Journal Entry #5 Final Reflection

In this blog entry I want to talk about the closing of our Malaria 5k project and a final reflection of the course. I have to admit, when Professor Satkoski told us about a previous Malaria project that had a terrible turn out, it had me worried about ours. She told us about how a group did all this effort to put together a great event but didn't advertise enough to racers and only around 8-12 people showed up. I was afraid ours would turn out the same way. We did all this work, advertised on campus and nearby businesses and shops, but I felt we didn't hit the population that would actually care enough, or enjoy running enough to come out. But to my surprise we had around 50 people show up! It was a very pleasant surprise at that, to know our group efforts helped raise around 1,000 dollars to help out the families in need over in the African villages. Even my Social Problems professor showed up, who was the oldest guy at the event. I was very happy to see him, and find out that he placed in the top 5, and 1st in his age group. He won a nice dinner for him and his wife to Carrabba's. Even some students from my Social Problems class showed up, as my professor offered extra credit to those who showed up for the cause. It was a very nice turn out and I was very happy that our efforts made a difference in our community as well as in another one, a great distance away.
One of our fellow group mates works at NBC as an intern and he helped us gain some extra credit of our own by putting together a news report that actually aired on the news. It was very exciting to see that our project and event were going to be spread even further into the community. His news report is going to be included in the powerpoint presentation that we're going to put on for the class April 14th. I'm looking forward to telling our classmates how our project and event turned out, and maybe some of them will be interested in helping out in the future. I'm also very interested to see how their projects and events turned out, and how they affected those that participated. I hope they had the success that we were fortunate enough to have.
Other than the book we had to read, I am very happy about this course. The project we had to do, the movies we watched (especially the Last Lecture), and all the other activities we did, helped us get together as a class and talk about how to make a difference. I'm glad I got involved with the community. It's a great feeling to know that not only did you make a huge difference in your own community, but that you also made a huge one in a community on another continent. I made new friends, put together an amazing event that helped other people get involved and make a difference, and leave the project feeling great. I made a difference and had fun doing it. That's what it's all about.