WACO IS NOT AWESOME. Waco is a dumpy college town. If you have no association with Baylor, you honestly have nothing to do. They have extremely high unemployment, homeless, and poverty percentages. School system is rough. No reason to live here. I graduated from Baylor and loved my time in Waco, but who doesn't love college? Graduated and got the heck out.
I volunteer my services annually as a pretester in health fairs. While many of us take getting an eye exam for granted, some families simply don’t have the resources. Sight shouldn’t be a luxury. Living with a blind parent taught me that. Volunteering my services is a way for me to make the community aware of the importance of eye health and proper care.
While visiting my grandmother one night at the hospital a alzheimer’s patient confused me for her daughter. When I asked the nurse about it, this is the reply I got, “Oh, just ignore her. We’ve all told her that her daughter can’t visit her right now.” I decided to sit down and had a conversation with her. It wasn’t much but at the end of our time together I could that the woman was at peace. While a lot of us have families of our own to care for us when we are sick, there are many others who don’t have people to visit us at the hospital, to help carry trays, or take simply take a walk and our busy healthcare workers might not always have the time to tend to emotional needs being occupied in looking after more urgent matters. I now give 4 hours of my week at the local hospital helping in any small way that I can.
I volunteer once a month as a docent at my local museum-- The Norton Simon Museum of Art in Pasadena. At first it started out as a way to brush up on my art facts and test myself, but when I started seeing the effect that it had on the visiting school groups and the genuine interest in the student’s, I realized that not very many people are around to offer up quality knowledge and tught me the importance of donating my time. It’s become a regular activity for me.
In junior high I started volunteering for my local community clean up group, Baldwin Park Beautiful. It was a requirement for all 8th graders moving on to high school to contribute a certan amount of hours, so we were all kind of forced. While I would spend my 2 hours of Saturday morning picking up empty soda cans, paper, plastic bottles and cigarrette buds I wold offen wonder what the park would look like if people took the time to walk over to the trash rather than discarding thing on the floor. This experience made a lifelong impact on me in that it made me a more conscientious adult. I always use the trash can and I think that impacts my community, even in a small way.
Volunteering at the local food bank on holidays and talking to those I normally walk by or dismiss made me realize the importance of contributing my time on non holidays. “You think you’re such a good person because you’re volunteering on Christmas? People don't’ stop being hungry just because it stops being Christmas.” Volunteering isn’t just good for the community. People don’t realize the insights you get and the wisdom that the people you are volunteering for can offer you.
I only wish I had read that before I realized I only came home with a lighter purse with a debt card (the only thing that has money on it), with my girlie crap and my cell phone…. agh!!! fireball is the devil… here is what i get after drinking again after being sober for a while…. effn effen effen sucks
Volunteering at Love Inc. Burlington, WI while not working as a nurse impacted me by showing me how much I have to be grateful for in my everyday life. I worked with mentally handicapped persons whom I have become good friends with and pen-pals. There were people who volunteered with me that knew my family and tragedies that had befallen them and helped me understand this better. The Free Chiropractor they had was the only one to ever understand how a car accident affected my body and helped correct this. This volunteer experience impacted so many areas of my life in so many ways and helped me to see so many things in a new light. I go back often to visit those friends and am always welcomed with a smile and a new story.
Good article. I agree with it all except for point #4. Saving on taxes is not a reason to buy a house, and you should definitely not do it, like the article title suggests, right now. When buying a home, you may get some money back in your return, but you must remember that you are spending 3x the money you receive in your refund to get that 1x refund at the end of the year. Unless is it is a pure real estate investment decision, the money is a side thing to consider, not the main one. In my opinion, buying a home is more of a move for your family and life's goals instead of a monetary one.
You could also become fit without going to the gym. Going out jogging and using your body weight for strength exercises will also get you into shape. Going to the gym is not a prerequisite to getting fit.
Great idea Kelly! I also would recommend asking friends and relatives for power tools and equipment. For example, my dad-in-law has such a big arsenal of drills and power tools that I don't need to buy a thing. Just always make sure to ask nicely, remember to give the tools back on time, and pay back the favor by helping out when needed.
Not everyone is a server for life. It has convenient hours for people such as mothers, college kids, and people who just want to make some extra money on the side. Shame on anyone who wants to say its not a real job, if they're working, its a 'real job'. Better than the people that just sit around waiting for the next welfare check. In my state, gratuity is only applied on parties more than six. Anyone in the business knows a party larger than that requires more of your time to make sure everything goes smoothly. This means either your other tables are getting less attention or you arent taking other tables, which means you're missing out on other potential tips. Regardless, most people I have served are more than happy to pay the 18%, and often above that. I think its a great idea for server hourly pay to be minimum pay. However, if/when that happens, everyone needs to buck up and expect their meals to go up in price! Don't expect a BUSINESS to do something that costs them more money without raising the price of their product. If you want to be cheap, there are plenty of drive-thrus in this country.
I noticed that convenient omission as well. From what I could find, the median income in Waco is about $30,000 a year. I guess if you are a BU professor, Waco seems like a play ground. For the average person, Waco is not "awesome." There is a huge sense of frustration between BU and the average Waco citizen. What is seen is a university that has caused rental prices to escalate. No, the prices are not as high as in some other areas, but Waco residents don't have the salaries found in other areas. This evaluation of Waco is very frustrating to me because I have seen the crime, drugs, and pronounced dichotomy between the haves and the have nots.
It is still the way you remember it. Baylor is IT. If you don't like BU, then this is not the area. I have no idea how it made this list and find it depressing to think of Waco as one of the best or most awesome in the country. Wow. Depressing. I am stuck and only came back to aid my aging parents. This does not list the median income or state that the Waco Independent School has 90% of its students living in poverty. The source of that statistic is Dr. Bonnie Cain, head of the district. The better schools are outside of Waco. I am trying to figure out how on earth the author found Waco to be "hip" or "visionary" in 2014. Wow.
Volunteering once a month at the Local Boys and Girls club and helping kids improve in subjects like math and science has taught me the importance of contributing my time. When you make a difference in a person/ a child, it is my belief that the improvement will have a ripple effect. One improvement begets another.
When my daughter was in grade school, I volunteered at her school library...I started out to get involved in her new school - we had just moved into the school district - and ended up loving the time I spent there...reading to children, suggesting books, helping them sound out the harder words...just loved it.
During high school I volunteered twice a week after school to help tutor my fellow classmates in math. I’d like to think this didn’t only impact me, which it did because I realized that I like to teach and as a byproduct I made some lasting friendships, but I would also like to believe that it impacted my school and my class’s improvement as a whole.
I volunteer for the at Heal the Bay once in a while. While I don’t have as much time as I would like to contribute, when I do make it out, I remember why I do it and why it impacts me in the way it does. Whether you volunteer alone, with friends, or with strangers, by the end of the day your volunteer group has formed a community. You’ve all bonded in the best way possible, by making the world a little bit better with your own two hands.
I used to make home made toys out of hemp, her fav was a bunch of it in a big knot ball. I never liked the thought of socks and other things with plactic or man made fibers. A dog would eat grass and plats in the wild but not plastic, there gut cant deal with it, goes in and comes out the same. What does every one think of hemp or nature made toys like just a sick? I was really wondering what everyone thought of hemp? I just got a new puppy and want to make sure it doesnt hurt him?
WACO IS NOT AWESOME. Waco is a dumpy college town. If you have no association with Baylor, you honestly have nothing to do. They have extremely high unemployment, homeless, and poverty percentages. School system is rough. No reason to live here. I graduated from Baylor and loved my time in Waco, but who doesn't love college? Graduated and got the heck out.
I volunteer my services annually as a pretester in health fairs. While many of us take getting an eye exam for granted, some families simply don’t have the resources. Sight shouldn’t be a luxury. Living with a blind parent taught me that. Volunteering my services is a way for me to make the community aware of the importance of eye health and proper care.
While visiting my grandmother one night at the hospital a alzheimer’s patient confused me for her daughter. When I asked the nurse about it, this is the reply I got, “Oh, just ignore her. We’ve all told her that her daughter can’t visit her right now.” I decided to sit down and had a conversation with her. It wasn’t much but at the end of our time together I could that the woman was at peace. While a lot of us have families of our own to care for us when we are sick, there are many others who don’t have people to visit us at the hospital, to help carry trays, or take simply take a walk and our busy healthcare workers might not always have the time to tend to emotional needs being occupied in looking after more urgent matters. I now give 4 hours of my week at the local hospital helping in any small way that I can.
I volunteer once a month as a docent at my local museum-- The Norton Simon Museum of Art in Pasadena. At first it started out as a way to brush up on my art facts and test myself, but when I started seeing the effect that it had on the visiting school groups and the genuine interest in the student’s, I realized that not very many people are around to offer up quality knowledge and tught me the importance of donating my time. It’s become a regular activity for me.
In junior high I started volunteering for my local community clean up group, Baldwin Park Beautiful. It was a requirement for all 8th graders moving on to high school to contribute a certan amount of hours, so we were all kind of forced. While I would spend my 2 hours of Saturday morning picking up empty soda cans, paper, plastic bottles and cigarrette buds I wold offen wonder what the park would look like if people took the time to walk over to the trash rather than discarding thing on the floor. This experience made a lifelong impact on me in that it made me a more conscientious adult. I always use the trash can and I think that impacts my community, even in a small way.
Volunteering at the local food bank on holidays and talking to those I normally walk by or dismiss made me realize the importance of contributing my time on non holidays. “You think you’re such a good person because you’re volunteering on Christmas? People don't’ stop being hungry just because it stops being Christmas.” Volunteering isn’t just good for the community. People don’t realize the insights you get and the wisdom that the people you are volunteering for can offer you.
volunteering at the free clinic!
Awesome ideas!!!!!!!!!
I only wish I had read that before I realized I only came home with a lighter purse with a debt card (the only thing that has money on it), with my girlie crap and my cell phone…. agh!!! fireball is the devil… here is what i get after drinking again after being sober for a while…. effn effen effen sucks
Volunteering at Love Inc. Burlington, WI while not working as a nurse impacted me by showing me how much I have to be grateful for in my everyday life. I worked with mentally handicapped persons whom I have become good friends with and pen-pals. There were people who volunteered with me that knew my family and tragedies that had befallen them and helped me understand this better. The Free Chiropractor they had was the only one to ever understand how a car accident affected my body and helped correct this. This volunteer experience impacted so many areas of my life in so many ways and helped me to see so many things in a new light. I go back often to visit those friends and am always welcomed with a smile and a new story.
Good article. I agree with it all except for point #4. Saving on taxes is not a reason to buy a house, and you should definitely not do it, like the article title suggests, right now. When buying a home, you may get some money back in your return, but you must remember that you are spending 3x the money you receive in your refund to get that 1x refund at the end of the year. Unless is it is a pure real estate investment decision, the money is a side thing to consider, not the main one. In my opinion, buying a home is more of a move for your family and life's goals instead of a monetary one.
You could also become fit without going to the gym. Going out jogging and using your body weight for strength exercises will also get you into shape. Going to the gym is not a prerequisite to getting fit.
Great idea Kelly! I also would recommend asking friends and relatives for power tools and equipment. For example, my dad-in-law has such a big arsenal of drills and power tools that I don't need to buy a thing. Just always make sure to ask nicely, remember to give the tools back on time, and pay back the favor by helping out when needed.
Not everyone is a server for life. It has convenient hours for people such as mothers, college kids, and people who just want to make some extra money on the side. Shame on anyone who wants to say its not a real job, if they're working, its a 'real job'. Better than the people that just sit around waiting for the next welfare check. In my state, gratuity is only applied on parties more than six. Anyone in the business knows a party larger than that requires more of your time to make sure everything goes smoothly. This means either your other tables are getting less attention or you arent taking other tables, which means you're missing out on other potential tips. Regardless, most people I have served are more than happy to pay the 18%, and often above that. I think its a great idea for server hourly pay to be minimum pay. However, if/when that happens, everyone needs to buck up and expect their meals to go up in price! Don't expect a BUSINESS to do something that costs them more money without raising the price of their product. If you want to be cheap, there are plenty of drive-thrus in this country.
I noticed that convenient omission as well. From what I could find, the median income in Waco is about $30,000 a year. I guess if you are a BU professor, Waco seems like a play ground. For the average person, Waco is not "awesome." There is a huge sense of frustration between BU and the average Waco citizen. What is seen is a university that has caused rental prices to escalate. No, the prices are not as high as in some other areas, but Waco residents don't have the salaries found in other areas. This evaluation of Waco is very frustrating to me because I have seen the crime, drugs, and pronounced dichotomy between the haves and the have nots.
It is still the way you remember it. Baylor is IT. If you don't like BU, then this is not the area. I have no idea how it made this list and find it depressing to think of Waco as one of the best or most awesome in the country. Wow. Depressing. I am stuck and only came back to aid my aging parents. This does not list the median income or state that the Waco Independent School has 90% of its students living in poverty. The source of that statistic is Dr. Bonnie Cain, head of the district. The better schools are outside of Waco. I am trying to figure out how on earth the author found Waco to be "hip" or "visionary" in 2014. Wow.
I'm always blown away by the passion that people in the animal rescue world have. It's just so inspiring!
Volunteering once a month at the Local Boys and Girls club and helping kids improve in subjects like math and science has taught me the importance of contributing my time. When you make a difference in a person/ a child, it is my belief that the improvement will have a ripple effect. One improvement begets another.
Crisis help line provided important experiences in helping others.
When my daughter was in grade school, I volunteered at her school library...I started out to get involved in her new school - we had just moved into the school district - and ended up loving the time I spent there...reading to children, suggesting books, helping them sound out the harder words...just loved it.
During high school I volunteered twice a week after school to help tutor my fellow classmates in math. I’d like to think this didn’t only impact me, which it did because I realized that I like to teach and as a byproduct I made some lasting friendships, but I would also like to believe that it impacted my school and my class’s improvement as a whole.
I volunteer for the at Heal the Bay once in a while. While I don’t have as much time as I would like to contribute, when I do make it out, I remember why I do it and why it impacts me in the way it does. Whether you volunteer alone, with friends, or with strangers, by the end of the day your volunteer group has formed a community. You’ve all bonded in the best way possible, by making the world a little bit better with your own two hands.
Love that! Thank you for giving two lucky kitties a wonderful home!
You sound just like me! One day I hope to be able to open my own animal rescue. :)
I used to make home made toys out of hemp, her fav was a bunch of it in a big knot ball. I never liked the thought of socks and other things with plactic or man made fibers. A dog would eat grass and plats in the wild but not plastic, there gut cant deal with it, goes in and comes out the same. What does every one think of hemp or nature made toys like just a sick? I was really wondering what everyone thought of hemp? I just got a new puppy and want to make sure it doesnt hurt him?