[Oabs] What should we do next?

[Amber H]

Good afternoon Kaiti,
Just a few short lines from me because I do believe that the division
deserves some explanation, at least so far as I am personally able to
give.

Essentially, I care very much for this division and want to see it
grow, but right now am struggling to keep my own head above water in
my household.  I have, since the beginning of the summer, taken a
full-time job and begun training my own guide dog from scratch.  (Read
as, when I'm not at work, I'm still at work!  25 pounds of pure energy
does not want to lay quietly while I sit through phone meetings!)

My days off are only Fridays and Sundays, which allow for laundry,
church, and maybe?  If I'm lucky, dinner with my husband twice a week!

While that might sound like an exaggeration to you, what I mean is, my
schedule is 1:30 PM to 10:00 PM at night. And I only get a 30 minute
lunch break.

So while I would love to be more involved, the fact of the matter is
that I just do not have enough hours in my day.  I wake up with my
husband in the mornings to get him ready for work, get some housework
done, maybe have lunch with a friend, and it's time for me to go to
work.  I start around 7 in the morning and don't finish usually until
after 10 at night.

It's not a matter of not caring; for me at least, it's a matter of
literally, not having time for all that needs to be done for my own
family, much less adding to my schedule with meetings and so on for
others.

This may come across as selfish, but if you think about it a moment,
you will see that I am actually trying to do the division a favor by
not commiting to give time that I do not have to give, or offering to
donate time and resources to make calls or become involved with
aspects of building the division that I just do not have time to
offer.

If I am going to do something badly, I'd rather not try to do it at
all.  I feel, and believe that you do to, that offering to carry some
weight in a project means that you will actually carry that weight;
not phone at the last moment to say, sorry, time got away from me, and
I really haven't done my part.

This does not mean I will never want to be involved with the division
again or that the division is at the bottom of my list.  Only that
right now, there are way to many things in my life demanding my time
and attention for me to offer any more of my time and attention to any
other projects.

I want to see the division succeed, and I believe that it can.  I just
am not in a position at this particular time, to become heavily
involved in any of the projects being put forward.

I hope this helps answer your questions, at least about me, and maybe
gives you some insight into why some others might be silent at times,
to.

Best,

Amber M

On 10/11/14, Kaiti Shelton via Oabs <oabs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi, OABSters,
>
> Over the past few weeks, especially since August right before school
> picked back up for most of us, I've seen something that is troubling
> to me.  Attendance at regular calls has slipped, and we're back to
> having the same 3 or 4 members doing the majority of helping out when
> things need to get done.  Before I continue, I am not pointing fingers
> at individuals, this is just what I see.
>
> The membership committee has been in dire straights, and both Aleeha
> and I have sent out several emails asking for additional help with
> this.  We can beg and plead all we want, but it takes individual
> effort to call in to the conference lines.  This is just as much
> ***your*** division as it is mine, and I don't want to see ground lost
> when we've just gotten our heads above water.
>
> Another problem is that the same people seem to be stepping up to help
> when something needs to be figured out.  Earlier this week I asked to
> have two volunteers help me in testing the conference line which Ryan
> so graciously checked for us, so we could make sure all parts of the
> line were functioning properly at once.  Aleeha replied and said she
> could help over the list for all to see.  I then replied to her over
> the list, and said that her willingness to help was appreciated and
> other interested volunteers should contact me AS Soon As Possible.  At
> 5:30, hearing nothing more, I decided to call the test off since no
> one else responded.  Aleeha and I both had dinner plans, so we agreed
> it would be easier on both of us since, as far as we knew, no one else
> was willing to help.  Emily did email saying she could help about 25
> minutes later, but she is one of the other people who consistently
> steps up to help.  It shouldn't always be the job of specific people
> to do tasks that are essential to keeping the division running.  I
> wish that someone had not waited to see if someone else who usually
> helps out would do it, and would have just replied either to Aleeha's
> email or to my response as a willing volunteer.  IN this case, it
> would have taken 2 to 3 minutes of time for all involved.
>
> I know we're all busy students.  I know that at least Emily and I are
> taking at least 18 credits of courses; some of us are involved in
> other groups that meet weekly on our campuses, and some are exec board
> members for those organizations; some of us do other things outside of
> school with church, or are preparing for major tests or professional
> internships in our not-so-distant futures.  But, the reality is that
> we're all doing some combination of these things, and if we're all in
> OABS than the organization deserves to see fair levels of commitment
> from everyone.
>
> So, I'm interested in hearing suggestions.  What is so daunting about
> membership committee meetings that no one shows up?  What have we not
> done that anyone thinks we should be doing?  I have stated on multiple
> occasions that my inbox is always open for discussion of ideas or
> suggestions for the division, but hearing none and since the
> leadership needs to know what's going on behind the scenes, please
> take a few short minutes of your time to tell me what you think.  You
> can email on-list if you'd like to generate discussion with everyone,
> or if you'd like to email me privately that is perfectly fine too.
>
> I hope everyone is having a great weekend and is starting to get
> excited for convention.  I know I am, but we need to pull together to
> make this year great.
> --
> Kaiti Shelton
> University of Dayton 2016.
> Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
> President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
> Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma
>
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-- 
Have a blessed day,

Amber H