November is finally coming to a close. As I look back and reflect it has been a pretty productive and successful month. I spent this month focusing on volunteering, studying for class, and buckling down for the MCAT. This month I had the opportunity to help out the edible schoolyard of NOLA once again, and this time was able to participate in two projects. First, classmates and I helped out with a weekend garden day where we moved mulch, planted some veggies, and did some painting. We came together to clean and enhance the local schoolyards garden. My second event for edible schoolyard was the iron chef event. This was my favorite volunteer experience thus far. There were 8 chefs who paired up with volunteers and a group of kids where we made a signature dish for a group judges which had to incorporate the secret ingredient (papaya). My group came up with the idea of a papaya salad, and to be honest I was skeptical at first. However, our chef turned it into a great salad that everyone was happy with. My last volunteer escapade of the month was the day before Thanksgiving where my aunt and I went to the local food shelter in Ohio to serve the homeless a nice Thanksgiving dinner. This was a first for me as I have never volunteered at a food shelter before. Being able to see how thankful and gracious the homeless were for a nice warm Thanksgiving meal was pretty mind-boggling, and I have to look back and realize how thankful I am to grow up with a roof over my head, food, and a place to sleep every night.

See you in January!

November hours: 12
Total: 25