Experiment Day 29: Helping Others (The American Cancer Society)

I have just started helping out a friend on something that I am so excited about.  She was able to have a chance to become a leader in a donation opportunity for The American Cancer Society and she has set her goal at $500.  I am helping her try to reach that goal and hopefully even pass it.  It is a opportunity for people to donate money to the organization and in return you can receive daffodils or have some taken to a hospital and they will be put into a room of a patient that is fighting cancer.  I feel like this is an amazing cause and that helping to raise money for those who have cancer and to help maybe find a cure in the future or to help with bills because the treatments for cancer can be very expensive.

This really is a personal subject for me because I have had many family members of mine battle cancer and I have even lost my Grandpa to throat cancer just this year.  I know how hard it can be to see someone you love or a friend or anyone around you have cancer and how it is a tough battle for one to fight, but giving hope and any help that one can give can help to push someone to battle the cancer and become a survivor.  My Aunt Sherrie is a survivor of skin cancer, melanoma and she has had it twice.  I fear for her everyday because we all know that there is a chance that it could come back and we just hope that she is in the clear and that her battle is over and she won't have to fight it again. But I know that sometimes people aren't so lucky, just like my Grandpa and my fiancee's Grandpa, who both lost their lives to cancer.  I hold on to the positive fact that one day cancer won't be such a huge battle or fight and that a cure for all types and forms of cancers can be found.

So I encourage everyone to at least take a look at the website and if you can make a donation.  If you can't it is okay, just please reach out to others who may be in a fight with cancer or who knows someone who is and be a form of hope and strength for them.  I know that The American Cancer Society is an organization who is geared towards helping those with cancer or those who are dealing with it in one form or another, and I hope that with the help from us, that we can make a huge difference in the lives of many.

Please visit:   
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/Kristine.Robinette

Then if you want to you can make a donation by clicking on "Get Daffodils" and there are many donation options, but if you don't it is okay and just check out the site and see The American Cancer Society website and see what they do and what their goals are. 

Thank you so much!

Experiment Day 28: Helping Others (Kristine)

http://www.hilaryshepherd.com/rantsnraves/2010/12/15/daycare-centers-in-my-area/

I helped my fiancee's sister today and I think I also helped her son Erick.  I was able to take Erick to his daycare for Kris because she was running late this morning and she didn't want to be late to work and I didn't have to be at work until 8:00 a.m. and I was therefore able to take him and still be on time to work. I was really excited to do this because I am so lucky to have Kris and Erick in my life and I love them dearly.  I was kind of nervous though because I had never dropped him off at his daycare in the mornings, I have only picked him up in the afternoons.  Once we got to the daycare, he was excited but he wanted me to stay and play with him at his school.  He is only three years old, but he is way smarter for his age and he is getting smarter and growing taller everyday.  I fear he will probably be taller than me here pretty soon.  He calls me his Aunt already and he is such a joy to have around.  


I feared the leaving him part because sometimes he gets very upset and cries or throws a fit.  I didn't want this to happen so I explained to him that I had to go to my "Big School" and that he would go to his school and that I would see him later after he plays all day.  He said "I miss you" and gave me a hug and then he went on his way to play and I was able to leave.  It was a success and I enjoyed taking him to his daycare and it helped Kris out and she was able to make it to work on time.  So far today has been a great and successful day and I hope that it continues to be.

Experiment Day 25, 26, and 27: Helping Others (Family and Neighbors)

Up until now in my project experiment I have mainly been helping strangers or people who I don't know very well.  I feel like now it has been time for me to give back to my family and to help them and I was able to make three days out of my thirty days and devote them to only helping my family members and the ones I love.  I feel like I wouldn't be where I am at now without my family and without the ones that I love.  They have helped me to become the person that I am today and they are there for me when I need them and I want to be there for them as well.  I decided though to surprise them and to do good deeds for them that I normally don't do.

On Saturday, February 25, 2012 I was able to help my parents out.  I helped them with taking out trash and cleaning up the house.  I surprised them when they got home by having everything clean and tidy and they were very shocked and I could tell that they were very thankful for the help that I surprised them with.  I then was able to help out my sister by helping her with her homework and then just spending quality time with her.  I feel like I don't get to spend much time with her because we are both always busy and I hate that I don't get to just hang with my sister as  much as I would like to.  So we went shopping and out to eat and we had such a great time and I could tell by the smile on her face that it was exactly what she wanted and she kept telling me thank you all day.

On Sunday, February 26, 2012 I turned to my grandparents and I knew that they would be very excited to see me and that I could do some great deeds for them.  I first started off by going to church and this made my Grandma very happy and she loved it and I knew that it made her day.  I also then was able to help my Mamaw and Papaw with clearing out some of their woods and slicing wood to also stack and that way they would have some burning wood for their fire place.  I also just spent some time with them because I know that they love their grandchildren and that since we are all teenagers now and getting older they don't get to see us as much as they would like and that me just spending quality time with them meant the world to them.

On Monday, February 27, 2012 I wanted to help out my neighbors because I consider them family to me because they have been in my life for over 3/4 of it and I love them and would do anything for them.  I have many elderly neighbors and I know just visiting them and showing them that I care and that I will take the time out to visit them and speak with them means a lot to them and shows them that they are important and mean something to me.  I also helped them with their trash and moving the heavy cans for them.  I feel like it was a very small deed, but I know that they will remember it and know that I took the time out to care for them and to help them even when they didn't ask for the help.

Experiment Day 24: Helping Others (Bella)

I decided this morning to help out someone a lot younger than me.  I feel like that helping someone that is younger is defiantly different than helping someone who is older.  For example, I helped a three year old and she wasn't able to give me much feedback.  Unlike an adult or someone who can talk and communicate to me how they are feeling or if I am helping them, I got more facial gestures from her.  She smiled and gave me a hug, which I can take as a good sign that she was happy and to me it was as if she said "Thank you."  I feel like younger children aren't able to really understand helping others, but they are able to learn by watching others do it and by seeing others help them.

Experiment Day 23: Helping Others (Random People)

I am feeling better today and I thought that I should do more than one good deed today.  I have decided that all day today I am going to walk up to random people on campus and ask them how their day is going and just try to spark different conversations with others today.  I feel like this is going to help me to step out of my comfort zone and to break out of being shy.  I want others to see that sometimes it is good to just ask someone how they are doing because you never know if you could help them or not.  I feel like this will also bring smiles and joy to many people today.  I have already approached 15 people on campus today and I told them "Good Morning!" and then we spoke on how they were and then I told them to "Have a Great Day!" and to pass on the happiness and joy to others on campus.  I feel like it may start a chain of good deeds or even let people bond and connect.  I feel like if everyone realized how easy and how much fun helping others can be can start something so great and change the world for the better.


I am so excited about my experiment because most of the things that I thought would happen, have happened.  For example, I thought that helping others would make me feel better as a person and make me feel as though I was making a difference in this world.  This has proven to be true and I feel as though I have more self-confidence and every time I do something good, I get a sense that I just made a difference.  I also thought that I may get tired or lose energy to try to help others, but this was proven wrong.  I am actually feeling more energetic and I have learned that helping others doesn't take much effort or energy and that it actually is very simple and easy to do.  I feel like many believe that they don't have enough time or enough energy to help others and that this is what prevents them from doing so. I hope that I can teach others that it is actually very simple and that if you just give it a try you will see that it is very beneficial to both others and yourself. 

Experiment Day 22: Helping Others (Sammie)

I had to go to the doctor's yesterday and get put on medicine and I continue to not feel good at all, but I know that I have to continue and push through.  Today I woke up feeling horrible and had a fever, but I thought I should try to go out and do somethings outside of my house.  I decided to push through and go to work and school today.  It is a little over half way through the day and I am slowly starting to feel worse, but I was able to do my good deed for the day.  I was able to help one of my friends get to their class who is confined to a wheelchair.  I feel like I did a good deed and even though I wasn't feeling well at all, it did make me feel a little bit happier inside to know that even when someone is sick, upset, or having problems themselves, they can still reach out a helping hand and do good for others.

Waste Land: Argument and Response

Lucy Walker made some very good points in her statements about Waste Land and I loved how emotionally involved she got and how it was more than just a movie for her.  I feel like the main argument is about how how our trash or garbage defines who we are and how it can bring people together who may not have ever met before and how it is about getting to know the person and who they are on the instead and not so much just defining them by how they look or the job that they do.  The film Waste Land opened up my eyes and showed me that no one should ever be ashamed of their job because it doesn't define them and yet it does make them who they are and can build them as a person.  The pickers knew what their job was and they went out and did it and they were able to hold their heads up high and I felt like to them it wasn't just trash or garbage, it all had meaning to them.  I feel like the garbage sort of connected them to others and it was a sense of comfort for them.  I could tell that they took great pride in their jobs and what they did and honestly this was the opposite of what I thought.  I thought that the pickers would have been ashamed or disappointment in themselves for what they did, I know some of them wanted better or wanted to eventually move on, but they knew that this was their job for now and they had smiles on their faces and they had attitudes that just could brighten up even the gloomiest of days.

I also feel like the film taught us that even though me may not sense it or know it we are all connected in some way and it can even be as small as by the trash that we throw out.  I know that since we started watching the film I seem to look at things that I throw out now more than I did before because I don't know if it is going to end up in the hands of someone else or if even though it is trash to me, it could be treasure to someone else.  I also feel a like I will be connected to others in this world that I may not see or may never meet in my life, but they see my trash and my garbage and it can tell my story or it gives the pickers or those who come across it a sense of relationship and bond, even though we have and may not ever meet.  I also feel like the argument that the things that we work with or we use make up who we are and that we can be remembered and described and ultimately defined by those items.  Vik Muniz was able to capture all the pickers and make portraits of them by using the materials that the pickers used or collected in their everyday life.  I thought it was amazing that he was able to take garbage and turn it into art and at the same time use it to show or illustrate a person.

One fear that I was worried about is I didn't know if the film would have a bad impact on the pickers and if it would interfere with their lives to the point that they wouldn't want to return to their job.  I felt like many of the pickers seen brighter futures for themselves after they got involved with the art and Vik and his team.  To me I think it showed them that they could do better and that even though they had been garbage pickers for awhile and that it defines them, I think they seen a different side to themselves.  But I also think that it made the garbage picking real to many of the pickers and that it was able to make them even prouder of the job that they do and they love the fact that the garbage defines them because they don't view the trash or garbage as bad and they see it as their job, their career, their money source, and their world.

I feel like the main argument that the film conveys is that people get comfortable in their own element and environment and though it may seem bad or not good to someone else, it is their world and they consume themselves in it until it defines who they are.  The garbage pickers only knew the trash and they lived to pick it up and it is what kept them going and ultimately alive because it provided them with a job and that provided them with their income and therefore with the things they needed to survive.  I feel like this argument began to change though as the film went on because as the pickers were removed from their elements, which was the landfill or all the garbage, I could tell that they began to see a different environment and one that they felt like could be better.  I feel like the film didn't change their views, but it allowed them to make their dreams and goals real.  The pickers began to want more and to not want to return to the landfill, which had once defined them and made them who they are today.  This change was brought about by the new people they had met and the chance for them to get to experience life through the work and lives of others (Vik and his team).

The film Waste Land was to me a very personal and emotional movie.  It can be appealing to all forms of audiences and therefore to me it would be considered "universal" because it has a ton of pathos in it to produce real and true emotions and plus it is a film in which people can connect to others and to get emotionally connected to them.  I was able to be drawn into the film by hearing the true life stories of the pickers and to understand their lives and how different they were to mine.  I also was able to sense how they lived and feel like I knew them, even though I had never met them before in my life.  The film also is appealing to many audiences as it is real and not edited to make it a good movie or film, it is what it is and no one is hiding details or adding them to make it better, it just happens.  I feel like the film is able to open the eyes of others and show them that being happy with yourself and having pride in what you do can inspire others and want them to know about you and maybe help you.  I loved the film and it to me was not only a learning experience, but it also was a time for me to learn that in life there are many types of people, but we are all humans and we all have the ability to be whatever we want to be in this huge world.

Volunteer: It Could Make A Huge Difference

mckinnon105.blogspot.com

 

Experiment Day 20 and 21: Helping Others (Facebook)

I have continued to be sick and I am getting worse and I haven't been able to go to school or work.  I feel horrible, but I don't want to not do my experiment because it is important to me.  I decided to try to help people from online.  I didn't really know where to start, like if I should go on my Facebook and try to find someone that was having a bad day and try to help them or if I should go onto my blog and see if any of my English classmates needed advice or help on their projects.  I decided to go onto my Facebook and try to help some people.  I found this to be actually very easy because I was surprised and shocked to see that there were many people who were either having a bad day or who were upset and could use someone to talk to.  So I started to message them and to ask them how their day went and I tried to talk to them on chat and help them.  I also just said hello or asked how some people were doing because I know that sometimes that is all it takes to make someones day better or to show them that I care.  I am doing this internet form of helping people on my 20th and 21st days of helping others mainly because I am sick and not able to go out and help others because I don't want to get them sick, but also to make a very good point.  I am showing people that it doesn't always take a lot of energy to help others and that you can even do it from the comforts of your own home.

I am enjoying helping others this way, but I am hoping that I can get better and be able to go about my normal life and help people outside and in person.  I am trying not to let my sickness get the best of me, but it has been rough and I am hoping that today is my turning point and I will be on my way to being back to normal by tomorrow.

Experiment Day 18 and 19: Helping Others (Miller's Merry Manor)

I set a goal for myself to help out a lot at the nursing home this weekend.  I wanted to be there a lot to experience the residents daily life and to be able to provide assistance and help wherever it was needed.  I enjoyed Saturday the most.  I was able to help Christina, one of the residents who most of the staff at the nursing home say is very shy and quiet, but I saw a different side of Christina and I feel like I was able to bring out the outgoing and very talkative side of her.  The staff at Miller's Merry Manor seemed to be very shocked, but Christina and I talked for hours and hours.  We talked about her family and mine and her life and all I can say is wow it made time fly because before I knew it, I had spent over six hours at the nursing home in one day.  I loved it so much that I think volunteering is going to stay in my life and I hope to continue to go to the nursing home at least once a week if not more.  I love the feeling of being able to provide help and services to those who need it and also to just be a smiling face and someone that they can talk to.  I am enjoying this project more and more everyday.

I also was able to play bingo with about ten to fifteen of the nursing home residents and to see the smiles on their faces and for them to tell me thank you and how much fun they had, it was priceless and made me feel very good and happy about volunteering there.  I also was able to read to some of the residents who love to read, but due to eye or hand problems, haven't been able to read and so it was a joy to them to have me sit there and we read together and this is going to continue over the next few weeks because I already have two requests from other residents who want me to read to them next.  I feel pure joy and happiness when I am at the nursing home because I know that I brightening up their day and that I can help every single one of the residents, even if it is only in a small way.

Experiment Day 17: Helping Others (Katie)

I started feeling sick today and I knew that the next few days were going to be hard to try and do good deeds for others.  I tried though and I found an easy way to help someone today, it was just tutoring Katie, my sisters best friend for her math test.  I am very good at math and it is high school math, so I was able to teach her a lot and help her out and I will be excited to say that she is going to get an A+ on that math test for sure.

I have also found out that helping others who aren't so strong in an area as you are in that same area is a huge plus.  It is nice to be able to use the abilities that you have in certain areas to help others and then they can help you in other areas that you may not be as strong at.  I feel like if we all did this, then everyone could be strong in a lot of areas because we are all teaching and learning from one another.

Experiment Day 16: Helping Others (Crystal)

I feel like I made a big difference today already and the day has just started.  I was able to help out a family friend by taking their son to the doctor's office.  They weren't able to because they had to work and so I offered my services to them and then I took him to his school after the appointment.  It was just a check up for his allergies and so all I had to do was drive him there and back, but to them it was much more.  It was a sign to them that I cared and that I was willing to help them when no one else was.  I feel like that many people think that there is no more people out in this world that care and that are willing to do things for others without wanting or asking for anything in return.  I am loving the positive feelings I am getting after I help people and I am defiantly thinking that this is going to be my new way of life.


I am also growing as a person and I am able to step out of my comfort zone and I am less shy now.  I am able to approach others who I don't know and help them without being shy.  I feel like I am building up my confidence every day because I am going out in a world where there can be so much negativity and I am bring positive change into it.  I feel like it has also reduced my stress level because I am able to quit stressing out and worrying because my mind is thinking of good things and the positive influence that I am having on others.  I am loving this experiment and I am so glad that I am getting this opportunity. 

Experiment Day 15: Helping Others (Lana)

I had a long morning this morning for sure and I hope that I can get through the day.  I stopped to help this woman who was having car trouble on my way in to work this morning.  I know a few mechanics who would be able to help her and so I stopped and called Dave who is a family friend who I thought could help her get her vehicle running so that she could do the things that she needed to do today.  She was very appreciative of my help.

I wanted to ask a question on my post for today though.  I was thinking that sometimes it is dangerous to stop and help people because sometimes they are faking it and don't really have car trouble and it can sometimes become a dangerous situation.  I questioned my stopping to help out because I was alone and I didn't know if I was putting myself in a dangerous situation.  I want to help others, but at the same time I need to be careful and not put myself into situations that could be dangerous for me.  So my question to you is:  "If you seen someone stranded on the side of the road having car trouble would you stop and help them?".

Experiment Day 14: Helping Others (Valentines Day)

As you could see by the title of this post, I don't know the name of the person who I helped today.  I was in the Atrium on campus and they were selling roses. I bought one and I gave it to a random person who walked by me.  I feel like this was a random act of kindness and that it made their day a little bit better.  It is Valentines Day and  sometimes this day can be a sad one for people.  I wanted to show someone that people care about others, even if they have never met you.  I hope that I was able to show this person that random acts of kindness and good deeds can and should be done every once in a while and it can make a difference in this world.

Help Others: Pass It On!

www.google.com/images/helpingothers

This is how I feel today and I feel like I was able to help someone else who was able to  in return help me.  This picture above shows that sometimes helping others can start a chain reaction and then results in more than one person helping or getting help. Pass it on!

Experiment Day 13: Helping Others (Michelle)

Today has been a horrible day for me and I have been very upset already this morning.  I thought that I might not be able to help others today because I didn't even feel like I could help myself today.    But I knew that I could maybe help someone else that way they wouldn't have a bad day like I am today.  So I was walking to work and I seen that there was girl who was waiting on the bus to take her somewhere and she seemed very upset.  I had been crying and upset also and so I thought maybe we would both be able to feel better and we could help each other.  Lets just say that this conversation became a long one and afterwards we were both late to class and work, but we realized that sometimes when your having a bad day, finding others who are also having a bad day and talking with them and being a listening ear can make all the blues go away.  I honestly felt better and I couldn't believe that making someone else feel better and to be able to get their mind off of their worries would actually take mine away also.  Wow I just hope that both of our days can continue to get better.

Experiment Day 11 and 12: Helping Others (Mary)

This weekend was very long and made me very tired. I was very busy and I had a lot to do, but I was still able to do some volunteer work.  I was able to volunteer at a nursing home and I was able to touch the life of someone very special.  I met a woman named Mary and we became very close over the weekend.  I was able to learn about her life and she was able to learn about mine.  I listened to a lot her stories from her life as well as told her some of mine.  I learned how she ended up in the nursing home and about her family and I even got to meet her son at lunch on Saturday.  I couldn't believe that I was able to give her a smile on her face because she said that I reminded her a lot of herself when she was twenty years old and that she enjoyed seeing and speaking to someone that was a lot like her.  I feel like I was able to let Mary feel comfortable about opening up and telling me stories and that she felt like she had listening ears and a friend by her side.

After we talked for over an hour, we were able to eat lunch together and our conversations continued.  We spoke about college and how she wanted to go, but she couldn't and how she was very excited to see me accomplish my goals in college.  We talked as if we had know each other for years.  I felt so comfortable and I loved being able to talk to her as if she was my Grandma or my best friend.  I enjoyed every second of it and I know by the smile and the pure joy that she was expressing that it also made her day and we were able to lean on each other and talk as friends.

The next part was we read some inspirational quotes from a book and we began to talk about how somethings happen in life that we may not agree with, but how in the end everything that we go through or deal with makes us who we are and how embracing change and others things around us can help us become strong and make us better people.  I loved reading to her because she said that she use to read all the time, but her eye sight isn't what it use to be so reading has become difficult for her.  We read quite a bit and then we drank coffee together and continued to talk.  I don't think I have talked to someone that long in my life, but it was so worth it.

As we rapped up our talking it was almost time for us to play some Bingo and we were so excited to play.  We played Bingo for almost two hours and wow we laughed so much and enjoyed looking at the prizes to see what we should get and I enjoyed it all so much, just like she did.  I feel like I was able to do so much for Mary and that at the end of the weekend I was so glad that I got to meet her and she touched my life as well.

Experiment Day 10: Helping Others (Karen)

I feel like sometimes it doesn't even take any work or any service on your part to help others, sometimes I feel like by just being there for someone or listening to them is all that they need.  I heard someone upset in the Atrium today and I thought that maybe they could use my help, but all she needed was me to listen to her and to just show her that I cared.  I listened to her for a good twenty minutes or so and then she said she was sorry for wasting my time.  I told her that I was there for her and that I would always listen to her if she needed me to and that I knew it would help her to just get something thoughts off of her chest.  She felt better and I did too and I knew that sometimes doing good deeds for others can just be as simple as letting them know that you will listen to them and be supportive. 

Spread The Joy

http://depositphotos.com/6269969/stock-photo-Help-Yourself-by-Helping-Others---Words-Pinned-on-Board.html

I feel like that many people should live by this and should think more about how they can help others rather than thinking on how they can help themselves.  I want to try to show people that helping others not only benefits them, but it can benefit you and bring all sorts of joy and positiveness into your life.

Experiment Day 9: Helping Others (Teresa)

On my way to work and school today I felt the urge to surprise someone and I wanted to make their day without them even knowing it was coming.  I thought maybe I could take some breakfast to them at work and surprise them.  So I went and got some breakfast and I put it on her desk and left a note that said, "I hope you have a great day and that you smile because someone you are loved and you are an amazing person!" and then I went on about my day.  Of course it wasn't too much longer after I left it that Teresa made it to work and my phone has been receiving tons of text messages because she said that it made her whole day and put a huge smile on her face.  I feel like I made her day and that I showed her that being good to others is still possible and that sometimes it is the little things that can make the biggest difference in someones life.

Experiment Day 7 and 8: Helping Others (Kenzie's Ongoing Project)

I have been helping Kenzie yesterday and I will be helping her today finish a project for her school.  We are making flyers and preparing to make a speech for her because she was picked out of her school to represent her volleyball team and the character counts for her school.  She was very nervous about this because not only did she have to have a picture taken and it will be put on cards and posters that will be distributed to many other schools, but she has to speak at some schools on the character that she is picked to represent.  We should find out today what character she is standing for and then I am going to help her look up information and be prepared to speak about the character trait that she is responsible for.  I feel like I am taking time out of my crazy busy schedule to help her and I know that it is making a difference in her life and she is very happy that I am willing to help her out this much.  I am glad that she was able to be a part of this project because she is going to be able to go and speak to others on how to be a better person and so I feel like we are passing on caring and amazing traits to others.  I think that if I continue to help others that it will inspire others to also take on the challenge of being a better person and helping others.

On another hand, I am sick and not feeling very well and so it is making it hard to complete my experiment that I need to do.  I am trying to push through it because I know that I am making a difference and I am enjoying the rewarding feeling that I get when I help others.  I am just trying to take it one day at a time and I am hoping that I can start feeling better soon so that I can fully enjoy this experience.

Experiment Day 6: Helping Others (Ellie)

I woke up late this morning because last night I had to stay up late to watch football.  I was so tired and yet I got up at 7:00 a.m. and was ready to go to work and school for the day.  I then realized that Ellie wasn't up yet and her bus comes about five minutes after 7:00 so I hurried and woke her up and helped her make her way to her bus so that she wouldn't miss it or be late for school.  She is only seven years old, but I feel like I showed her this morning that no matter how early or how tired you are, helping others can still be possible.

Experiment Days 4 and 5 (Weekend): Helping Others (Dorthy and Megan)

Saturday (Day 4):  I wasn't feeling very well on Saturday, but I still went and did some volunteer hours and I started to feel better by the end of the day.  I then remembered that Dorthy was going to go and cut down some trees because she needed the wood for her wood burning stove, which is her and her husbands main source of heat in the winter.  Dorthy's husband is ill and so I knew she could probably use some help, so without her asking I showed up and helped her to haul a full load of wood to her home.  I feel like sometimes people shouldn't have to even ask for help because people can sometimes sense it.

Sunday (Day 5):  I had a long weekend and I was very tired Sunday morning.  I got a text early that day about my friend needing some help with her baby.  I am not a mother, but I do have the mothering instinct and I knew that I could at least try to help her out and in the end all it was was Megan just needing to know that I was there for her as a friend and that she could count on me to be there for support.  I feel like a had a very successful weekend.

OLD OBJECT ^
This above is my i<clicker 1 that I purchased and thought I would get great use out of.  Very soon after I bought it, the i<clicker 2 came out and replaced the i<clicker that I just bought.  I was very upset and still kind of am because I feel like the i<clicker 1 represents to me wasted money.  I feel like I could have saved money and just purchased the i<clicker 2 because it came out not long after the first i<clicker.  I also feel like to me it means it is useless and takes up space that I could use in my backpack.  I have bad memories when I look at my i<clicker 1 and so I am ready to smash it and destroy it to get rid of it from my life.  Then I smashed it over and over again and I broke my i<clicker 1 and I now no longer have an i<clicker 1.

NEW OBJECT ^
The image above is my new pencil case or pencil holder.  I feel like I took an object (i<clicker 1) and turned it into an object that I can now use and that isn't a waste of space (pencil holder).  I was able to smash the i<clicker 1 and I used the pieces to make a pencil holder.  I had to take something old and turn it into something new by breaking down one thing and making it into something with a totally different meaning and purpose.  This means that in English, we can take old research or research that has been done before us and break it down and add somethings to it to make new research and use the old to aid us into new things.  In order to make new things it takes breaking down old things and this shows that new things usually have old parts to them and in other words, new things or new research builds on old research or old things.  We take things that we have learned from the past and we use them to help us create new things in the future.  I have my new pencil holder and to me the meaning is the beginning of the new life of my old i<clicker 1.  I will be able to use the pencil holder unlike I wasn't able to use the old i<clicker 1 and this shows that I took something that was useless and tore it down to build something that I could use.  I am happy with my new pencil holder and I am glad that I no longer have to look an object that I wasted money on and that takes up space that I could use.

Experiment Day 3: Helping Others (Stacey)

I was able to help someone without even being in person with them today.  I had a friend who was very upset because she had lost her wallet and couldn't find it.  I was able to help her out by calling the Mounds Mall in Anderson and asking them if they had it.  I got lucky and someone had turned it in and I was able to call my friend and let her know that her wallet was safe and she could go get it because it was found.  I believe that this also shows that there are people out in this world still helping and being caring because they turned in a wallet that had money, credit cards, driver license, and so much more and yet they turned it in and didn't take anything from it.  This made me very happy and today is going to be such a good day.

Experiment Day 2: Helping Others (Nick)

As I was sitting outside of the Teachers College Building, a boy with a map seemed very lost.  I am not very good at directions and I was really worried to offer my help, when I knew that I might not even be able to help him.  He seemed very shocked when I asked him if I could help him and then when he explained that he was trying to get to the Bracken Library, I was relieved because I knew how to give him the correct directions to get him there.  I feel like I stepped out of my comfort zone today and I actually was able to give someone directions, when I am usually the one needing help finding a destination.  I feel like I am growing as an individual , as well as showing people that there are those still out in this world that will help you and will take the time to listen to you.

Experiment Day 1: Helping Others (Ashley)

While walking into North Quad today, I  spotted a woman who had her hands full of boxes and bags and she was having trouble getting the door opened.  I asked her if she needed any help and she was very grateful for me lending a helping hand.  I opened the door for her and she smiled and said "Thank you very much and I appreciated  your help more than you know."  I feel like I showed her that taking time out to help others is still important and that everyone has the ability to help others, even if in the smallest ways.