Artist review

I feel that the most interesting point of my visits was the first interview I had with Codi. Some questions I had were directed towards the organization and some towards the types of people working and the people attending. First I asked about the neighborhood and inquired as to why they had chosen that particular one. First she informed me that this was one of two ONG facilities and after that came the really interesting stuff. She told me that this was one of the two poorest areas in Milwaukee, and that the graduation rate of high school seniors was only at 60%. However, despite both of those I found out that the community had a great sense of pride in things it did. This was most evident in the kid’s decision to try and get ahead in school by going to ONG and seeking home work help. From there I wondered what amount of help they received came from college students who need it for class and actual concerned community members. After posing this question to her she replied that about 80% of the help they have per semester is from students who need the hours for a class. I figured that this number would be high, just not that high. From there my focus moved from the volunteers to the actual students themselves. I inquired about the students and their situations. I learned that they had a wide variety of backgrounds among their students. Some come from nowhere, in and out of friends houses because a drug dependent mother can’t take care of them, much less herself. While they had some at the very bottom they also had some at the top, with an almost picture perfect family life, and everyone else was found somewhere along that line. When we concluded our interview I got to meet with the kids and get their opinions on the volunteers and ONG. It was nice to see such a lively bunch, especially since I felt very awkward just taking pictures. Although, they made it a lot easier on me by being so easy to deal with! I asked them what they had learned which was most useful. The most decisive answer came from Devon who said that filling out applications was the best thing he had learned. I also asked what volunteers could do to help them, there answer was unanimous and simple; inquire more about the students as a person and not as a student. I look forward to spending more time with the kids from ONG. I know I can teach them something and I think they have something to teach me as well.

My ONG experience

When I first got to Our Next Generations facility I met with Codi. She was very nice and in between dealing with her high school students she answered my questions and had me fill out the volunteer application. I still had many questions to ask, some dealing with the interview and some just out of curiosity. With that I was very hungry so she invited me to have dinner with them. She introduced me to a lot of people and they were anything but camera shy. We had pizza and it was delicious. Especially since I didn't have to cook it!