Week 4

You guys are going to hate me for posting such a long blog but I have no choice. I have a lot to say. I’ll make it as short as possible. Sorry.

I’ve stumbled across an amazing opportunity to participate in a huge fundraising campaign and event for SSU. However, it has nothing to do with the veterans group I had planned on blogging about. At this point I’m going to keep attending the veterans group meetings, but I think I might start blogging about this new experience. As long as Monica is alright with that.

I learned about this campaign and event when I received an email last week from a woman who is the Assistant Vice President of Institutional Advancement at SSU. She informed me that her department is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to raise significant financial resources for the Salem State community through scholarships, paid internships, academic programs and student support programs, including veteran affairs. She described it as “an intensive public fundraising effort to raise millions of dollars to meet the growing needs of Salem State University.” The goal is to raise 25 million dollars.

Their effort is going to be launched publically in April with a campaign launch celebration hosting their donors, and alumni and friends who are invested in Salem State and its strategic goals. Through the event they will be releasing their campaign theme/brand “10,000 REASONS.”  The campaign will support the 10,000 students at SSU and their ambitions.  Through the brand they plan to share student, faculty and alumni stories. I’m told their will hundreds of donors and potential donors at this event.

My role will be as a member in a student leadership group that was created especially for this event. The work I will be doing will be done between now and April 12^th, which is the day of the event. Leading up to the event I will have to attend a few meetings, as well as complete some sort of training designed to give me the tools needed to have informed conversations about the campaign and the university. There’s also a rehearsal prior to the event. My job at the event will be to engage guests in thoughtful conversation as a discussion leader at a designated dinner table. I’ll also have to field questions about the institution. And last but not least I’ll be speaking at the event.

Today I had to do a video shoot where they filmed our conversation, which will be played on a screen at the event. The individuals filming asked me some basic demographic questions (name, location, major, grad year, etc.). They also asked me a bunch of questions about why I chose SSU, what I hope to gain from my education, future career aspirations, and how I plan to impact the world and my community.

There’s still a lot more I don’t know yet, but I’ll be meeting with someone next week and I’ll have a little more information to share on my next blog.

Week 3

I attended my first meeting this week. I’ve worked in the past with this group on a number of occasions, but I had never attended any of there meetings. I wish I could say I was impressed. It was more like a social hour than anything else. For an entire hour I sat and listened to a group of veterans joke around and make fun of each other. No work was done at all. I guess I kind of expected their meetings to be like that. To be honest, the reason I’ve never attended any of their meetings in the past is because I figured it would be a waste of time. Unless this weeks meeting was not the usual, I got the feeling the real work gets done somewhere else. I haven’t done it yet, but I’m going to be having a conversation with the president of the group to discuss a few things. I’m not interested in “hanging out” during their meetings. If I’m going to attend I want the time to be used usefully.

I know for a fact that there are some projects going on within the group but none of them were discussed. Since I haven’t seen most of the guys in a long time, when they weren’t making fun of each other they were asking me millions of “catch up” questions. I could tell they were trying to figure out if I was going to start being around more often, even after this semester ends. I’m going to have to be sure to set the right expectations. As much as I love my fellow veterans, I haven’t got the time to give at this point in my life. Truly, if this wasn’t a requirement for our course I wouldn’t even be part of this group right now.

One thing they kept talking about is how much travelling they’ve been doing. Apparently the three leaders of the group (Pres. Vice Pres., & Treasurer) have been going to conferences around the country that are sponsored by companies such as Google and Raytheon. If I understood them correctly when they were talking about it, these large corporations hold conferences for student veterans to attend where they can learn more business-oriented type of leadership and development skills. It makes me wonder if they have these types of events for non-business undergrad majors.

Anyway, as I said, I need to have a conversation with the president of the group. Once I do I’ll have a better idea of where I’ll fit in and what my role will be. The last thing I want to do all semester is to be an observer. If I’m going to be part of a group I want to do some work. 

Week 2

I haven’t met with my group yet but I have spoken to the president a few times on the phone. I’ve also spoken with the vice president and the treasurer. I’ve known all three of them for a couple of years.

Although I was never actually a member of the SVO I have worked on a few things with them in the past. They’ve been trying to get me to officially join the group and attend meetings for the past couple of years but I haven’t had the time to give. I’ve definitely lost touch with them recently so it’s nice to be reconnected. It’s going to be hard to stop attending the meetings when the semester ends. But I have to. I honestly don’t have the time to participate in a group while I’m in the MSW program. I’ve already informed the president that I’m only going to be able to participate in the group for one semester.

I’m pretty interested in seeing how the group functions in its meetings. I can’t help but wonder how they manage their time and resources. I know they have a few big projects they are working on but I don’t know how much time they spend discussing them in their meetings.

Group dynamics has always interested me. Just as with any group or population, you never know what you’re going to get when you’re working with a group of veterans. In some cases the group will be as organized as a military unit. Everyone will have a purpose and everything will run smooth. Leadership and roles will be established and ach member will be focused and determined to complete whatever the mission is. But in other cases, the group could be completely disorganized, lacking any quality leadership, and unable to focus on a task, let alone complete one.

I’m really not sure what my role in this group will be yet. I think the hardest part about being in this group will be that I’ll want to participate more than I’ll be able to. If I had more time to invest in this organization I’d be as involved as I possibly could be. For now I just want to attend some meetings and be an observer. If an opportunity arises for me to become more involved with something specific, I’ll probably take it. I guess I won’t know until I go to a couple of meetings.

1st Week

The community organization I decided to participate in is the Student Veterans Organization (SVO) at Salem State. The SVO is actually part of a larger community, as it is a chapter of the Student Veterans of America, which is an organization that provides student veterans with resources and support to succeed in higher education. The SVO at Salem State has a strong focus on the reintegration process that veterans face when they leave the military and find themselves in a classroom.

The SVO is a place for veterans to network and provide and receive peer-to-peer support. They are actively involved in the local community, participate in campus activities, and host a variety of academic and social events. Their mission is to assist veterans in achieving their educational goals and to provide assistance throughout the transition process and beyond.

I’m not quite sure what to expect yet. They only meet twice a month and the first meeting I’m attending will be held on the 17^th. I’m hoping it’s the kind of meeting that they talk about some of the issues they’re working on addressing, or some of the projects they’re working on. It will be nice to see how the meetings are structured, if there is any structure at all. Once I go to the first meeting and get a better idea of how things are structured and what my role will be I’ll feel a little better.

I’m also hoping to see what type of interaction there is between the SVO and the Student Veterans of America. I’d like to learn more about how they operate the chapters and what type of involvement there is. For example, I want to find out if the SVO is responsible for raising money or making donations to the larger organization. I want to see what they have to do to be called a “chapter” of the Student Veterans of America. I want to learn about how smaller communities operate as parts of larger communities.