Moving Forward
It's hard to believe, but it was basically a year ago now that Dave Cygielman approached me about writing a piece for the foundation. Now, one year later, I'm able to look back and see how far I've come with the foundation. Believe me when I say that this has been the absolute best learning experience I could have ever hoped for from a first time job, both personally and professionally. I have been able to develop skills in a number of different areas, from, for example, writing, managing others and being managed, budgeting, working under deadlines, business relations, and employee-employer expectations. From simply watching others to doing these things myself, a have been able to soak up a host of skills to aid me well into the future. However, the truly unique part of this job has been the personal development it has allowed. I have been given the time and resources by the foundation to look within myself and discover my core values and how to apply them to success, how to manage conflict, how to logically and effectively set achievable goals and to expect the best from myself. The quote I take most from this past year (and I do have many that I hold close to heart) is "be unreasonable" - to be unreasonable with my abilities, with my potential, with my dreams and goals, because once you start reaching for a goal beyond your initial goal, that first goal becomes all the easier to achieve. And this has all come only in the first year, so who knows what the future holds...
So we have some exciting marketing pieces coming the foundation's way very soon. First, Aaron Schiff has been working on a DVD chronicling the foundation that should be completed in the next few weeks. Also in the coming weeks, we will have a brochure that fully explains the work of the Forest Foundation. I'm excited to see both these projects come to fruition. They'll be a simple and fun way to explain the foundation, while aesthetically expressing our creativity.
Logan
Lonely Office
It's a lonely office this week as I am the sole employee in the International Headquarters. Dave and Jordan are up in Big Bear right now chaperoning a high school trip, and will be there through Friday. In the meantime, I'm burying myself in the book I've been writing and trying to crank it out. It's a slow process, and I'm not producing an extraordinary amount of work, but the quality is the best I feel that I've written. So I'll take that trade-off, quality over quantity, and as long as I continue to do the best work that I can, the foundation should be well represented.
Logan
Friday
It's Friday, a beautiful one at that, and the whole team's here at Forest Foundation International Headquarters. Friday's are special here, and I feel like I should share that with everyone. In general, Friday's always have a laid back vibe to them, and a lot of people mistake that vibe for meaning they don't really have to do any work. However, I feel Friday's at our office are special because we're able to maintain that positive Friday vibe while remaining productive throughout the day. It's a great day here, and hope it's a great day for everyone else.
Logan
Blogging
Sometimes when we meet with a new student interested in joining the Forest Foundation, it's tough for them to pinpoint an exact program that they would like to work on. So we talk things out with, asking what their passions are, what they do for fun, what academic interests they have, what age groups they feel most comfortable with, etc. Sooner or later we're able to boil their answers down, connect them with a gap we see in community programming, and the student's on their way to developing a new program. I mention this because as I was sitting at my desk and preparing to write this very blog, it occurred to me that I had absolutely no clue as to what I was going to write about. This actually happens fairly often, believe it or not. So I go through kind of the same process that we go through with students who don't know what to do. I ask myself what has happened recently that I was excited about, what big or small events has the foundation put on, what's going on with the students, etc. Usually after running through a protracted internal monologue regarding these questions while staring out the window behind my desk, I arrive at a point of clarity and simply begin typing. By this time, I usually know exactly what I want to say, but, occasionally, I still have no idea how things will turn out.
Logan
International Parties
We're working on setting up some international Jewish New Years celebrations right now. It's a very exciting time and a tremendous opportunity to do something incredible across the globe. I feel like this is something we're all very talented at, throwing parties.
Logan
Quality People
I met today with a student I work with, Aaron Schiff, and realized how much the Program Directors actually mean to the foundation, and myself. Aaron, like many other P.D.'s, isn't just another face in the foundation, but someone I genuinely enjoy spending time with and getting to know. And I have this feeling for many students in the foundation. It just goes to show that this foundation is so much more than a job; it's an opportunity. An opportunity to interact with others and discover the true value of social interaction and commitment. This lesson, I believe, could not have been learned without first coming to realize that it is quality people that make up the foundation.
Logan
Back in Action
We had a great three day camping trip up in Big Sur last week, and now we're all back in Santa Barbara and back to business. I feel totally refreshed after last week's camping trip. I was able to put some things into focus and re-energize myself for the summer months ahead. I'm feeling very positive right now. It's a great day to get back in action.
Logan
Camping
Tomorrow the full-time staff will be embarking upon a three day camping retreat. It offers us the opportunity to refresh and begin the summer on a positive note. I'm very excited about it. Getting away from time to time is crucial to maintaining a healthy and active mind when working. An added bonus is that I'm friends with all the full-timers as well. It should be fun, I'm looking forward to it.
Logan
Summer
Today marks the official start of summer for the Forest Foundation as much has happened over the weekend. Commencement ceremonies took place for UCSB this weekend, and many students are now leaving for home or various other summer activities. Also, Morris left the country for extended travels and will be gone indefinitely. That leaves the full-time staff with the interesting proposition of the best way to keep the foundation moving forward during the "slow" period of the year. I think this actually presents us with the latitude to come up with a lot of intriguing new ideas. I don't have the slightest clue as to what those ideas are, but it's exciting to even have the possibility to be that creative. Now we just have to make the next steps...
Logan
Graduation
It's graduation weekend here in Santa Barbara, so things are getting pretty hectic. The city overloads its capacity for the next three days as thousands of families come to mark the occasion of UCSB graduation. Although the next three days are crazy, after that it returns to a sleepy little city for the next three months, and that's the way I like it. A heartfelt congratulations is sent out to all the foundation's graduating seniors: may your future be bright and happy. We thank you for all the great work you've done, and wish you the best of luck. Cheers.
Logan
Graduations and Congratulations
The Forest Foundation had nearly fifty participants this year and some of them are graduating this weekend from UCSB. The town of Santa Barbara will be filled with enthusiastic family members, congratulatory friends, and hopeful classmates. We at the Forest Foundation want to extend our warmest thanks and highest hopes for all of your immediate and extended futures.
DWF
Newsletter
Today I received the new newsletter from Jessica McNamara, our fellow in charge of creating it, and I can't say how pleased I am with it. I thought that the last newsletter was a piece of art, but this one even surpasses the last. It's very gratifying to see the pride that Jessica's obviously taking in her work. The fellows who you can really tell put their all into their work really make what I do all worthwhile. Good work comes from feeding off the good work of others, and this newsletter has truly energized me. I can't wait until everyone can see it.
Logan
Finals
It's finals week at UCSB, and our fellows are studying hard to close out the school year well. However, a few of our fellows are SBCC students, and they have been done for weeks. Those students have programs in high gear, while the UCSB students taking finals have programs that are sort of idling this week. This just demonstrates how diverse the foundation has become this year, and as we incorporate more students from more universities, there will truly never be any "down time" in the foundation.
Logan
Guest Blog: Aaren Alpert
The following was written by new fellow Aaren Alpert:
Aaren Alpert was born and raised in Los Angeles, where she lived with her parents and three sisters. Before beginning as a sophomore at UCSB, Aaren spent her freshman year of college in Israel. She is very excited to be working for the foundation and looks forward to continuing the creation of her programs (Women’s Dinner and Rape Prevention Education) with all of the talented people that work in the Forest Foundation.
Guest Blog: Aaron Melamed
The following was written by new fellow Aaron Melamed, working on a guitar class at Adams Elementary:
Aaron Melamed has played guitar since he was 12 years old. In high school, he was fortunate enough to have his music teacher take him under his wing to get top of the line musical training. He studied jazz theory, jazz guitar, jazz piano, and formal music theory intensively in high school. His passion for guitar is now being used to teach young children at Adams Elementary School in Santa Barbara, CA.
His class is a basic approach with an emphasis on simple chords. Students learn the basic techniques such as curvature in the fingers, where to properly place the fingers within the fret, how to mute strings, and other simple techniques. Students also learn the basic terminology of guitar, such as chords, frets, and notes of the string, among other things. For many of these children, it is their first chance to play guitar and become a rockstar!
