Events, more events, and more events! Last night was the re-opening of Dave and Busters.  They had just redone the whole place so they had an invite only party to celebrate.  This was a third party event for the Marvin Lewis Community fund in which we raised money by selling tickets for split the pot and different raffle baskets.  A lot of people from around the city attended the event; there was over 800 people there!  My job for the night was to sell split the pot tickets, which actually made me a little nervous.  I am not the type of person who typically goes up to people I don’t know and starts a conversation.  But I was forced to reach outside of my comfort zone.  After approaching a few people, I began to get the hang of things and the rest of the night went well.  No, I was not able to convince everyone I talked to into buying a split the pot ticket, but I did end up selling pretty many.  This experience was great for me and I was able to learn a lot from it.  When I become a nurse, I will not be selling split the pot tickets to my patients, but I will have to know how to approach them in the correct manner.  Although this internship is not in a hospital or doctors office, I am still able to learn valuable lessons and grow in my communication skills.  

Today at work I was busy running errands! We had to go back to the Cincinnati Zoo to pick up what was left over from the Learning is Cool event last night.  We also had to go to Paul Brown Stadium and Marvin Lewis's house (yes his actual house!) to pick up a few boxes.  I would have to say that it was a pretty successful and exciting day!  

Although the craziness of the Golf Classic has calmed down, the MLCF is onto is next event.  A big part of the Marvin Lewis Community is their Learning is Cool Program, which provides an educational incentive that rewards kids for strong academic performances.  This program partners with schools from all around the greater Cincinnati area.  Kids who make the "A" Honor Roll for two quarters of the school year are invited to an end of the year event in June.  This year the event was held at the Cincinnati Zoo. 

The event turned out to be a huge success, with over 3,000 kids who attended.  The MLCF had rented the zoo out for the evening, which allowed families to walk around and see the various animals.  I, along with the other interns, helped to check the children in when they arrived.  This was a chaotic process but it was great to see how excited the kids were to be at the zoo, and to be honored for their dedication throughout the school year.  These kids had worked hard and definitely deserved this wonderful evening of recognition.  I was so glad that I was able to experience this night to see who our organization and my work was directly affecting.    

The next  few weeks at the office were spent cleaning up and reorganizing from the event.  Just as everything had to be taken to Shaker Run for the Golf Outing, we then had to bring it all back to the office and find room to store it away.  This was not a quick or easy process because of the amount of things we had, but with time and help we were able to get it all accomplished. 

I am continuing to still really enjoy my job.  I don't mind working at all because everyone is so friendly and the atmosphere is great.  This is my first time working in an office setting, so a lot of things have been new to me but I am catching on very quickly.  I have really loved the time I have spent with the MLCF to better our community.