Maria Gonzales

This experience has influenced my future career goals by incorporating ways I can help nature bloom especially with pollution and climate change being one of our big issues I todays world.
I learned how Overton Park is big and has nice pathways to go for a run which is why it is important for volunteers to help out to conserve parks for Memphians and tourists to enjoy!
In this service, I met another Memphis student. She is a psychology major and was very interesting seeing her perspective on this service because she thought removing invasive plants was harming the environment since she thought it was part of nature for those invasive plants to get there through birds, wind, etc.
I will continue to volunteer with this organization since I want Memphis to become better and have nice things for us to stay rather to leave.
Next time I volunteer, I will bring gloves and download an app to help distinguish different types of plants.

This experience has influenced my future career goals by working hard to gain financial stability to one day be able to donate to places like this that do good for the community.
Doing this service has shown me how Memphis has a big homeless population. Driving down Cleveland street really shows how it is an issue that needs to be addressed and fixed.
Working with familiar faces definitely helps create a sense of community and wholeness. I enjoy helping in what I can!
I plan on continuing to volunteer with this organization to continue this great work for the community of Memphis.
A challenge that I faced was not being able to guess how many plates to make since it was raining. Rain is a factor to how many homeless people come up to pick up a plate of food. However, it is better to have left over food than being short! Always have extra is helpful.

This experience influenced my career goals by incorporating ways I can give back to my community; it is important to keep parks nice and clean for us to enjoy so we can encourage healthy lifestyles.
I learned how Shelby Farms is a very big park which needs a lot of maintenance; volunteers contribute a lot to help maintain this park nice and friendly while creating new connections with other volunteers.
During this service I met another student from UofM and she is majoring in computer science; I learned a few things about computer science since I am not that good in technology.
I will continue to volunteer at Shelby Farms since I love to have picnics and walk the trails with my family and friends.
Next time I volunteer I will definitely try to bring some friends so we can pick up more trash and bring some gloves and water bottles!

This experience has influenced me to continue serving my community and maybe one day doing something similar to this organization to keep motivating others to uplift one another.
I learned how the word of mouth is powerful which is how most of the homeless people know about this place.
I worked along other volunteers to make this happen and it was nice feeling part of something good and learn their ways to fix so many plates.
I will continue to volunteer with this organization because I support these kinds of actions especially in my hometown Memphis where we see a lot of homeless people and people who struggle to eat a meal.
Next time, I will definitely be more efficient since I now know what is expected and how and where things are located.

This experience influenced me to visit job fairs to be familiar with different companies around the city and see what opportunities there are.
One thing I learned about this event was that job fairs are very helpful to those who may not have had the opportunity to learn how to create a resume or learn where to apply to a job. The companies present were very kind and even guided the attendees how and where to apply for their available jobs.
Volunteering with Latino Memphis has brought me closer to them and feel welcomed and each one of them teach me something new about the community and resources.
I will continue to volunteer with this organization because I enjoy being able to help in anything I can and offer kindness while doing so since minorities like the Latino community face discrimination in these typical settings.
The organization and event align with my personal beliefs because I believe everyone should be able to have access to new job opportunities and try something different to expand their horizon.

This event has influenced my future career in community health; I love community work definitely see myself being a community health nurse in the city of Memphis.
I learned so much from this event on how minorities like Hispanics take advantage of free vaccines because of how expensive it can be at a doctor's office or do not qualify for insurance.
During the event, I worked alongside an Rn from UT and she gave me insight on the different jobs she has had as an Rn which has opened new ideas on different types of nursing careers I had not considered.
I will definitely continue volunteering with his great organization because I support accessible health especially to groups of people that struggle getting basic health needs.
I definitely need to work on my medical words in spanish to be able to sound more professional when explaining their results from their blood pressure reading.

I enjoyed the evening helping writing postcards which influenced my future educational goals to do more projects like this to create a sense of community.
I learned how this non-profit organization focuses on getting young adults involved in voting and using the best out of their right!
I worked along other groups of people getting about 450 postcards done which made the job get done faster and efficiently.
I will definitely continue in volunteering with this organization because of the kind people and meaningful events.
I was kind of scared when I realized I have never really wrote a formal postcard but Adrianna was super helpful in showing me how to do one!

1. My direct service benefits the members of Memphis by having a cleaner neighborhood and streets.
2. I served the South Memphis community. Everyone seemed very appreciative for picking up trash which most people would not do. My service will benefit the people from that area by having clean side walks and streets to walk on and enjoy being outside.
3. The service did align with my personal values because I believe littering is one of the worst things you can do and actively working in your city will make it better instead of leaving and not changing anything about it.
4. I learned that a lot of people from that community enjoy walking on the streets or sitting in their front porch which is why I think this act of service will definitely be enjoyed and appreciated by them.
5. I do plan on continuing volunteering with them because I love seeing the immediate impact I am doing as I am picking up every piece of trash and seeing a difference.

1. My service benefits the members of Memphis by providing a clean neighborhood that may be neglected by the city.
2. I served the members of South Memphis by cleaning up trash from the streets and surround neighborhoods. As I and other volunteers were picking up trash, many cars honked at us or rolled down their window to say thank you and show appreciation for our work.
3. I developed communication skills in this service project since I was in a group with a freshman in college, senior in high school and two adults working for the Grizzlies. I had to communicate well differently because the age difference to get work done and get along.
4. The service did align with my personal values and beliefs since I do believe we should invest in the city than leave. Cleaning up as members of Memphis is going to benefit the city so it does not look trashed or abandoned and encourage others to invest in Memphis.
5. I think this service impacted me in a way that made volunteering fun! I think I’m going to volunteer more with this organization since I love the idea of picking up trash in Memphis to make it a nice place to live, walk, and enjoy the city’s beauty. I think if more organizations did this in several neighborhoods Memphis would be so much cleaner and better place to walk.

1.) My direct service benefited the Spay Memphis have their fundraiser event set up by helping them set up chairs and tables and help as needed.
2.) I served a non-profit organization and they were glad I was able to help in whatever they needed since it is one of their most important event of the year.
3.) I developed time management skills since I had to be diligent with how I used my time preparing and setting up since there was a timeline.
4.) The service did align with my personal values since I was helping for a good cause; their fundraiser is to be able to keep spaying/neutering animals in the city of Memphis and I love dogs and cats!
5.) I do plan on volunteering with them in the future since their volunteer hours are flexible and can do it on the weekends when I do not have class or other obligations.