Bittersweet End

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As the semester wraps up so do my blog requirements. One of which, this post, is to explain how my experience blogging throughout the semester has been, and how using social media to promote myself has helped me and how it has not, and what it has taught me.

Truthfully, when I heard I would have to create a blog and be forced to keep up with it over the semester I thought about dropping the class – no lie. I didn’t understand blogging, I thought it was just people going on rants. I was pleasantly mistaken. I didn’t really see the beauty in self-expression through blogging until recently. It has been my relief through finals, to be honest. When I would get really stressed out I would edit one of my blogs or post a new one and it would calm me down. Except for the other day when my computer froze after I had spent an hour and a half perfecting my new blog post and I lost every bit of it. Other than that (small now but huge before) mishap I have grown to love it. Not going to lie, I had to look to other links on how to get started (10 Social Media Tips for Bloggers) helped me the most.

I think what people don’t understand about blogs and blogging is that it is the pure freedom to be whoever you choose to be. You can talk about whatever you want, whoever you want, and write a book about it on your blog if you wanted to, and that’s okay. In fact, it’s pretty normal. With social media it’s quite a bit more restricted. Unless you’re one of those annoying lengthy posters on Facebook, in which case, I recommend blogs. Earlier in the semester I would take five minutes to post a blog and be done with it and now I really put time and effort into them. I was nervous to really open up at first because I have always been what I like to call a “closet” volunteer. I never really told people about this side of me and how much it means to me until now and it has really brought me closer to a lot of people. After positive feedback I am trying to really develop my voice and build a following so I can convey my absolute passion for volunteering to others.

Thanks to social media it has allowed me to promote my baby blog in the making.  I had no intention of ever keeping it until I had people start texting me asking when I was going to update my blog or when I was going to post something new, and if they could post it on their twitters or share it on Facebook for their friends and followers to see as well. It inspired me to keep it (however, now I don’t have class requirements and I haven’t decided if that’s good or bad yet). Apparently, people enjoy hearing me talk about how to get involved and things I have gone through as a volunteer. I just have to keep reminding myself to keep up with it and post on my twitter about it regularly.

I had been shying away from the organization that grounded me and I had no idea how to get back into the swing of things. I got the wild hare to post on my blog and on Twitter that I was looking to start a UNICEF group on campus (See Thought Leaders/Volunteers Wanted for details) and I am slowly but surely getting emails from people excited to get involved and wanting to know more. I wasn’t expecting that at all, but I am thrilled to watch it unfold, which is another reason I have decided to keep blogging. I want to share with everyone how to start a club on campus or at your school and my experiences throughout to give anyone that extra little push they need to get going. I just want to inspire people to be better because everyone has the capacity to be an amazing person.

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From a business standpoint I think it could potentially serve as a second resume or say things about myself and my character that weren’t properly portrayed in an interview. Especially seeing as my original plan has always been to get my Masters degree and work at the corporate offices for UNICEF. I have one foot in the door from networking from my UNICEF trips to the corporate offices in high school and have people waiting for me to graduate and I think this is only going to help me network more.

With that, I say goodbye to blog requirements and cheers to holiday break.

Be on the lookout for upcoming posts from being home!

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Secret Santa: ‘Tis The Season

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As many of you know, it is the dreaded finals week. I am on my fifth day in a row with little to no sleep and I am completely exhausted. After an extremely long night of studying last night I decided to take a break. Naturally, that included social media. I have been grumpy, irritable, and have been losing hope in myself and that I may never grasp all the concepts perfectly in such little time. I have prayed several times for my sanity and for the strength to keep pushing through because I know it will be worth it in the end, and I found this video and this website right before I was about to log off. It is no coincidence for me or the man in the video that it is God talking and I’m listening.

As I stated in my previous blog it is the season of giving and giving back and this man is an incredible testimony to giving back and spreading the holiday cheer.

“If we give a little love, then maybe we can change the world”

Despite the craze of finals I wanted to share this with everyone. If you need something to help you keep going, this is it.

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‘Tis The Season

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C H R I S T M A S is the most wonderful time of the year

When we think of the holidays we think of spending time with family, Christmas lights, decorating the tree, holiday cookies and baking, gingerbread houses, crazy family traditions, hot chocolate, tacky sweaters, Jesus, snuggling up by the fire, the New Year, a white Christmas, ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas, Santa and the North Pole, elves and the reindeer, presents, hot chocolate, and all of the “warm and fuzzy” feelings the holidays bring.

No matter how awful your year may have been it is always Christmas that can bring cheer to everyone who seeks it. It is the season of giving and giving back. I always feel the most blessed around the holidays because my parents have always gone above and beyond each year to make sure me and my brother had the perfect Christmas no matter what and I am beyond thankful for all of the perfect holidays they have provided and will continue to provide me with as the years go on.

Unfortunately, there are so many kids who will be deprived of the perfect holiday they deserve this Christmas simply because their parent’s don’t have the means to provide it. Have you ever noticed the Christmas trees in grocery stores, banks, churches, and local businesses around town with little tags hanging on them, or do you just pass on by?

My mom is the President of the Argyle Angel Tree and I get the pleasure of working along side her every year. For those of you who are not familiar, they are the ones who find the families, make those tags, put up those trees, and make sure kids are given the perfect Christmas they deserve.

If you have never seen an Angel Tree tag, the picture on the left is a very basic example of one. Children will always have more than one tag, usually about 8 or 9 depending on the capacity and the area you’re in. On the application the parents are encouraged to write toys, books, shoes, bikes, electronics, or whatever their child has had their eye on. A lot of the time, I see little kids writing what they want. Maybe they think it’s a letter to Santa, and in a way, it is. Some of the kids don’t hold back on what they ask for but others are far more conservative. I have seen a six year old boy write about how he wanted a coat over GI Joes otherwise he wouldn’t have one for Winter. No child should have to ask “Santa” for essentials on Christmas.  My mom and the other members have recently started adding tags for the parents, too. These tags simply ask for gift cards to grocery stores and department stores. This gives them the ability to have a nice Christmas meal and enough money to buy the essentials that may not be covered on the children’s tags. I say “kids” and “children” but it is so much more; the age varies from newborn all the way up to eighteen years old.

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“I do not give because I have much, I give because I know what it feels like to have nothing”

I have actually had the opportunity to hand deliver the toys and other things that people buy for these people and the pure joy and gratefulness in their eyes is something I’ll never be able to explain. It is quite often we have people cry and hug us for everything we’ve done, but the truth is, it’s not me who did it all – it’s you guys. It is every single person who picks up a tag, goes shopping, and adopts an angel, which is what they truly are, little angels.

You are the gift that Santa can’t give. A chance.

A chance to be someone’s Christmas miracle.

My family adopts at least one, but often several angels every Christmas and it has become tradition to all go together to go shop for them. It is something we look forward to. My mom and the Argyle Angel Tree volunteers had every single one of their tags taken (keep in mind that’s 8-9 PER child – about 100 kids) with several requests for more which means these families are going to have the perfect Christmas holiday we all deserve.

It isn’t about making sure someone has gifts under their tree, it is about so much more. It is about the experience and the feeling of God work through you so powerfully. You are giving them so much more than just legos, you are saying that a complete stranger cares about them enough to make sure that their Christmas was as perfect as it could be, which is something they won’t soon forget. There is just something about Christmas and holiday spirit that brings out the best in people.

This Christmas, if you pass one of these Christmas trees with little tags on them, take the time to pick one out and adopt one of these sweet angels. I promise you won’t regret it.

I provided the link for the Argyle Angel Tree at Cross Timbers and I will work on finding churches in San Marcos and Austin who participate.

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Thought Leaders/Volunteers Needed

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<–With Caryl M. Stern, the President and CEO of UNICEF.

I volunteer for many organizations but UNICEF is the one that truly drives me to do better. Unfortunately, Texas State does not have a UNICEF group and I have not had the chance to stay as involved as I would like to, other than through my brother and his high school UNICEF group back in Dallas. Thanks to the power of social media, I am trying to reach out to students on campus who may be interested in starting one with me sometime after the holiday break. With Texas State having over 35,000 students it is a little overwhelming to do alone. I have reached out to Alyssa Milano, (the reason I got involved in volunteering) and Selena Gomez, one of UNICEF’s youngest celebrity ambassador, who is also around our age, for tips or any motivation to get the ball rolling.

No response yet but stay tuned!

https://twitter.com/LexieCargile/statuses/409828401210327040

I sent out these two tweets to all of my followers in hopes of rallying people to join me. I am anxious to see what I get back.

This is a video explaining what UNICEF Campus Initiative does and what it stands for.

To anyone interested in helping me with this journey PLEASE email me (Lexie.Cargile@aol.com or Lac173@txstate.edu), tweet me (@LexieCargile), or you can find me on Facebook (Lexie Cargile) and shoot me a message.

Be that change, BELIEVE IN ZERO.

UPDATE (December 9, 2013): The UNICEF Campus Initiative twitter retweeted my tweet about starting a UNICEF group at Texas State, and I have received several emails from people interested in joining! Though it’s not HUGE, it’s progress!

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The Power Of Volunteering

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The Power of Giving

When words fail, these videos speak. Volunteering is not the chore everyone seems to think it is. You can give back in the most simple of ways.

For example, I stopped to get gas on my way home from a friend’s house the other day and I noticed this young couple upset and crying at the pump. They shyly walked up to me asking if they could get some gas because they were completely empty and didn’t have enough money or gas to get home. Without question, I gave them enough gas to get home and then some. The gratitude in their voice and the genuine appreciation in their eyes was more than enough to reassure me that I did the right thing.

I am featuring a small part of a refreshing conversation I had with a friend of mine recently about WHY we volunteer and how we got started doing so. (I have cropped the names, other than my own, and personal information for privacy reasons.) It reassured me that everything I have done hasn’t gone unnoticed and that it has all been worth it.

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If you can make ONE person’s day every day by giving back and “volunteering” then  everything you’re doing is worth it. You ARE and you CAN be the change in this world, don’t let anything hold you back from helping others.

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