Last Blogg

1) if i could describe my Summit experience in one sentence it would be: A learning experience in a different way that help me grow and enjoy the sophmore experience.

2)the aspects that i think will be beneficial from the summit experience , i thinks its the leadership classes we had and also the sense of giving back to the community.

3)the greatest thing i learned from living in summit is that communication is the key for every thing in this world and that without good feedback from all the parts complete team is not possible and that hurts the main goal, hurting the main purpose of the project.

4)i think we made an impact with the drury community , by making people aware of the problems and issues this animals have on a daily bases and that not all the dogs and cats in the world are comfortably in a house with love and comfort.

5)first of all if i wouldnt have had the opportunity to live at summit i would first missed the great commodities this amazing place house has to offer but also i wouldve missed the oportunity to learn valuable leadership skills that we learned in class, but also fun activities like yoga and tai chi. without the summit experience i dont think my sophmore year wouldve been as good as it was.

6)If i could have changed something i wish we couldve changed the way our group worked together and the communication between us. I wish we couldve at least worked together for the sake of our project .

7) If i could give an advice to future summit groups is to plan things ahead and schedule everything so you are not going crazy at the end of the year.

Arturo Castro

End of the Year Questions

1) This summer experience was a blast. I enjoyed working the the Southwest Humane Society, and I loved the Summit classes.

2) The overall experience helped me in many ways. It helped me learn how to communicate, as well as overcome problems within the group. It helped me learn about time management and how to work as a team.

3) The greatest thing that I have learned from this experience is that plans never go as they are expected to. You have to learn to adapt and capitalize on situations that come up during your summit/volunteer schedule.

4) The biggest impact that we made was overall recognition and awareness of the site. We were able to promote the Humane Society and help the community gain knowledge and awareness about the site

5) It would be different because I would not have the new developed love for helping the animals and the shelter.

6) I would not have changed very much about this experience.

7) My advice to others would be to choose a project or shelter that you have a passion for, because then volunteering does not feel like you are volunteering at all.

Summit Experience

1. My Summit experience has been great. It has been a pleasure working with the Humane Society and working with pets. I enjoyed it a lot.
2. Volunteering will be the most important aspect of Summit that I learned this year. It is nice to volunteer for something but it is nicer when no one is forcing you to do it. It feels so much better to volunteer because you want to and not because you have to. What I learned this year was to volunteer because I wanted to and not being forced by someone.
3. The greatest thing I learned from Summit park is communication and team work. Without these, there is no way for the program to be successful.
4. I think we have made a difference as a Summit group for the Humane Society. We had programs the benefit the Humane Society and we collected more than $300 and raised awareness on campus. That is a big achievement considering that last year we were just bunch of freshmen who are trying to find a place to live in.
5. Without the Summit Leadership program, I would not be able to know and experience how important being a volunteer is in our society.  Many non-profit organizations are out there and are not being funded but are kept alive by volunteers.  Volunteers are very important in keeping non-profit organization alive and helping people.
6. Looking back, I had an awesome experience living with my roommates the first semester. What I would have changed would be to pick a roommate that you can communicate with and the roommate that will care about you. What I have learned from this year is the notion of "temporary friends" as they call it. That would be one thing that I will change. Looking for roommates that can be my friend 10, 20, 30 years down the road and not look at me as a "temporary friend" whom will be talking to me for a year and then forget about me after that. One of my biggest mistake is caring too much for other people and fighting for friends that I thought were good and sincere friends. I would pick the friend who would care and fight for me and be there whenever I need him. The summit started out as myself defending a friend and ending with people that don't care about me. If I had a chance to repeat what happened, I would not change a thing because I am fighting for my friends and principles that I hold dearly and not back out of any challenges ahead of me.
7. My advice for future Summit groups is that know your friends very well. One year as friends is not enough to get you through. Make sure that all your friends can be communicated and will listen to you when you talk unlike other people that has their views set before you even get to talk to them. Make sure that you do all your volunteer hours before it is too late and communication is the key to the success of your group. Without communication lines being open, it is hard to live with them and it is hard to get anything done.

1. My Summit experience this year could be described as interesting and challenging.

2. I think the most beneficial thing about Summit that I can take with me is volunteerism. I definitely will continue to volunteer far into the future.

3. The greatest thing I learned by living in Summit is learning who your real friends are.

4. I feel that we have made a big impact on the community and our philanthropy because our events raised nearly $400 and we were able to get 10 new volunteers from Drury to work at the shelter.

5. I believe that my experience at Drury would have been different without Summit because I would not have become involved with my philanthropy as I am now.

6. Looking back, I would change who I lived with because it was a difficult situation living with people you do not get along with.

7. Make sure you do not procrastinate on your hours! Set a schedule and stick to it throughout the semester.

FINAL EVENT

We will be hosting Big Dog On Campus today outside the FSC! There will be numerous dogs there to compete in a beauty contest. There will be dogs brought and the way you vote for the dog you want is to put money in the jar in front of his or her cage. It should be a great event and we look forward to seeing everyone.

Last week we went and worked for about five hours at the Humane Society. It was actually a good time. Taylor and I walked dogs all day while the staff cleaned the cages. We also spent about two hours folding news papers but those are the kinds of jobs that they need most. Everyone wants to walk the dogs but no one wants to do the boring jobs, so the staff was very greatful.

This week we are finishing up our final project presentation. We have a good start with pictures and video. It should be a good presentation and I think this semester was a huge success. Two fundraisers and lots of hours.

A Saturday of Lifting

This weekend the Panthers for Paws group spent some time at the Southwest Humane Society. We put our muscles together to move out a bunch of heavy stuff into a storage unit nearby. We have also started selling our "I love Puppies" shirts this week during lunch at the commons during lunch. The shirts are only FIVE DOLLARS!!! All benefits will go directly to the Southwest Humane Society. And in the following week, we will be helping with Big Dog on Campus!! GET EXCITED!!

Hola

This weekend me matt and Taylor went to the Humane society to help move a lot of office equipment, printers, fax machines, computers , tv's, you name it but the hardest part was moving a couple if big wood desks which required the help from all of us to get them to their new spot. We also had the company of two dogs which were in their kennels while we moved stuff sadly this two dogs were terrified from all the noice we were making specially when trying to move the desks, also a cat from the staff kept coming to check what we were up to , to later run from the barking for the other two dogs.

on a sad note i saw for the first time someone coming to turn their dog because they could not care for it anymore, the dog was a beautiful bulldog big and strong but at the same time really sweet , it broke my heart seeing the staff take it away and the former owner leaving without any problem. i just cant understand how you can do that but i guess people have their reasons too.

finally i want to encourage everyone to support our cause and try to buy one of our shirts that we are going to be selling soon they are for a good cause and they will look good tooo

Arturo

Happy April!!

Earlier this week I spent some time at the Southwest Humane Society. I met with the staff and started to put the makings of our "Big Dog on Campus Day" together. As of now, the date that we will hold this event will be the Wednesday of April 27th. We will have a couple of dogs from the Southwest Humane Society, and we will have everyone donate spare change to the dog that the feel is the cutest, most adorable dog on campus!! We are very excited to see everyone participate and spend time with the dogs and help support the Southwest Humane Society.

We also have our T-shirts in!! We will be selling them for seven dollars, and we all proceeds will be given to the Humane Society. We are very exciting to see all of our events going into action, and we can not wait to have everyone attend and participate!!

'Bout Time

Guess what!? The t-shirts are finally in. we have been talking about these shirts for a long time now and I finally got them. We will be selling them in the commons next week from 11-1 Monday through Wednesday. They will be seven dollars which will be a straight donation to the Humane Society.

We are excited for the month of April because we will finally have time to work at the Humane Society. we struggled through the first few months because of snow and swimming. We will be going on Saturday to help the girls there move into new offices and clean out a new space for some new employees.

Next week, I have a meeting set up with Danita Rafferty, head of volunteers in order to set up our fundraiser here at Drury. Hopefully it all works out and we will be able to raise some insane amounts of money. We really want to provide the Humane Society with a lot this semester becuase they have been so helpful with everything and it has been a great experience. Also, we will continue taking pictures and videos from the shelter to put in our final presentation that is due at the end. We will have a full tour of the society as well as the introduction of some of our favorite animals.

As always, we hope that you will think about adopting some of the cats and dogs at the shelter. they are need of a good home and all of them will make great pets. there is not a single animal there that isn't really cute. we would love to help you make one of these animals a family pet.

earlier this week i participated in a technology fast. I went a whole 24 hours with no technology. i thought this would be no big deal however it was actually really hard. i kept on wanting to check my phone to see what time it was but i didnt have it. it was a good experience but i have to say i would not want to do that again. it really shows you how much we rely on technology throughout the day. i could not use my computer for class or anything. it was really tough but i am glad i did it.

Talk to y'all soon!!!

Month of April

The month of April will be the easiest time for our group with regards to the Humane Society. one of the big challenges that we face as a group was balancing the time between swimming, classes, and the Humane Society. March was probably the busiest month for us since we are preparing for NCAA Nationals. Our group spent a lot of time in the pool preparing for this meet and I am glad to say that the team and everyone in our group did well. But since our swimming commitment is finished, we can devote most of our time to the Humane Society.

Our group is on its way to finalizing our shirt sale and I encourage everyone to contribute and buy one! Also, we are also figuring out a good time for our Dog homecoming where will bring dogs from the Humane Society to the commons and students can put money on the dog that they think is the cutest and hope to generate money which would all be bought for supplies and need of the shelter.

Our group would also ask everyone to spread the word about the shelter because the stray cats and dogs are starting to crowd the shelter. We would like to ask everyone to adopt pets from the shelter instead of breeders and help the dogs have a better life!

This month will be very exciting for our group because of the programs that we are doing for the Humane Society. We finally get the time to be spent not on the pool but for the Humane Society so we can get all the pets adopted! See ya'll soon for our events!

Another Sunday at the shelter

On Sunday, I went to the Humane Society for my workout since we do not have swimming anymore... :-) It was a lot of fun walking all the dogs at the shelter especially when the weather is cooperating. As soon as I entered the volunteer room, there were two puppies and one of them kept jumping and had a lot of energy. It followed me wherever I went in the room but I had to leave the dog behind so I can walk the other dogs for their daily walk (my workout. haha). It was fun and it gave me joy to be in a different mindset and relax by walking the animals. It was great but there was one problem struck me when I was about to leave. The dogs were taking all the rooms in the shelter including the volunteer area. This is a bad sign because the shelter do not have enough space for all the stray dogs. Also, I saw a couple of dogs that were still in their cages and haven't been adopted. I would request if everyone would tell anyone that is interested in having pets to get them from the Humane Society. A lot of dogs in the shelter are cute and very energetic and it helps these dogs have a better life with responsible owners. It would be a great help if the community would help spread the word about the Humane Society so we can get all the dogs and cats adopted. Thank you very much for your help.

It Has Been a While

Hey everyone,

It has been a while since I have blogged last. Our schedules around here have been crazy. So far we have only had a limited time at the Humane Society due to weather and our busy swim schedule as of late. Now that we have much more time to spend, our events and blogging should be much more frequent.

Coming up this month: WE FINALLY HAVE SHIRTS ORDERED!!! The shirt order has been placed and we will be getting them soon. they will be on sale in the Commons for $7. That is cheap. All the proceeds will be donated in one way or another to the Humane Society to buy food, cleaning supplies, etc. Hopefully this will be a great money raiser.

Next month: April

WE will hosting a hound dog homecoming. We will go to the humane society and pick out the cutest dogs and bring them up to school for a day. we will be in the commons at lunch time and you will be able to vote for the cutest dog. the way it works is that the dog that earns the most money will be the winner. so bring a few bucks and drop it in the jar.

Our hours at the humane society will be much more frequent now that the weather should be getting nicer and we will have more time. Again, if you want information on volunteering we would be more than happy to talk to you all about it.

Congrats to the DU Men's and Women's swim teams who took first place at nationals!!!

Talk to you you all soon

MATT

March Madness

What a month,

March was a very exciting and crazy month for the Panthers for Paws group. After all of our preparations, Drury's Swimming and Diving team spent a week down in San Antonio, Texas for the Division II NCAA National Championships. Our team came out victorious for the seventh time in a row, and our group and a lot of personal achievements with it. With Spring Break approaching, we will be starting to finalize T-Shirt designs and dates for our Southwest Humane Society Awareness Day! This day will help raise awareness about the importance of spay and neutering pets, as well as promote adoptions. We are all very excited to start dedicating more time to the Southwest Humane Society now that our swimming obligations have ended, and we are very VERY excited for our Awareness Day.

February Flew By...

February was a very crazy time for the Panthers for Paws group. It was a month full of crazy weather, as well as continuous training and preparation for our Division II NCAA championship meet that took place in mid March. The Southwest Humane Society survived the weather, and the dogs and cats are still just as adorable and playful as ever. The beginnings of our project that will be taking place in April started to be discussed within the group, and we are very excited about our T-Shirts and starting our Awareness day. REMEMBER TO SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS!

January Recap

Hey there!

Well January proved to be a very grueling month for us, we took part in Drury's winter training trip that was sent to Oahu, Hi for two weeks. Training was extremely hard, but you can never really complain when you are in Hawaii for two weeks. January also brought the begging of a new semester, which means a new heavy work load to deal with. But it was very exciting to get back to campus towards late January. We wee all happy to be back in Springfield.

Hectic Schedule

Hi there! It has been a very hectic schedule for me and our group because of swimming. But now that we are done with our swimming obligations, we can devote most of our time to the Humane Society. We are looking forward to working more and get our programs for the Humane Society moving. I am looking forward to working and taking care of the pets at the Humane Society. I would also like to further promote the adoption of the pets in the shelter as advised by the coordinator. They are adopting a lot of pets every day but they also get a lot of strays. Also, cats can also be adopted at the Humane Society for those who are interested! Thank you very much!

Better Late Than Never....

Just to recap the month of November, our spent time down at the Humane Society walking some of the new puppies that arrived. Arturo and I spent some time running around the back kennel like losers having them chase us. If you happened to be driving by, I am sure it was a sight to see. November was probable one of our quieter months during the semester though, our group had a lot going on with classes and swimming so we were a little bit behind our schedule but caught up fairly fast. So, this is just a little recap of the month of November for all of those inquiring minds. I am sure that all of you were freaking out not knowing what was going on during that month, but do not worry...all is well. Peace out and happy holidays. Yall have a good one.

HEY YALL!!!

Well we wrapped up this semester learning some valuable knowledge and learned a lot about our group as well as many things that we need to get better at. This month our group was able to go to Pets Warehouse and spend $100 on a variety of different toys, bones, treats, food, and leashes to give to the Southwest Humane Society. We also were able to update our doggie pics from that last visit from this past weekend. AND we have many events to look forward to within the next couple of weeks! We will have some lovely T-shirts available, which all proceeds will go to the Southwest Humane Society. As well as getting some cute lil dogs to come to Drury for a Hound Dog Homecoming!! Many events to look forward to in the next coming year!! It has been a great year at the Southwest Humane Society, and we are looking forward to having a much more accomplishing semester next year. Although we have learned that we need to actually start signing in when we get there which we usually seem to forget, our time spent next year will hopefully make a bigger impact. Also, our awareness campaign will be kicked off next year, so PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR SOUTHWEST HUMANE SOCIETY WEEK!!!! Happy Holidays and God Bless.

Hola 3

Hello everyone the semester is coming to an end everybody has been busy with projects, homeworks, exams etc including us. but we still found time to go and help at the humane society. Taylor and I went the other day for a couple of ours and had a great time over there, we played with little puppies and even helped with a couple of prospect adoptions, the surprising part was that I watched my first dog fight while volunteering. you might expect that when a fight starts it will be between big or medium sized dogd, well in this case it wasnt. 4 little puppies started brawling each other till 2 of them got upset and a fight started we had to separate them but blood actually came out, after a quick revision the puppies went back to play time like nothing had happened. Puppies keep coming into the Humane Society every day including puppies if you are planning to get or give a pet as a present please take the Humane Society of Southwest Missouri in consideration they have great animals and you will be helping the community.

Arturo Castro

Another good day!

As we end the semester with all the tests and projects due, the work at the Humane Society is never ending. I have been helping the Humane Society with walking dogs and and playing with the cats. Today, Taylor and I went to Pet Smart to buy things that the Humane Society needs like toys for both dogs and cats, treats, and many more. It was a busy day for the Humane Society because they are having an occasion today, the "Treat Day" and "Deck the Halls". There were also a lot of people coming in to look for dogs to be adapted.I am glad to say that the Humane Society was very pleased with the donations that we have given to them. Today, we also walked some dogs but our time was primarily contributed to folding newspapers to be brought to the kennels. This was an important part of a volunteer's job besides walking dogs because the kennels needs to be cleaned continuously and without the newspapers, they would not be able to replace the dirty newspapers with clean ones.I am glad that I was there today providing help to the shelter and making the workers job easier. I would say that volunteers are a really big part of the Humane Society because they only rely on donations from people. I have learned so much this first semester about the Humane Society. I learned to really manage my time more because swimming and school, together with the Summit Program, there's basically no time to do other things. I really need to manage my time day by day and week by week. I am learning that right now because after missing two weeks of school because I had a swim meet in China, I am way behind in school, practice is still going on and I still need to go to Humane Society to volunteer. Going to the Humane Society is my stress reliever because I don't think of school or swimming but just having fun with dogs. Volunteering for the Humane Society for me is not a burden but a fun and relaxing moment for me. Regarding our projects for the Humane Society, I could see our projects really taking of next semester because we've had a lot of technical difficulties with some of our projects but I am confident that we will be able get those projects moving. I am excited for the next semester and the challenges that we will face and how we will handle it as a group.
-Ryan