Camp City Year

Each year, City Year Los Angeles hosts spring break camps at schools in the communities where we serve. Through Camp City Year, we provided a week of fun activities, nutritious food, positive mentoring, and experiential learning for these kids. In fact, one mother thanked me, saying, “If it weren’t for Camp City Year, my children would be sitting at home watching TV all week.”

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 Boyle Heights at Sunrise Elementary School.

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.

a small act

In honer of my half birthday today (yes, I said half), I am sharing some inspiration that I stumbled upon recently. This story touched my heart for a couple of reasons. First, I traveled to Kenya twice in high school and worked with some youth there and had a chance to see the education system first hand. Second, as a future philanthropist in the making, I often times wonder if and how I am changing the lives of others without seeing tangbile results.

"A Small Act" is a part of HBO's Documentary Film series and was showcased at The Sundance Film Festival last month in Park City, Utah.

Here is the story:

When Hilde Back sponsored a young, impoverished Kenyan student, she thought nothing of it. She paid roughly $15 dollars per term to keep him in primary school. She certainly never expected to hear from him, but many years later, she does. Chris Mburu has been thinking of his “angel” Hilde since he was a boy. The small contribution she made paid off – Chris went all the way to Harvard. Now, he’s a respected UN human rights lawyer, dedicating his life to battling genocide and crimes against humanity. Chris decides to replicate Hilde’s generosity by starting his own scholarship fund, and he names it after her. This scholarship will educate bright kids in his village so they can also succeed and give back. But Chris is stunned when Kenya’s public schools start failing, and only two new students qualify for sponsorship. Simultaneously, Kenya falls into ethnic-based election violence. After working on conflicts in neighboring countries, Chris knows that ignorance fuels ethnic hatred. Education has never been more important. Chris must decide what to do.

Check out the trailer for the film:

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!

a day on, not a day off...

Every year, all City Year sites across the U.S. put on a service day in honor of the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year, our service day was held at Belvedere Middle School in East Los Angeles and I had the pleasure of recruiting 1000 volunteers for this awesome day. My team and I spent a full week working 15 hours days to prepare the school for the volunteers to paint murals. However, the weather reports predicted a 90% chance of rain on the day of. Because of this, we had to eliminate all of the outside murals that we planned for. This in turn cut down on the number of volunteers needed for the day. My team was weary, assuming that volunteers wouldn't show up and wondered if all of our work would go to waste (because when it rains in LA, people don't leave the house).


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)

giving thanks.

Wow. It's hard to believe it's only been four months since I began this idealist journey at City Year Los Angeles. What started in high school as a passion for service has become the beginning of a genuinely rewarding experience.

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!!

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."

putting the pieces together

Lately, I've been feeling like I haven't been useful at work because I haven't had to recruit for our past three service projects. However, today was the first day well I felt 100% useful--I had to put together all the registration materials for our service day tomorrow and this Saturday. Today I really got a feel for what the rest of the year will look like in preparing for a service day. I'm thrilled to meet different people within my community and to build mutually beneficial relationships--something I miss about doing service in college. I will also get a chance to develop my public speaking skills (speaking to large groups frightens me) because I'll have to make presentations to colleges, high schools, various community and faith-based organizations, and possibly corporate companies/sponsors. Not to mention recruiting hundreds of volunteers for each of our service days throughout the rest of the year.

I really think that this job will allow me to develop my skill set and grow as an individual on so many levels. If I'm being completely honest with myself, I would say that I am 69% on the way to the person that I want to become. I'm hoping that through the work that I do and the relationships that I build at City Year, I can genuinely become the person that I want to be.

Here is a photo from me at my first service day, working my paint station. Also, there are some photos of the murals that we designed and painted at Christopher Dena Elementary School.














Quote of the week from my book: "Goals are important, but that night I realized that life is about the journey, not the destination. The steps along the way are what make use who we are."

odds & ends

Opening Day was amazing! 150 Corps Members were sworn in by the Mayor of Los Angeles and pledged to dedicate 10 months of full-time service; it was a powerful day. See the picture and video below.




Also, check out this article about our Opening Day.

We also got our uniforms the day before opening day--here is a photo of me in mine (we wear yellow instead of red just to be on the safe side because red is a gang color in LA). I must say, I felt pretty empowered to serve when I put it on for the first time (and still do everyday). Wearing our uniforms not only expresses our full time commitment to service, but it identifies each team member as a part of City Year, which is a recognizable symbol of hope, idealism and inspiration. I can't tell you how many times in just this short month someone on the bus or train has said to me "Hey, what's City Year? I see those yellow jackets everywhere." Perfect time for me to give my elevator speech and to talk about how much of a privilege it is that I get to serve each and every day.



Shifting gears...

I decided two things this weekend: 1) I'm going to read a new book every 2 weeks (thanks to my new LA Public Library membership) and, 2) I'm going to begin studying for the GRE!! (exciting...sort of). My projected start date is Oct 12th.

That being said, check out the "Currently Reading" section on the right side of this page. This particular book I borrowed from a friend here in LA and am loving it thus far because not only is it a memoir, but it's also a quick read. This weekend, I came across this quotation that I really liked in the book, which I felt spoke to me: "Don't think about the next job; focus on doing the very best you can with the job you have. Learn everything you can from everyone you can. Focus on the possibilities of each job, not the limitations." Each day, I have an opportunity to learn something new in this job and I LOVE that. I want to soak up all I can in these next 10 months so that I can truly grow and develop as a better individual. A wise woman once told me that opportunities like this help build character and that's exactly what I'm looking forward to with this entire experience.

Lastly, if anyone has any good book recommendations or good GRE books/practice tests, I would love to know about them!