Sioux Falls, South Dakota
September 10th- September 17th
Theme of the week: Education
Theme of the week: Education
Kathy and Larry Pulford
Pleun (The Netherlands) Jai Yu (China)
9-10-18 Monday
Travel Day! We rode on the bus for six hours from Nebraska to South Dakota. I sat next to Mary on the bus. She wanted to pick my brain about my political views, and my faith. She had so many questions related to the hot topics of the world, and how they relate back to the Christian faith. It was really cool to have someone ask me what I believed, especially when she had VERY opposing views. I learned a lot about her perspective of the world, and it opened my eyes to the worldview many people have. I also inspired her to buy a bible and dig into The Word of God to find answers. We arrived at the Catholic High School, and met our new host family. They are an old couple who live one block away from the school. Pleun and I are hosted together, and its SO FUN!
9-11-18 Tuesday
Today was our community service day in South Dakota. I worked at the Bishop Dudley House for 5 hours. This is a homeless shelter that has accommodations for 80 men, 20 women, and 7 families to sleep. There was a crew of 12 people from the cast and we worked very hard at this CA. We picked up trash around the city, we did flowerbed beautification in the shelter, we deep cleaned the beds, the lobby, the kitchen, and many rooms. It was a lot of hard work, but it was rewarding to see all the work that we had done in the area. We got to interact with some of the residents, and a lot of them were in really bad situation. Bishop Dudley helps people with low income get back on their feet. It was a great experience, but not the most fun Community Service Project.
9-12-18 Wednesday
I was a crew leader for St. Michael Catholic Schools. We did international visitor, and personal flag workshops with elementary school kids. It was so cool to see the kids react to people from other countries. When Oliver started speaking Danish, Karolijn started speaking Dutch, and Uriel started speaking Spanish, the kids eyes lit up with curiosity. This school had the most well-behaved kids of any school I have ever been to. They were asking very intellectual questions, and stayed engaged throughout the entire workshop. It was great to get experience teaching five different age groups during the day. This was my first CA in a school, and it was such a positive experience. I can't wait to be a teacher!
9-13-18 Thursday
Today I was crew leader at Roosevelt High School where a group of singers did a vocal workshop with choir classes. We did the "Take a Stand" workshop and asked questions about immigration. Then we related their perspectives and responses back to the song "Through your Eyes" in our show. We got to teach them the vocals for that song, and also the meaning behind the song. So many of the students were impacted by this to the point of tears. It was obvious that kids in this school never get the opportunities to talk about global issues. One girl shared her story about her father being a legal immigrant and STILL receiving hate, discrimination, and shame. This topic has never affected me before. I was always so quick to brush it off and not care about it, but today it became real to me. Watching that girl break down in tears in front of all her friends in school was so impactful. She had so much pain from an issue that has never affected me. Every time I sing that song in the show now will be so much more meaningful. I learned that I REALLY want to be a choir director for high school age students. One girl said that she faces so much judgments, cruelty, hatred, bias, and prejudice every where else in the world except when she is in the four walls of her choir room. I want to be the teacher who creates a safe environment for kids to grow and learn. I was inspired by this choral program, and I'm so eager to teach music. Also, the choir director student taught at Prior Laker for Mr. Hassig. The other choir director went to Concordia College in Moorhead, and new Matthew Culluton. I have so many rich connections in the world, and it's so exciting. I have been working on doing things that scare me everyday, and today I did two! The first was completely leading the Workshop about Immigration. I had to speak in front of 80 teenagers, and get them to think critically about their lives and communities. Then, during the lunch period, I walked up to the principal and asked to make an announcement about Up With People in front of the whole cafeteria. She gave me the microphone, and I talked about UWP and our booth. Everyone in my cast was so shocked that I was on the other side of the cafeteria getting kids excited about UWP and recruiting them. I also found out that everyone who was picked for this workshop was over 21, and I was the only one who was 18! It feel good to be chosen to do the hardest school workshop, especially one involving my desired career field, as the youngest person. Today was such a eye-opening day!
9-14-18 Friday
We had two school shows today in the O'Gorman High School theater. The first was for all the high school students, and the second was for all middle and elementary kids. We had all the seats filled in both shows, and we really impacted the students. Then our host family went to the O'Gorman Football game, and we met up with many other host families there. It was fun to be back in high school and see cheerleaders, marching bands, dance lines, and hype student sections. I miss Friday Night Lights at PLHS.
9-15-18 Saturday
Host Family Day!! Larry took Pleun, Jia Yu, and I up to Sioux Falls to see the waterfall. We saw many people from the cast there again. The falls were beautiful. Then we took a trolly downtown, and got a tour of the city. We walked around in shops, ate lunch, and looked at the sculptures. We were so tired that when we got home, we all took power naps. Then my family came in and picked me up! I got to see Mom, Dad, Josie, Tali, Grandma, Grandpa, Amy, and her three cast mates. We all ate a spaghetti dinner at Nancy's house and talked about the wonders of Up With People. It was so nice to be reunited with family, and have them experience a little bit of what I do everyday.
9-16-18 Sunday
We had two shows today, and everyone from Minnesota was there to watch and support. During the first show, Bill, Carleen, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Josie, Tali, Ken, Mary, Amy, Serena, Sam, and Alexa all came to see the show. I was so overwhelmed with joy just knowing that I had people in the audience. As I started to sing Keep Hope Alive, I looked into the audience and saw two rows of people I knew crying and taking videos. It was a very special moment for me. Then in the second show, Alex, Sebastian, and Madi all came to the show. By the end, Serena and Sebastian both applied and interviewed for Up With People. It was so cool to see my friends by so amazed by what I was doing to then sign up for the same thing. Then we had to strike, but Alex stayed around to hang out. Sebastian, Alex, Angelis, and I all went out for food afterward, and we got in a little bit of trouble for leaving, but it was fine. It was really hard to say goodbye to family again. I had already made my peace with it, and then when I had to say goodbye again, it opened all those wounds. It was bittersweet, and I feel so blessed to have so many people make the trip to see me. I was on cloud 9 all night.
9-11-18 Tuesday
Today was our community service day in South Dakota. I worked at the Bishop Dudley House for 5 hours. This is a homeless shelter that has accommodations for 80 men, 20 women, and 7 families to sleep. There was a crew of 12 people from the cast and we worked very hard at this CA. We picked up trash around the city, we did flowerbed beautification in the shelter, we deep cleaned the beds, the lobby, the kitchen, and many rooms. It was a lot of hard work, but it was rewarding to see all the work that we had done in the area. We got to interact with some of the residents, and a lot of them were in really bad situation. Bishop Dudley helps people with low income get back on their feet. It was a great experience, but not the most fun Community Service Project.
I was a crew leader for St. Michael Catholic Schools. We did international visitor, and personal flag workshops with elementary school kids. It was so cool to see the kids react to people from other countries. When Oliver started speaking Danish, Karolijn started speaking Dutch, and Uriel started speaking Spanish, the kids eyes lit up with curiosity. This school had the most well-behaved kids of any school I have ever been to. They were asking very intellectual questions, and stayed engaged throughout the entire workshop. It was great to get experience teaching five different age groups during the day. This was my first CA in a school, and it was such a positive experience. I can't wait to be a teacher!
9-13-18 Thursday
Today I was crew leader at Roosevelt High School where a group of singers did a vocal workshop with choir classes. We did the "Take a Stand" workshop and asked questions about immigration. Then we related their perspectives and responses back to the song "Through your Eyes" in our show. We got to teach them the vocals for that song, and also the meaning behind the song. So many of the students were impacted by this to the point of tears. It was obvious that kids in this school never get the opportunities to talk about global issues. One girl shared her story about her father being a legal immigrant and STILL receiving hate, discrimination, and shame. This topic has never affected me before. I was always so quick to brush it off and not care about it, but today it became real to me. Watching that girl break down in tears in front of all her friends in school was so impactful. She had so much pain from an issue that has never affected me. Every time I sing that song in the show now will be so much more meaningful. I learned that I REALLY want to be a choir director for high school age students. One girl said that she faces so much judgments, cruelty, hatred, bias, and prejudice every where else in the world except when she is in the four walls of her choir room. I want to be the teacher who creates a safe environment for kids to grow and learn. I was inspired by this choral program, and I'm so eager to teach music. Also, the choir director student taught at Prior Laker for Mr. Hassig. The other choir director went to Concordia College in Moorhead, and new Matthew Culluton. I have so many rich connections in the world, and it's so exciting. I have been working on doing things that scare me everyday, and today I did two! The first was completely leading the Workshop about Immigration. I had to speak in front of 80 teenagers, and get them to think critically about their lives and communities. Then, during the lunch period, I walked up to the principal and asked to make an announcement about Up With People in front of the whole cafeteria. She gave me the microphone, and I talked about UWP and our booth. Everyone in my cast was so shocked that I was on the other side of the cafeteria getting kids excited about UWP and recruiting them. I also found out that everyone who was picked for this workshop was over 21, and I was the only one who was 18! It feel good to be chosen to do the hardest school workshop, especially one involving my desired career field, as the youngest person. Today was such a eye-opening day!
We had two school shows today in the O'Gorman High School theater. The first was for all the high school students, and the second was for all middle and elementary kids. We had all the seats filled in both shows, and we really impacted the students. Then our host family went to the O'Gorman Football game, and we met up with many other host families there. It was fun to be back in high school and see cheerleaders, marching bands, dance lines, and hype student sections. I miss Friday Night Lights at PLHS.
9-15-18 Saturday
Host Family Day!! Larry took Pleun, Jia Yu, and I up to Sioux Falls to see the waterfall. We saw many people from the cast there again. The falls were beautiful. Then we took a trolly downtown, and got a tour of the city. We walked around in shops, ate lunch, and looked at the sculptures. We were so tired that when we got home, we all took power naps. Then my family came in and picked me up! I got to see Mom, Dad, Josie, Tali, Grandma, Grandpa, Amy, and her three cast mates. We all ate a spaghetti dinner at Nancy's house and talked about the wonders of Up With People. It was so nice to be reunited with family, and have them experience a little bit of what I do everyday.
9-16-18 Sunday
We had two shows today, and everyone from Minnesota was there to watch and support. During the first show, Bill, Carleen, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Josie, Tali, Ken, Mary, Amy, Serena, Sam, and Alexa all came to see the show. I was so overwhelmed with joy just knowing that I had people in the audience. As I started to sing Keep Hope Alive, I looked into the audience and saw two rows of people I knew crying and taking videos. It was a very special moment for me. Then in the second show, Alex, Sebastian, and Madi all came to the show. By the end, Serena and Sebastian both applied and interviewed for Up With People. It was so cool to see my friends by so amazed by what I was doing to then sign up for the same thing. Then we had to strike, but Alex stayed around to hang out. Sebastian, Alex, Angelis, and I all went out for food afterward, and we got in a little bit of trouble for leaving, but it was fine. It was really hard to say goodbye to family again. I had already made my peace with it, and then when I had to say goodbye again, it opened all those wounds. It was bittersweet, and I feel so blessed to have so many people make the trip to see me. I was on cloud 9 all night.
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