Wherever You Go, Go With All Your Heart
In 2005, my little brother, Josh, and I were placed in foster care. My mother relinquished her parental rights shortly thereafter and now lives in Texas. She has struggled with alcoholism for many years and even though I no longer speak to her, I do still love her.
Josh was adopted in 2010 and he now lives in a small town in New York. Since I was older, I was never adopted and I moved to Georgia in 2009 to attend college.
Click the “Placement Timeline” link above for a detailed assessment of where we have lived.
Contact me: rebeka.geer@gmail.com
I tell my story to inform, to inspire, and to show other foster children that they’re not alone.
Sometimes I forget how beautiful my campus is…
On Saturday, we had the Sweetheart CASA luncheon at Outback Steakhouse and last I heard, we raised over 2,000 dollars! Since we only had 3 weeks to sell 150 tickets and ended up selling 140 of them, I’d say it was a success. As happy as I am that so much money was raised for the Athens-Oconee CASA program, I am SO SO glad that the event is over - so much stress off my shoulders :)
To celebrate the success of the fundraising event, my friends and I spent the evening painting away at Artini’s Art Lounge…nothing beats painting VanGogh’s Starry Night while you split a bottle of wine with your favorite ladies <3
Julie wasn’t impressed by my dance moves…but the woman to her right found me quite entertaining!
We had SUCH a great time - as you can see, I wasn’t nearly as into my painting as the woman sitting across from me. I actually think I might be laughing at her facial expression in this picture
The final product!!! Almost better than the original!
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Whoa lady, settle down….it’s the 3rd day of class.
I LOVE our school spirit! Go Dawgs, SIC ‘EM!
As part of my leadership and service class, my group has decided to adopt a few students at a local elementary school that are deserving of a great Christmas. We will provide Christmas goodies to five of the most adorable munchkins on the planet: K’aliyah, Tara, Brett, Briana, and Shamari. If…
As part of my leadership and service class, my group has decided to adopt a few students at a local elementary school that are deserving of a great Christmas. We will provide Christmas goodies to five of the most adorable munchkins on the planet: K’aliyah, Tara, Brett, Briana, and Shamari. If you’re not familiar with my addiction to Christmas giving, check out this crazy video of me stuffing stockings for my African babies!
(As you can see I. Love. Christmas.)
If you would like to help make this service project a success (and give a child a Christmas they will never forget), please send a donation via paypal to uga.christmaskids@gmail.com!
Please reblog this post to help get the word out!
Before and After:
It’s been a long month of training, but we did it ladies! To learn more about the Athens-Oconee CASA, visit the Children First website (or “like” our facebook page!!). For more information about what it takes to become a CASA, click here.
Since June, the number of children being placed into foster care has increased by 200% - and these children need to be advocated for.
The Theta chapter at UGA will be hosting a CASA carnival next Wednesday, October 5, from 5-8pm. Hamburgers and hotdogs will be served, as well as other carnival treats including popcorn, cotton candy, and snow cones. There will also be live music, face painting, and of course - a dunking booth! Tickets are $5 and can be purchased from all Thetas or you can buy a ticket at the door.
So if any of you live in Athens, GA or attend the University of Georgia, please reblog this post!!
As most have you have realized, I have this wonderful ability to overload my schedule with 235 credit hours and never ending shifts at Outback Steakhouse…well this semester is going to be crazy, but a crazy that I’m going to absolutely love.
Class-wise, I’m only taking 13 hours: An appreciation of dramatic theater as an elective class (THEA2000), Advertising in Public Relations (ADPR3100), a leadership and service class (ALDR3900S), and a guided project in service leadership (ALDR4000). Both of my leadership classes have a service component that requires me to volunteer with local non-profits and I can already tell that I’m going to commit so much time to this (but love every second of it!!). I’ve already got in touch with an AMAZING organization called Communities in Schools where I will be serving as a mentor for Athens Area foster children. I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to work directly with foster kids because of confidentiality issues, but thankfully, I can. I’m still waiting to hear back from the organization so I haven’t quite got the ball rolling yet, but the program is definitely in the works!
CASA volunteer training begins tomorrow so I’m sure my Children First internship is about to take up a large chunk of my time as well. I’ve made announcements in all of my classes so far asking for new volunteers, so hopefully, we’ll get a great batch of people tomorrow evening :)
I’ve also remained in contact with the company I interned with this summer and I’m going to be working on projects for them as well. Even though I have no desire to work in the interactive cable industry, I loved the people I worked with so much that I’m going to keep the door open for future projects (if I have enough time, of course).
And finally, I’ll be working at Outback on Thursdays, Fridays and all day Sundays. As my Mt. Rainier climb gets closer – and my $1600 due date draws near – I’m sure I’ll be picking up additional shifts each week. But until then, 3 days a week is enough for me.
I’m anticipating a crazy awesome semester full of all-nighters…but I’m going to love every second of it! I’m so glad I’ve finally figured out where I’m meant to be!
Go to dinner with roommate: Check
Go to Georgia Basketball game (which was awesome): check
Go downtown with an amazingly fun group of friends: check check
