Being Thankful

Since November 27th is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, I thought I take time out of the holiday to reflect on what matters to me the most.

I am thankful for...

• My Family - A lot has happened in my immediate and extended family this year. Yet, I manage to see my family get through obstacles. I am happy that we are all in good health.
• My Friends - Most of the friends I have made in college are in CKI or were members of the service organization. I do have some friends outside the organization - these are the ones I met during my time in high school as a student or a member of Key Club International or the ones I met as a student at the University of Washington (in Seattle).
• My Life - It is not always easy to accept disappointment or failure. However, I have learned that things don't always go according to plan. Each day I do my best to just "go with the flow" and see where my life will take me.

My family and friends have been very supportive of my active involvement in CKI and for that, I am very grateful.

Going Places

The past several weeks have been very busy for me as International Representative. Here are some things I have been doing in CKI.

• On Halloween I participated in the service project known as "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF". This service project was really fun because I got to hang out with a couple of club members during the entire time.
• Last weekend I made my first visit to the Utah-Idaho District. I had an awesome time there. I see a few clubs that can be built in this district. I took lots of pictures and hopefully they will go on Facebook soon. I want to give a special thank you to Carrie Johnson, Immediate-Past CKI Representative for Sub-region A, and Lauren Delana, CKI District Governor, for their hospitality! Carrie picked me up at the Boise Airport and gave me a tour of Downtown Boise before the District's Fall Trainer began. Lauren (and her parents) allowed me to spend one night at their home. Lauren also drove me back to the airport. Both Carrie and Lauren made time to take me to Starbucks for coffee. :)
• In a few hours, I will be taking three members from my home club to Corbett, Oregon, for PNW's Fall Conference. I am really excited to go there!

Balancing Act

First of all, it has been a while since I last had a blog entry here. As a college senior (4th year undergraduate student) at the University of Washington in Seattle, I am dealing with what is supposed to be an exciting yet challenging path in my life. Since Fall Quarter 2008 began, I have been busy balancing family, friends, school, CKI and work. I already knew that my responsibilities as International Representative for Sub-region A[+] would take time away from my family and friends (those in CKI and outside of CKI). Yet, I manage to squeeze in some time to spend time with them. So far, school is going well. I went to meet with my History advisor to fill out some paperwork - to ensure that I can obtain Graduating Senior Priority status. After spending about 20 minutes with my History advisor, I have learned that the History Department is having a commencement ceremony for those graduating History majors on June 12th, 2009 - the last of finals for Spring Quarter; the University of Washington (Seattle) has its grand commencement ceremony on June 13th. The most important thing I need to do when it comes to school is show up to class, pay attention, study hard, and write well in class. Life in CKI is good for the most part. I am enjoying my experience as International Representative though at times it is not always easy. I have been very lucky to attend my home club's meetings and my home division's event, S3: Saturday of Service in Seattle. I had a great time seeing familar faces and meeting new people. Of course, I have to make sure that I keep myself in check because I am guilty of letting CKI consume my life. I have been told that I live for CKI. It is true. Sometimes I forget to eat because I am so caught up in doing CKI stuff. Now to work: work has been good so far. I had an issue at work, but it has been resolved so I am happy about that. I was going to work two jobs this quarter but it just didn't go through. Oh well. That's okay with me.

Well, I have to go for now. I have another History class that starts in about 10 minutes.

Take the Time to Gather Thoughts

A few hours ago, I finally finished responding to the 2008-2009 CKI Committee Placement Survey. When I received the e-mail to fill this out, I didn't not think it would take me nine pages to address all the questions in this survey. I honestly thought this would take me three hours at the most. Instead, it took me several days to completely fill out the survey. I realized a lot of information came out from my head after reviewing my answers on the survey. My experience here taught me the importance to gather information so I can present it thoroughly. Although I know procrastination is not good, it somehow can spark ideas. Of course, I know this doesn't always work so it's important to set aside time each day to accomplish a task by a deadline. From my experience as a CKI District Bulletin Editor, "deadlines are sacred".

P.S. I want to thank Carrie Johnson, Immediate Past CKI Representative for Sub-region A, for giving me a Starbucks card!!!

Learning the Ropes

Life as CKI Representative is good though I am still getting used it. Yes, I need to work on refining my letter of introduction. However, I am proud to say that I am ahead of the game when it comes to some things.

Here is a list of what I have done so far.

• Created questions for survey
• Sent e-mails to wonderful CKI members
• Thought of ad-hocs I would like to see the International Board implement for this year
• Established ideal times for office hours and online chats

Here is a list of what else I need to accomplish within the next few days.

• Write articles for my home club's bulletin (aka. Dawg Tales) and for my home district's bulletin (aka. The PNW Post)
• Submit these articles
• Format layout of survey
• Format layout of Sub-region newsletter (aka. Northwestern Connection)

I took time to sit down and learn how to complete the monthly report form with Carrie Johnson, my predecessor and friend. Carrie took time to go over what goes on these forms. She also gave me some input on the forms in general. Filling out a report takes time - probably about an hour.

Next month, it will be my turn to fill one out and submit it. I just have to make sure that I get done on the 20th.

I feel like everything needs to get done within 24 hours. Of course, I realize that I need to take things one at a time.

A Burst of Excitement

It has been one week since I came home from the 8th Annual Circle K International Large Scale Service Project (LSSP) and the 53rd Annual Circle K International Convention (ICON) in Denver, Colorado. My time at both events was crazy, awesome, and wonderful. I reunited with the many friends I've made in this service organization. At the same time, I also made new friends.

It is an honor and privilege to serve as the International Representative of Sub-region A[+]. A special thank you goes to those who have supported me. I could not have done this without you.

I am very excited about my new role in Circle K International (CKI). I look forward to not only working with amazing CKI members in the Montana, Pacific Northwest, Utah-Idaho, and Western Canada Districts but also represent their views on the International level.

I know there are several challenges ahead, but I am definitely going to make the best of each situation.

To everyone in Sub-region A, continue to serve others and have fun!

"Live to serve. Love to serve."