jackson’s senior project

  Jackson Lalla  Kelly Griffin-Brown Senior Project 23 May, 2022 Weekly Reflection #2 This week of our project delved more into the research side of the goals that we set out to complete at the beginning of this journey. We traveled an hour or so to the town of Leadville Colorado and did some exploring with my good friend, Mike Brown. Mike, who has lived in Vail his whole life knows every nook and cranny as well as everything there is to know about the area. He took us to many mining sites which once were thriving during the fallback of the gold rush (when everyone backfilled from California and pioneered the area. Much of this particular area was built around mines, some of these mining towns still thrive while some have been reduced to ghost towns. It was very interesting to walk around these mines (some still functional and some very much abandoned and sunken into the earth) and to learn about the history of colorado. On this same trip, Mike took us to Camp Hale which was...

 Today Brody and I woke up and I made scrambled eggs which we coupled with banana bread and some toast. Since it was our last full day out here we decided to do some work on a Sunday just to finish up our hours. We went into the office with Jen and discussed the necklaces we had made and how they were going to be used next week in a fundraising event. Jen then walked us through some aspects of her job one final time, such as the hiring process. A few hours after lunch, we were done at the office we went to the community tennis courts and played there for a while. We then ended the day by purchasing a bus ticket and packing up. Total hours: 6

 Today when Brody and I woke up we were both very surprised to see snow dumping down from out of the window in our bedroom. We were expecting snow but I don't think either of us realized truly how much there would be. When we arrived at the office, Jen gave us the task of assembling pretzel necklaces out of the supplies that we bought earlier. Basically, we were lacing pretzels along a string and tying it together for most of the morning. For lunch we had turkey sandwiches on this very gourmet style bread that was very tasty. We then finished up our work with the necklaces and explored the winter wonderland for the rest of our afternoon.  Total Hours: 6.5

 Today Brody and I woke up and I made pancakes again which wound up being fantastic (except for the use of Mrs. Buttersworth syrup). We then drove to the office with Jen where she gave us some small tasks such as doing inventory of much of the bins of gear that the foundation uses to lend to vets. This gear is used for a multitude of outdoor activities like skiing, hiking or climbing. We also did a few runs to the dumpster outside of the office in order to get rid of some things that were no longer of use to the company. We then took a break for lunch and returned in order to sit-in/help Jen write a proposal for upcoming events. After working, Brody and I drove 50 minutes to Leadville and played 9 holes at the highest elevation golf course in North America.  Total Hours: 6 

 Today Brody and I woke up and made ourselves cereal in preparation for the work day. When we arrived at the office Jen gave us the task of ordering pretzels and string in order to make necklaces for the aforementioned event coming up. Then, Jen gave us a pile of very interesting books on the history of Vail and its ties to the tenth mountain division. We then took a break for lunch and soon thereafter, we continued our research on the tenth mountain division by visiting the Colorado ski museum. Surprisingly, the museum was centered around the tenth mountain division because of its involvement in developing the ski industry and Vail itself. There was a lot of information and exhibits to take in and Brody and I found it super cool and thought provoking so we ended up walking around, reading and taking pictures for the rest of the day.  Total hours: 8 

 Today Brody and I woke up and both had a bowl of cereal before driving into Jen's office. Jen gave us the rundown for the day and we finished the project of organizing the office space which we began yesterday. We then sat in on a virtual meeting with Jen where she discussed an upcoming event for veterans and their families which we will begin to help organize soon. The meeting took us to lunch time and Brody and I ate the sandwiches that he made in the morning. After our lunch break we stuck around the office and did a couple small tasks for Jen that weren't that notable. Finally after work, we went and watched a white water kayak event that was taking place in the river that runs through Vail Village.  Total Hours: 8

 This morning Brody and I got up and went to Jen's office where she instructed us to begin a new project of organizing another office space. This involved starting to turn a somewhat cluttered mess into an organized space that could be utilized by the company. We then stopped at lunchtime, ate lunch and then began a trip to Leadville to check out some tenth mountain division notable areas. This drive took around an hour but when we arrived we were given a tour by Mike Brown (Jen's husband/ex US ski team racer/lifetime Colorado resident) of Camp Hale and multiple locations surrounding it. Camp Hale was the site in which the tenth mountain division used to train for mountain warfare. We also went to Cooper mountain which was the ski mountain that they used to train for skiing exercises and other things. This took until sunset and was the prettiest/ most interesting leg of our trip to date. I gained so much information from Mike that can now be utilized towards my project as well ...

  Jackson Lalla Senior Project 15 May, 2022 This first week of my senior project was an eventful break from classes and the schedule that I’ve gotten used to this spring. My journey began in Boston where I boarded a plane on its way to Denver. It was a late flight that landed at around 10pm leaving my friend Brody and I tired and slightly disoriented, this made it difficult to find the baggage check. After about 20 minutes of confused meandering around the airport, we found the baggage check and collected our luggage from the carousel. We then dragged our luggage to the car pick-up and met Brody’s uncle, Jake, in his van with which he took us to his house just outside of Denver. He set us both up with beds and we arranged our bus tickets for the next morning. After a good night’s sleep, we spent the morning with Brody’s cousin who is blind and his aunt before she drove us to Union Station in Denver. We hopped on the bus to Vail which was many miles and three hours away. Once in Vai...

Today Brody and I woke up and I ended up making pancakes again before we started the work day. We decided to work today in order to catch up on some hours that we missed due to getting a late start on our project. There wasn't much to be done other than some general clean up of the office which ended up taking us until lunch time. After that, we spent a couple of hours going through a stack of banners used for events and ended off by hanging out with Jen as she taught us some more of her daily tasks which were pretty mundane on a Saturday.  Total hours: 6

Today Brody and I woke up a little later and Brody made eggs and toast while I made turkey sandwiches for lunch. When we arrived at the office, we sat in on a meeting with Jen and her part time employee, Sarah. In this meeting, they discussed details for an upcoming event for veteran families. This discussion included cost, location and funding of this particular event and it was interesting to hear how something like this comes together. We took a break for lunch at around noon and afterwards we delivered a printer and other electronics to a recycling center because it was hazardous material recycling day. Then, for the rest of the day we continued to organize important files.  Total Hours: 8

 Today I woke up and made pancakes for Brody and I. They were very good pancakes. After we left the house we made a trip to Home Depot to get shelves in order to organize the stuff that I mentioned in yesterday's blog. Once we brought the shelves to the office, we assembled them and continued moving boxes and countless other items from one room to the next. We finally finished this project at around lunch time and took another 30 minute break to eat the chicken sandwiches that Brody made. After lunch we spent the rest of the work day shadowing Jen and getting familiar with the ins and outs of a non-profit business. Today in particular she was working on a grant proposal to receive funding for the veterans associated with the company. After our work day, Brody and I went on a bike ride to explore the town over from Vail and get familiar with the area. Total Hours: 8

 Today we woke up and made coffee in preparation for fully immersing ourselves into the work that we will be doing for the next two weeks. We drove into the office with Jen where she walked us through the plan for the day and settled us in at a few miscellaneous desks. We then got to work moving and reorganizing various items that are important for funding events and other things that bring in revenue for the organization. After doing this until around noon, we stopped and took  a half an hour lunch break which consisted of some sandwiches that I made in the morning. Next, the founder of the company came in and we got to have a talk with her for a little bit. We then got to work reorganizing files that began in 2011 and led all the way up to this year which to us a while, ending the day at 5pm. Hours: 8

This morning I woke up in Brody's uncle's house, ate breakfast, and waited to leave for the bus stop where we would take a bus to Vail. During this waiting period, Brody's aunt walked with us down to the local lake and park where I rented a Lyft scooter and reaked havoc on the greater Denver area. Shortly thereafter, we were driven to the Union Station in Denver and waited at the B4 terminal for the westward bound bus. The bus arrived at 9:45 and we got off at the Vail Transportation Center at about noon. Jen Brown met us there and taught us about the inner workings of the organization and gave us a tour of her office which was only a 5 minute walk from the station. That was about 2 and a half hours of work which we followed up by grocery shopping and taking in the nice weather. Hours worked: 2.5

The first day of our excursion began with Nate Chipman picking me up from my house and taking Brody and I down to Logan Airport in Boston. From there we had dinner and boarded our three and a half hour flight to Denver airport. The flight was smooth and I watched Peaky Blinders for much of the duration which passed the time well. We landed close to 10pm and Brody's uncle picked us up and took us back to his house in Denver where we stayed the night. Because of this travel day we unfortunately did not have time to start volunteer work at the Vail Veteran Association but we will arrive in Vail tomorrow and go from there.