Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
Thirty-Second Edition, April 28, 2015

Featured Alumna: Evie Scogin '03

Friendships. Community. Leadership. Teamwork. Positivity. Potential. Talent. Respect.

These are some of the words that come to mind when I think about HOBY. As a high school sophomore, I never could have known how greatly this organization would impact my life. At the seminar, I learned about my ability to make a difference, became more confident, and realized the importance of accepting others for their own unique personalities and skills. I learned that sometimes being a leader means that you have to be a follower, and knowing the difference between those times is when you can accomplish great things. I carried those lessons throughout my college career in Architecture school at Auburn and into my professional career now as an Interior Designer with THW Design, a mid-sized firm in Atlanta. I work with people and clients from all over the United States, developing senior living facilities that embrace hospitality and home-like environments. I have volunteered off and on with HOBY for eleven years. I have made wonderful friends and continue to learn something new each time I volunteer. I love leading a group of teenage students and seeing them go from strangers to teammates to friends. HOBY truly is a bond that cannot be broken, and its lessons can be applied throughout every phase of life.

HOBY Info:

Kroger Community Rewards Program

• If you have a Kroger Plus Card, send some dollars to HOBY through this program!
• Keep it up, all the funds ensure the best seminars possible!

Social Networking!!!

• Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
• Follow us on Twitter: @HOBY_GEORGIA  
• Follow us on Instagram: HOBY_GEORGIA
• Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
• Check our the website: www.gahoby.org
• Feel free to send quotes to lutzofun@gmail.com to be put onto the Twitter page
• Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers

Hours

• Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2fdefault.aspx
• Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email lutzofun@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
• How far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?

This Blog

• If you would like a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" Blog Post to be posted in the future on this blog then, email lutzofun@gmail.com also with your response!
• Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post

Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
Thirty-First Edition, April 10, 2015

Featured Alumnus: Will Burgess '07

I will never forget having my car rushed by the HOBY staff back in June of 2007. I had no idea what I had signed up for; I especially had no idea that it would change my life. I walked out of that car in 2007 as an awkward but passionate teen. HOBY helped to focus and channel my energy to where I could best make an impact. The lessons I learned from HOBY guided me throughout college and now in law school. But the biggest gift HOBY gave me is the lifelong HOBY family. Friends from HOBY are with me wherever I go: whether it's at the University of Georgia or at Harvard Law School. We have a bond that runs deep, because we know we will always be there for each other. I am incredibly thankful for the impact HOBY has had on my life. I know I wouldn't be half the person I am today without it.

HOBY Info:

Kroger Community Rewards Program

• If you have a Kroger Plus Card, send some dollars to HOBY through this program!
• Keep it up, all the funds ensure the best seminars possible!

Social Networking!!!

• Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
• Follow us on Twitter: @HOBY_GEORGIA  
• Follow us on Instagram: HOBY_GEORGIA
• Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
• Check our the website: www.gahoby.org
• Feel free to send quotes to lutzofun@gmail.com to be put onto the Twitter page
• Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers

Hours

• Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2fdefault.aspx
• Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email lutzofun@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
• How is far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?

This Blog

• If you would like a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" Blog Post to be posted in the future on this blog then, email lutzofun@gmail.com also with your response!
• Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post

Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
Thirtieth Edition, March 29, 2015

Featured Alumnus: Vasishta Monavarty '12

I am Vasishta Monavarty currently a student at the University of Georgia and my intended major is Management Information Systems. I currently am involved in SGA Freshman Forum, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, and Terry Student Consulting. I can vividly remember the first day of HOBY when my dad dropped me off to go to this “leadership camp”. It was a hot summer day and I was dreading going to this camp despite being only 3 days. Little did I know HOBY would not only impact my view on service to the community and other but also created a lifetime long friendships. Attending HOBY made me realize the importance of serving others and being open minded. Along with the great skills it taught me which led me to involved in the community but also campus it led me to come back to HOBY as a Jr. Staff for two years in a row. The leadership activities such as knowing what type of “bird” you are or Yoba-ville have taught me lessons that I continue to apply to my life to this day. HOBY and the people part of it are genuinely OUTSTANDING.

HOBY Info:

Kroger Community Rewards Program

• If you have a Kroger Plus Card, send some dollars to HOBY through this program!
• Keep it up, all the funds ensure the best seminars possible!

Social Networking!!!

• Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
• Follow us on Twitter: @HOBY_GEORGIA  
• Follow us on Instagram: HOBY_GEORGIA
• Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
• Check our the website: www.gahoby.org
• Feel free to send quotes to lutzofun@gmail.com to be put onto the Twitter page
• Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers

Hours

• Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2fdefault.aspx
• Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email lutzofun@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
• How is far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?

This Blog

• If you would like a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" Blog Post to be posted in the future on this blog then, email lutzofun@gmail.com also with your response!
• Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post

Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
Twenty-Ninth Edition, February 27, 2015

Featured Alumna: Sarah Marie Tonsmeire '04

Even though it's been nearly eleven years since I was an ambassador with HOBY, I can vividly remember my time as an ambassador, and some of the important takeaways HOBY provided. As for most, HOBY was a life-changing experience for me, and truly helped shape the person I am today. From learning to speak in front of others, to adapting to different personality styles, to respecting the differences in others, HOBY provided insights to life that I continue to use each and every day. Since my ambassador days, I have been a steady volunteer with HOBY, serving in many different roles. It perhaps eventually led me to my career today. Currently, I serve as the Development and Volunteer Coordinator at The Center for Family Resources, a non-profit organization in Marietta that works to prevent homelessness, and serve those who have fallen victim to homelessness by working with them to become self-sufficient. Every day is like a new HOBY service project. Even though time passes quicker than we’d all like, HOBY is something that stays around a lifetime. Recently, I attended an event with over 5000 attendees. Through Twitter, I was able to connect with a HOBY alum who happened to be sitting across the room. Once we talked, it was like we had been lifetime friends because of the HOBY connection. It’s definitely a small world out there. To sum it up, I’ll leave you with a favorite quote that came to me through HOBY. "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." -John Quincy Adams I am a 2009 alum of Berry College with a B.S. Degree in Marketing and Psychology. Aside from working, I can be found volunteering with Ducks Unlimited, traveling, visiting NASCAR tracks, or spending time on the family farm.

HOBY Info:

Kroger Community Rewards Program

• If you have a Kroger Plus Card, send some dollars to HOBY through this program!
• Keep it up, all the funds ensure the best seminars possible!

Social Networking!!!

• Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
• Follow us on Twitter: @HOBY_GEORGIA  
• Follow us on Instagram: HOBY_GEORGIA
• Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
• Feel free to send quotes to lutzofun@gmail.com to be put onto the Twitter page
• Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers

Hours

• Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2fdefault.aspx
• Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email lutzofun@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
• How is far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?

This Blog

• If you would like a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" Blog Post to be posted in the future on this blog then, email lutzofun@gmail.com also with your response!
• Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post

Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
Twenty-Eighth Edition, February 10, 2015

Featured Alumna: Caroline Freeman '14

My name is Caroline Freeman and I’m a junior at Mount de Sales Academy in Macon, Ga. This past semester I had the opportunity of a lifetime to serve as a United States Senate Page in Washington, D.C.. Each semester 30 high school juniors from all over the country are appointed by their Senators to serve in the U.S. Senate for nearly 5 months as Pages. I lived in a dorm on Capitol Hill with the other pages, attended the United States Page School which started promptly at 6:15 a.m. every morning and proved to be very rigorous at times, then I would make my way over to the Senate to start my day at work, the day of work ended when the Majority Leader of the Senate decided to adjourn, and then when I got back I would start on my large amount of homework that sometimes seemed like too much to handle. (This making for some very late nights) It was at work and living with 29 other teenagers, without parents, and far away from my home that I would catch myself stepping back and being thankful for all that I learned when I went through HOBY. I am an owl and while working with the other pages, as well as the Senators, I was surrounded by all kinds of “birds” from all over America. When I took this in to consideration it made working with other much easier because I was able to use my strengths to help others get the job done faster and more efficiently and vice versa. HOBY also taught me that I’m best at being a leader when I’m 100 %  true to myself and I took that to heart always being truthful to myself and my fellow pages. I was voted Student Council Vice President by my Page class and I know that my HOBY experience played a key role in preparing me for being able to take on all the challenges and great opportunities I encountered while serving and representing Georgia as a U.S. Senate Page. 

HOBY Info:

Kroger Community Rewards Program

• If you have a Kroger Plus Card, send some dollars to HOBY through this program!
• Keep it up, all the funds ensure the best seminars possible!

Social Networking!!!

• Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
• Follow us on Twitter: @HOBY_GEORGIA  
• Follow us on Instagram: HOBY_GEORGIA
• Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
• Feel free to send quotes to lutzofun@gmail.com to be put onto the Twitter page
• Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers

Hours

• Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2fdefault.aspx
• Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email lutzofun@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
• How is far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?

This Blog

• If you would like a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" Blog Post to be posted in the future on this blog then, email lutzofun@gmail.com also with your response!
• Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post

Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
Twenty-Seventh Edition, January 24, 2015

Featured Alumnus: Johnelle Simpson II '10

When most Georgia HOBY alumni think back on their HOBY experience, their first thought may be the mini heart attacks they were given upon their arrival. Interestingly enough, when I pulled up to HOBY at Georgia Southwestern State University in 2010, I was mistaken for a college student and had to get back in my car and drive up again. At this time I didn’t know that this weekend would be so OUTSTANDING and provide me with friendships, strength, and a place to call home. After introducing the other students to the South Georgia gnats and heat, we ended up singing in the rain, going fishing on a bright sunny day, and grieving over the moose.

It did not take long for my peacock type personality to take flight. During the talent portion of HOBY, I practiced my speech for a national competition that would follow a few weeks later. The support and encouragement I received from HOBY is what I believe propelled me to place first in the nation. With a greater sense of community service, I went back to my school and community and began to give back even more. No one could stop me. It was my mission to make sure I was giving back every time I had the opportunity. 

I am currently attending the University of Georgia where I study Risk Management & Insurance and Political Science. I have been very involved on the UGA campus. My affiliations with groups such as the Student Government Association and the Arch Society allow me to give back to my college and the Athens-Clarke County community. It is always great to see a friendly HOBY face succeeding and living out their visions.

I am thankful for the contributions that HOBY has made to my life. I make it my mission to attend a seminar every year to volunteer and give back to a program that has given so much to me. Each year I attend HOBY I am embraced with love and I leave being a better person each year. From an ambassador to a Jr. Staff Member to a Jr. Facilitator to hopefully, this year, a facilitator, HOBY continues to enrich my life and make me a better leader. I plan to give, lead, inspire, and grow until one day I am like the moose, the moose and no longer here.

HOBY Info:

Kroger Community Rewards Program

• If you have a Kroger Plus Card, send some dollars to HOBY through this program!
• Keep it up, all the funds ensure the best seminars possible!

Social Networking!!!

• Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
• Follow us on Twitter: @HOBY_GEORGIA  
• Follow us on Instagram: HOBY_GEORGIA
• Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
• Feel free to send quotes to lutzofun@gmail.com to be put onto the Twitter page
• Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers

Hours

• Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2fdefault.aspx
• Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email lutzofun@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
• How is far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?

This Blog

• If you would like a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" Blog Post to be posted in the future on this blog then, email lutzofun@gmail.com also with your response!
• Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post