Digital Arts Service Corps - volunteers

End-of-year update

Nathan Alden — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:00:45 +0000

I’ve been swamped of late, as Wilderness was scrambling to test and refurbish all kinds of machines over these past couple months. We just completed a huge rollout of 110 or so Pentium 4 computers to 11 new WildTech member schools. Held the big seminar this past Friday. Absolute chaos all ‘round, but somehow, we came through for the better. This in spite of very low donor input for the quarter resulting in a severe shortage of essential parts like RAM and hard drives.

And we couldn’t have done it this week without support of volunteers old and new all year long. An old friend dropped in last month looking to check in on things since he left for a job a year ago; while a new part-timer signed on from an all-too-familiar place. The former, younger man is merely a geek-at-large. The latter gentleman is a software developer who worked with Mac computers. Both are eager to help when and where they can.

Not to be outdone by these two, the quarterlies from Bellevue have also done well. They come to receive credit from the man I call “sensei,” Mr. Rudolph Helm. My former instructor sent a profoundly deaf young man unto us. You might be wondering if, in a business with a lot of beeps and blips, such a man can do the work expected. He can, and more. This young man also has an uncanny sense of humor (and some very animated interpreters) to carry him through. Everybody has potential, but it takes a very special person to recognize that potential and set it into motion; so as Rudy had done for me, he did the same for the deaf man. This humanism, I think, is what makes him a powerful teacher and mentor, and one whose style I would like to draw upon someday.

As always, Wilderness has been a great organization to work with. I’ve been through a lot with them in these three years I have served. Students and volunteers come and go, but I have remained. From 2004 to present day, I’ve been watching over the Wilderness without fail, rising with the sun and never fading; I work until nightfall to ensure that the company’s customers are served well and with the very best equipment and education that it can give them. But in the process, I wonder, is three years enough? Or perhaps too much? Either way, I will not be renewing my Vista commitment, so that another man may take this opportunity to serve. As I see it, there are a number of things I’ve learned while serving, and as many paths now open to me—many more than before I signed on. I could go back to school and become a teacher, or test the open job market, or even start my own business with the skills I’ve refined here. I’d love to stay for another year, but my feelings tell me I must move on; that I have accomplished my mission here; and that continuing further with WTA would do more harm than good. Though I face an uncertain future, I am not one to shy away from it.

First Few Days at the Egleston Sq. CyberY

Leena Silverman — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 23:45:34 +0000

Yesterday and today have been my first few days at the Egleston Sq. YMCA coordinating the CyberY computer labs. My full title is CyberY Youth and Teen Media Developer, sounds so official. Well, I have just been getting a feelof howtheyrun things at this YMCA and the computer lab. Irealize that I have a lot of work a head of me and mad volunteers to recruite! Otherwise, everything is pretty cool. My apartment is in walking distance, I have free laundry, and a pretty purple room that I painted all by my self! that's enough more serious stuff next time, when something is actually happening.

Hard work and fresh faces

Nathan Alden — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 07:00:00 +0000

After lackluster performances in July and August, the back-to-school rush has given WildTech new life--and a new volunteer with it. Jesse Crowther, an Americorps recruit from the area, has been instrumental in this sudden resurgence. He came to us through the Washington Service Corps with high expectations and an insatiable curiosity. Since his entry earlier this month, the gears of a sophisticated machine are slowly falling into place. Mr. Crowther has exhibited phenomenal organizational ability as well as unmatched capacity to adapt to whatever challenges are thrown his way. Case in point: Our main work area was absolutely unusable before he arrived; and we were not exactly a model for speed and efficiency. Mr. Crowther saw this and took steps to fix it, installing a priority board and creating a workable system for maintaining the tools we use. The long-overdue cleanup, combined with some well-timed elbow grease, has netted WildTech two large sales totaling over $5000--and the final numbers are still unconfirmed.

We have also opened a new satellite lab in Bellevue, enabling us to reach those who lie deep below the polished surface of Seattle's Eastside. Mr. Crowther's assistance plays big here as well. According to his own testimony, he has drawn many young teenagers into computer repair, their eyes ablaze with wonder as he guides them around the inside of a machine.

Yet it is my role here that remains most vital. I'm still *the* go-to guy for answers to hardware questions, and while I still do some grunt work around the shop, I am a trainer first and foremost. New volunteers will always enter the fray, and it's my job to make sure things not only get done, but also that they are done right.