm and excitement as final preparations were being made. Upon arrival, I discovered that I would be helping out in the food room along with Libby. At first, we were directed to bus tables after guests left and help the caterer with whatever he needed; however, most people cleaned up after themselves and the caterer was pretty much set. We kept an eye over the room and helped out whenever necessary, especially with the older guests. We also were in charge of taking out the trash when the bins got full, which was not the highlight of my night. It was so interesting to simply sit and observe the guests as they mingled and enjoyed the entertainment. I loved looking everyone's 70's outfits because many guests went all out with the theme. 

One of the most interesting parts of the night was definitely the drag show. Around 7:45, guests gathered in the main lobby to watch three drag queens lip sync along to popular songs. I had only seen drag queens in movies so it was very entertaining to finally witness it in person. The guests appeared to love this little show and flocked to the queens for pictures after their performances.

This is a short video of the drag show that occurred. 

Although it was a long wait, I am glad I stuck with the Carnegie Center and helped out with this event. Everyone involved was so passionate about the Carnegie Center and supporting their work which made the event even more exciting. It was also great to see all of our work and effort we put into the set up come to life at the actual event. 

My Final Events

Early in November, we worked to set up the Carnegie Center's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas event. This was a very exciting project, as we played a part in turning the building from its normal library appearance to an atmosphere resembling the 1970's, when the book was set. To add elements from the book, we hung bats and other decorations that were mentioned in the book. We set up prize wheels, hung banners and set up tables in order to give the building into a completely look and feel for the night. Unfortunately, I was unable to work the event. However, I helped put the finishing touches on the preparation work, and the results were magnificent. Complete with a kindly-donated car resembling the one in the book, the building was truly transformed and the excitement was palpable as the event drew nearer. I was told it was a great success, which really vindicated all our efforts. 

The re-decoration of the front desk and the hanging banner were just a few of the new spins we put on the Carnegie Center to help them throw their annual book-themed party.

For my final hours, I worked an event which closely resembled our first one. The first event was dedicated to peace, while this final one was dedicated to Thanksgiving. I noted in September how inspiring it was to see children give their definitions of peace. Similarly, it was humbling to see what these children were thankful for. I saw children write that they were thankful for many things that I think most take for granted, such as warm beds and good food. We simply accept these things, given our relative privilege compared to the rest of the world. However, the children have not yet become cognizant of this privilege and see that these seemingly simply items are more than worthy of our appreciation. 
I truly am happy that I picked the Carnegie Center as my service learning organization. The effects of our contributions include providing children and families with wonderful nights of bonding and togetherness and transformed a library into a classic American novel set. I will always remember these experiences and wish the Carnegie Center the best of successes in their future events.