Seeing Eugene Through the Looking Glass

I'm not sure that I've adequately raved about where I work. For such a small organization, it certainly has a lot going on. It is, in my opinion, a well-oiled machine. The timelines are in place, people know their tasks and duties, and the product is great.

But more importantly than that, it is a very socially responsible group of people. Each month, we have a staff meeting dedicated to the idea of going green. Last month it was conserving paper, and this month it will be conserving electricity. In addition to that, it is sponsoring a new sort of program where employees (all six of us) can volunteer on work time with a local organization. It's part of our community outreach program, where we can actually practice what we preach! I think that is VERY cool. The program we opted to partner with is Looking Glass Youth & Family Services.

Looking Glass works by incorporating eight different, but complementary, programs, all designed to help at-risk youth in their development and hopefully to succeed. In preparation for our partnership, we toured three of their programs yesterday afternoon. The first was the Riverfront School, a program I was particularly interested in. It's a school for people who don't fit the round peghole public schools have created for them. For whatever reason, these students have found their way to this smaller, student-oriented program, where they can learn life skills and work on THEIR level for academic success. Their culinary students won first place in a contest last year!

The next program was the Counseling Program. With high productivity and few resources, this was one of the most mind-boggling programs as I tried to comprehend ALL that they did...or rather HOW they accomplish all they do. Lastly, we stopped by Station 7, a very cool emergency, short-term shelter for youth in crisis. It's a relatively new program, but it was very focused on helping youth develop life and coping skills, while also helping them build their own foundation.

After work I stopped by Smith Family Books to purchase a book for next week's book club meeting, when I saw a book called "The Heart is Above All Things Deceitful." I thought it might be an interesting read, as it said it was a narrative of a boy'd adventures moving through tough life situations.

Well, the book really hit me hard as I read it last night. It was unfortunately probably realistic, as it narrated the harrowing and TERRIBLE experiences this (fictional...) character endured. I kept reading, in hope that the kiddo would find his way out of these traps, but each one fell deeper and deeper into the hole. It was a fascinating progression and display of the pathology of mental illness or skewed thinking, but I can't bring myself to congratulate the author. Instead I'm filled with sadness, helplessnes, and outright disgust at what adults can bring themselves to do to children.

All of this has weighed very heavily on me today, especially after visiting those programs, where a lot of those kids may have experienced a life not totally unlike the "fictional" character's. Then I watched a video on youtube from Youth Communications, where a young man told his story of being bounced from foster home to foster home, failing school, and finally finding track and field as his way out. In the end he said he lacked confidence in himself and talked about how difficult it was for him to grow up without anyone loving him, believing in him and with no one to trust.

So, I'm thankful. I'm thankful foremost for having parents who brought be me up in an extremely loving and encouraging way. Always, ALWAYS on my side, they never let me doubt my own capabilities and only wanted what was (and still continue to do so) best for me.

And I'm thankful that my organization is allowing me to somehow get out and help Looking Glass help these kids. It's a great opportunity, and I just need to find where I can best fit.

Sorry for the long blog, I just had a lot on my mind.