A640.9.2.RB- Final Project Reflection "Arts and Bees"

If I am being transparent, and I usually am, choosing my final elective was considerably difficult. I wanted to take a MSLD titled course versus another College of Business course because I like the design and the focus of the content. I was drawn to the fact that there would also be a mixture of writing styles in the assignments. A major deterrent was doing the Service Learning Project. Even as someone who loves academics and learning it was sort of a hard sell to think that I would have almost as many assignments as I would in a core course (which there are ten out of twelve core courses for this program) and do volunteer hours on top of that.

The lazy person inside me that juggles a full-time job and full-time school clinched up like someone would when jumping into a pool filled with ice water. I simply had an aversion to this idea, yet I kept circling it as an option much like vultures do. Granted it was also a hard-sell for some of my school mates, too. I almost had my school bestie ready to take it with me but at the last minute she jumped ship. Ultimately I decided that I really should stop being a weenie and woman up.

I have to say that I am incredibly glad that I did. Being the strategy girl that I am I decided that if I am doing this I have to hit the ground running. As soon as the class started and I read the service project requirements and then I got busy and found that place I wanted to volunteer and a contact. Living in an arts community and feeling like a living representation of the arts I decided that was what I was drawn to and what I should be spending my time and service on. Out of the many options I landed on Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, a non-profit organization.

I have said it many times but I still cannot believe that I had never been there and did not know basically anything about it. My community is not that big! So when I pulled up the sandy driveway I was not sure what I would be walking into or what to expect. My breath was taken away.  Every detail made it a truly elegant place, one worth of being a work of art itself. I got really excited to look around and start learning about who they are and what they do.

I kept a keen eye on every person trying to soak in aspects for my project. Learning leadership and theory from a book and writing about it while drawing from memory of personal experiences is one thing, but observing it in real life is another. After ten other classes it was not usually difficult to do the former. I felt like a leadership detective on a case. When I am at work I am immersed in the environment and being part of it and feel the effects of management decisions and the culture helps one understand the things that are present and a felt sense of what is missing. It is much harder to go to an unfamiliar place with new people and try to feel out what their organizational atmosphere is like, especially during an event. That in itself was worth its weight in gold.

If you want to be a true master of something you need to do and experience everything you can. The growing and learning never stops and this service project added to my expertise. It also felt like a debutant ball of sorts, too. I was revealing myself to my community in a leadership learning capacity and it was my coming out. It is like playing dress up and trying everything on for size as I "test drove" my soon to be new degree. But I want it to be more than a vanity prop because I want to do things, lots of things. I want to make a difference.

I cannot say enough good (and true) things about the ACA. It is a first-class organization. Even doing the research about the origins gave me a pool of information deeper than I could have dreamed of and the hours I spent volunteering gave me a direction in which to start. 

And once more I must say how absolutely bananas I am about the bee apiary that is on the property! About ten years ago I read “The Secret Life of Bees” and I gained and awareness and understanding of bees. As those years passed my intrigue and respect have grown. Maybe it is because human survival is closely tied to the ecosystem and bees are a huge part of that. Maybe it is because I romanticize all things bee. It was just one more thing that captured my heart and my respect for the ACA.

When I finished high school dance, cheerleading, gymnastics, and all the other art related activities were kind of over. Some are able to extend that into college and even less transfer that into their adult lives. When I moved to Mississippi for college I lost all of my connection to those worlds and I never reestablished them in my new environment. That is something that makes me feel loss. Once I came back home in my adult years I have danced in community theater productions and even was asked to choreograph a musical (which is like the hugest honor to me).

I still feel rusty though when it comes to that part of me. Seeing the ACA it makes me feel hope that I could have these things again throughout my lifetime. I dreamed of being a dance or gymnastics coach when I was in middle school. Now I dream of writing a novel or eight. I keep notes, scribbles, ideas so that once I am ready I have a place to start. It feels like there is a fire that has been rekindled and I am incredibly joyful for it.

Usually things are what we make of them. I could have complained my way through this project and took it at face value. I could have even chosen differently. I feel like with taking this class I answered a door of opportunity and fate did the rest. These good things found me again. Something in leadership that is easy for people to overlook are our own personal passions and finding sources of inspiration. When that well is dry it impacts what we do and our relationships with others, as well as the world around us.

With the culmination of all of this insight and knowledge I head into my final course in January. I feel full from this specific experience and have a happy heart thanks to the arts and bees.

In dedication: A very special thank you to the Atlantic Center for the Arts.