Zoo Corps Involvement

As many of you may know already, I am an active Zoo Corps member at the San Diego Zoo where myself and other teens volunteer their time to spread awareness of a variety of topics to the general public. Just today I was there and I took both a written and oral test. I think that both of these went pretty well, but I have yet to learn the results. Anyway, I got involved with this program partly because it was related to wildlife and the zoo, but mostly because I wanted to explore my passion of leadership and public speaking. More on  this coming soon:)

Speaking to a Group

We all know that at some times speaking out to a group... whether it be friends, family, classmates, or any type of organization. I myself love to speak to people and I highly enjoy public speaking. I know that not everyone is an extrovert (such as myself), in fact, there are many introverts out there. Verbal communication is a huge part of social interactions in our lives. How hard would it be for you to go to school/work/wherever all day without speaking to anyone, even your pets. Think about it. For some people it wouldn't be very difficult, but for others you would need to enforce things such as duct tape to reach that goal. If you want to try this you can google day of silence free the children and register... but I don't feel that many could achieve that. But, even a few hours with a sponsor can help. Seriously, you can make a difference by getting a few sponsors... and not speaking. Whoa! Huuuge tangent. Back to public speaking. I find that speaking in front of your peers/people that you know can be much, much, much scarier than speaking in front of those that you don't know. This can be due to the fact that you know that it can live with you if you mess up and such. I have lots of experience in public speaking: in the 5th grade I gave a 'vote for Maya' speech (I lost the election if you're wondering), in 6th grade I gave a speech on 'better education' for a rally, 7th grade I wasn't in much, this year (8th grade) I am the vice president of the Music Club on campus, was president of FPSI (future problem solvers international), and I am involved in Zoo Corps (a post for another time). Personally I like to be involved in things, and being involved in activities and groups requires speaking - often to a group (whether it be large or small). Here are my tips for public speaking:

• Know what you're going to say
• Practice your entire speech
• Imagine your entire audience with underwear on their head/standing in their underwear! Yes, an oldie but goodie (it works)!
• Speak clearly
• Try to maintain a steady pace
• Enunciate 
• Try to use positive words and get your listeners to see the bright side of whatever you're talking about
• Project your voice
• Smile!!!:):):):):):) This cannot be stressed enough!
• MAKE EYE CONTACT!!!
• DO NOT: mumble, act like you know everything in the whole wide world, or talk for too long, cross your arms, sway or rock (distracting), look nervous

If you follow these steps you should turn out just fine:) 

*the eye photo is for EYE CONTACT:)* 

Cool Question Contest

Hey! All of you creative people out there: I have a challenge for you!At the end of each interview that I complete I want to ask a really cool question about them. Such as:

• Who would you love to have dinner with, living or dead? 
• If you could be anyone for a day... who would you be?
• If you could steal someone's wardrobe whose would you steal from? 
• If you could live anywhere in the whole wide world where would you live?
• What was your most embarrassing moment of all time?
• What is your favorite ice cream flavor, etc.

Please, bring your creativity and help me out. Or, if you like one of the questions above then which one do you prefer? Thanks so much!!! The winner will be thanked repetitively and will know the response to the question first each time someone is interviewed:)

Next Steps

My next steps are going to be to develop a list of questions for my interviewees and to try to set up these interviews with people. I am also in the process of composing letters asking both Michelle and Barack Obama for interviews. If they respond yay! and if they don't, then they don't. To clarify, these would be email correspondence interviews, not in person because these are two VERY busy people, if you know what I mean. The LEADERS of a NATION, that's pretty huge. I'm hoping for the best though!

Definition of a Leader

lead·er  

/ˈlēdər/

Noun The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. A person followed by others.

Synonyms chief - head - conductor - guide - director - captain **again, courtesy of google**

The Definition of Leadership

lead·er·ship  

/ˈlēdərˌSHip/

Noun The action of leading a group of people or an organization. The state or position of being a leader.

Synonyms guidance - lead - direction - management - command **this is google's definition**

People I Would Like to Interview ~ Suggestions Welcome!:)

•         Dr. Cabello (leader of a school)
•         Pastor Trish McCrae (leader of a church)
•         A teacher (leader of a classroom)
•         My parents (leaders of a family)
•         Cecil Steppe (Former leader of Urban Corps and other organizations)
•         The mayor (leader of a city)
•         The president (leader of a nation)
•         Samaya Elder (leader of the student body)
•          John Agoh (leader of Free The Children)

·      Suggestions welcome!:)