Grimsley Volleyball Media Liaison

Goals: Grimsley High School always does a volleyball fundraiser for one of our volleyball games against Page, our biggest rivals. Our fundraiser for this year was for Cancer and all the proceeds from the game were donated to the American Cancer Foundation to help their research. This year, Grimsley is hosting it and I have taken the position of being the media liaison. This is my first time doing any kind of advertising work, so I hope that this will help me learn how to plan this section on my own so that it can help get the word out about the fundraiser. I also hope I can learn a lot of new skills regarding the communication and advertising business-something that I have very little experience doing.


I was very hesitant when the fundraiser coordinator was looking for a media liaison. I did not think that I would be able to do it considering I am only a high schooler- I was afraid I would not be taken seriously when talking to adults. However, I thought that this would be a great opportunity to improve my communication skills and learn a little bit about advertising. Needless to say, I hesitantly volunteered to do it, not knowing what I would get myself into. First, I decided that they best way to star was sending an email to all the news stations in my community. I started out with WFMY News 2 and FOX 8 news when I realized that I needed to get the word out as much as I could. After composing some emails and becoming more confident in my communication skills, and throughout the month,

News article that I coordinated about the fundraiser

I started reaching out to local radio stations such as 107.5 KZL and newspapers like The Greensboro News and Record. I was so nervous about getting responses because I did not want to fail my team, so I awaited anxiously for responses. Some stations said that they did not have enough room to cover it, however, one of the talk show hosts emailed me back saying that she would love to mention it on "Murphy in the Morning", one of the most popular radio shows in Greensboro! I had been listening to that radio show since I was a little kid, so being able to listen to my announcement on the show was a great experience. After, I also got a reply from a writer with the News and Record, wanting to come out during the game to do an article about it. After further communication, the newspaper came out to the game, took pictures, wrote and article, and conducted interviews to include as well. This experience was great and I am so happy that I volunteered for this position. I would definitely volunteer for it again next year if I could, unfortunately next year is Page's turn to host, so they will have their own liaison, but if there is ever a spot needed, I would love to fill it. At this point, I would also like to volunteer for other positions so that I can expand my horizons and learn new things. I went into the position of being a liaison without knowing anything and coming out with much more knowledge than before and I would be willing to do so in any other new position as well.




Learning outcome: Planned and initiated activities-
    This was definitely a step out of my comfort zone, especially because I was not working with anyone else on the team. I had to plan everything with the adults working in the media, which was hard at times because I wanted to make sure I could get as much coverage as possible. Planning all the media on my own definitely taught be a lot about the advertisement world and the communication skills necessary to advertise well. One thing that I thought was one of the most important parts of advertising is just being confident and putting yourself and your cause in front of as many people possible, someone will be interested, it just might not be the first person you see, which is why you have to try again no matter what.

Learning Outcome: Developed New Skills
    As I mentioned before, I learned a lot about communications and advertising, learning how to reach out to adults in a professional manner. Confidence was also a huge lesson learned-if you are not confident in yourself, how do you expect others to want to do business with you? By showing confidence and preparedness while talking to the media, your changes are bettered immediately because you can capture their attention and "sell" your product.

Learning Outcome: Considered the Ethical Implications of their Actions:
    Cancer is a very serious illness and choosing it as our focus was very hard due to the numerous diseases that affect millions of people every day. By raising awareness through something as big as the Grimsley-Page rivalry, we are putting our rivalry to good use and giving back to the community that raised us. As I sought out various forms of media, I reflected on all the great people out in the world who have to stop their passions due to an illness. The process taught me not to take any minute of playing the sport I love for granted, as many people are not able to have to same opportunity. Thinking about how this fundraiser can help a fellow volleyball player, mom, soccer player, artist return to doing what they love most drove me more to reach out and advertise this even as much as possible.

Miles for Matthew

Goals: Muscular Dystrophy is a muscle disease that inhibits the movement of the victim's muscles. It is one of the muscular diseases that often gets forgotten about, which is why by volunteering for Miles for Matthew, I hope to help local awareness of Muscular Dystrophy. I also hope I can meet new student ambassadors and work collaboratively with them in order for this event to run as smooth as possible.






Miles for Matthew is a great way to raise awareness for muscular Dystrophy in our community. This annual 5k race is held at our local arboretum and is filled with a diverse group of citizens of all ages and all the proceeds go to Muscular Dystrophy research. I decided that I wanted to volunteer at this event this year instead of running it and did so along with other student ambassadors for Grimsley. While we were there, our job was to direct the runners to make sure they went the right way.

Although the weather was rainy, we stood outside along the course cheering on the runners and providing them with anything they needed. It was great to see people that I knew who were running the course and show their support. We also worked with A&T University students to work the race, providing water and support for the runners. It felt really nice knowing that even though I was just one volunteer working, I was making a difference. Diseases like this one cause lots of pain and hardships in people's lives, yet they stay so positive and strong through their lives, something that it truly heroic and inspiring. If people can find happiness in their lives despite the fact that they are living with this disease, then I should do my part in helping them every way I can and show my support for them. This should be the case for any global issues, whether it be a disease like Muscular Dystrophy or a fight for cleaner drinking water (another event that happened at Grimsley). This experience taught me that as a global citizen, it is my job to help my fellow citizens of Earth make the most out of their lives and look out for them. Even the smallest actions can help raise awareness for a big issue in our society such as Muscular Dystrophy and I would love to volunteer at the next event.

Learning Outcome: Engaged in issues of global importance- As I mentioned above, Muscular Dystrophy is a disease that is often forgotten about. Since a teacher at my high school had a son with this disease, raising awareness by getting people to participate in this event was especially important. By getting the community aware of Muscular Dystrophy, I hope that I have made at least a small impact knowing that at least more people know about it than before. Since MD is such a scary disease, often leading to death, it is essential that more people are aware. By knowing more about what is happening to fellow community members, each person can help and support that person, they are able to fight the disease next to them the entire time.

The UNCG International Festival

Goals: Every year the International festival brings together different cultures to have the Greensboro community come out and learn about different countries. This year I hope to broaden my knowledge about different countries while developing my global awareness of what life is like in other countries. Since there will also be performances, I would like to see how different countries express themselves through music and dance and compare rhythms and styles to one another. By volunteering, I want to encourage people to explore new countries and try new food so that they too can become more knowledgeable and gain access to a whole new world of customs, flavors, and traditions.

Before the festival started

In the past, I had attended the International festival solely as a Turkish girl wanting to know more about different countries. I liked it so much that I decided that this year I would like to volunteer and help the festival as much as possible. I arrived at the host site, The University of North Carolina-Greensboro, at 8:00am with some other classmates. We were all really excited to be there and help out so as soon as the trucks arrived, we began unloading all the tents and setting them up in their designated locations.

Unloading tents

Setting up tents

      Everything was going well until we got one tent that was just rods and connectors, meaning we would have to build it on our own. After numerous efforts and lots of tape, we finally managed to assemble the tent and keep it stable so that it could last the entire day. Then after we set up all the tents, we went to the loading dock to wait for people who needed help unloading all their booth materials and decorations. The very first lady who we helped was from Malaysia. As we carried her food and decorations to her booth, she told us how to prepare spicy Asam Pedas, the dish that I was carrying. After helping her set up the booth, we went back and started unloading the items for the Germany and Columbia booths. We continued setting up numerous booths until all of them were complete. Throughout the festival, we were in charge of picking up any trash and changing trash bins once they had been filled up. We also got to watch the back-to-back performances they had on the stage, which was my favorite part of the festival. One of my classmates even da
nced two traditional Chinese dances. My favorite performer was a girl from Madagascar, I had talked to her previously and I learned that red is the most popular color in Madagascar and that everyone loves wearing it and having it on their houses so when she performed on stage with a red dress on, I loved that I knew why.

Experiencing Bubble Tea!

    Later, we got to walk around and try the different foods and I discovered some really neat dishes and treats! I tried Bubble Tea from Taiwan, then a sweet frozen yogurtlike dessert from South Korea and fell in love with both! After the festival was over, we stacked all the tables and chairs for the workers to come and get and we took down all the tents. After a final survey of the land to make sure there was no more trash, our service at the International Festival came to a close at 6:00pm. I had such a great time and cannot wait to do it again next year!










Learning Outcome: Engaged with Issues of Global Importance
    Nowadays everyone has such busy schedules trying to balance school, work, and social live that sometimes they tend to forget that we are not the only country in the world. By participating in this festival, I helped bring people together to get away from their busy lives for a day and have them open their eyes to the cultures and people around them. I hope that the people who came learned some really cool stuff about a country they came in knowing nothing about.

Reading with LiLi

Goals:  Through volunteering at the Greensboro Montessori School and helping Lili improve her reading skills, I really hope I can leave a positive impact in her life and teach her skills that she will use for the rest of her school and outside life. Since I have never been a tutor before, I also want to learn more about myself as a teacher others. Although I have had some coaching experience at the Greensboro Sportsplex, I think that there are some elements in teaching someone a sport that are different than helping a student learn something so important as reading. Therefore, I hope to learn more about my style of teaching and where I need to improve to help Lili understand better. Since Lili is young, I would also like to learn more about ways to keep her interested and motivated so that she does not get bored and lose her focus and make our sessions something she wants to look foreward to so that she can be enthusiastic about reading all the time.


    LiLi is a student at The Greensboro Montessori School who I read with twice a week. She is Vietnamese and is incredibly smart for her age; I am constantly amazed at her level of conversation and the way she handles herself when we discuss the books we read.

3/27/14 and 4/1/14
    These were my first two days working with LiLi. I was a bit nervous the first time because I was afraid she would get bored or would not want to read with me, but within minutes of meeting her, she was so enthusiastic about reading. I started off reading to her and she read a bit to me and she stayed very focused throughout most of the session. However, I noticed she did not like reading the books herself and was hesitant when I asked her to read to me, so my next goal is to help her become more comfortable and confident in her reading skills because she is a very smart girl and I want her to see what she is capable of doing.

4/8/14 and 4/10/14
       The past two sessions with LiLi have been so much fun. I felt a lot more comfortable and confident in helping her read and can see that she is starting to like reading more. She is still shy about reading out loud, which is why I read to her for most of the time. I would like to have her start reading out loud so she can hear her own voice while she reads, however, I do not want to push her so hard that she begins to feel uncomfortable reading out loud. Sometimes, I will read a page and then while reading, I stop to ask her to read one word off the page which she does. I wanted to start this way so that she does not have to feel nervous about reading out loud. Hopefully by the end of our sessions, LiLi will be able to feel more comfortable reading bigger sections out loud.

4/15/14 and 4/22/14
    I can definitely tell that LiLi is starting to become more comfortable reading with me. Whenever I ask her to read a sentence, she will hesitate at first, and then do it. I tried to make these sessions more fun by reading I Spy books with her. Since each page had a list of things to search for in the picture, LiLi and I alternate reading the lists on each page, searching for the items on the list along the way. I still would like her to read a whole page out loud to me, so at the end of our sessions when I can tell she is ready to go out and play, I ask her to read a couple of sentences from a book before leaving, and she always complies. My next goal is to have her read big sections out loud during our sessions, not just at the end.

4/24/14
     Today was my last session with LiLi and it was so much fun seeing how much she opened up to reading. Although she was still hesitant about reading big sections from books out loud, whenever she did read out loud, she read with more confidence than our first sessions. I loved working with such a sweet and bright student like LiLi, and I cannot wait to see her future accomplishments.


Learning Objective: Considered ethical implications of actions
   Reading is such an important skill and I love that I got to read with LiLi so that she can feel more comfortable with it. As education increases, children can often become left behind because they feel uncomfortable with reading or writing, so it is important to help them understand early on that they should not feel like they need to compete with anyone else and that everyone learns at their own pace. LiLi is a remarkable girl who already shows so much potential as her mind was constantly engaged in reading science books. I hope that our sessions taught her to be confident in her reading aloud skills, something that she was previously shy about, and showed her that she is a great student and a joy to have around.

Piedmont Volleyball Club 2013-2014 Season

Goal: my overall goal for participating in this club is to play volleyball in college while improving my skills and working together with my team. I also want to try new techniques and plays that are at a higher level. I would like to push myself to take more risks because I am usually a very safe player, meaning I do not take a lot of risks and I know that in order to play at a higher level, I need to learn to let myself take more risks.

       This is my fifth year playing volleyball for Piedmont Volleyball Club. The goal of this club is to prepare its athletes to play in college and give them the highest level of training possible. My longtime goal since I was in middle school was to play volleyball in college, so joining this club was a huge step toward that goal. The club signs our teams up for tournaments up and down the east coast, some of them areas far away as Minnesota, which gives us great opportunities to meet college coaches from different areas. This year I am on the 17 Red team and we have so far completed in three tournaments. Our first tournament was an alright start considering it was the first time we played together as a team, but I am hopeful that we can only excel from here.

January 18-20, 2014

       This tournament was much better than the first one, everyone was a lot more comfortable with each other. We ended up placing 3rd, which was great because we had been working on new plays during practice and we also came in over winter break to work on plays to make sure we really understood them before the tournament. I was very pleased with our performance considering the first tournament was not a very good one for my team, I can feel us connecting more and becoming more comfortable with each other. As we continue playing, I am excited to grow together and improve our skills.



February 1-2, 2014

      This tournament in Richmond, VA was very bittersweet. Our other setter discovered the week before the tournament that she had tendinitis in her knee and would be out for a couple of tournaments, meaning I was the only setter, so I was really nervous. The good part was that the tournament went so well and we got 1st place! We went the entire weekend undefeated which was such an amazing feeling. We all worked so well together and everyone gave all of their effort. Since I played front and back row for this tournament, I was able to run a lot of different things with our middle hitter. We tried some new things and they were effective! We definitely improved the setter to middle connection that is really important in volleyball. I had to make a risky decision by setting the majority of the balls this weekend to the middles because our outsides did not hit as much as usual. I made this decision because our passes were really good and the middle hitters were performing extremely well, so I knew I needed to take advantage of that for the team to be successful this tournament.



February 8th and 15th, 2014
   This tournament was broken up into two different days in Raleigh, NC. The first day of pool play went well considering that was our first time as a team playing in the Open Division because we had been in the Club division in all the previous tournaments. The Open division is known for a much faster tempo and higher level of play, so we were a bit nervous when our coach told us that we would be playing in the Open division. However, we all agreed that we did not play as well as we could have and being in the Open division was no excuse for our performance. The next pool that same day went a lot better because we became more comfortable and used to the faster tempo of the game; I know that by the end of the tournament I felt our team tempo increase. The second day started off better because we were all aware of the types of teams we would be facing. Personally, I also had to be in better control of my sets because now that we were playing higher level teams, I could not call the plays that I normally call because the other team would pick up on them fast. I realized that I needed to take some risks and run different plays to keep the other team from being able to set up an early block. While there were still a lot of errors made because of taking new risks, there were a lot of plays that went really well considering we did not use them a lot in previous tournaments. I learned a great deal about myself as a player as well as what our team is capable of doing.

March 15th and 16th, 2014

    The Shamrock Fesitval is a rigorous two day tournament that starts at 8am and ends at 11pm. For our team, our main goal for the tournament was just to keep our endurance up and continue to give all the effort we can, despite the fact that we would be playing games as late as 10pm. I thought it was so much fun and my main personal goal for this tournament was to be more aware of the blockers on the other side in order to make smarter sets. I ran a new "shoot" set with my outside hitters and reversed the set to trick the other team. One of my major long-term goals in setting is jump setting, so I tried more of that skill during game play. On sunday, we made it into the finals and lost, earning us the second place title in our bracket.





Learning Outcome: Increased awareness of own strengths and areas for growth
      At the end of every volleyball season, I reflect on what goals I have accomplished during the year and which goals I need to focus more on for the next season. I feel like I definitely became more of a risk taker throughout this season because my sense of when to take risks and when to stay within my boundaries strengthened. Hopefully, I can improve my skill for the next high school season so that I can begin to set at the next level.

Learning Outcome: Shown Perseverance and Commitment in Activity
    Club volleyball can be very demanding as it takes away lots of hours during the weekdays and the weekends. Every other weekend we have tournaments and practice three times a week. However, this is very important because by showing this perseverance, I create a better work ethic and teach myself that when you make a commitment to a team, I must do everything required to uphold that commitment. No matter how late practice runs or how long our tournaments are, I attended all of them because I had a duty to my team and if I failed them by arriving late or skipping practice, then there was no way that I could expect us to be successful.

Greensboro Montessori Marketplace Sign

Goals: throughout the year, Maggie Dunn and I will be doing numerous jobs for the Greensboro Montessori School. Just recently, we were given two jobs. The first job was to make a sign for a mural that the students made with the Costa Ricans who visit every year. The second job was to make a sandwich sign type of thing to advertise the Middle School Marketplace that happens every year as well.

GMS Marketplace Sign

Creating a rough draft

Painting the letters on the sign

Our first project for the school was making a sandwich sign advertising the annual marketplace that takes place at the school. Students pair up and create their own businesses and products to sell on the day of Marketplace. We were asked to make the sign so that it can be reused every year, meaning we had to make the date interchangeable. We were also asked to put a short sentence or two about what marketplace was for the parents driving by. After deciding to paint everything but the date on the board, we came up with the slogan "Come see our middle school entrepreneurs experience the world of business!" to put on the board. After making the template and getting approval, we waterproofed the sign and started painting. For the date, we decided to get large black numbers that had holes on the top so we could drill two hooks into the board sp the school can hang up whatever date they need. After finishing it, we realized how much planning and hard work was required and we were very happy that the school decided to use it to advertise their Marketplace. We were especially pleased with this project because Maggie and I do not consider ourselves to be creative, which is why we thought this project would test what skills we had and gave us the oportunity to learn new things. If I got a project like this in the future, I would definitely feel more comfortable with the planning because of this experience.

The final product!

Learning Outcome: Worked Collaboratively With Others
                  Throughout this entire experience, I worked with a fellow IB student, Maggie Dunn. Together we had to create a sandwich sign advertising the annual Marketplace. We collaborated on ideas and techniques that would be best to accomplish this project. 

Learning Outcome: Undertaken New Challenges
                  This is the first project where Maggie and I had to build something on our own. At the beginning, we had no idea where to even start, so we walked around home depot one day and learned about different ays we could approach the task. We decided to go with a sign made out of wood and attach them with hinges. When considering the paint, we had to make sure it was weatherproof and we had no idea what type of paint we needed. After researching, we found that exterior latex enamel paint would be the best. Before this project, I had no knowledge about the specifics of construction and was even surprised that there were so many different types of paints.

Grimsley High School Volleyball 2013-2014 Season

Goals: I am very excited for this season to come! My main goal that I have with every team that I am on is to simply bring out the best in the each of my teammates through constant encouragement and putting forth all the effort I can in the sport. I also want to make myself a better
player by challenging myself to take more risks through
making riskier sets and using the new skills that I learned this past
summer at the Sports Performance Volleyball camp.
There I learned a lot of higher level setting footwork
and concepts that girls in college use. If I start forcing myself
to use these new skills, even if I do not master them until later, it would be better to
start them now.

   2013 Season:  As mentioned before, volleyball is my life. I would rather be practicing than constantly going out because there is always something to work towards in volleyball, nobody is perfect, but volleyball is not about being perfect, it is about learning from your mistakes and keeping yourself mentally checked in during a game. This is my third year playing volleyball for Grimsley and so far, it has been a great experience. I love everyone on my team and they are all such nice and talented people, it makes me want to play ten times harder for them. Over the summer I went to a Sports Performance setting camp in Chicago, and they taught me so many new things that I could not wait to try for this year's season. A major goal of mine throughout the season was to make smart sets. My position on the team is the setter, and an important skill that comes with that position is being able to read what is going on with your opponents as well as your team. Before setting, you need to use your peripherals to see if the blockers are cheating, which lets you set the hitter who only has one blocker and not two. You also need to know how your players are doing physically and emotionally at any given time, this is because volleyball is mainly a mental game, if one person makes an error, the point is lost, so it is really easy to get down on yourself. If I know someone is having a bad day and they made an error, I know I need to set someone else because mentally they are already down for that rally. However, it is also my job to boost their confidence, so if they are having a bad day, I need to make sure my sets to them are exactly what they need to make a point so they will feel better about themselves. The same thing goes with physically, I have to make sure to not push a hitter to her limits if she is already hurt. If setters are trained to take note of these and make their sets accordingly, then their teams will be more successful. This was my goal throughout the season, I really made an effort to be strategic with my sets. Once I started getting the hang of it, it started coming naturally and now, I am starting on my next goal for club season, jump setting. My favorite game was our annual fundraiser volleyball game with Page, this year we decided to support the American Cancer Society, it was a great game and I enjoyed sharing the victory with my team.

The annual Page-Grimsley fundraiser game

 Learning Outcome: Worked collaboratively with others
    Volleyball is definitely not an individual sport, everyone relies on each other to win. There are six people on a 30x30 court, so talking to each other is key. Who is going to get the short? The deep? Who is taking the second ball if setter gets first ball? Who has the seam? Is setter front row? These are all things that we constantly talk about, if one person sees something, they need to let the other person know. If someone messes up, we have to make sure the ball gets back over the net. Volleyball requires people to pass, different people to set, and another group of people to hit, we are all dependent on each other because it is not possible to get a win based on one person's performance.

Learning Outcome: Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
    We have had practice almost every weekday after tryouts started in August, and I have made sure that I never missed practice, I wanted to keep my commitment to my team and every day of practice means you are improving one way or another. Every team has its issues, and despite that we all had to stick together because that was the only war we could become successful. Outside of practice, I attended college games to train my brain and eyes. By watching college volleyball, I learned about different tactics and how the best players play, so that I can try to mimic their moves in practice. I go to college games so I can make a difference in our team and be a part of its success.

Learning Outcome: Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth
    Through the season, I feel like I have improved a lot, however the improvements of some areas opened my eyes to the areas that I need to work on. One of them is jump setting, I only do it when setting middles, which is not bad, but if I did it while setting all the hitters, I could be more deceptive and the other team would have a harder time to read where I am setting. I have a left handed player this year, so I have been setting a little more in on the right side for her to hit, I also have a right handed player in the same position as the left handed one. Because of this, I realized that my sets for the right handed girl are not being pushed out enough because I am so used to setting the left handed one. My hitters are really good, so I did not find a huge need to cover, however, when we were playing the tougher teams who were really good at blocking, I realized that I was not covering while they were hitting, which resulted in us losing a point. These are all things that I have noticed and will keep trying to improve on.