Burrito Bikers

Burrito Bikers is the name given to a variety of individual projects across the country. People  make breakfast burritos to give to the homeless on the weekends, often by biking around town (hence the name). In North Carolina, it first began in Charlotte and has since spread to other cities.

My friend Bryson heard about the Charlotte project and decided to do something similar for his confirmation project at church. He and Robert Payne, one of the youth leaders, went around town on bikes giving burritos to the homeless and hungry one Saturday in May during our freshman year of high school. I thought it sounded like a great idea, and Bryson, some of the other youth, and I proposed making Burrito Bikers the main outreach project of our youth group. We approached the youth leaders with the idea during the summer. Each different level of the youth group would have a separate time to make burritos, which would be frozen. Then, at least one Saturday a month, the Senior EYC (high schoolers) would distribute the burritos to the homeless. The youth leaders also liked the idea, especially since it would be a long-term project with the possibility of making a large impact.

By this time, other people in Greensboro had started to do Burrito Bikers, using Center City Park as a focus point. They began to coordinate their efforts, scheduling different groups on different Saturdays as well as organizing people to bring coffee and doughnuts as well. Bryson and I contacted them about including the Holy Trinity youth group. We soon had an arrangement to bring the burritos on the first Saturday of every month during the school year.

Our first Saturday was October 8, 2011. Since then, the program has become one of our largest, with high participation from the youth and it has been going on strong for almost three years now. Bryson, I, and everyone who else organized it project never dreamed it would be this successful.

One of the things I have loved the most about the experience is that it gives a face to homelessness and poverty. Coming from a middle class neighborhood and family, those are two things I was not always exposed to. Its hard to connect with something you have never seen before.Its easy to vilify or ignore the homeless if you have never met them. But with Burrito Bikers, we are out in Greensboro interacting with the homeless, giving them food and hearing their stories. Poverty becomes real to us. Some of the stories I have heard are quite tragic. One homeless man I met used to be a college professor until an unfortunate set of circumstances ruined his life. Some of them are mentally ill that have fallen through the cracks of a faulty social system. Some days when we have left over burritos, we take them to a homeless camp on the south side of downtown where we can see how they live. Very few are homeless because they are lazy or don't want to work, as many politicians claim; they are simply the victims of a harsh life. It is extremely meaningful for me to try to help. I want to try to do something in the future to create lasting change for the homeless and impoverished; I don't think our country does enough to help. We are all connected to each other after all, living in a giant global family, and there is no higher purpose than working to make the world a better place.

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Making burritos

March 2014

March 2013

Our first Saturday

NCHSAA 2014 State Championships

This year's state swimming championships was bittersweet for me. It was my last meet swimming for Grimsley, which has always been one of my favorite things about high school. The team is really close and supportive of each other and has a better environment than my club swim team. It is something I'll miss the most next year.

We had already had a pretty good season leading up to the state meet. Both the boys and girls won the conference. The girls won Regionals and the boys placed third. Several records, including the 400 Free Relay for the men, had already been broken. I knew we had a chance to do great things, but that just made me even more nervous than usual before a meet.

Overall, the meet was a big success for the team. The boys 200 Medley Relay (on which I swam the freestyle leg in 21.70) won the bronze medal, setting a new school record. Our 200 free relay and 400 free relay also placed in the top eight. I wasn't as pleased with my individual event (I didn't make it back to finals) but all my other swims were very good. The girls team did well too, with two relays medaling. The girls had their best team finish in years and the boys improved our place from last year.

All in all, it was a great capstone to my senior year of swimming!

With our medals!

Me and my twin

Food Assistance Warehouse

On the first day of winter break, I volunteered with TAGS at Food Assistance Warehouse. The organization collects donations of food and distributes it to elderly people in the community for whom it may be difficult stay fully supplied and nourished. I organized the pallets of food and helped back the bags for the January distribution.

Overall, although the work was a little dull, I thought it was significant to be helping the elderly. That is a demographic that is often overlooked when it comes to outreach and a fairly large percentage of elderly live below the poverty line. Sometimes I think that we as a society can become so focused on a single problem that we forget the other ones that may exist.

The warehouse

Christmas Tree Sales, 2013

Like in 2012, the youth group at my church sold Christmas trees to raise money. This year, the money is not just going to our outreach efforts at Glory Ridge; it's also funding a trip to Spain in June, helping defray the cost so more people will be able to go. Also like last year, the sales consisted of manning a table outside of the church on Sunday mornings and then loading the trees onto cars two weekends in December.

We didn't sell very many trees the first few weeks despite our best efforts, causing the youth leaders to reconsider our strategy somewhat. I suggested moving the table to a more prominent spot, which we did. Things seemed to pick up after that, perhaps because we moved the table, or perhaps due to the efforts of Meredith Scott, one of the youth leaders who single-handedly sold something like fifteen trees one morning.The distribution days were the same ordered chaos, although by now we had become quite experts at lashing trees to cars.

We raised a total of $4,000, considerably more than the previous year. That was especially good news given that the money was going to more than one thing. Another successful fundraiser to make all of the youth group's outreach programs possible!

Unwrapping the trees for trimming

Glory Ridge Freeze Out

As a fall retreat, the senior and junior high youth groups at my church went to Glory Ridge, the same place we go to for our mission trip each summer, at the beginning of November. I had never been before; the Glory Ridge week in the summer has always coincided, unfortunately, with the YMCA national championships.

Glory Ridge is a camp that many church youth groups go to during the summer in order to work on service projects for the local community, one of the most impoverished region in the state. Instead of working for the community, however, our group instead worked on preparing the camp for winter and contributing to on-site construction projects: clearing undergrowth, building a set of stairs into the slope, working on a new staff cabin, and chopping wood. The new cabin was particularly important, as it would help the camp expand its mission.

We spent all of Saturday working. I mainly worked on the cabin, sealing cracks in the wood with caulk, painting, and constructing steps for the porch. I had never applied caulk before and soon discovered how messy it could be; even when I released the trigger on the caulk gun, it still oozed out of the tip.Needless to say, there were some pretty messy places on the interior walls.

By the end of the day, we had painted almost the entire exterior of the cabin and finished the porch and staircase. Since I may never get a chance to go to Glory Ridge in the summer, I am glad I was able to do this weekend; I was still able to contribute to Glory Ridge's outreach efforts and the efforts of my church to alleviate poverty and human suffering. I had always been a little apprehensive about going to Glory Ridge, but now I know what it's like. Maybe I will be able to go next summer, my last chance before college.

Glory Ridge really is an incredible place and ministry; it has done so much for the people of Madison County and I'm glad to be able to say I participated in it.

Building a new staff cabin

View from the ridge

Marching Band Camp

The marching band has a week-long camp every year in August, usually within two weeks of the start of classes. It's the time where we introduce new members to the basics of marching as well as learn the new drill and music for the halftime show.

This year, we are playing a selection of songs by Santana, a group I have never listen to before. Not knowing the music makes it more difficult to learn; just last year we had done the Beatles which wasn't hard for me to master because I already knew most of those songs by heart. The drill Dr. Stuber wrote is also quite complex, more so than usual. It was going to take a lot of effort to master.

Doing anything outdoors in Greensboro during August is a grueling task in and of itself, and learning the drill was no exception. Our outdoors sessions were complemented by intensive musical rehearsal inside the band room, which would quickly grow hot and stuffy as well. This was coupled already with my general distaste for marching band. It did not make for a particularly enjoyable week.

By the end of the week, we had pretty much mastered the music and had learned the drill to one of the tunes, though not without considerable effort. I was feeling overall pretty good about the show, especially since I had learned marching techniques that would have previously been unfathomable and mastered difficult music; even if you dislike something, it's hard not to feel proud after you have put a lot of work into something. Hopefully the student body will like it.

Given that this is my last marching band camp, I could not help but reflect on my overall experience. It has not always been enjoyable, and I don't think it's something I'll miss. But you'll have to do many things in life you don't want to, and marching band has taught that if you put in effort, you can at least be proud of what you did, even if the doing wasn't so pleasant or enjoyable.

YMCA Long Course National Championships

The YMCA Long Course National Championships was the culmination of my swimming training for the year. Held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center (site of the 1996 Olympics), the meet features some of the fastest swimmers in the country. This was my third time at the meet, having previously qualified when I was 15 and 16. I had qualified to swim the 100 and 200 back in the meet and I had signed up to do the 200 IM, 100 freestyle, and 50 freestyle as time trial events (as I did not have the actual qualifying times). The entire team went down to Atlanta as a group because for the first time we had enough qualifiers to justify traveling as a group.

As it was the meet I had been in a sense preparing for all year, I was quite anxious in the weeks leading up to it. I wanted to do well and drop time, but I was also worried about psyching myself out. Sometimes if you stress about a meet too much, you'll end up not doing so well.

Things started out well enough. I felt strong and fast in the water during warm-ups the first days, which put me at ease for a while. But I started to get nervous as the 100 back approached. I ended up dropping some time in the event, but not nearly as much as I wanted too - such a small amount that it was practically insignificant. Although disappointed, I tried to keep myself from being discouraged for the rest of the meet.

Overall, the meet turned out to be a mixed bag. Although I dropped time in several events, it was never very much, less than I was hoping. A high point was the 200 free relay, on the last day of competition. Our team placed in the top 16, a major improvement on our entry time and we got a ribbon (and the y-nats ribbons are pretty fancy). Although I was disappointed with my performance, I realize that I can't expect to perform phenomenally at every single meet. Going through periods of little or no improvement is just part of being an athlete, and I still have a year of training left to put in some more hard work.

The Georgia Tech Aquatic Center

Timing at NC Long Course 14&U Champs

The Senior and National teams of my swim club volunteered to act as timers at the 14&U Long Course State Championships this weekend.We timed the swimmer's races and recorded them for the scoring.

Being a competitive swimmer, it's actually sort of weird to be timing other swimmer rather than be in the water racing. Timing at the 14&U championships also brought back memories of when I was young enough to swim at that meet.

It turned out to be a pretty exciting night; we watched a lot of fast swims and helped the meet run smoothly. Many kids got personal bests in their events and several records were broken.

Stop Hunger Now

My church has various outreach projects throughout the year, though usually I am unable to participate due to other commitments. One I was able to participate in after school got out was Stop Hunger Now, a Raleigh-based organization that the church was hosting. On Sunday, June 2, the church had three shifts during the day to pack meals to be shipped to Africa to fight global hunger. The organization uses a very efficient system that was fascinating to see in action: plastic bags traveled from station to station, a different ingredient added at each one until being sealed and put into boxes. Each meal can feed 4-6 people and is very nutritious with added vitamins and nutrients.

My job was to package the meal for shipping and to ring a gong whenever we hit the 100-meal mark (we were all supposed to cheer when this happened). After something of a slow start, everything began to go smoothly. The number of meals we packaged astonished me; everything went so quickly. By the end of the shift, we had packaged nearly 1,000, far more than I expected. I didn't think we could have that much of an impact, but in reality anyone can make a difference.

Global hunger is a very pressing issue; before we started packaging, the leader from Stop Hunger Now outlined some statistics about starvation. To be honest, it was a little disheartening; the numbers seemed overwhelming. But the important thing is to not be discouraged by the enormity of the task. We must persevere in the face of any challenges to be successful. I hope there will be a time when no one goes hungry.

Concerto Night

Every year, the music department at Grimsley puts on Concerto Night. Students audition for the privilege of playing a concerto with an accompaniment by either piano, strings, or full orchestra. This year, three students were picked for the concert: a trumpet player, vocalist, and a pianist. Additionally, the combined wind ensemble, orchestra, and chorus would perform the first movement of John Rutter's Gloria. Normally, I would not participate in Concerto Night because the euphonium is typically not included in a full orchestra. I volunteered, however, to play the trombone parts for Gloria and the piano concerto because we lack a sufficient number of trombonists.

We rehearsed the pieces many times before the concert. The piano concerto (the Warsaw Concerto) was a modern piece featuring a very complex piano part. Overall, though, it wasn't too difficult for the accompanying orchestra; the trickiest part was the many key and time signature changes. Gloria, on the other hand, was very difficult and probably one of the hardest pieces I have ever learned. It featured a fast tempo, frequent use of accidental notes, a high pitch, and, to complicate everything further, it was written in tenor clef. Before Gloria, I only knew how to read treble and bass clef. For an entire rehearsal, I just sat without playing teaching myself how to read the notes. Given our tight schedule, I was not sure if we would be able to learn the piece, as different sections were having problems staying in time with each other and there were some balance and tempo issues as well.

We were all therefore relieved when we managed to pull it off. All the concertos went smoothly and we played Gloria better than I thought we would, especially given the short amount of practice time. It was actually sort of thrilling to have done so well. Looking back, I'm actually proud and impressed that we pulled it off. I guess that just goes to show that when given a group is given a challenge, it will generally rise to meet it. A little practice doesn't hurt either. And I now know how to read tenor clef.

Here a video of concerto night:

All-County and All-District Auditions 2013

Every year, the North Carolina Bandmasters Association holds auditions for honors bands at the country, district, and state levels. Every audition involves learning a predetermined solo, unique for each instrument, playing several memorized scales, and sight reading a piece you have never seen before. I have auditioned for All-County and All-District every year I have been in band, so at the beginning of the school year I went out and purchased the solo for the euphonium this year, "L'Allegro" by Koepke.

With everything I have going on, I did not get much of a chance to practice the piece until winter break. It quickly proved to be the most challenging piece I have ever learned for my instrument. Being a low brass instrument, the euphonium does not often get complicated melodic parts, and that is basically all the solo was. I practiced the solo dutifully for about an hour each week leading up to the first audition (for All-District, at the end of January), as that was all the time I could allow.

My audition for All-District took place at Cary High School. I felt nervous going, worried that I had not practiced enough. When my number was called, I first went to a room to play my scales, scales I had memorized years ago and knew by heart. But when I played the first scale, I faltered and played several wrong notes in a row. This mistake rattled my nerves, and although I got back on track, I was uneasy for the rest of the audition. I made many mistakes on the solo and the sight reading was poor. Needless to say, I did not make the band. I was upset with myself, for being so nervous, for letting one mistake throw me off balance, but most of all for not practicing more.

I got in as much practicing time as I could before All-County auditions. My audition was much better this time around, and I did make the honor band.

The old adage certainly proved true: practice makes perfect. I also learned not to stress out about every mistake. I let the error on the first scale get to me, which ruined the entire audition, even though one botched scale would not have affected my overall. It's important to persevere and try your hardest until the very end.

MLK Parade 2013

On Martin Luther King's Day, the GHS marching band participated in the NAACP-run parade. For the parade, we had prepared the funk song "Fire" by The Ohio Players. It was a little challenging to learn how to play in a funk style, but I feel that we had a pretty good handle on it by the time the parade arrived.

My section was much better at marching in step this time; I had made sure everyone practiced during class. We also played the piece without any major mistakes, always good for a musician. Overall, it was an enjoyable parade despite my dislike of marching band, mainly because of the enthusiasm of our audience, many of whom seemed to genuinely like our performance. It is also a privilege to make music in honor of one of America's greatest figures.

H20kie Winter Championships

On December 14, 15, and 16, I competed in the first big championship swim meet of the season, the H20kie Winter Championships in Christiansburg, VA. The winter championship meet always serves as a major milestone in the season, halfway between the start of training and the end of the season in April. It is the first test of one's improvement after months of training.

For me, the meet was all the more significant because it was during my junior year; the improvements I make this year will determine whether and where I might swim in college. So I went into the meet hoping to show some gains in my races, though I was also nervous, fearing that I would perform poorly. Over the course of the meet, I competed in the 500, 200, 100, and 50 freestyles, the 200 and 100 backstroke, and the 200 individual medley, all spread out over the three days with prelims and finals for each event.

Apart from being exhausted, by the end of the weekend I was pleased with my performance. I had swum personal bests in most of my events and had finally "broken" 50 seconds in the 100 free, swimming a time of :49.91, a goal of mine for quite some time. I was not so happy about other races; I did not go as fast as I would have liked in the 50 free or 200 IM, an event I have not significantly improved in since I was 14, but that is part of life; we win some and we lose some. Although my gains in speed were on the whole modest, they gave me optimism for where I will be at the end of the season. Now, it's back to the pool for more training in pursuit of my goals.

The pool during one of the prelim sessions

Christmas Tree Sales, 2012

From October to December, the youth group at my church sold Christmas trees to raise money for Glory Ridge, an annual week long mission trip to the mountains of western North Carolina in July. In order to so, youth manned a table outside of the sanctuary on Sunday mornings to raise awareness of the fundraiser, answer questions, collect money, and distribute order forms. I worked on two of these Sundays, personally convincing at least five members of the congregation to order trees from the youth group rather than purchase them on their own, an ability of persuasion I had no idea I possessed. Perhaps I am better at persuading people than I previously thought.

The most exciting part of the sale, however, was the day in December when the purchasers came to pick up the trees. We untied and trimmed the trees, ranging in height from 3 feet to 10 or more, shook off any loose pine needles with a treacherous red machine, covered the trees with netting by using a baler, and then strapped them to the tops of peoples' cars. The whole venture was understandably chaotic and a surprising amount of fun. Things went smoothly enough after organizing an assembly line-like procedure, and four hours later (with our bodies sticky from tree sap) we had finished.

Thanks to the sale, we raised over $4,000 for Glory Ridge, where the money will be used for work projects in Madison County, which has the highest level of poverty in the state. Poverty is an enormous issue that sometimes seems overwhelming, but every little bit, like what we will do at Glory Ridge, helps. I am also now a self-declared expert in Christmas tree baling, so there's that too.

My friend Ansley helping move trees

The baler!

Me strung up like a tree!

Christmas Parade

On December 1, the GHS Marching Band participated in the city's annual Christmas Parade. We spent the last two weeks of band class preparing for the parade, rehearsing our selection, a medley of carols including "Deck the Halls," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and "Joy to the World," and practicing marching in straight lines, a deceptively difficult task. You have to coordinate each and every move with the person in front of you and the two at your sides. Memorizing a new piece of music is already challenging enough without knowing you will have to play it and march at the same time.

Our performance in the parade went smoothly enough, though the cold weather made it difficult to play and there were times when my section was not completely in step with each other or with the beat, something we should look to improve for our next parade. I have never particularly liked marching band, and consequently I was not looking forward to the parade. However, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, simply because I love impacting people with music. The whole purpose of a musician is to create music for others to enjoy, and by marching in the parade we did just that: we played music to help the residents of my hometown welcome the holiday season and enjoy the day. There were looks of genuine excitement in the crowd as we passed and people cheered and sang along to our notes. I think all musicians get a simple joy out of playing for other people, and it makes up for the drudgery of rehearsal and the difficulties of learning and performing.

Waiting for the parade to begin

Canvassing on Election Day

Also on election day, Pieter, my mother, and I volunteered for the Obama campaign again. This time, we simply left cards on peoples' doorknobs reminding them, no matter who they chose, to vote. It was exactly like what we did when I was 12, so it seems only fitting we would do it again for Obama's reelection. The entire day, though, I could only feel anxious. I was worried about the results of the election; despite what analysts and pundits had been predicting, I was worried that our efforts would prove futile and Obama would lose his bid for reelection.

Those fears prove unfounded when the networks called Ohio for Obama around eleven. Even though Obama lost North Carolina, it was closer than I thought it was going to be. All in all, the results of the election gave me optimism for American democracy, even in this post-Citizens United era.

Kids Voting

For an hour on election day, my twin brother and I manned the Kids Voting booth at a polling place in NW Greensboro. Kids Voting is a program that seeks to teach kids the importance of voting and participating in the democratic process. We helped the kids who came and guided them through the process. I was a little nervous because I am not that used to working with kids, but everything went smoothly.

An active electorate is the key to a vibrant democracy, and that is what Kids Voting seeks to create, so I am glad I could participate. Only two more years until I can vote!

Canvassing for Obama with Cole and Pieter

On October 6, my twin brother Pieter, my friend Cole, and I volunteered with Barack Obama's reelection campaign. Like my previous experience in August, we went door-to-door in a neighborhood not far from Grimsley as part of a get-out-the-vote effort, making sure people were registered to vote and that the knew where their polling location was, etc. Over the course of the morning, we went to over fifty addresses. Most of the time, we encountered no one, which was a little discouraging as it felt as if we were not accomplishing anything. Some of the people we did meet were ambivalent at best or slightly hostile at worst. I suppose that's to be expected with the nature of our work; it may even be unethical, since we are in a sense invading people's privacy by coming to their houses and asking them how they will vote. At the same time, though, one has to consider the importance of voting and all that may be at stake.

Overall, though, the people we did meet were very friendly. It's always encouraging to meet people that are just as concerned about the direction of the country that you are, and these experiences are helping me become more comfortable with interacting with total strangers, a useful skill to have.

This sort of work is very important to me. Whoever is the leader of the country will impact the entire world, and I believe a Romney presidency will be bad for everyone. More importantly, an active electorate is the key to a vibrant democracy, which is why the ultimate goal of the canvassing efforts is to get people to vote, no matter who they choose.

Peacehaven Farm with TAGS

On Saturday, September 22, I went to Peacehaven Farm with TAGS, located about fifteen minutes or so from Greensboro, on the shores of Lake Mackintosh. The farm was founded with the ultimate goal of providing a place for adults with physical or mental disabilities to live independently in a loving community. For now it is a working farm with gardens that the disabled can work in and experience. TAGS went several times last year but I hadn't been able to go until this weekend. For about three hours I and other TAGS members worked in the garden, moving plant beds, shoveling dirt and mulch, spreading straw, and marking beds for strawberries. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed my time. Helping all people in society is an important value of mine. I can't wait to see how my the effects of my volunteer work when Peacehaven's goals are reached. I plan to volunteer again soon.

Moving mulch

Canvassing for Obama

About two weeks ago I had the opportunity to volunteer for Obama's reelection campaign by going door-to-door to make sure all Democrats were registered and to see how they were planning to vote. When most of my classmates were either asleep or waking up, I was trekking up and down streets for four hours in a South Greensboro neighborhood, tackling each address one-by-one and handing out early voting information. I had done canvassing before, on election day in 2008, but that time I mostly stood in the background while my older brother and mother did most of the talking. This time I decided to take a more active role. I suppose this is an inherently awkward activity, showing up at a stranger's door and asking them a series of questions. Since I was little I've always been a little nervous around strangers. For a while I didn't even like ordering food at fast food restaurants or paying for purchases at stores. As I approached the first house I was afraid the door would be slammed in my face or something worse. But nothing of the sort happened. The woman who answered was kind; we chatted about the election for a few moments and even joked a little. After that I wasn't so nervous anymore. Sure, some people did ignore us, but no one slammed the door, and most were friendly, commending us for volunteering. One woman spoke of how she could see God's work in our volunteer work for the campaign. I returned home feeling proud of my contribution to something I believe in. This election is important for our country, and in turn the world. From my experience in '08 I know that every little bit counts, and hopefully with a little luck we can help turn North Carolina blue again.