Blog #8: Mark Bezos, A life lesson from a volunteer firefighter

            I took away from this talk that no matter how insignificant an act of generosity may appear to be, what somebody did for you was still important and valuable. Even though you may feel your act has been overlooked, your act of generosity was equally as important as the act that may have been broadcasted on the news. Also I got out of this that if someone gets assigned the duty of doing something you have always wanted to do, do not do your job halfway just because you did not get assigned what you want.  For example, in music, many singers sing small parts in popular songs that do not get acknowledged. Although I am not a huge fan of Ke$ha, she sang a small part in a song that made the billboard. The acknowledgement was a little late, but it was certainly still there. Her small act of singing a small part in a song even got her so famous that now she is producing new albums by the month of songs that do make the Billboards.

            His presentation style consisted of purely talk. The talk was so short, that there would have been absolutely no time for photos. Also, his story was him saving a burning house. Nobody was going to sit around and take pictures of the burning house while others tried to get all of the necessities out of the house, so he had absolutely no pictures. His presentation did not even need pictures. It was one of those stories where you did not need photos in order to understand the situation. He just sat there and talked. Since the video was only six minutes long, it was not a big deal that he just sat there and talked. I would argue that he did not have much time to show pictures and explain them.

            This connects to me personally, because sometimes when I am doing group projects, I feel as though what I did was practically useless to what the rest of my group did. Sometimes I even feel like what I did was far superior then what any of my group members were doing. However, this video has helped me realize that without the help of my other group members; I might not have gotten the grade that I wanted. Also in lacrosse, I felt as though I was not good enough because I was not starting. Although I came in five minutes after the beginning of the game, I was still equally as important as the girls who started.

            This connects to education, because sometimes when teachers assign students to do certain things, many of the students feel as though they are being punished, because they did not get to the best part. I hope that many students realize that just what they are doing is equally as important as the job that may be coveted by all students. Even teachers may sometimes feel like they got put with the less desirable classes. Even though these teachers are not  teaching the desirable class, I hope that they realize that the teaching the less desired classes is equally as important as the more desirable classes.

            This connects to the world, because everyday people feel as though the kind things they do in this world are unimportant. Many people think that if their boss asks their co-worker to do something else that may appear more important that their boss does not appreciate them. This causes a feeling of unappreciation. This feeling of unappreciation exists within almost every office in almost every state in the United States. If people just realized that the kind things that they do are not overlooked, then they would be better off as a society, because many people feel that it is better to do nothing at all then to do something and feel as though it was overlooked.

David Eggers: Once Upon a School

I took away from this video that through volunteering, many other things in our world can get accomplished. Also I got out of this video that when you volunteer your time, you can really make a change for the positive in whatever you are doing. Through volunteering, you can even positively influence others. For example, whenever a celebrity volunteers, many people view them as a better person and somebody to look up to. Like Dave Eggers, some celebrities have even made it their goal to change the world for the better. Whenever their change is made, it is well noticed.


Cameron Diaz volunteering. Cameron Diaz is an actor with a good reputation for volunteering with certain projects



However, celebrities are not the only ones who can make change happen. Even non-celebrites can make change in this world. Eggers is not the only one who did this.  Many other people have done similar volunteer ideas that have shaped society differently as a whole.

Make A Wish is a foundation that was started by somebody who was not neccessarily famous by any means. Today, it is one of the most sponsored foundations around. Their goal is to give a kid in need a wish.

         Eggers uses a presentation style which has many pictures. I think that this is helpful to the presentation, because many people have never heard of a concept like this in their life. Sure, you may see tutoring centers like Sylvan, but this one consists of volunteers who sacrifice their time in order to improve the student’s quality of education.  The pictures give the audience a more clear understanding of what occurs during these sessions and why this is so important to Eggers.

            This connects to me personally, especially when Dave Eggers mentioned that these students work harder than they ever have before in their life, because they are making a product that is going to the outside world. I know that whenever we have a fishbowl, I am constantly trying to seem as though I am somebody with a plethora of knowledge when we have people from all over the world coming in to watch and discuss the Fishbowl. I work harder than I ever worked for any other book in order to sound like an impressive student with plenty of potential. I believe that the other students also work as hard as they can, because they want to prove the knowledge that they know to the world.
            This connects to education, because through more individual time with the teachers, the students can improve everything at a more efficient pace. The harsh reality is that many teachers do not have time to conference with each of their students in order to help them improve. In order to improve education, I think that schools would be better off if they spent more time working with students somehow. In order to get one-on-one time in, teachers have had students arrange certain times to conference with them that can either be in or out of class. Budget cuts are causing classes to be bigger and less time or chances for the students to learn individually. However,  Arapahoe has something similar to his tutoring program. It is better known as study center. In study center, they have a teacher for every single subject. These teachers can help you in order to become better at what you are doing or to improve your learning. Through this individual time, several students succeed more. However, I think that many students feel that it is unncesscary to go, because they are not always comfortable with who the teacher is.

            This connects to the world, because many teachers are beginning to get the message that in order to improve the quality of the students’ academic lives, they need to begin working with the students individually in order to help them. Many volunteers who have no involvement in teaching students are even beginning to get involved and help out in the education field. Teachers are tired of seeing students struggle due to lower budgets or trouble in general. Also, many people have felt inspiration to prove what students can do. Even in my class, we are doing projects that push students farther than they have ever been pushed before. Many teachers and education volunteers want to push education, including David Eggers, whose volunteers had a book published with students’ work inside of it.