Wednesday, July 14, 2010
closing one chapter and begininng another.
What a ride it has been. I cannot say that enough. On my first day, they told me, "this year will be hard, tough, and rewarding." It was that and sooooo much more. Initially I assumed I would impact the lives of so many people and those results would be tangible. Instead, I was blind-sighted by how much my life was impacted by others. And trust me, there were moments when I wanted to throw in the towel. But someone once told me that if it's not a struggle, you're not growing. I've grown so much as an individual, built amazing friendships, created memories I will never forget, and learned so much more about myself and others. It's such an amazing feeling to have come this far in such a short time.
Thank you to anyone who has ever read or commented on any one of my blog posts, provided me with a piece of inspiration, let me vent when I was angry and frustrated, or told me they were proud of me. It means the world to me and I am a better person for it.
This is my last blog post on "Devin in LA" so thank you for taking this journey with me. I'll leave you with some photos from my service year:
[skydiving field trip]
[team building activity]
[saying goodbye to friends]
[John Legend w/ his #1 fan, me.]
[co-workers at Griffith Park Observatory]
[high school students I mentored]
[protest day downtown w/ high school students]
[my team]
[work retreat]
Feel free to contact me if you currently live in the DC area or will be there to visit: devin (dot) cowens(at)gmail(dot)com.
-Devin
Friday, May 14, 2010
...back from a long hiatus
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Camp City Year
This year, we had three elementary school camps and one middle school camp. I was selected to serve as a Recruitment Manager for one of our camps in
Our camp staff consisted of 10 Corps Members. We worked relentlessly for months before camp began. In fact, the week leading up to camp, I logged over 80 hours.
The theme this year was “Secret Agents of Change” where children learned how to be spies and gather evidence to solve a mystery.
I found myself overwhelmingly exhausted during the week of camp and it reminded me of exam week during my college days. However, as I saw the children’s faces light up with excitement and enthusiasm while learning how to be a secret agent, engaging in service activities, piecing together clues, and having fun learning outside of the classroom, my long hours were nothing compared to the exhilaration I felt.
Although my City Year experience is nearing its end, it’s refreshing to witness moments which lift others up and provide meaning not only to the lives of those others but also to me and my service.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
a small act
The movie is set to be released this summer on HBO. I hope you all will check it out or at the very least be inspired by this powerful story!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
a day on, not a day off...
My alarm went off at 4 A.M. that Monday and I looked outside: torrential downpour. I threw on my rain gear and hoped for the best.
We arrived at the school at 6 A.M. ready to face what would be the longest and busiest service day of our entire 10 months. Once registration began, things were moving quite slowly at first. I was a bit discouraged but was busy setting up and didn't have time to dwell on it. Two hours flew by quicker than ever and I was back at registration. It was bananas--people everywhere, wanting to serve, despite the terrible weather forecast. There were so many people, we had a hard time finding projects for them! Throughout the service day, my team and I were running around non-stop making sure that everything was running smoothly. By the end of the day, we were drenched in water and paint, tired out of our minds, and couldn't believe that the day was ending. After all the volunteers went home, we "circled up" at the end of the event and chatted about the day. We were empowered by the number of volunteers that showed up on their day off to serve the City of Los Angeles despite thunderstorms and flooding. I am so proud of myself and my team for working so hard to plan the day and managing nearly one thousand volunteers in the face of various obstacles. Now that our largest service day is behind us, I look forward to our next six community service projects and hope that we only get better from here.
"Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”-MLK, Jr.
(this is the flyer that I created for the event)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
giving thanks.
This year, I don't have any resolutions, but I do have a few thoughts from spending a week in a half at home reflecting about the past.
I've realized how grateful I am for all that I have. I'm thankful for all the people in my life who have helped me become the person that I am. I'm thankful for each and everyone of the friends that I've made over the past few years. I'm thankful for all of the individuals that I've looked up to as mentors and have provided guidance and wisdom throughout my life. I'm thankful for all of the experiences I've had that have led me to this year of service in Los Angeles. I'm thankful for all the people that I've met since I've been here and the relationships that I've built.
I've thoroughly enjoyed the past, am looking forward to the future, and am truly enjoying the present, taking it one day at a time.
Happy New Year!!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
time flies
I can't believe it's already November. It feels like just yesterday my parents were here helping me move in (and paying for everything...). Even thought it's fall already, it doesn't look like it at all here--it's sunny most of the time, freezing at night, and no pretty fall colors like North Carolina. However, things have been moving swiftly at City Year and I'm really enjoying the work that I get to do.
We had 2 service days at the end of last month, one with FOX, SAG, ICM, and EIF, and the other with ABC Daytime, Soapnation, & Disney. Here is a YouTube video from the first event--I may or may not have a cameo in this one...
The service days were hugely successful and super fun. Also, here is an article from November 9th that was on the front page of the Washington Post ("From Young Volunteers to Civic Leaders") written by Max Klau, City Year's Director of Leadership Development, to raise awareness of the growing importance of national service as a leadership pipeline.
Currently, I am working on recruiting 200 volunteers for our service day this Saturday out in Southeast LA. It has shown me that recruiting on a college campus is MUCH different (and a bit easier) than recruiting among one's own community. Volunteers are steadily coming in so I'm trying to remain optimistic. In January, we have a HUGE service project for MLK Jr. Day and I'll have to engage and recruit 1000 volunteers so I'm trying to use this upcoming service day as a practice round/trial period (while continually crossing my fingers and saying prayers along the way).
In other news, I am officially signed up to take the GRE on Saturday, December 12th and am also taking a Princeton Review Express Online Course in hopes of doing really well! So on top of working 9-12 hrs days, I have to study for the GRE. It's definitely keeping me on my toes but I'm counting down the days until I get my life back.
Here are some photos from our last 2 service days:
And as always, I'm slowly but surely working on my patience. I'm learning so much about the various aspects of working with a team of somewhat similar but also very different individuals. Although some days it is more challenging than I envisioned, it also keeps things interesting and fun.
Here's my quote of the month: "It's important to have confidence in what you know and what you can do. You can't make decisions effectively without confidence. It's equally important to be realistic about what you don't know and what you can't do; without realism, confidence is hubris."