Week 3 Reflection

This past week was my favorite because it was when we started to see our work finally pay off. There were a lot of moments of question, for example what we would do with the legs, or what we would do with our last 2 days of senior project, but we problem solved and figured it out. Although it was stressful straying away from our original plan, it honestly worked out for the better. I’d volunteered at a thrift store before and really enjoyed it, but it was a project that I did for about two weeks. Only volunteering at the thrift store for 2 days seemed sort of like a slap in the face to them, so not volunteering opened our minds to new ideas. As previously stated in my blog post, we wanted to plant flowers outside. Particularly we wanted to plant perennials because they grow back every year, which symbolized our lasting connection to Proctor and the promise that we’d made to one another to come back every year. After speaking with maintenance and learning that the bench should go inside, we were sad about the perennials idea falling through, but still hopeful that we could think of  another thoughtful item to donate. I really enjoyed the painting aspect of this project so my first thought was to paint more. We e went to Lowes and thought we could buy a plant and pot, paint the pot similarly to our bench, and donate it to the new facility. I really wanted what we donated to be thoughtful and actually have meaning, so my eyes lit up when I came across a pineapple plant. Although it sounds silly and foolish, pineapples actually represent ‘Welcome’. If you notice, people or restaurants will sometimes put subtle pineapple decor at the doorstep to welcome others. Since this wellness/yoga facility is brand new, it definitely needs to some type of welcoming, so the pineapple plant is perfect! Even better, once the pineapple reaches full size it can we eaten by community members, (hopefully it tastes good) and the will grow back yearly, because is an idea the three of us liked because we can come back and look at its growth! This week taught me that rolling with the punches and being opened minded can really find you great success. I’m typically a really black and white person and NEED to stick to a schedule, but this week as taught me that being creative is okay, and actually great.