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Service Project This week, I spent 4 hours at the warehouse working on refurbishing and testing laptops for the first time. The laptops came from several elementary schools in the San Diego Unified School District, and although most were getting somewhat slow and old, they were in much better shape after I and the other weekend volunteers were finished with them. If I remember correctly, the warehouse supervisor said they were going to be donated to an elementary school in a low income part of the city, or sold at a deep discount to some private buyers.  I was in elementary school myself when I felt like I "owned" a computer, since we inherited an old desktop that a family friend gave to my parents that only I used most of the time. Of course I was beyond ecstatic, and I can only imagine how these kids will feel once they get to use their own laptops in school. Helping, Fixing, and Serving This week's discussion was on helping, serving and fixing, or more specific...

Library Training This week, I spent 4 hours attending my first library computer skills class and going over teaching materials used in these classes.  Computers 2 SD Kids has a program where they travel to public libraries across San Diego and hold two hour long sessions teaching attendees on basic computer skills and knowledge, such as word processing, how to use a keyboard properly, searching the web for information, and common Internet safety tips that every computer user should know such as dealing with phishing emails and suspicious ads/pop ups that still appear occasionally. After attending the class, attendees qualify for a free desktop computer from the warehouse, and are eligible for internet service through Cox's subsidized monthly program, Connect2Compete, if they do not already have access at home.  Most of the attendees of the class were recent immigrants to the United States from Africa, and most them had very little experience in using a desktop compu...

Service Project This week, I spent 4.5 hours at Computers 2 SD Kids on a Saturday morning, which puts me at 9 hours in total for my service project.  I'm planning on taking photos and videos of the warehouse where I've spent most of the time refurbishing computers and helping out with general tech assistance. My skills in troubleshooting hardware and software have been quite useful, and I believe everyone I have worked with so far has been pleased with my contributions. I'm looking forward to taking photos of the warehouse and some of the volunteers at work (with their permission, of course), and photos/video of the upcoming library computer skills class that I am attending this coming weekend.  Swim Good  This week's reading about swimming in segregation was quite interesting -- I never knew the depth and seriousness of segregation in swimming in the United States even in the competitive side until reading the excerpt from the novel, even though I was aware from ...

My Service Project As April ended, May began and the vestiges of my Java software design class faded away in the horizon, I began my service project with Computers 2 SD Kids. Computers 2 SD Kids, or C2SDK for short, is a nonprofit organization that refurbishes and tests donated computers (desktops, laptops, and tablets) for kids from low income families to use for education. When I first found out about them, I thought it was a great cause and got in contact with the lead volunteer coordinator right away, and I've completed five hours of work so far helping out. I think it is because of part of me loves building desktop computers, and the other part really empathizes with these kids because I received my very first desktop computer in a similar fashion. Granted, I didn't come from a low income background, but the fact that a generous donor was kind enough to clean and refurbish that desktop computer for me always stuck with me even as I've gotten older and can afford al...