Reflecting on Leadership for Change

There is an answer for every question. There always someone who has been through what you are going through and doing what you want to do. If you need help or questions answered, find that person and see how they made it to the point you want to get to. Imitate that person, then find a way to leave your own footprints for others to follow!

After reading my blogs, I honestly felt fascinated with myself and my achievements/accomplishments. The most fascinating part, in my opinion about this whole blogging exercise, was finding out about my childhood. I don't think I ever would have done that if it weren't for this class and this assignment. I believe, it some weird way it improved the relationship between myself, my family, and my friends. Granted that it was in the beginning of the semester, but those first few assignments opened lines of communication that were somewhat closed before and allowed me to speak more freely with my friends and family about what is going on with me. It also allowed me to ask more questions and be involved with what was going on with them. With the help of this class, I think I have become more assertive in my decision making and actually following through with my plans. Well, at least to the best of my ability. I think I've also become more resourceful. As far as going out and finding information I need, and if not finding someone who knows the person who has the information I need.I think I've become a better resource for people who have questions, or need answers as well. I think that's pretty cool. 

The one thing that has stuck with me throughout the entire class/ semester is something that I picked up from the movie during the first class. From "The Last Lecture", I learned that sometimes people put brick walls up in front of you, to see how bad you want something; and also, we as humans have a tendency to put up brick wall in front of ourselves. However, with the assistance of this class, I have learned to not only recognize a brick wall, but to bust through it when many people choose to go around it; Or, when a higher percentage of people choose to let that impede their forward progress. I hope that doesn't make me sound arrogant.I just learned to start thinking, how can I obtain _____, with out having _____. I've adopted this thought process, and I have been so much more driven to do what I feel.  I guess you can say this is how my thinking changed. 

I have always been a leader. I have believed so in my mind for a long time. Through the conversations with my friends and family, they believe I have great leadership qualities as well. With this class, I have not only learned that is true, but I know, now, how to be a leader... where people trust me and want to trust my decision making ability. 

The three things I like about this class is that it helped me further develop my leadership potential. I don't believe that I am 100% there, but I know I can and will continue to improve on my innate leadership qualities. I like this class because it gave me an opportunity to address certain issues that I had/have with my self. It gave me the chance to focus on me with out having to worry about doing work for someone else or taking a test for someone else, or studying for someone else's interests like many college classes do. It may sound a little selfish, but everything (well, almost everything) I did in this class was for James J. Flagg. To sum it up, the class put me more in tune with myself and I love that! Lastly, the thing I liked, was that the class allowed me to connect with different people from different background that were kind of in the same boat I was in. What can I say, I'm just a sucker for meeting new people. I can honestly say I enjoyed every interaction with every person that I spoke with in this class, regardless of how brief or extensive the interaction was. 

Honestly, the three things I would say to improve the class are so trivial, that I don't believe it would improve the quality of the class. The first thing, is maybe offer the class during the day, or multiple days, because three hours of class, at the end of the day is a long time (trivial). The class is what you make of it but being around people who are pessimistic thinkers or who have negative attitudes is kind of irritating so, I would suggest limiting the class to people who want to get more out of the class besides and easy "A" (trivial). Lastly, maybe innovating new ways to get people to think or talk about their goal, besides just sitting in a group and stating your goal, touchtone, plan of action, etc. I believe that sitting down every week, talking about my goal/dream in repetition forced me to constantly think about my goal/ dream. By me constantly thinking about it, I was finding that I was becoming more and more proactive in making my dream, of becoming a pharmacist to get into the health field so I can influence health policy AND opening up my own non-profit organization to help other veterans, a reality. (Trivial: notice the capital T) 

I believe that I got the more out of this class than all of but a few other students. Not only that, but I got to see Alvin Ailey! So thank you Dr. Rock for the tickets, and especially for putting the class together. You have,  at the very least, one satisfied student. Thank you! Shout out to Ben for reading my blogs every week. I'll keep you guys posted on how everything turns out!

OPTIONAL: Exercise # 5

Last night, Monday April 27th, I prepared to do my final blog assignment for this class. I had read the instructions for the assignment, and I began reading through my blogs when realized that I haven't done all six interviews. So I started freaking out, (well not really) because I remembered that I didn't post an interview because, at the time, I conducted my interview late and I was told I wouldn't receive credit for it. So I tossed the interview that I conducted with my friend Al, a pharmacy tech at Swedish Covenant Hospital, into a stack of papers about a foot high on my dresser. I spent a good 30-40 minutes looking for the paper I had written the interview down on. When I finally found it, I didn’t feel like blogging any more, so I went to bed. Anyway, I have the paper in front of me now and I’m ready to get my blog on!

 

As I said before this interview was with a good friend of mine, Al Merginio. He was actually my lab partner for two, maybe three chemistry classes that I took in Daley College. He’s now a pharmacy tech at Swedish Covenant. Since, I only volunteer at Swedish Covenant, this technically makes him my boss. (Even though it feel weird saying that, and he doesn’t really like when I refer to as Mr. Merginio… my bad Al! Lol!) I conducted his interview in the same fashion that I conducted my other five interviews. Enjoy!

 

JF: How long have you been working as a pharmacy tech?

AM: It’ll be two years in April.

 

JF: Last time I remember you were working as an optometry tech, why did you change positions?

AM: Before you left (referring to my military deployment) the owner of the Pearle Vision, where I worked was sold to another owner. Once she took over, she got rid of all of the old staff, and hired an entire new one.

 

JF: So how did you end up in pharmacy?

AM: I was out of work for a while and while I was planning my future, I saw an advertisement for a pharmacy tech class offered by Daley (College). I figured that a lot of the pre-requisites that I was taking for optometry school were similar to pharmacy school. So, I enrolled in the class. Passed the class, then I started looking for work.

 

JF: How did you get the job at Swedish Covenant?

AM: I was searching for work, and my fiancée, at the time had a friend who worked at the hospital and she got me Debbie’s number (Debbie McQuarters, director of volunteer services at Swedish Covenant Hospital). I called her about volunteering as a (pharmacy) tech and I got hired about a month later.

 

JF: That’s interesting because I am in pretty much the same situation now. How did you go from being a volunteer to actually getting hired to work in the hospital?

AM: Well, I was volunteering for about 2 months when one of the other techs had quit and another was going away to pharmacy school. Dr. Park (the assistant director of the hospital’s pharmacy) said that he had like my work ethic and told me he would like to hire me full time.

 

JF: Dr. Park is a great man! Congratulations! What do you like most about your job as a pharmacy tech?

AM: I like the idea of helping others and I know this is going to sound bad, but I like the money most.

 

 

JF: That’s completely understandable Now the tough question, what do you like least about being a pharmacy?

AM: Also the money. Mainly, because (you know) the techs do all the work, All the pharmacist do is check the work I’ve done, but they get paid the big money. Also, I don’t like the hours and how my schedule changes every two or three weeks.

 

JF: What do you mean by that?

AM: Well, the new schedule is printed every two weeks, but it always varies. I work six days a week. Half the days I work morning shift, and the other half I work the evenings. So it’s hard for me to get into a good routine sometimes. But like I said, the money makes it a little easier to manager.

 

JF:  Well. Why don’t you go to pharmacy school and get your Pharm. D so you can make the big money yourself?

AM: I was thinking about that, but I really want to get back into optometry. I’m taking classes now to get my certification to work as an optometrist.

 

 

JF: That is interesting to know. You know I’m very much interested in getting a full time position as a pharmacy tech and then maybe a pharmacist myself; do you have any advice for me?

AM:  Stay motivated, because if you aren’t motivated then you will lose interest, and you don’t want to be stuck doing something that you aren’t interested in. Focus on your schoolwork, and continue to dress professionally, you look like you belong here and people notice!

 

JF: Is there anything that you now know that you wish you would have known back then?

AM: Yes, the whole thing about being interested in what you’re doing. I wish I would have known what I was getting myself into when I started working in the pharmacy. Now I’m ready to get out, but I can’t go anywhere now, because I need the money.

 

Work The Plan

I did not attend class this week, therefore I did not get a chance to write my steps for the next week down. However, if I did have the opportunity to fill out a card, I would have planned to collect gift certificates from the neighborhood businesses to raffle of at the Veteran's Student Association and the Student Veterans of America fundraiser this past Saturday. We collected over $800 in gift certificates for our event and we successfully raffled them off along with other prizes.

 The weekly business meeting went well. My buddy/business partner/president met with the other officers, Saturday afternoon to discuss how we were going to set up and run the event. We also discussed the breakdown of responsibilities/ duties for the evening. Needless to say, the event went well. The food and drinks were good, the bands were good, the prizes and raffles helped us raise a lot of money for our organization. I think people went home satisfied. Our next meeting was set for tonight, but we had to re-schedule until Thursday. 

My Sunday night planning meeting went well. I normally sit down either Sunday night or Monday morning and write down on a sheet of paper all of the things I need to do and/or want to do for the week. This week, my list was around 15 items  long. With things like, get a new I-card, get oil change, and study for biology and chemistry at the top of the list. I'm sure I won't get to everything on my list, but I always attempt to tackle the things that have the highest priority first. 

I forgot to blog about my plan for last week which was to get my haircut. I got my haircut for the end of the year pre-pharmacy club banquet and the award ceremony I attended for the Chancellor's Community Service and Leadership Award. My barber did a fantastic job. He had me looking good and feeling even better because of my much needed haircut. 

Thanks for reading. Until next week!

The Buddy System

I have finally finished up my exams. I can breathe easy for a little while, but I'm still stressed out to see how good (or bad) I've done. My next step on my planning wall is to get my meetings set up with the lawyer and accountant for filing paper work. However, I have not coordinated with my buddy/ future business partner to set all of this up (seeing how he just finished his exams tonight as well). I was supposed to meet up with him tonight for a little post exam stress relief and to possibly discuss our future plans, but I didn't feel like getting all crazy so I decided to come back home. 

The cool thing about this weeks blog is that I have had a buddy system in place since the beginning of last semester. We normally meet a few times a week to either study, socialize and/or talk about our future business plans. Ironically enough, when we met Thursday to study chemistry, I expressed to him what one of the panel speakers (from Wednesday's class) had suggested about opening a NPO. I told him that instead of jumping into opening up our NPO blindly, to say the least, we should try to join up wit another NPO who is doing something similar to what we plan on doing in our own NPO. To my surprise, he had already set this up and was waiting to tell me about it. He got us a volunteering opportunity with an NPO that sponsors an event called Rockin' for the Troops (I think this is the name of the event, if not it's something similar to this). Regardless, we will be working with the director of the organization to get ideas of how to throw our own events in the future. The great thing about that is that the woman who runs the NPO is interested in our goal/mission statement for our NPO and says she is more than excited to help us out in our future endeavors. So after we celebrated about this for a few minutes (yes, we celebrated) we sat down studied and talked about our plans for tackling today's chemistry exam. In between this and studying we decided to through a fundraiser. The date is 04/18/09. For $20 free food and free drinks from 9pm- 12pm. ( Let me know if you're interested) I wish we would have talked more about the chem!  I guess when we meet we can discuss how and when we are going to set up our appointments. 

Needless to say, I am an advocate of the buddy system. It gives me an opportunity to compare notes thoughts, and ideas about anything and everything; no matter how good or bad, or crazy or outlandish they are. 

Moving and Shaking

First Steps

My next step on my planning wall is to get my Non-Profit paperwork filed. I am still on track to to that. However, I need to set aside time to meet with both the lawyer and the accountant. This hasn't been completed yet not due to my laziness its just that I really don't have anytime to meet with anyone for anything outside of school/class work. I have a practical exam at the end of the week, which I just found out about today and an exam to study for next week. On top of that, I'm having issues coordinating with the catering company about the food for the pre-pharmacy club banquet this Thursday. I'm not too worried though, I've surrounded my self by motivated individuals who excel at making things happen under pressure. So everything should work out as planned. 

Reflecting on Fear

Right now my main resistance is school. Not the actual institution, but the fact that I wreck my brain and cut off quality time with friends and family and still don't get the grades I feel I deserve. Since so many aspects of my future life are predicated on one having not good, but outstanding grades I do feel like I'll never be able to achieve my goal. I think Barbara Sher refers to this as survival fear. Much of the time I feel like throwing in the towel, but I always find sources of motivation to keep me going. I think the underlying message is that I realize that success does not come without a little hard work and a little bit of struggle. I know this is true because I had to struggle to get to the level that I'm at now, and I know there is going to be more headache and heartache on my path to success. The crazy thing is that I welcome it. I'm always up for a good challenge. 

Get Into Action

The two steps that I needed to complete to start working towards my goal is: 

1. finding an attorney to help me review my legal document that needs to be submitted to the state. I contacted student legal services for assistance. However, the attorney was unable to help me due to the contractual agreements that he has with UIC. He did, however, give me a list of other organizations that may be able to assist me in filing my document at a very cheap rate, if not for free. I have yet to contact any of the organizations, because right now, with work and school.  I do not have any time to schedule any meetings. Especially not until after my exams. I'll take care of this as soon as possible.

2. I said that I was going to search for an accountant that may assist with making sure that all of the financial information on the document was correct and ready to be filed. I got extremely lucky with this. One of the gentlemen who I am working on this project with has a friend who is an accountant. So he merely gave me the gentleman's business card and told me to give the guys a call to set up the appointment ( after he gave him the heads up, of course). He did, again due to school and work constraints, I am unable to schedule any appointments until after next week.

I can't wait for the moment when I don't have to study anymore. It's not going to happen anytime soon, but it's nice to dream isn't it?

Role Model Interview #3 / Goal Chart

This week I chose to interview two people in the world of pharmacy. The first is Dr. Richard Rooney, the Director of Pharmacy at the VA Jesse Brown Memorial Hospital. It is a bit of an interesting story how Dr. Rooney and I came into contact with each other. As the VP of the UIC undergraduate pre-pharmacy club, I was tasked to find a guest/keynote speaker for the organizations end of the year banquet. After having my 3 potential speakers back out on me, after they said they would/could do this for me,  I began to get nervous. It was my first real task, as the vice president, to find a speaker that was able to not only come in and speak, but further increase the club members interest in the world of pharmacy. Then I got an idea, I called a friend/associate of mine at the VA Jesse Brown hospital.  I emailed Ms. Valerie Creedon, the OIF and OEF project manager at the hospital and explained my situation. She called me back within 20 minutes. She was so excited, she said, that she didn't want to email. Valerie told me she had the perfect person to speak at the banquet. After a few minutes of telling me who Dr. Rooney was, and how much of a fantastic individual he was, I began to get excited. Valerie said she had already emailed Dr. Rooney and he was delighted to come and speak. I then emailed Dr. Rooney. In his response, he confirmed what Valerie had told me. Oh happy day! Then I had another idea. I figured that if Dr. Rooney was interested, I could use him as another one of my role models for my blog interview. I asked, and I was extremely delighted when he said that he would make time to allow me to interview him for a class project. So I set up a meeting with Dr. Rooney when it was convenient for him,  and I asked him similar questions to those that I asked the other interviewees. Thank you in advance Dr. Rooney!!!

 

JJ: How did you get your start in pharmacy? What were your biggest influences in making this decision? Had you always wanted to be a pharmacist?

DR: When I was a junior in high school, my best friends dad encouraged me to go into pharmacy because he though I was pretty intelligent young man. Therefore, I did.

 

JJ: Where did you get your Pharm. D.? What type of job did you have before you became a pharmacist? I graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1974 with a bachelor’s in biology. I obtained my Pharm. D. in 1984 from the University of Nebraska College of Pharmacy.

 

JJ: How big of a role did the military play a role or help you in becoming a pharmacist? After becoming a pharmacist?

DR: I graduated from pharmacy school in 1984. I joined the military in 1985. My military occupation was a 67 Echo, a military pharmacist. Being a pharmacist in the military helped a lot because the military preaches the LDRSHIP values as a code of conduct for all military personnel. So in addition to learning everything I could about pharmacy, I also learned quite a bit about how to be a good person.

 

JJ: How did you come into the position of pharmacy director for the Jesse Brown Medical Center? Describe your transition from pharmacist to director of pharmacy?

DR: I always had aspirations of joining the military, eve as a child. I got into the VA in 1978. After my first three years in pharmacy school, I signed up to join the Air Force. After my basic training I went to a 1-year pharmacy administration-training program. Shortly, afterwards, I ended up at Scott Air force Base in Louisiana, where I set up the first unit dose program for the entire military base. After that I became a pharmacy instructor in the military and worked my way up until I obtained the position I’m in now.

 

JJ:  What do you like/ enjoy most about being a pharmacist/ director of pharmacy?

DR: As a pharmacist, I like the idea that I can help people take charge of their health. As the director of pharmacy, I like the idea of being able to help doctors and nurses help people take control of their personal health. Plus, as an administrator, you have control over what goes on with different clinical groups.

 

JJ: What do you like least about being a pharmacist/ director of pharmacy?

DR: As a kid, I always enjoyed helping people. So I can honestly say, that as long as I’m helping people in their everyday lives then there is nothing to dislike.

 

JJ: Do you have any advice for a young man who is attempting to do what you accomplished? Is there anything that I should be aware of or cautious of?

DR: Throughout life, you are going to have to learn to impress people in order to get to a position that you want. Influence people above, below and on peer level. Establish a good rapport with the people on these levels. Other than that, keep your grades up.

 

JJ: If there was one thing that you know now that you wish you would have known back then? What is it?

DR: Always have a back up plan, in case your first idea falls through.

 

JJ: What is your fondest memory of being a pharmacist? What is your greatest achievement or accomplishment, if different from fondest memory?

DR: Getting residency program started here at the VA Jesse Brown Medical center started back in 1991. Then helping and watching people mature through this system and become magnificent pharmacists.

 

JJ: When do you feel like you’ve done enough and decide to retire? What are your post retirement activities?

DR: I’ve been in the military for 22 years, in pharmacy for 31 plus, I’m working until I get my 40 years in pharmacy. Then I can retire, happily, with my two respective pensions.

 

My next interview was with a Ms. Kayla Stanford, a pharmacy technician, at a local Walgreen’s drug store.

 

JJ: How long have you been working at Walgreen’s? Have you always worked in the pharmacy there?

KS: About two years and two months. Yes, but I’ve had other jobs prior to working there.

 

JJ: What made you want to get a job in the pharmacy?

KS: I knew that I would have to get a job in the pharmacy prior to pharmacy school. I wanted to see if pharmacy was something I would be interested in doing, before I decided to spend the next eight years in school for something that I didn’t like doing.

 

JJ: What influences did you have to want to become a pharmacist?

KS: When I got the job, I immediately enjoyed working in the pharmacy so that was obviously a big influence. Also, the amount of money attracted me to the profession as well. However, prior to these I had a talk with my mom about what I wanted to do in my professional career. She suggested pharmacy and I’ve been on that path ever since.

 

 

JJ: What do like most about working in the pharmacy?

KS: I like the face-to-face interaction with the patients.

 

JJ: What do you like least about working in the pharmacy?

KS: I dislike calling insurance companies to verify a patient’s insurance, because many of the customer service representatives from these companies have horrible attitude. Also, when people write themselves fake prescriptions or call in phony prescriptions. Both are extremely stressful and time consuming.

 

JJ: What helped you most in studying for your licensing exam?

KS: My employer, Walgreen, paid for a 4-week training course, the materials for the class, gas reimbursement, and once I passed the course, I received a raise.

 

JJ: Do you have any advice for me as young man planning on entering the world of pharmacy?

KS: If you want to work in pharmacy, get job experience in various types of pharmacies. For example, retail, hospital, etcetera, just to see if pharmacy is something that you really want to do.

Role Model Interviews #2

I am extremely appreciative of this weeks assignment. I know the DivaProf said you would get more out of interviewing someone you didn't know, and that very well may be true for some. However, in my opinion I don't think I would've gained one-millionth of insight from a stranger than I did from this week's interviewees. Shout out to Dr. Rock! No offense though! The reason I say this is because yes I have, at one point of time, interacted with both of my role models and these interactions is what made me want to approach them on this assignment; and I think by them knowing me, the interview were, for lack of a better vocabulary, informal and somewhat unprofessional. I think this is what made it easier for them to open up and get personal with me. With that being said, Dr. Rock, I apologize for not taking your advice (this time). I still very much appreciate your advice and your opinion in all instances.

Last week was me reaching out to my pharmacy role models. For this week's assignment, I interviewed two role models who have had enjoyed quite a bit of success while working in non-profit organizations. When I say success, I'm not talking about the financial gains made in running a successful non-profit organization. I'm speaking of the success of helping your fellow man or woman, when he or she may not have sufficient means of doing this on their own; and then the ability to duplicate that success, improve on it, and help even more people. This is what these two gentlemen have done countless times... over and over, without tiring, getting lazy,  or becoming complacent with all of the achievements or accolades they've respectively received. I to, one day, will achieve this level of success! So I would like to say thank you George and Warren, in advance, for taking the time out to meet with someone like myself. It means more to me than words can say. 

My first interview was with Mr. George Randazzo, the owner of National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, a NPO based out of Chicago, right in the heart of the UIC campus. Although I had questions prepared, the meeting felt more like a conversation than an actual interview. It was very unstructured but for this blog, I'll list the Q & A similar to how I did last week.

JF: How did you get involved with non-profit organizations? What made you want to open up your own non-profit organization? Where there any influences in your decision making? How old were you/ what year did you begin?

GR: I started off as a buyer for Motorola in 1977. During this time period an acquaintance wanted me to help throw a dinner bring the world boxing champions together to raise funds for a school sponsored by the Italian Boxing Hall of Fame. In order to raise money to host a , I had to do two things, quit my job, and file for my 501C3 license.  Once I got licensed, I was able to receive donations. That's how I got my start.

JF: Why the National Italian American Hall of Fame? Where did the idea come from? Any influences?

I was always into sports. I started as a kid organizing social clubs, baseball teams, et-cetera  in the neighborhood because I always had a passion for helping people; especially young people. The night after I hosted my first event, with well over 2,500 attendees, I began receiving phone calls from some of the people in attendance saying that they were from such and such company and they like what I was doing and was willing to give me an office to work out of, and other businessmen calling and saying that they would donate to my organization and sponsor upcoming events. At that point, I decided that I would like to incorporate the other sports into my business, and in 1978 I changed the name from The National Italian Boxing Hall of Fame to The National Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame. 

My biggest influence was my father. He was hardworking, he respected my mother, and he was outstanding at providing for his family. I knew I wanted to be like him when I got older.

JF: What do you like about opening up and running your own NPO? 

GR: That I am my own boss, and I am in total control of every decision that is made around here.

JF:  You obviously have achieved a great level of success, what keeps you coming to work every day? 

GR: My young innovative staff, that shares my ideas and passions.

JF: Were there any moments where you though that you would not make it, or you wanted to give up and do something else?

GR: No, when I started this organization I had so many people telling me that they didn't want me to succeed. However, I constantly believed that what I was doing was right, so I never allowed anyone's negative attitudes to influence my decision making.  

JF: What is your fondest memory or the highlight of of career as the owner of the NIASHF?

GR: The fondest memory I have since opening the Hall of Fame is meeting one of my childhood idols, Joe DiMaggio, and having him join my board of directors which helped make our transition from the Italian Boxing Hall of Fame to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame. The highlight of my career was in 1998. I met Jerry Colangelo and he helped raise money to build the NIASHF museum on Taylor street. 

JF: Do you have any advice for a young man wishing to run his own NPO? Is there anything I should cautious of?

GR: Find your dream and hopefully make it a reality. You will have to come up with your own idea, and see it through to the end. Have a good attorney, a good accountant, loyal friends, and a good board of directors who you trust. Lastly, never give out cash and never receive cash from anybody.

JF: Give me one thing that you know now that you wish you would have known back then? 

GR: I wish I could have gotten more schooling. I went to Wright College for one semester for a year. 

The next interview is with a gentleman named Warren Chapman former Vice-President of NPO known as the Joyce Foundation, he also ran two other successful NPO's in conjunction with the Joyce Foundation. The format of this interview went a little differently than the one with Mr. Randazzo. There were unforeseen circumstances that prevented us from meeting face to face. However, we conducted the interview via e-mail. Due to time constraints I'll cut and paste the questions and the answers.

What are the names of the NPO's you were involved in? How long were you involved with them? What was your position or role with the diffe rent organizations?

 

How old were you when you first began working in NPO's? What drew you to these particular organizations? Where there influences from friends, family, etcetera? 

 

What did you most like about working=2 0with NPO's? If there was anything, what did you dislike the most about working with them? 

 

What is you fondest memory of working in any of these organizations? If different from your fondest memory, what was you greatest or most memorable achievement in working in an NPO?

 

Is there anything that you know now that you wish you would have known back then? And this could be anything, from anytime period; not necessarily your experience in the world of NPO's.

 

Do you have any advice for a young man (myself) wishing to run a successful NPO? For example things I should try to do or things I should be cautious about?

 

Does Bonnie still make that banana flavored ice cream? ( I think it was ice cream) And when can I get some of that? Obviouslly this has nothing to do with my assignment. I figured I'd ask anyway.

I started working with the Chicago Youth Centers (CYC) at their Summer Camp in 1972, as the Arts and Craft Director. In the fall of 1972, I was hired by CYC as the Director of Arts and Crafts for the all of their youth centers in Chicago. I left CYC in 1975. In 1973, I became the Summer Camp Director for CYC ( I hired you dad and the rest is history).

 

Prior to working at CYC, I worked at Franklin Park Day Camp as a counselor in the summers of  1960 and 1961, my father was the Park Supervisor. I had to go to work with my father in the summer, so I got paid and had fun at the same time. I was 12 years old when I worked at the park. I liked working the kids, and learning from the adults who supervised all of us. Later, when I taught art, I liked watching the students get excited when they made something or they painted a picture and realized that they had talent and some were interested in pursuing a career in art.

 

As the summer camp director, I was able to give city kids from poor neighborhoods an opportunity to relax and have fun in the woods, away from the traffic and hustle of the city. We also take kids how to swim and fish for the first times in their lives.

 

I learned a lot about myself in those years, and as I look back, I did not know how much it meant to give kids a chance to experience life in a different setting from the one they came from. Also, I did not realize how much I was learning about life until years later, when I reflect on my past experiences and how they have helped to shape my present thinking.

 

Be true to what you believe in, and do what you do to make the world a better place, do something great for the world, not yourself.

 

Bonnie makes banana pudding, but Monica and I have not been able to get her to make it for years.

 

Later

 

Warren