Hey everyone.
It's been another crazy few weeks for me, but hey I'm still hanging in there.
The Northern Arizona College Resource Center, the new college resource center that I am coordinating is finally opening after the 8 months that I've been in Flagstaff working on this project.
I'm totally pumped and we are in crunch time right now trying to get everything ready, it's been crazy chaotic because we have a space in another facility so all of our actions can't be taken until they are ready which has been very interested these last two weeks, but it's getting done and I'm trying to remember to breathe!! But I'm exciting to be moving into the facility and am excited to see the facility start having students come in.
We're doing a huge event on Saturday and it's basically our huge marketing campaign day as we're platinum sponsoring a major event in the city. I'm also getting to really start getting out and doing community presentation on the project, and that's honestly one of the best things about my job, I love meeting other individuals that are passionate about similar ideas and living in a small community has definitely been the advantage of this whole project. Other college resource centers typically take several years to get up and off the ground but we've been able to do it in 8 months because of so much community support, without all the partnerships I've formed we would definitely not even be close to where we are today.
In what little free time I have right now, Rob has been incredible as well as other great friends like Lin Marie and Leveta use who just been phenomenal and making sure that I am taking time to enjoy the little free time I have. I had a great dinner with Lin Marie last week, and Leveta and I are meeting up Friday to finish getting everything together for our Saturday event. Rob had the brilliant idea last Saturday to get me out of town, he knew I had to work on Sunday and that I only really got one day off last week so he took me to Strawberry to the Fossil Creek waterfall. It was so great to get out of Flag and enjoy the day on a short hike to the waterfall.
Flagstaff has just been fantastic for me. It's definitely been that crossroads that everyone tells me is so traditional for Flagstaff. They have this saying here that you aren't really a local until you've been here 10 years because it is such a transient town. But I love it, it's been a place where I'm really been able to establish myself as a professional but have been able to explore a lot of my personal interests as well. I'm been able to start dancing again in Flag and even though it's crazy right now I'm typically been going multiply times a week. I also have gotten huge support for my art projects and have really been able to use that as a way to fundraise for the schools in Peru.
I have two shows going up in late April and May and am excited for all the events we are planning and hope that I can at least fundraise half of my goal for this year by June, so we'll see!
That's the latest update, I hope everyone is doing well. You know how to contact me so please do stay in touch!
Coral :)
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Dancing in the Streets!
Hey everyone. So here's the latest update. 2010 has truly been so far a year of major ups and downs, lots of new exciting, lots of changes but it seems like it is all coming together now for the better.
Some moves aren't supposed to work, I ended up leaving my friend's house in a month and just realized sometimes you can be very good friends but you really aren't meant to live together, so that's ok. I now have a very cute little house close to the university and a roommate who is only here part time as they split their time between Flagstaff and a community about an hour away from here.
Rob and I had a phenomenal dance photo shoot on V-Day. I have been working with a local photographer who has been helping me put together my first gallery show, that will be going up the second week of April and will be there till July. He knew I was a dancer and thought it would be fun to photograph Rob and I and then some solo shots and potentially incorporate them into the show. So after pushing stuff back a lot with scheduling conflicts, it was funny how V-Day feel on a Sunday and that was a good day for everyone so we ended up having a photo shoot on V-Day. I'll be posting the top 100 pictures on a photo slideshow on the blog, so I hope that you enjoy them. It was truly an awesome way to spend V-Day, Rob and I are both really not into the commercialized aspects of it all but we got to do something that was soooo us and just have a good time. We hope you guys enjoy these pictures.
More past the dancing, life has been incredibly good lately. Dating Rob has been an experience, that's for sure :) . I've never really been much of one who likes food and have been picky from a very young age but Rob's actually been patient and is actually teaching me how to cook. He is a FANTASTIC cook, I mean we have smoked chickens, flambeed them, stuffed them like chicken cordon blue with our own twist = AMAZINGNESS!!! Not only does he cook like my own personal chef, because he's such a good cook he's very selective when we actually go out to eat, and since I'm not really explored food much in my life, each week's date night is for sure an adventure. Just last week I had Sushi for the first time, Greek the next night with friends, Indian for date night, and Arabic at his house over the weekend, yeah not only are my travels hopefully going to get more global, I'll actually know what to try when I get there!
It's pretty incredible to have someone that loves dance as much as I do, is also a Latin American focused individual, loves to travel and escape like me, yeah I would definately say it has absolutely =ed AMAZINGNESS!! (Finding a theme here :) )
Work is going great, we open our brand new facility in a month so I'm getting really pumped as I'm started to meet and talk with groups individually in the community and tell them about this great facility that we are creating as a free community resource, we are actually up live now, check out the project I've been working to establish since I moved to Flagstaff in July, it's www.nacrc.net . I'm really excited about what we've been able to create and I'm happy that I'm helping to bring a badly needed community resource to a place I have fallen in love with.
It's funny when I first took my position it was suppose to be a one year contract, a lot of things have played out this year and I now know that I will be looking to relocate to Tucson at the end of the summer. While I absolutely loves this community and am truly integrated now, cost of living is high and it's not a good place to save for graduate school. So Tucson actually has the graduate program I am looking at, and since it is so Latin AMerican centered and that's my region that I want to continue working with I think it honestly makes a little bit more sense. I'm so happy for the opportunities I have had in Flagstaff and I finally feel that I am stepping into my role as a professional more then a student now, and am happy. But I do miss the academics and I know my goal has been for a long time to go to graduate school and I feel that Tucson will allow me to do both graduate school and grow professionally, so we'll see how it all plays out but hopefully I'll head down to Tucson in August and see where we go from there, I'll be applying to grad school to start the following fall.
SO that's the latest update. I'm having fun and living life outside of school and it feels great to know that life finally seems to be falling into place, I'm getting to do a lot of things I love and I feel very blessed.
I hope everyone is doing well, please send updates I love to hear from everyone and we'll chat soon!
Coral :)
Some moves aren't supposed to work, I ended up leaving my friend's house in a month and just realized sometimes you can be very good friends but you really aren't meant to live together, so that's ok. I now have a very cute little house close to the university and a roommate who is only here part time as they split their time between Flagstaff and a community about an hour away from here.
Rob and I had a phenomenal dance photo shoot on V-Day. I have been working with a local photographer who has been helping me put together my first gallery show, that will be going up the second week of April and will be there till July. He knew I was a dancer and thought it would be fun to photograph Rob and I and then some solo shots and potentially incorporate them into the show. So after pushing stuff back a lot with scheduling conflicts, it was funny how V-Day feel on a Sunday and that was a good day for everyone so we ended up having a photo shoot on V-Day. I'll be posting the top 100 pictures on a photo slideshow on the blog, so I hope that you enjoy them. It was truly an awesome way to spend V-Day, Rob and I are both really not into the commercialized aspects of it all but we got to do something that was soooo us and just have a good time. We hope you guys enjoy these pictures.
More past the dancing, life has been incredibly good lately. Dating Rob has been an experience, that's for sure :) . I've never really been much of one who likes food and have been picky from a very young age but Rob's actually been patient and is actually teaching me how to cook. He is a FANTASTIC cook, I mean we have smoked chickens, flambeed them, stuffed them like chicken cordon blue with our own twist = AMAZINGNESS!!! Not only does he cook like my own personal chef, because he's such a good cook he's very selective when we actually go out to eat, and since I'm not really explored food much in my life, each week's date night is for sure an adventure. Just last week I had Sushi for the first time, Greek the next night with friends, Indian for date night, and Arabic at his house over the weekend, yeah not only are my travels hopefully going to get more global, I'll actually know what to try when I get there!
It's pretty incredible to have someone that loves dance as much as I do, is also a Latin American focused individual, loves to travel and escape like me, yeah I would definately say it has absolutely =ed AMAZINGNESS!! (Finding a theme here :) )
Work is going great, we open our brand new facility in a month so I'm getting really pumped as I'm started to meet and talk with groups individually in the community and tell them about this great facility that we are creating as a free community resource, we are actually up live now, check out the project I've been working to establish since I moved to Flagstaff in July, it's www.nacrc.net . I'm really excited about what we've been able to create and I'm happy that I'm helping to bring a badly needed community resource to a place I have fallen in love with.
It's funny when I first took my position it was suppose to be a one year contract, a lot of things have played out this year and I now know that I will be looking to relocate to Tucson at the end of the summer. While I absolutely loves this community and am truly integrated now, cost of living is high and it's not a good place to save for graduate school. So Tucson actually has the graduate program I am looking at, and since it is so Latin AMerican centered and that's my region that I want to continue working with I think it honestly makes a little bit more sense. I'm so happy for the opportunities I have had in Flagstaff and I finally feel that I am stepping into my role as a professional more then a student now, and am happy. But I do miss the academics and I know my goal has been for a long time to go to graduate school and I feel that Tucson will allow me to do both graduate school and grow professionally, so we'll see how it all plays out but hopefully I'll head down to Tucson in August and see where we go from there, I'll be applying to grad school to start the following fall.
SO that's the latest update. I'm having fun and living life outside of school and it feels great to know that life finally seems to be falling into place, I'm getting to do a lot of things I love and I feel very blessed.
I hope everyone is doing well, please send updates I love to hear from everyone and we'll chat soon!
Coral :)
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Wow how time flys! Major Recap :)
I'm always amazed at bloggers who actually find the time to write everyday about their lives or about the things they are passionate about. I've become a HUGE fan of the Huffington Post, Change.org, and Social Earth incredible blog websites that discuss global topics and have bloggers who are hugely recognized within their field.
Wow well here's a quick recap of November 2009- till today!
The job in Flagstaff is still as wonderful as ever, I feel so happy that I've found a place that I truly fit in and absolutely love, Flagstaff is known as a major transient town because most people leave after spending less then 5 years here, it being a college town and all this seems to be the trend. People in Flag say that unless you've been here 10 years you are not a local. I always find that interesting and am curious in seeing what happens in the future, this place has truly been where things started coming together for me in so many ways, I think reading the recap below you'll see what I mean :)
The biggest and most important excitement of the end of 09 was most definitely the completion of my first Citizen Philanthropist project with Citizen Effect, we were able to raise $1200 for a new school in Ica, Peru. We had two awesome dance events that we were able to raise money for these students, then I had a really fun holiday dessert party at my home, and the best part of it all was the week before I left for Texas for the holidays I got the most incredible news ever :) I got my first gallery show to display my Latin American photographs at the new Criollo Latin Kitchen here in downtown AND I made an incredible new friend, Amita, the owner of Mayan Magic, she agreed to helping me get the word out about my non-for-profit photography initiative benefiting education in Latin America, more updates on that below.
So the new year seemed like it was going to be one of the best years ever.
After such an amazing natural high that was the month of December, I went home and visited family for the holidays only to end my trip by taking my amazing dog Tux to the vet. I had adopted Tux in January 09 when I graduated from Elon and had moved to AZ for an internship. Tux was my first dog ever and I had fallen in love with him the minute I saw his video on the adoption website and got him the 2nd week I moved to AZ. Tux ended up having a chronic kidney condition that the adoption agency didn't disclose so unfortunately Tux had not been treated all year and ended up passing away when I arrived back in Flagstaff. It was a huge shock for me because he had been running laps with my crazy brother, Eddie, just a week before so I was baffled and confused.
Thank goodness for my incredible co-workers/friends in Flagstaff. Flagstaff is such a huge dog friendly town it's pretty much expected and accepted to take some time to deal with a pet's loss. My wonderful wonderful friends, Leveta, Juanita, Lin Marie, and Rob have been incredibly wonderful. They all made sure I had someone to stay with for a couple of days, picked up lose ends for me at work, and made me amazing dinners! I honestly couldn't have been with better people that week and I am sending them a HUGE shout out for their incredible support and friendship.
With a new move (lease ending jazz) I'm now super excited to be working with Amita the owner of Mayan Magic at this incredible cafe and living with her.
A new year also came with a new job for me, I'm transitioned out of my AmeriCorps role and will actually be working for the university now. Still doing exactly what I've been doing but at a part-time capacity and with a little bit of a change in supervisor structure.
In my free time I've been increasing the dancing finally that my past injuries seem to be under much better control. I've been dancing about three times a week and have been learning tons of new ballroom styles, while I've always loved to dance I've never really done it formally (unless you want to count drill team for a year in HS). The dance community is the first big thing I jumped into when I got to Flagstaff I knew it would be a way for me to meet people in my new community and it most definitely has and I've been having a fantastic time doing it. I got to dance in an exhibition in Phoenix the first weekend of January and it was an incredible rush,I got to go down with fellow Flagstaff dancers, Rob and Jamie. I miss so much the performance side of dance that I enjoyed so much when I grew up as a gymnast I'm loving getting to do it again. I even got asked if I wanted to compete in a Pro/Am competition in the spring, and while it may not happen immediately I'm super excited about the possibilities of getting to perform more again.
The projects with Citizen Effect and the Citizen Philanthropist projects I've been working on continue to be a key part of my "free time", I love that even though I can't live in Latin America right now I have been able to find a way to combine my interests in photography, social enterprise, and philanthropy into a way to provide education for students around the region. It's a huge thrill getting to tell new people about the work that we are doing and constantly getting help and suggestions from an incredible group of people. This project is ever evolving and I'm actually just recently been in contact with Rachel Zedeck of Backpack Farm, an incredible Social Enterprise that Rachel helps create sustainable communities in Africa by teaching sustainable farming techniques check out her information here: http://www.socialearth.org/social-entrepreneur-with-a-backpack-feeds-an-african-community, she has many years of experience in ngos and is going to help me to figure out if the photography initiative can grow into something bigger to be able to make a bigger impact in the lives of students in Latin America. I'm so excited, I feel that life is finally starting to come together and I'm actually getting to spend my time doing things that I absolutely love and am passionate about.
I am getting to know Rachel through an incredible website called changents.com that allows individuals who are working to make the world a better place to connect with others who are doing the same and with individuals who are interested in helping to make things happen. I'm so excited to be a part of this site, excited to be a part of this incredible citizen philanthropy movement that is encouraging individuals to actually take action and help create the change they want to see in the world, I love being a part of it and can't wait to see where it takes me. To check out my Change Agents profile click here: http://changents.com/coralzayas
A good friend that I've made here, is Amie, her and I meet through Gear Up a federal program about college access in low income schools, I'm a Big Brothers Big Sister mentor once a week and help Amie at one of the local high schools. Amie and I learned that we have LOADS in common, more specifically with our interests international education, Latin America and global citizenship. Amie is a few years older then me and has been working on a project now known as Casa Verde since she graduated college. Her and her husband Joe now own stunning property in Nicaragua where they hope to have an international education center, a place that will benefit both Latin American education, rural development, global citizenship through an international education after school curriculum and so much more. Me and Amie spent substantial time in November working on an application for the Unreasonable Institute, a project that would have created start up funds for the organization so that we could make this dream into a reality. And while we didn't back to the finals that doesn't mean we are giving up, we've created this idea into something that builds on Amie,Joe, and my strengths and hopefully one day we'll all be able to work on this project full time and get to work in areas that we all feel are hugely important to create positive change in both the US and Latin America. So we continue to look out for opportunities that may be in the future allow us to get to go this work full time.
The photography will be on display in my first art walk on February 5th, and will go up for my first gallery show at Criollo Latin Kitchen in March. I'm hoping the more people that learn about the initiative the more students we can help throughout Latin America.
Well that pretty much sums up life right now, while 2010 started pretty rocky for me with incredible friends I'm moving on and hoping for a great 2010. Dancing into the new year with my friend and now more formal dance partner, Rob, always brings a smile to my face. Dancing, helping Amita with the incredible Mayan Magic, and continuing work on my Citizen Philanthropy projects and with the exciting spring opening of my work the new college resource center couldn't be more exciting.
This year I hope my blog takes on a new light, it will no longer be just the exciting moments of college life like all my travels, but also more about personal growth. I'm come to realize not very many people know why I do the things that I choose to do and I think taking you all along this journey of exploration will be a great way to transition out of the college updates and into this amazing adventure that has been post graduation and everything that it brings. I'd love to hear your comments and support through email or through the blog comments. I hope you enjoy this journey as much as I am even though many of us never get to see each other since we now living in such far off places.
Excited to be back on top of the world :)
Coral :)
Wow well here's a quick recap of November 2009- till today!
The job in Flagstaff is still as wonderful as ever, I feel so happy that I've found a place that I truly fit in and absolutely love, Flagstaff is known as a major transient town because most people leave after spending less then 5 years here, it being a college town and all this seems to be the trend. People in Flag say that unless you've been here 10 years you are not a local. I always find that interesting and am curious in seeing what happens in the future, this place has truly been where things started coming together for me in so many ways, I think reading the recap below you'll see what I mean :)
The biggest and most important excitement of the end of 09 was most definitely the completion of my first Citizen Philanthropist project with Citizen Effect, we were able to raise $1200 for a new school in Ica, Peru. We had two awesome dance events that we were able to raise money for these students, then I had a really fun holiday dessert party at my home, and the best part of it all was the week before I left for Texas for the holidays I got the most incredible news ever :) I got my first gallery show to display my Latin American photographs at the new Criollo Latin Kitchen here in downtown AND I made an incredible new friend, Amita, the owner of Mayan Magic, she agreed to helping me get the word out about my non-for-profit photography initiative benefiting education in Latin America, more updates on that below.
So the new year seemed like it was going to be one of the best years ever.
After such an amazing natural high that was the month of December, I went home and visited family for the holidays only to end my trip by taking my amazing dog Tux to the vet. I had adopted Tux in January 09 when I graduated from Elon and had moved to AZ for an internship. Tux was my first dog ever and I had fallen in love with him the minute I saw his video on the adoption website and got him the 2nd week I moved to AZ. Tux ended up having a chronic kidney condition that the adoption agency didn't disclose so unfortunately Tux had not been treated all year and ended up passing away when I arrived back in Flagstaff. It was a huge shock for me because he had been running laps with my crazy brother, Eddie, just a week before so I was baffled and confused.
Thank goodness for my incredible co-workers/friends in Flagstaff. Flagstaff is such a huge dog friendly town it's pretty much expected and accepted to take some time to deal with a pet's loss. My wonderful wonderful friends, Leveta, Juanita, Lin Marie, and Rob have been incredibly wonderful. They all made sure I had someone to stay with for a couple of days, picked up lose ends for me at work, and made me amazing dinners! I honestly couldn't have been with better people that week and I am sending them a HUGE shout out for their incredible support and friendship.
With a new move (lease ending jazz) I'm now super excited to be working with Amita the owner of Mayan Magic at this incredible cafe and living with her.
A new year also came with a new job for me, I'm transitioned out of my AmeriCorps role and will actually be working for the university now. Still doing exactly what I've been doing but at a part-time capacity and with a little bit of a change in supervisor structure.
In my free time I've been increasing the dancing finally that my past injuries seem to be under much better control. I've been dancing about three times a week and have been learning tons of new ballroom styles, while I've always loved to dance I've never really done it formally (unless you want to count drill team for a year in HS). The dance community is the first big thing I jumped into when I got to Flagstaff I knew it would be a way for me to meet people in my new community and it most definitely has and I've been having a fantastic time doing it. I got to dance in an exhibition in Phoenix the first weekend of January and it was an incredible rush,I got to go down with fellow Flagstaff dancers, Rob and Jamie. I miss so much the performance side of dance that I enjoyed so much when I grew up as a gymnast I'm loving getting to do it again. I even got asked if I wanted to compete in a Pro/Am competition in the spring, and while it may not happen immediately I'm super excited about the possibilities of getting to perform more again.
The projects with Citizen Effect and the Citizen Philanthropist projects I've been working on continue to be a key part of my "free time", I love that even though I can't live in Latin America right now I have been able to find a way to combine my interests in photography, social enterprise, and philanthropy into a way to provide education for students around the region. It's a huge thrill getting to tell new people about the work that we are doing and constantly getting help and suggestions from an incredible group of people. This project is ever evolving and I'm actually just recently been in contact with Rachel Zedeck of Backpack Farm, an incredible Social Enterprise that Rachel helps create sustainable communities in Africa by teaching sustainable farming techniques check out her information here: http://www.socialearth.org/social-entrepreneur-with-a-backpack-feeds-an-african-community, she has many years of experience in ngos and is going to help me to figure out if the photography initiative can grow into something bigger to be able to make a bigger impact in the lives of students in Latin America. I'm so excited, I feel that life is finally starting to come together and I'm actually getting to spend my time doing things that I absolutely love and am passionate about.
I am getting to know Rachel through an incredible website called changents.com that allows individuals who are working to make the world a better place to connect with others who are doing the same and with individuals who are interested in helping to make things happen. I'm so excited to be a part of this site, excited to be a part of this incredible citizen philanthropy movement that is encouraging individuals to actually take action and help create the change they want to see in the world, I love being a part of it and can't wait to see where it takes me. To check out my Change Agents profile click here: http://changents.com/coralzayas
A good friend that I've made here, is Amie, her and I meet through Gear Up a federal program about college access in low income schools, I'm a Big Brothers Big Sister mentor once a week and help Amie at one of the local high schools. Amie and I learned that we have LOADS in common, more specifically with our interests international education, Latin America and global citizenship. Amie is a few years older then me and has been working on a project now known as Casa Verde since she graduated college. Her and her husband Joe now own stunning property in Nicaragua where they hope to have an international education center, a place that will benefit both Latin American education, rural development, global citizenship through an international education after school curriculum and so much more. Me and Amie spent substantial time in November working on an application for the Unreasonable Institute, a project that would have created start up funds for the organization so that we could make this dream into a reality. And while we didn't back to the finals that doesn't mean we are giving up, we've created this idea into something that builds on Amie,Joe, and my strengths and hopefully one day we'll all be able to work on this project full time and get to work in areas that we all feel are hugely important to create positive change in both the US and Latin America. So we continue to look out for opportunities that may be in the future allow us to get to go this work full time.
The photography will be on display in my first art walk on February 5th, and will go up for my first gallery show at Criollo Latin Kitchen in March. I'm hoping the more people that learn about the initiative the more students we can help throughout Latin America.
Well that pretty much sums up life right now, while 2010 started pretty rocky for me with incredible friends I'm moving on and hoping for a great 2010. Dancing into the new year with my friend and now more formal dance partner, Rob, always brings a smile to my face. Dancing, helping Amita with the incredible Mayan Magic, and continuing work on my Citizen Philanthropy projects and with the exciting spring opening of my work the new college resource center couldn't be more exciting.
This year I hope my blog takes on a new light, it will no longer be just the exciting moments of college life like all my travels, but also more about personal growth. I'm come to realize not very many people know why I do the things that I choose to do and I think taking you all along this journey of exploration will be a great way to transition out of the college updates and into this amazing adventure that has been post graduation and everything that it brings. I'd love to hear your comments and support through email or through the blog comments. I hope you enjoy this journey as much as I am even though many of us never get to see each other since we now living in such far off places.
Excited to be back on top of the world :)
Coral :)
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Another Month has Flown By!
Wow, I'm loving life here in Flagstaff my time is flying by soooo fast.
This month has been a traveling all over the state month! I'm been in Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott, Sedona and Flagstaff in the last month!!
I had our yearly VISTA training this year in Prescott and got to see some friends from regional training come together for the first time since we started our projects. It was fantastic getting to see them and we had a blast at training.
I also got to spend a few days in Sedona with Leveta where she lives and got to meet our new colleague who starts now this first week of November. So I have some fantastic pics from a short hike we took while I visited her.
I also got to see Elon students this month as they came to Tucson and Mexico to do a trip with BorderLinks, an organization that does educational trips down to different Mexican border towns so that students and organizations can learn about the specific issues that affect border towns. It was a blast to be back with Elon students and I even got to see an old professor and another 2009 graduate who also now lives in AZ like me. It was a complete blast and I got to learn more specific issues about my regional focus so that was fantastic.
This month just went by sooo fast. It's been fantastic and I got to see my first day of snow here in Flagstaff, but it definitely wasn't too bad. I'm sure I'll have pictures when we start getting FEET of snow!!
Hope everyone is having a great fall and getting ready for the holiday season!
Enjoy the pics!
This month has been a traveling all over the state month! I'm been in Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott, Sedona and Flagstaff in the last month!!
I had our yearly VISTA training this year in Prescott and got to see some friends from regional training come together for the first time since we started our projects. It was fantastic getting to see them and we had a blast at training.
I also got to spend a few days in Sedona with Leveta where she lives and got to meet our new colleague who starts now this first week of November. So I have some fantastic pics from a short hike we took while I visited her.
I also got to see Elon students this month as they came to Tucson and Mexico to do a trip with BorderLinks, an organization that does educational trips down to different Mexican border towns so that students and organizations can learn about the specific issues that affect border towns. It was a blast to be back with Elon students and I even got to see an old professor and another 2009 graduate who also now lives in AZ like me. It was a complete blast and I got to learn more specific issues about my regional focus so that was fantastic.
This month just went by sooo fast. It's been fantastic and I got to see my first day of snow here in Flagstaff, but it definitely wasn't too bad. I'm sure I'll have pictures when we start getting FEET of snow!!
Hope everyone is having a great fall and getting ready for the holiday season!
Enjoy the pics!
Give 1 to Get 1 Please Support my Citizen Philanthropist Project this Holiday Season!
This holiday season Give 1 to Get 1. By helping us raise $1200 this holiday season your purchase of these prints, greeting cards, and canvas prints is helping bring education to 300 children in Ica, Peru. An area devastated by the earthquake in 2007. Your purchase will help to build a new multipurpose classroom where children will learn and community workshops will be held.
For every greeting card purchase $5 will be donated to Citizen Effect and you will receive a tax-deduction.
For every 8 x 10 matted print you purchase $7.50 will be donated in your honor to Citizen Effect and you will receive a tax-deduction.
For every 12 x 16 stretched canvas print purchased a $25 donation will be given in your name to Citizen Effect.
Thank you for giving this holiday season and I hope that the incentive of receiving a tropical print and a tax-deductible donation will encourage you to help provide a badly needed education space for these 300 students and their families in Peru.
Thank you for your support!
Coral Zayas
Citizen Philanthropist- Citizen Effect
Journey 2 Paradise Photography
To view all prints see http://picasaweb.google.com/LuvLatinDance/Photos4Sale1Well
To purchase prints visit http://journey2paradise.yolasite.com/photos-4-charity.php
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Update on my Citizen Philanthropist project through 1 Well
So as most of you know I really enjoy photography and have it as a hobby. Well this year I was finally able to get hooked up with an NGO that was building classrooms in Latin America. This was my Clinton Global Initiative commitment from two years ago that I have been trying to set up. Well through 1 Well's incredible citizen philanthropist program I have been able to sponsor a new multipurpose school wing in Ica, Peru. What I have chosen to do in order to raise money for this classroom is sell my photography. 100% of proceeds go to 1 Well to finance the new school wing. Please support this project and spread the news if you believe in providing access to education in rural areas of Latin America. If everyone donated $5 I would only need 200 individuals and we would finish building the school wing!
Thank you everyone for your support!! To find out more information check out the following two links.
http://1well.org/subtanjalla_caeclassroom/
http://shop.ebay.com/journey2paradisephotography/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
My VISTA project in the news!
The new college resource center I have been working has been getting a lot of attention lately, here are the latest articles about the project I've been working on!
http://jackcentral.com/news/2009/09/flagstaff-ymca-makes-plans-to-offer-resources-to-students/
This is the Lumberjack the NAU student newspaper
http://www4.nau.edu/insidenau/bumps/2009/8_19_09/ymca.htm
This is from InsideNAU, NAU's version of E-Net at Elon
We are also featured in the September YMCA newsletter but I don't have a link for that.
Hope you enjoy seeing what I'm been working on lately!
http://jackcentral.com/news/2009/09/flagstaff-ymca-makes-plans-to-offer-resources-to-students/
This is the Lumberjack the NAU student newspaper
http://www4.nau.edu/insidenau/bumps/2009/8_19_09/ymca.htm
This is from InsideNAU, NAU's version of E-Net at Elon
We are also featured in the September YMCA newsletter but I don't have a link for that.
Hope you enjoy seeing what I'm been working on lately!
Wow in the News! This is so exciting! Citizen Philanthopist Spotlight of the Week!
So I don't think I've ever been in the news before and this is so exciting! The two projects that I'm working on have been in the news several times in the last two weeks and I wanted to share the articles in case you guys were interested in seeing what I have been up to. Check it out I hope you enjoy!
http://www.1well.org/blog/entry/http_www1wellorg_blog_entry_featured_citizen_philanthropist_coral_zayas
This is my new Citizen Philanthropist project through a DC based NGO called 1 Well. They allow regular people to give back to a cause they believe in in a creative way. I'm chosen to auction off my Latin American photographs to raise funds to build a new youth outreach center in Ica, Peru an area that has vastly devastated in the August 2007 earthquake. The website is still being added to and next week will have links to the auction site on eBay through Mission Fish as well as the prints I'll be selling. I'm hugely excited about this project because I've tried for two years now to partner with an existing NGO to do work in education in rural Latin America, well I finally got my chance and I am sooo excited!
I hope you guys will pass the word along and the website will continue to be updated with progress on the fundraising and the site project in Peru.
Check out my project's website! http://1well.org/subtanjalla_caeclassroom/
http://www.1well.org/blog/entry/http_www1wellorg_blog_entry_featured_citizen_philanthropist_coral_zayas
This is my new Citizen Philanthropist project through a DC based NGO called 1 Well. They allow regular people to give back to a cause they believe in in a creative way. I'm chosen to auction off my Latin American photographs to raise funds to build a new youth outreach center in Ica, Peru an area that has vastly devastated in the August 2007 earthquake. The website is still being added to and next week will have links to the auction site on eBay through Mission Fish as well as the prints I'll be selling. I'm hugely excited about this project because I've tried for two years now to partner with an existing NGO to do work in education in rural Latin America, well I finally got my chance and I am sooo excited!
I hope you guys will pass the word along and the website will continue to be updated with progress on the fundraising and the site project in Peru.
Check out my project's website! http://1well.org/subtanjalla_caeclassroom/
Wow Sept just went through the window!
Wow well my time in Flagstaff is flying by! Sept has gone by so fast I haven't even had time to go dance. I'm been kept incredibly busy with my work, but I absolutely love it.
Last weekend I went and explored Petrified Forest and the Painted desert, I'll have pictures of this and the two national monuments I went to a few weeks back later this week when I have my camera next to me.
I got to play professor for the day today and that was great, like Elon NAU has a freshman common reading, and since I felt that all of Elon's chooses were always fantastic books I volunteered to lead one of the student discussions and I got to do that today. If was great getting to do something outside my job description for the last week as I've been preparing for the class so it's been fun.
I love Flagstaff I barely even drive anymore because there is such a great public transport system here I've used it to get pretty much everywhere.
Some of the exciting events coming up for me are attending a college fair to advertise our new center, golf tournaments for fundraisers at the Y (don't worry I will not be golfing haha), I'm heading down to Tucson and Mexico about mid month to join my university as they come down for a trip with Border Links. I actually get to learn more about that tomorrow as NAU is also planning on sending students in the future.
So hopefully back onto the dancing calendar this month.
Hope everyone is doing well, keep me posted with you lives! I miss living so far away from all my close friends.
Until next time :)
Last weekend I went and explored Petrified Forest and the Painted desert, I'll have pictures of this and the two national monuments I went to a few weeks back later this week when I have my camera next to me.
I got to play professor for the day today and that was great, like Elon NAU has a freshman common reading, and since I felt that all of Elon's chooses were always fantastic books I volunteered to lead one of the student discussions and I got to do that today. If was great getting to do something outside my job description for the last week as I've been preparing for the class so it's been fun.
I love Flagstaff I barely even drive anymore because there is such a great public transport system here I've used it to get pretty much everywhere.
Some of the exciting events coming up for me are attending a college fair to advertise our new center, golf tournaments for fundraisers at the Y (don't worry I will not be golfing haha), I'm heading down to Tucson and Mexico about mid month to join my university as they come down for a trip with Border Links. I actually get to learn more about that tomorrow as NAU is also planning on sending students in the future.
So hopefully back onto the dancing calendar this month.
Hope everyone is doing well, keep me posted with you lives! I miss living so far away from all my close friends.
Until next time :)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Yes Vanessa I do work! :)
This post is specially dedicated to Vanessa because when I was in Costa Rica I posted about all the amazing things I was getting to do in and out of the country and she jokingly thought I was even going to class! haha
Well my work here is really exciting, I'm the coordinator for the brand new College Resource Center. The center opens in January so I'm doing all the set up now. I'm basically the liaison between Northern Arizona University and the Flagstaff Family YMCA as they are jointing in charge of this new project. So that means I split my time between the two places, and in the community where I make partnerships with organizations in the area. I'm currently working on setting up the advisory board that we will have up and running in the next 2-3 weeks, which is exciting. I also do a lot of marketing and PE before the center opens and then the website closer to openings. Once we open my role will change.
The center is basically a place where anyone in the community can come to get help with all aspects of the college application process. It's tailered at increasing first-generation, low-income and minority student access, acceptance and enrollment in higher education. I'm really excited about the project as this is definately an area that I'm really passionate about since it's an area I know first hand.
Hope you enjoy the blog and I'll try to update every week or so. Feel free to comment or shoot me an email I'd love to hear from you all!!
Coral :)
Well my work here is really exciting, I'm the coordinator for the brand new College Resource Center. The center opens in January so I'm doing all the set up now. I'm basically the liaison between Northern Arizona University and the Flagstaff Family YMCA as they are jointing in charge of this new project. So that means I split my time between the two places, and in the community where I make partnerships with organizations in the area. I'm currently working on setting up the advisory board that we will have up and running in the next 2-3 weeks, which is exciting. I also do a lot of marketing and PE before the center opens and then the website closer to openings. Once we open my role will change.
The center is basically a place where anyone in the community can come to get help with all aspects of the college application process. It's tailered at increasing first-generation, low-income and minority student access, acceptance and enrollment in higher education. I'm really excited about the project as this is definately an area that I'm really passionate about since it's an area I know first hand.
Hope you enjoy the blog and I'll try to update every week or so. Feel free to comment or shoot me an email I'd love to hear from you all!!
Coral :)
Life in Flagstaff!
So those of you that have seen my facebook status in the last few weeks have some idea of the fun I'm already having in Flagstaff but for everyone else here's a short recap of my first month!
First week I was here I just moved in and got settled, but right away I found out what kind of dance scene Flagstaff had so I could keep myself entertained. Flagstaff has this incredible thing every summer that's called dancing on the square, it's in downtown and they teach a different style of dance for an hour and then its an open dance floor for 2 hours with different styles of music. I'm taken salsa and cha cha so far this month on Wednesdays.
My second week I went to Albuquerque for VISTA training. I meet some of the most interesting and incredible people and that really got be exciting and ready to start this adventure.
My third week I was back in Flagstaff and have been here since. I took Argentine Tango classes for the last two week and now attend the practicas with the other tango dancers in Flagstaff. The dance community here is absolutely amazing! I love them they are the nicest people and I see them at everything which is so cool. I even went to the World Dance Festival show two weeks ago. Last Friday night one of my roommates, Sarah was moving down to Phoenix for grad school so I took her out to salsa rueda, which is salsa done in a circle where you are constantly changing partners, it was the most hilarious and fun style of salsa I've ever done! :)
That's the rap up of my dance life in Flag, I love it and I'm having a blast!
Pictures to come, I'll take some in the next two weeks and post them.
First week I was here I just moved in and got settled, but right away I found out what kind of dance scene Flagstaff had so I could keep myself entertained. Flagstaff has this incredible thing every summer that's called dancing on the square, it's in downtown and they teach a different style of dance for an hour and then its an open dance floor for 2 hours with different styles of music. I'm taken salsa and cha cha so far this month on Wednesdays.
My second week I went to Albuquerque for VISTA training. I meet some of the most interesting and incredible people and that really got be exciting and ready to start this adventure.
My third week I was back in Flagstaff and have been here since. I took Argentine Tango classes for the last two week and now attend the practicas with the other tango dancers in Flagstaff. The dance community here is absolutely amazing! I love them they are the nicest people and I see them at everything which is so cool. I even went to the World Dance Festival show two weeks ago. Last Friday night one of my roommates, Sarah was moving down to Phoenix for grad school so I took her out to salsa rueda, which is salsa done in a circle where you are constantly changing partners, it was the most hilarious and fun style of salsa I've ever done! :)
That's the rap up of my dance life in Flag, I love it and I'm having a blast!
Pictures to come, I'll take some in the next two weeks and post them.
Why I Choose to Serve as an Americorps VISTA
I first started getting involved with service when I was 12 and entering junior high. My mom suggested I volunteer at the community library since I enjoyed going. I did enjoy it and continued for several summers. In junior high and high school I continued a major involvement in service especially student government, and some other student organizations. I loved helping my school, even though I never enjoyed where I grew up. I figured that I could change some of the things that bothered me about the schools then I'd feel more comfortable there and enjoy my time, and hopefully allow others to do the same. I've also learned that I meet my closest friends with those that I serve with and am at a point in life where I'm looking to make these kinds of connections again. In college even though I did not serve much due to having to work instead to pay for school, I did learn more about activism and how I play a role in it. It helped me realize how much I love doing this kind of work.
My new life as an Americorps VISTA
This year I've decided to devote to the Americorp VISTA program. This program is under the branch of Americorps, the federal service organization. VISTA is different from what most people think of service, we do not do direct service like Americorps state and nationals but rather we build from the ground up and create sustainable programs around the country. I'm in charge of a brand new College Resource Center for the city of Flagstaff,AZ. I've lived in Flagstaff now a month and I absolutely love it, it's definately my kind of town, but more on the fun later!
My blog this year is going to take through my rollercoaster ride of serving to work towards the eradication of poverty, and as you guys can see I'm working in the education side of things. It's also going to be the trials of living at the poverty line, because as part of this program we live at the poverty line so we get a better understanding of the position the people we serve typically live in.
I hope you enjoy this year and see how I take my desire for change to another level. Enjoy!
My blog this year is going to take through my rollercoaster ride of serving to work towards the eradication of poverty, and as you guys can see I'm working in the education side of things. It's also going to be the trials of living at the poverty line, because as part of this program we live at the poverty line so we get a better understanding of the position the people we serve typically live in.
I hope you enjoy this year and see how I take my desire for change to another level. Enjoy!
Family and Friends!
These are just some of my favorite pics from the Holiday 2008 and Spring Break 09 when I came home to spend a week at home in March. Enjoy!!
Elon Graduation!!!
Well some of these posts are written way later then this actually happened but I'm trying to catch up!!
I came back from Costa Rica, December 2008 from the most incredible four months of my life!!! I took an internship teaching ESL-English as a Second Language in Arizona. As part of my degree I did an independent study and got my license to teach English that's how I ended up with this job. It's really an international license so it's designed for those that want to teach English in another country. I choose to stay in the US and teach international students. It was definitely an experience let's just say I learned that I'm not meant to be teaching high schoolers!! :)
In May I returned to Elon to walk and receive my diploma!!! Since Elon's a small school I had to come back for graduation since we don't have one mid-year but it was incredibly worth it. Although I didn't get to see many friends since everyone was busy with there families at least we all got to walk at the same time. Above this post you'll see pictures from graduation!
Enjoy!!
I came back from Costa Rica, December 2008 from the most incredible four months of my life!!! I took an internship teaching ESL-English as a Second Language in Arizona. As part of my degree I did an independent study and got my license to teach English that's how I ended up with this job. It's really an international license so it's designed for those that want to teach English in another country. I choose to stay in the US and teach international students. It was definitely an experience let's just say I learned that I'm not meant to be teaching high schoolers!! :)
In May I returned to Elon to walk and receive my diploma!!! Since Elon's a small school I had to come back for graduation since we don't have one mid-year but it was incredibly worth it. Although I didn't get to see many friends since everyone was busy with there families at least we all got to walk at the same time. Above this post you'll see pictures from graduation!
Enjoy!!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Counting down to Finals
These last few weeks after my fall break away have been interesting. Lots of work has been done and of course with it being the end of the semester the work is basically coming out of my ears! haha. I've done a few things these last few weekends but nothing extremely interesting. I have some pics that I'll put up later. This weekend we went to Arenal which I had already gone to when my family was here but I really like that area so I had a good time going back. This weekend after about 10 changes we are going to the beach, and getting a lot of work done while sunbathing :).
I only have 3 weeks it's nuts that time has flown by sooooo fast!!!
I applied for Teach for America which is something I have been looking at for a long time and have advanced to the next round, so here in a few weeks I find out if I move on to the final round. Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed!!
Hope everyone is doing well!
Coral
I only have 3 weeks it's nuts that time has flown by sooooo fast!!!
I applied for Teach for America which is something I have been looking at for a long time and have advanced to the next round, so here in a few weeks I find out if I move on to the final round. Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed!!
Hope everyone is doing well!
Coral
Monday, October 27, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)