I have been reluctant to blog not only because it is a bit foreign to me and I don't know what other people want to hear about me, or if they even care, but mostly because it is available to the public. I would like to share many of my experiences with my fellow VISTAs; however, I am uncomfortable sharing my life and experiences with everyone on the Internet. I also feel like I am restricted to blogging about only the positive things that occur at my organization, what about the not-so-positive ones, the things that aren't going quite so perfectly? Don't get me wrong, I love my org, and know far too well that everything does not always go as planned, and the wonderful experiences I have had thus far completely outweight the less-wonderful ones, but I would like to share those too, and more importantly the lessons that I have learned from them in hopes that another VISTA may benefit. Imagine though, if someone from my organization were to read that blog, I fear that that could create some uncomforatble situations for me.
I am sure that other VISTAs are experiencing similiar situations, or at least ones you feel you can't blog about. I think that we could benefit from having an outlet to vent our frustrations, and share creative ideas and solutions. This forum would greatly benefit by having the option of a private blog section for VISTAs only.
I'm not sure if I am alone in this and would appreciate your feedback or support.
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i agree completely. we could set up our own space on the web to do that if enough people are interested (such as a livejournal group with restricted access), but it would be ideal if that functionality were integrated here (and i think it easily could be but it not being here is a policy decision that has been made).
hi cheryl, thanks for your response and support on this issue:) great idea! let's see what kind of response we get!
I think Chery's idea is a great one! Do you think there would be any problems with people only blogging on this part and not the public one?
Hi ladies,
I'd love to read what you're working on...especially since you haven't blogged much since the PSO...I have no idea what you've been working on or how it's going. And there's a big glob of new VISTAs that might be interested in your 5 months of experience...
If you are having issues at your org, you should be immediately talking them over with your VISTA Leader and/or the Project HQ staff. That's our jobs to listen and offer help. The mailing list and your monthly conference calls are also places where you can poll your fellow VISTAs to get feedback.
The blogs are a place for us to talk about our service, both the triumphs and the challenges, but it is still a public forum that represent both you and the Project in the web sphere. We're trying to come up with a communications policy that works for everyone on the new wiki (http://www.ctcvista.org/node/450). In years past, we used to have a private blog, but it became a negative space that was dominated by rants and flame wars, and we found out that few of VISTAs read it regularly.
Here's an example - a new VISTA, Leena, in the digital media group, posted a very candid blog about her challenges explaining to the local YMCA staff what her VISTA role is, and we discussed it on the conference call and at the MA Area monthly meeting yesterday. She's still got the challenge, but she reached out and I hope she's feeling supported.
-Danielle