The Poly Project Needs Your Help Getting To D.C.!

Hello readers! It has been quite some time since my last post but, with numb fingers and frostbite courtesy of the snowstorms slamming the East Coast, I needed time to heal. Ok, perhaps I am exaggerating about the frostbite however, the frigid temperatures are the truth! Nevertheless, I am back and writing because I need your help with a project that I am heavily involved in. Want to know more? Keep reading!

Working at the NYU School of Engineering, I have the pleasure of working with a diverse group of students who are committed to academic excellence, dedicated to serving others and passionate about expanding their minds. When thinking about the service to others, the Poly Project comes to mind and their upcoming service trip to D.C.! Starting to catch on? Well, TPP needs your help in the fundraising department and below you will find all of the information regarding the trip:

The Poly Project is an initiative through the Office of Student Activities with the purpose of providing community service opportunities for the School of Engineering student body and building a community of service-oriented students.

This spring semester, The Poly Project is offering its first ever overnight service trip to Washington, D.C. to volunteer with Youth Service Opportunities Project to address homelessness and hunger.

The Service Trip Team is comprised of 20 students and 2 staff members. The team is tasked to fundraise at least $2,000 to cover transportation, lodging, food, and service fees as a group. To fundraise for the outing, we have set up a GoFundMe link in which you can click here for more information: http://www.gofundme.com/TPPGoes2DC

What will we be doing?

Volunteers will prepare and serve meals at soup kitchens; they will provide recreational activities and companionship to young, formerly homeless children; they will distribute food and supplies at food pantries; they will socialize and bring snacks to people in drop-in centers. Occasionally they will join in special projects we have been asked to staff, such as painting a new shelter with residents or distributing clothing at a clothing bank.

T H A N K    Y O U

Your donation is an investment. Your contribution allows The Poly Project to enhance students' learning experiences outside of the classroom, raising awareness of "real world" issues allowing students to see themselves as change agents and problem solvers. Our vision is for our participants to become and develop as multicultural community builders who see justice beyond charity, compassion beyond blames and stereotypes, diversity beyond tolerance, and social responsibility beyond self.

For more information about the Washington, D.C. Service Trip, please click the following link:  http://engineering.nyu.edu/life/studentactivities/the-poly-project/altbreak

Again, thank you all for your time and help and fingers crossed that this goes off without a hitch!

XOXO,

Whitney

A Toast To The Gleam In 2015!

Hello readers. My oh my has it been quite some time since our last correspondence. Let me bring you up to speed regarding the details of events: we have transitioned from Autumn to Winter, I, along with the members of my Higher Education cohort, have completed the first semester of graduate school, and, it is finally 2015. Yes, as you are reading this, the ball in Times Square has dropped and it is January 1, 2015. I won't even ask, "can you believe it?" because frankly, as we know…time waits for no one. So, in an effort to be mindful of your time, I'll keep this post brief. 

As we wade through the Facebook statuses, the Twitter updates and the Instagram posts that all center on life lived in 2014, the lessons learned in 2014 and what takeaways will be the foundation for our 2015's, I find that my thoughts are reminiscent of two songs beautifully sung by a man so eloquently dubbed, 'Ol Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra. Those two songs are "My Way" and "New York, New York". I know, one is a song so dreary and usually reserved for saying your final goodbyes while the other is so upbeat, so optimistic and so reassuring that even when you move and/or live in NYC and you're down on your luck, because you have that wherewithal, hustle and grit, you'll come out on the other side. Now, what do those two have to do with ushering in 2015. Well, I'll show you.

With lines in which Sinatra says, 

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

To only continue to sing and then say, 

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way,
"Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way"

In essence, we spent our 2014 living, laughing, crying, regretting and in the midst of that cycle, we did it our way. We didn't bend and we didn't cower. And so, if we're going to make 2015 the best one yet, we have to continue doing it….OUR WAY!

As we continue to celebrate, let's all remember to do so in the manner that fits us and is upbeat, optimistic and helps us come out on the other side just like "New York, New York" does. And with that, I say, Happy New Year readers and let's all be kings and queens of our hills and the top of our heaps.

XOXO,

Whitney