CareerBlog

My lanscaping supervisor, Joanelle, and me standing in front of some baby greens!

This last week at Heifer was many other volunteers’ last week as well. Eventful, outrageously fun, overwhelming, saddening, and hopeful. Through this cluster of emotions I managed to deduce one thing: I want to come back. One month in this amazing place is not enough; not even close. Since you are all college students most of you know the setbacks of the jumpy lifestyle we all have. We are constantly packing up our things, kissing people goodbye, never staying in one dorm, apartment, or house for too long. It’s an exhilarating, but stressful life. I felt this kind of lifestyle really way down on me this past week as I realized how much I had grown to love the people here at the Ranch. The ties I had made with them were about to be stretched and maybe even broken for some. As I scrabbled around the ranch to bid my farewells I was reminded of something I had learned during my time at Heifer: You can’t keep in touch with everyone, but you can remember and cherish them for what they were in your life. It was something I had learned by taking part in a Northwest Earth Institute discussion course titled “Voluntary Simplicity”. In a nutshell, the course was about “eliminating the unnecessary so the necessary can speak”. No, this course was not about chucking every material item you own and living in the woods, Thoreau-style. It was about living purposefully and deliberately. Several topics included living with less clutter, earning a living, and what exactly is “quality time”. The section about earning a living was especially interesting because it pointed out that work used to be a means to an end; that end was, well… living! But now work has become the center of our lives and millions despise what they do 8 or more hours a day during the week. For anyone who is seriously debating between several job options, I recommend buying this discussion book. It just might push you towards the job that will truly make your life rich and balanced. And of course you can just shoot me some question and I’ll be glad to tell you more of what I gained from the course! I’d have to say that the lessons I learned were a lot easier to carry out on the Ranch where you can basically live out of your backpack and be assured that the work you are doing is helping others and the planet. But I am still, and always will be, striving to slow down and be more aware of the beauty all around me. Here is the link to the NW Earth Institute: http://www.nwei.org/discussion_courses/course-offerings/voluntary-simplicity

If nothing else, the Heifer Ranch has taught me this: life IS hope and when you help others realize this, it’s breathtakingly beautiful. …Oh, and I also learned fresh veggies that you and your friends grow together can’t be beat by anything from the store… ever!!

Alright! PLEASE feel free to ask me questions about anything I’ve written! These posts were just brief overviews of my times at the Ranch and I can elaborate on any one of them if needed. Thank you for reading!

Ari, Kara, and the CSA supervisor, Ryan. They are amazing farmers!

So we all know volunteer experience can boost our resumes. Most people just search around for a quick fix here and there: offering your services on holidays to places like the Salvation Army, cleaning at an animal shelter, sprucing up the city park… The list goes on and while all these choices are great and admirable, they also might lack a little passion when taken on all at once. From what I’ve gathered, sticking with one organization or theme in your volunteer work is probably in your best interest. This allows you to really dig deep and work intentionally. It allows you to build relationships and understand who you are helping. For me, that is working on the Heifer Ranch. For you, it could be anything! But I’m just going to tell you what I know about Heifer and how I think it might be your place, too.

To start off, most of the volunteers I know here are working for the education department. The Heifer Ranch here in Perryville is primarily a Learning Center. It is not one of the farms that raise the livestock that is sent to Heifer Projects throughout the world. We do possess livestock and also have significantly large, high-producing gardens, but it is all purely for learning purposes. Every week service groups (many times they are youth groups) arrive and spend the week working with the various departments, taking classes about sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry, and spend a night in the global village. The education volunteers are like the guides of these groups’ journeys. They teach classes, lead discussions, and work hand in hand with the service learners. If your focus is education and your resume could use some experience, I highly recommend this volunteer position. There are an infinite amount of skills to obtain from working with groups during life-changing experiences like a week at the Heifer Ranch. The Heifer Ranch is a place where you can do Americorps. The program asks for one year of service (a certain number of hours) and after that year they award you $5,000 for education purposes. Find out more at Americorps.gov

What about veterinarian work? The livestock department offers plenty of opportunities to get knee-deep in some animal care and medicine. In my opinion this department is the backbone of the Heifer Ranch. I think the livestock crew holds a certain respect in the eyes of the other denizens of the ranch. It is a job for the dedicated, passionate person who is not afraid to get dirty or bruised. If that doesn’t look good on a resume, I don’t know what would. My roommate would be able to tell you more about livestock if you would like her contact info.

Finally we have the CSA garden volunteering opportunity! If you are interested in agriculture, this is the place for you. And don’t forget landscaping as well (my home base) for anyone who wants experience in horticulture. I work with gardens at the end of the week which is when most of the harvesting is done. Just from those two short days I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and even more respect for the farmer and agriculture in general. If you remember, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The bounty from our gardens goes to our shareholders in Little Rock. They buy a share for the season and we bring them a basket of vegetables (and a few flower stems) every week. This past week we delivered squash, zucchini, assorted hot and sweet peppers, and zinnias. At delivery we served free watermelon, which I and my fellow gardeners ate way too much of. What a rough job… But really, working in the St. Francis Peace Garden and the CSA gardens has been one of the best choices I’ve ever made. My appreciation for nature and locally grown food has sky-rocketed in the past weeks. Believe me, it’s a great feeling: the day you eat the vegetables you’ve grown and picked yourself. All in all, this volunteer position is perfect for the aspiring farmer or anyone interested in an agriculture career.

Go here to apply and find out more: https://heifer.applicantharbor.com/

I’ve gone on far too long. I will write again soon about our discussion group at the ranch.

The statue of St. Francis at the main entrance to the Peace Garden

The title of this post is one of the many mantras that define the mission of Heifer International. The Heifer Ranch provides many ways to strive towards this seemingly impossible goal. Every group that visits the ranch, every volunteer, every staff member, every plant, and every animal is important to the organization. One aspect about the ranch in which everyone participates is its sustainability. I love and admire this trait the most. We truly utilize the practices that Heifer International tries to teach the world. For example, lunch is comprised of vegetables that come straight from our organic CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) garden and meat from our pastures. Also, in the class “Just Dough It” groups can learn about appreciating food by making a pizza from scratch with ingredients all found on the ranch. They make their own sauce from vegetables from the CSA garden, cheese from the milk of a ranch goat, and herbs from the St. Francis Peace Garden (where I work the majority of the time). It turns out quite amazing, I might add. I had a piece at lunch today. Also, Composting is one of my favorite practices on the ranch. It might be because I have a new appreciation for good soil now that I’m a gardener, but it’s also because compost is one of the best ways to make “waste” useful. This extremely rich soil is made from numerous ingredients including: non-meat food scraps from all over the ranch, weeds that my supervisor, Ms. Joanelle, and I relentlessly pull, decomposable paper, and manure of ALL kinds (yes, there are composting toilets in the Global Villages where service groups stay for one to three nights). Use compost if you want an amazing flower or vegetable garden! These practices of sustainability are just a few of the many valuable skills Heifer International teaches to impoverished families around the world. Other skills that are taught include animal husbandry, soil care, and the philosophy of “passing on the gift”. When one family’s heifer has a calf, they are charged with donating it to another family in their community. In this way, whole communities can become sustainable with only a few animals. Put simply, it is the philosophy of “teach a man to fish” on a larger scale with some added bonuses. Personally, I think it is going to save the world.

I am still gathering information for a big post about how volunteering for the Heifer Ranch can boost your resume for anyone going into education, veterinarian, or agricultural work (or just anyone interested in volunteer work in general)! But the more time I spend here, the more I understand that the point of volunteering here is not all about resumes. The point is that we feed our minds here every day, we will take action for the rest of our lives, and within that lifetime we will witness and help create a world less devastated by hunger.

The main sign to the Heifer Ranch

Hello everyone, my name is Madalyn. For the rest of this month I’ll be blogging about my volunteer experience here on the Heifer Ranch. For a little background on me… I’m going to be a sophomore at the U of A next semester and also a career ambassador for the Career Development Center. I’m an international relations and French major and I’m very interested in humanitarian work and overseas work. This interest, along with other factors I will disclose, is the reason for my stay here at the Heifer Ranch. In the four short days I’ve been here I have learned more about this organization than in weeks of reading and researching. The amount of work and care that goes into the operation of this Ranch can never be understood from a sheet of paper. For example, I’ve discovered countless projects and departments that I had no idea existed and I’ve also been introduced to the way of life for a volunteer on the Ranch. Heifer International is not just a non-profit organization that raises livestock for impoverished families; It’s a multi-faceted network of astounding individuals who work together to achieve unfathomable progress in ending world hunger, restoring and sustaining the Earth, and enriching peoples’ daily lives. Volunteers are a big part of this mission. We all live together in a handful of houses. I live in the Challenge House which is right beside the Challenge course. I’ve been assigned to work in the landscaping department, but I will also be helping out with gardening on Thursdays and Fridays. This first week has been hard work as I haven’t fully acclimated to being in the Arkansas heat for 8 hours of the day. But despite the dirt and weeds that are caked onto my skin after every day of work, I love it here. So far I’ve ripped up some failed landscaping cloth, mulched, trimmed hedges, planted daylilies, destroyed a couple fire ant mounds, set up an irrigation system, and pulled a TON of weeds. It’s been a pretty busy and amazing first week. And it’s not all work here at the Ranch. There are plenty of fun activities including soccer, ultimate frisbee, pool parties and watershed swimming, bible studies, discussion groups, and movies. The Ranch offers so many valuable opportunities to college students like us. My later blog posts will include valuable information for anyone seeking experience in veterinarian work, sustainable agriculture, or education. I’ll post more about the new discussion group I attended about voluntary simplicity as well. It’s good stuff.

Madalyn

The countdown continues. And school is nearly over. Sure, we’re all completely stressed and overwhelmed beyond comprehension (at least I am), but at least the end of the semester is in clear view.

Other than preparing for our finals, we have to put serious thought into our summer plans. I know most of you want to just sit on a boat at the lake all summer. I know I do. But I guess the “I’m going to be successful in life” part of me wants to do something productive with my summer. I’ve registered for two summer classes, found a summer job, and am working on getting an internship. I know that sounds super busy and almost as if it’s just another semester of school, but I’ll use most weekends to relax and work on that summer tan.

My most important summer goal, however, is my resume. I should (and I’m going to work my hardest to finish on time) be graduating in two years and will have to apply to either dental school or graduate school in another year. One of the things that everyone will need whether they are applying to graduate school or applying for job is a resume. Volunteer work, education, and work experience are usually the most important things to have well-developed on your resume. Summer break would probably be the easiest time for most people to get this stuff done. So take a summer class, do some volunteer work, or get a summer job that will be beneficial to your future career. It may just be a line or two added to your resume, but every bit helps.

It’s that time of year again – when the sun is coming out, birds are chirping and flowers are blooming…and finals are approaching.  Not only are we stressing about trying to get our grades up before the end of the semester, but we are thinking about our summer plans.  Going to the lake, getting a sun tan, sleeping in past noon, and eating as healthy as I can (it’s bikini season, duh) are definitely on my agenda.  More importantly, though, I am looking into a summer job, internship, and summer school.  Of course I’d like to put these on top of the shelf and leave them there for awhile, forgotten and out of reach, while I take some time to relax and play. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work like that and I’m forced to make those things a priority.
Being a Pre-Dental student, observation hours are pertinent to obtain before I send in my applications.  Sure, I’m only a sophomore and dental school seems SO far away, but, in all reality, it’s just around the corner. Applications are due the summer before your senior year. I have to worry about getting up my grades (apparently dental schools are really competitive) and I have to make myself stand out in the crowd of applications.  Doing all this volunteer work these past two years has been a tremendous start to my resume, but there is still plenty more to add.  I have recently spoken to a dentist in my hometown about observing him this summer. I won’t be getting paid so it’s hard to make yourself spend hours of your summer doing unpaid work. However, it’s really important to me that I get into my choice dental school (University of Colorado) and these extracurriculars are part of it. Have to take one for the team every now and again. You don’t have to necessarily do unpaid work this summer, there are some internships and opportunities to get paid while getting some experience for your future job or graduate school to get under your belt. You just have to look around some. There are plenty of resources on campus to find out information.
Summer is a great time to take an extra course of two as well.  I plan on taking a Spanish course and maybe even a math class this summer, just to stay ahead of the game. Keep in mind summer school classes are usually much easier than ones during the semester. Getting an internship or getting some observation hours are great assets to your resume and it’s never too early to start. With three months off of school, put aside a few hours a week to do some work that can only benefit you later on. Waiting till the last minute to finish up before your graduate will only cause stress.

It’s that time of year again – when the sun is coming out, birds are chirping and flowers are blooming…and finals are approaching.  Not only are we stressing about trying to get our grades up before the end of the semester, but we are thinking about our summer plans.  Going to the lake, getting a sun tan, sleeping in past noon, and eating as healthy as I can (it’s bikini season, duh) are definitely on my agenda.  More importantly, though, I am looking into a summer job, internship, and summer school.  Of course I’d like to put these on top of the shelf and leave them there for awhile, forgotten and out of reach, while I take some time to relax and play. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work like that and I’m forced to make those things a priority.

                Being a Pre-Dental student, observation hours are pertinent to obtain before I send in my applications.  Sure, I’m only a sophomore and dental school seems SO far away, but, in all reality, it’s just around the corner. Applications are due the summer before your senior year. I have to worry about getting up my grades (apparently dental schools are really competitive) and I have to make myself stand out in the crowd of applications.  Doing all this volunteer work these past two years has been a tremendous start to my resume, but there is still plenty more to add.  I have recently spoken to a dentist in my hometown about observing him this summer. I won’t be getting paid so it’s hard to make yourself spend hours of your summer doing unpaid work. However, it’s really important to me that I get into my choice dental school (University of Colorado) and these extracurriculars are part of it. Have to take one for the team every now and again. You don’t have to necessarily do unpai d work this summer, there are some internships and opportunities to get paid while getting some experience for your future job or graduate school to get under your belt. You just have to look around some. There are plenty of resources on campus to find out information.  Start on the Career Development Center website! (career.uark.edu) 

                 Summer is a great time to take an extra course of two as well.  I plan on taking a Spanish course and maybe even a math class this summer, just to stay ahead of the game. Keep in mind summer school classes are usually much easier than ones during the semester. Getting an internship or getting some observation hours are great assets to your resume and it’s never too early to start. With three months off of school, put aside a few hours a week to do some work that can only benefit you later on. Waiting till the last minute to finish up before your graduate will only cause stress.

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given, than to explore the power they have to change it.
Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion.
Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare.
Impossible is potential.
Impossible is temporary.
IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING.”

There is an old saying that says you can’t know a man until you walk a mile in his shoes. I say try walking through a man’s home with all of his belongings still present – as if he left with no prior knowledge of never again returning. You may not truly know that person, or their family, but rummaging through their belongings almost makes you feel as if you do. Taking out their destroyed and decaying belongings, just to throw them into a rubbish pile outside, slowly tears you up inside. As you learn about the family’s hobbies, lifestyle, and personal taste, you begin to wonder about who they really were, their history, and where they are now.
Hurricane Katrina, known as one of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States, hit the gulf shore on August 23, 2005. The hurricane caused severe devastation along much of the north-central Gulf Coast. The most severely hit city was New Orleans, Louisiana, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed. Nearly every levee in metro New Orleans breached as Hurricane Katrina passed east of the city, subsequently flooding more than 80% of the city. At least 1,836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina, and it is responsible for more than $81.2 billion in damage.
On March 15, 2008, I, along with fourteen other Alternative Spring Break volunteers from the University of Arkansas, headed to New Orleans, Louisiana to do our part to help rebuild New Orleans. Katrina Corps, a non-profit organization formed in December 2006 for the purpose of speeding up the recovery process in New Orleans, allowed us to stay in their home and be a part of this tremendous opportunity to help the devastated habitants of New Orleans.
Nearly two and a half years after the catastrophe, New Orleans still looks and feels as if the city will never recuperate. To look at it from a glass half full perspective, we did make a difference by completely gutting three homes while in the city, as well as making phone calls for donations and helping an elderly woman fix her home. But on the larger scale of things, New Orleans still needs a lot of help and money to rebuild her historical city.
Not only did I learn a lot about myself this past week (from my helping-a –hand-wherever-needed abilities, to my undying love for people of all shapes and sizes, to my possible altruistic-related career choice), but I gained traits that I may not have had before this trip. My work ethic is one thing I have going for me, but every opportunity to strengthen it, such as this particular trip, can only help in the long run. I know, as indecisive as I am, that I one day want to do something that will benefit others. Even if I stick with pre-dental, I will be helping others. Albeit not in a hugely impacted way, but dental hygiene can be very important to your health and other aspects of your everyday life. No matter what road I choose to follow, I know that helping others will only bring out the good in the world we live in. We can’t expect our world to flourish and not be negatively impinged without taking the time – no matter how big or small – to change the world we live in.�
The difference we made while in New Orleans is but a drop in the bucket for the ultimate goal of restoring New Orleans. Much work is still needed and hopefully many more will attend to the volunteer work. Visit www.katrinacorps.org for more information on how you can help make a difference.

Spring break is getting closer and closer. I know it’s a time when most people sleep till noon and do absolutely nothing for an entire week, but, being a college student and preparing for the real world, I decided to do something a little different this year. Besides, sleeping in doesn’t look good on a future resume.

This year I am participating as a team leader for Alternative Spring Break. My group is going to New Orleans and I’m super excited. I haven’t been since Hurricane Katrina hit the historical city, and I’m anxious to see the extensive damage firsthand. We will be cleaning up and gutting houses. There are still a lot of areas that haven’t even been touched. I know it’s going to be a life-changing experience. And hey, it doesn’t hurt to put on your resume either.

All of you don’t have to go out of state during Spring Break – I’m sure most of you want to be with your families – but maybe do some kind of service project at home. There are always volunteer opportunities no matter where you go. Go to a retirement home and visit with the elderly. Pick up trash on the side of the highway. If you plan on going into some kind of occupation such as a doctor, dentist, business owner, etc., do some observation hours at a local business. Instead of sleeping until noon, spend a few hours in the morning picking up garbage. You’ll feel better about yourself and your city will look a lot better. And all those little things can go on your resume. You may think it’s a little early to be thinking about your resume, but it’s never too early. The more extensive your resume, the better.

Definitely take some time during break to rejuvenate and rest, but staying up super late and sleeping in until past noon probably isn’t the way to do it. Do a few volunteer hours before you head up to the lake. You will thank yourself later, I promise.

I hope all of your seriously take this into consideration and have a great spring break! Midterms should be over by then, so take the time to relax. Once we get back, it’ll be downhill from there. Hang in guys!

** Share with us what you’re doing for your spring break. Write a note in the comments section!

Almost midterms. That means we’re almost halfway done. I’m kind of excited, but at the same time we really don’t have a whole lot of time to make up all those bad tests scores. I think I’m going to wait until we take our second test to decide whether or not to drop any classes. I’m aiming for an ‘A’ on my next chemistry test. I know that’s shooting for the stars, but it’s worth a try. I actually understand the material and if I study there’s really no reason I can’t do it. I should be okay in all my other classes. I aced my Spanish test today. I love when you know you totally kicked butt on a test. It really makes you feel like you aren’t such a failure. I seriously thought I was going to have to drop out of school after I saw our chemistry test results for the first test. Ridiculously bad. And my lab partner made a 96%. How can anyone seriously do that?

I really wish there was some kind of magic trick to doing this whole college thing. Some days I just don’t think I’m made for college. I’m plenty smart and have the work ethic, it’s just the constant stress that gets me. I have to work a lot harder for my grades than a lot of the kids in my classes (at least it seems like I do – being that all they talk about come Monday morning is how great their weekend was…and all I did over the weekend was study and work).

Changing my major is becoming more and more appealing. I really don’t want to take the easy route or anything (is there one in college), but Pre Dental is tough. I’m thinking I can major in journalism, which is my second choice, and just stick with Pre Dental for the time being. If I change my mind on either I’ll still have to other well on its way towards graduation to back it up. The more and more I think about it, journalism seems much more alluring. I could really see myself writing for some big magazine or being some type of reporter. And I could do a lot of traveling as well. If I were to stick with Pre Dental, I could be an orthodontist, make good money, and have decent hours with time for a family. Both have their appeals. I’m just going to have to take the Strong Interest Inventory Test this week.  Are some of you out there struggling with your choice of major too?  Write in the comments section and tell us about it!  We can all commiserate with each other!

It’s getting late and I have to work tomorrow. Until next week.