The Bernard Cridland Memorial Shoot

Today, my parents and I went to volunteer our help at the Jamaica Skeet Club for the Bernard Cridland Memorial Shoot. While I wasn't shooting, I was assigned as a referee to one of the teams. While I had helped at the Shoot last year, my dad was doing most of the work. This time, I was working alone with one of the groups, keeping score of the teams. While I made a few mistakes scoring, the group was more than patient with me, correcting and helping me as we went along. Even though we would joke around on occasion, once we reached the shooting stations, all joking was put aside and all focus was on gun safety and handling. All in all, it was a fun experience, especially since nobody was hurt as we progressed to the end.

-Peter
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

Marie Atkins Center

After braving through Hurricane Sandy, I started back up my self-initiated project, by helping to feed the homeless at the Marie Atkins Center. As usual, I woke up early, and made my way to the homeless shelter with my dad and a few of his friends. Unlike usual, however, the crowds were a lot more rowdy than usual. Even with added muscle, the crowds swarmed around me and my dad, begging for one of the boxes of juice. We normally run out of boxes, so its not uncommon that people fight for one of the seats by where we start handing out the boxes, but having swarms of people surround my dad to the point where he refuses to give out any more boxes is something that has never happened before. I don't know whether this was as a result of the hurricane, or if it was as a result of there being more new people at the breakfast feeding, but it certainly shocked me.
Another thing that shocked me, but in a good way, was the fact that while working, I was no longer 'Big Jo', the brand of the juices we give out, or 'Mr. Chin', but 'Peter.' This realization that I've been working long enough for people to know my name, and call me by it was something that really took made me notice how much of a difference I've made in these people's lives. I'm no longer a brand of juice, or a typical Chinese man to them. I'm Peter, and that really made me feel like I've impacted these people more than I thought I have before.

-Peter
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

Digicel 5K Runathon

So, today, my dad had taken me to a 5km run, in which I was asked if I wanted to take part in. Already being there, I said sure, considering I didn't have much else to do, and it seemed like it could be interesting. After the first few kilometers, I had started feeling exhausted, and my eyes strayed to several shortcuts. However, I kept on keeping on, and just repeated to myself that a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins. Keeping this in mind, I felt inspired to finish all 5km, whether it was by running, walking, or crawling over the finish line.
After 45 minutes, and hundreds of negative thoughts, I finally finished the race, and felt great about it. Finishing it, I thought to myself that the motivation of keeping up with my dad really paid off, and made me feel less tired that I was while running the race. All in all, it was a really great experiment, but I doubt that I would be up for another one for a very long time from now.

Peter
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel