I have worked at Publix for 3 years now. They are always giving back to the community and offering community service for its associates. I decided I would help volunteer for the Day of Caring. This is the fist volunteer event I have done since I have worked with Publix.

For the Day of Caring my store and one other store in the district went to The Children’s home to help them out for the day. The Children’s home takes in kids that range from infants to 17 years old. These kids have had a rough life, where their parents severally abused them, both mentally and physically.

The volunteer event was on a Friday morning from 8 A.m to 12 P.m. I car pooled with a few of my work associates and we drove to the Children’s Home. On our way there our Store manager, Steve, called and was worried because no one was there yet and wanted to make sure that the event started at 8. Once we got there it was only Steve, our team leader, and the assistant grocery manager. After a few minutes a few more of my stores associates showed up and then the other store showed up. As a whole we were suppose to have 45 volunteers but only 17 people had shown up. That was a little disappointing but we went on with our work.

There were several tasks to do during the day that included clean their cafeteria, the learning center, washing the campus vans, and picking up trash around the campus. My group decided we would first clean the cafeteria and then wash the vans. The only group did the learning center and picked up trash.

I had a lot of fun doing this volunteer event, I learned a lot about the Children’s home and got to give back to the community. This was my first volunteer event and I am excited to do another one.

I have a cat named Grimm and his first birthday was on September 27th. I adopted him from the Humane society in 2017. He was only 2 months old at the time. I’m not entirely sure exactly when his birthday is so I just say it is on the day that I adopted him. I mainly remembered when it was because the day before I adopted him I went to a concert to see one of my favorite bands, Nothing More.

It might seem weird to celebrate a cats birthday but he is my only cat and I spoil him so much. For his little birthday party, it was pretty much just me and my dad, and Grimm. I got him some special treats. He loves having the packets of just gravy you can buy for your cats. I get those for him as a treat and he loves them. So naturally i bought him 4 different flavors. I also got some of the paper birthday hats that are in the shape of a cone. He did not really like to wear it but he was super cute in it. I also bought a cupcake and put a candle in. Unfortunately he could not blow the candle out himself so I did it for him. I let him have a small bit of icing and some of the cake. If i let him he would probably eat the whole thing.

It does seem a little odd to do this for a cat but I do think it is important to show how much you care for your pets. Just like with your family you might not be able to show it all the time so it is important to show it on special days like this. 

On Friday I went to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. This is the second year I have gone and it is always so much fun. I am an annual pass holder so I go to Disney World pretty often. The Halloween party is a Hard Ticketed Event, meaning that the tickets are sold separately and there is only a certain amount of tickets sold. Because of this there are a lot less people in the park. The event starts at 6 p.m but people that only bought the ticket for the event can get into the park at 4 p.m and enjoy the park for a couple of hours before the event begins.

Once the event begins there are several special shows that can be watched. You can also go Trick-or-Treating around the park and get as much candy as you want. There are also special characters that you can get pictures with. Characters like Jack and Sally, the Queen of Hearts and Tarzan are around the park.

There is a show at Cinderella’s Castle called the Hocus Pocus show. It is based off of the movie Hocus Pocus. It has the three witch sisters and many other Disney villains like Oogie Boogie, Maleficent and Hades. It is a very fun show to watch, it is one of my favorite shows at Disney world. Another fun event at the castle is the HolloWishes fireworks. One thing Disney is known for is their firework shows and they are a spectacular Halloween fireworks show. It show cases many villainous songs, and one of my favorite Disney songs, Grim Grinning Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion ride.

There are also special things that happen to some of the rides around Magic Kingdom. The Pirates of the Caribbean has actually pirates throughout the queue and on the ride. All of the lights are turned off on Space Mountain and the soundtrack changes to rock music, this was one of my favorites. Another great thing about the part is the special food items and merchandise you can get during the event. There are Halloween themed threats throughout the park like Mickey Pumpkin Cheese cake and candy corn ice cream.

At the very end of the event there is a Parade, another thing Disney is known for. It is called the Boo-to-You Parade. There are many characters like Mickey, Minnie, and Donald dressed up in there Halloween outfits and many characters you don’t typically get to see on a regular park day, like the villains and Wreck-it-Ralph.

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party is one of my favorite events at Disney world and I look forward to going every year. I already love Halloween and going to this event gets me in the Halloween Spirit.

I am a very big fan of the HBO show Game of Thrones and the book series A song of Ice and Fire. I have read the books and watched all the seasons of the show several times. It is one of the hobbies I really love and enjoy.

The story is amazing, there are so many twists and shocking moments. The characters are also very lovable and hate able, which makes the story so much more interesting. Another thing that I love about the show is the music. The songs in the show really set the tone of the scene and add a lot of depth to the show as a whole.

Recently I got the chance to go to the Game of Thrones Live Concert. It is a live orchestra that plays the music from the series. It was an amazing experience. I typically go to rock concerts like Iron Maiden and Metallica. So this was a very different experience for me.

I got to hear some of my favorite scores from the series. One of my favorites is called The Rains of Castamere. Hearing that live was so amazing, I was so happy that I got to hear that song and all the other songs from the show.

The conductor even talked a little bit of how he wrote the songs, he said he always watched the episode first and then would write the music to fit the scene. It was great to hear his stories of how he wrote the music.

I would definitely go back to see the orchestra again is they come back to Tampa. This was the second time they have been to Tampa, hopefully it returns again after the final season of Game of Thrones airs.

A story I am considering for my Photo Journalism project is a day at the zoo, or the aquarium. I think I would like to photograph the reactions of people when they see animals. I know that with myself, when I see animals I always get really happy and excited. I would like to see what kind of reactions people will have throughout the day when seeing a different variety of animals.

I know some people will be very excited to see animals like tigers, lions, and otters. And with other animals like snakes, bats, and bugs people sort of get grossed out and scared.

I think it will be very interesting and fun to see the different types of reactions people will have when seeing different types of animals. It will definitely tell a story, I’m not sure if I should just stay focused on one person of have several people in the photos.

A service journalism story I am interested in writing about is adopting animals instead of buying them. I have always been a big animal lover. I love dog, cats, and any animal. I use to work at a pet store and I know can tell people about my horrible experience there. I think it is unfair how animals are treated at pet stores, and other places that sell pets. I’ve also been to someones house that sells ragdoll kittens and I was astonished at how they were treated. If people stop buying animals than they will be put out of business. I think it is much better to adopt animals from a shelter or the Humane Society. There are thousands of animals in the shelters that need homes. If animals are adopted than there won’t be any demand to buy pets anymore so pet stores and bad breeders will be put out of business. I think my story could be considered  an application study or a research study.