Dr. Tom Osborne

Honors Forum II: November 19, 2012

This guy has some really long titles: Professor of History Emeritus, and Deacon, Episcopal Church

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend forum because I had a weird combination of the flu and strep throat, or something like that. So consider yourselves lucky that I didn't force my germs upon you!

However, I do wish that I could have attended. Dr. Osborne sounds like a pretty interesting guy.

Since I don't have a speaker to write about, I suppose I will take this time to share the interesting turn of events that took place during my volunteer hours. I mention in a few previous posts that I planned to volunteer at the Healing Place and a few other potential places. While I did attend volunteer orientation for the Healing Place, unfortunately they are currently only holding sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the time that I'm in the Honors Forum. I also have volunteered a few times at Feeding the Pride, the on-campus food pantry. I was worried about not having enough volunteer hours, but I was more worried about volunteering at a place that I enjoyed. I never expected that there would be so many opportunities for me to volunteer that were very close to home.

Ever since I can remember, I've been around nursing homes. My mom is a social worker who has a passion for working with the elderly, so I've had my fair share of experience. I never considered volunteering at Windsor House, the nursing home where my mom currently works, because that didn't really feel like volunteering to me since I visit there on a regular basis. To give a little bit of background, Windsor House is located in Huntsville and is the site of the old Crestwood Hospital. It is on the lower end of nursing homes in the Huntsville area, and I have often wondered why my mom devotes so much of her time to that place. When I started volunteering, I found out. If you have ever visited a nursing home, you know that they are often very sad places. Most residents don't receive any visitors, so they only social interaction they have is with nurses, social workers, and other residents. When I volunteered, all I really did was sit down and have a conversation with the residents, or read to them. I didn't feel like I was doing very much at all, but my mom told me that just by doing those simple things, I was making a huge difference in the residents' lives. I never expected it to be that simple.

I guess this just goes to show that there are people all around you that need help, even if you don't notice them right away. I can't think of a better way that I could have spent my time over the past few weekends. Volunteering at Windsor House has been such a blessing in my own life.

Always, Kalee