a preview of more to come

My successes and failures as an Aidmatrix intern. It started with my first few meetings and call in interviews with Brad. Which I will list under my successes. A few weeks after school had ended I traveled up to Dallas for my training. Which on the whole I thought was very informative. I would however have preferred a little bit more sales training. Cold calling and things of that nature. But it could just have been that I didn’t have the same schooling as the other interns.

Well any ways next I was trying to make calls and meetings. And here is where things started to go rather pear shaped on me. You see this is how it seemed to work. I would call up a clinic give my speech and the person would be excited about it. Then I would try to find out if they qualified or how interested they were. For the most part they would rather me explain it over the phone then go for a visit. So I would start talking to them. And seeing if they qualified. Most of them did not. And those they might have felt that there wasn’t enough of a benefit for them to implement our program. This was rather disheartening. So I tried the food banks and other non-profits in the area. But they were either too small or just not interested in what we had to offer.

So I called up Brad and told him about how things were going. And expressed my feelings that I wasn’t feeling very useful and if he had any work for me to do over by him. So he told me to do some web marketing and “spread the word of Aidmatrix” and that started to take up most of my day. I still made calls to clinks and tried to contact west Texas ones. But that was only and hour maybe 2 hours a day and the rest of my time were spent web marketing.

Also on several occasions I translated a few power points and wrote up some one pagers for Brad, which I thought was fun and helped break up the days. But if I am perfectly honest I don’t think I was as helpful or useful as you guys had originally hoped that I would be. Or as I thought I would be for that matter.

That being said I did have a lot of fun at this job. I got to meet a lot of interesting people both at Aidmatrix and in the health community of El Paso. So I would say that it was a very positive experience. The only thing I would have changed is probably have picked a community with a few more health clinics in it.

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It's been great!!

My internship this summer has been truly amazing and one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve had so far. Just knowing that we are really making a difference in peoples lives makes me feel good inside and proud of what we were all able to accomplish. The experience I got from this internship is invaluable and will not only benefit me in my future career but in life as well. I loved the sales and technological aspects of this job and to be able to improve and use those skills gave me a lot of confidence. After looking back over the past couple of months, I can see how much I’ve grown as a person and that makes me really excited for what’s in store for me in the future.

I remember the first day I was so nervous/excited about cold calling and setting up meetings that I woke up 2 hours early just to get down my sales pitch. I must have stuttered a hundred times my first call but I was able to set up a meeting (probably out of pity) which gave me the confidence I needed for the duration of my internship. I think Michael said it best when he told us, “No matter what happens, you’re not going to die!” After that first call I was comfortable with what I was saying and cold calling no longer became an issue. It makes it a lot easier to cold call and set up meetings when you truly believe in the program you are representing. My absolute favorite part of this internship was going to the meetings and getting a chance to sit down and talk to these people. I have met so many great people with big hearts that just want to help and give back to the community. Some of them would get so excited when I presented the Freeclinic Link and that got me excited! It’s a great feeling to see the look on their faces and something I will never forget. I was also able to work with Daniel a lot this summer with the FedEx Kinko’s donations. Many clinics were interested in computer donations and that was a great incentive for them to sign up.

After about 5 weeks I hit kind of a wall and meetings started slowing a down quite a bit. I had to do a lot more research to try and find new contacts and get things rolling again. It especially got more difficult when ¾ of the people I contacted didn’t meet the membership criteria or weren’t interested in Donate Now. One of the biggest challenges was getting in contact with the people you needed to talk to and/or trying to have them call or e-mail you back. That part got really annoying but I knew that would be part of the job when I signed on. It took a lot of self-motivation and persistence to keep calling and e-mailing back but it paid off with a few clinics.

Overall, I feel very blessed to be a part of this internship program with Aidmatrix and know this was the right decision. To work with so many great people that genuinely care about what they do really inspires me. From this opportunity, I can take the skills and confidence I have gained to fulfill my goals and take on many more challenges in the future.

My last hoorah.

The internship this summer has been such an awesome experience. It has been cool to see it bring together industrial distribution with a project that is really impacting people daily. It combined sales, people interaction, technological skills, and an end goal to make it a really neat project to be assigned to. I think we all learned very similar things, about cold calling, self-motivation and determination, and also just about representing a company and a product. I still don’t think I got used to being introduced as “Kristen, with Aidmatrix.”

I have learned a lot about the non-profit world in general. All the people I have talked with either work at free clinics, homeless shelters, churches, or other non-profits; I have loved talking to them and hearing how they became a part of it. It’s opened my eyes to things I either do or do not want to do in the future. Even if I do not always work in non-profit, it has definitely taught me skills that I will take with me in any field.

The sales aspect has been a great experience. I became very comfortable with cold-calling: calling on people I had never met, at places I had never been. At first that was the biggest challenge, but it became the biggest area of growth. I loved the meetings with people, and learned how to carry the conversation and listen sincerely, while also providing them with clear answers. I have probably learned the most from those interactions. I also learned from my mistakes; saying the wrong thing on the phone, not being as prepared as I should be, getting lost… It does get frustrating to have to find random places that you have never been and be on time; I think that is something we all had to overcome. :)

Being in Dallas has been a huge blessing because there are so many resources for clinics, as well as non-profits. Talking with Julie and getting more information at the beginning of the summer really helped to jump-start my contacts. They began as a whirlwind and I set up many meetings in the first few weeks. The last few weeks and clinics required more pursuit, because some people are just not as responsive. Near the end it picked up again; it was nice to hear people say that they appreciated my follow-up and persistence, because I times I just felt annoying. It was great to learn how to be patiently persistent.

I have also loved being able to come to the office and getting to see more of Aidmatrix. From the beginning I was just so impressed with the company and was excited to know that there are places like this; this office is full of intelligent, very outgoing people who are choosing to do something that is really impacting people around the world. It is definitely unique and we have all been blessed to be a part of it. Hopefully we have been able to forge the way ahead for these clinics and this program.

One For The Road...

This summer has been full of its pick-ups and hang-ups. For the last ten weeks I have spent my time contacting people that I had never heard of and had never heard of me. Most of which I will likely never speak with again. Some days were more productive than others but overall I can see results of my effort.

This summer began slowly, few people were quick to answer their phone and even less qualified. After two weeks when it was time to turn in my numbers I didn’t have anything to show. While numbers didn’t show the effort I had put in I still had a desire to make a difference. Week three resulted in the beginning of answered phone calls and more event filled days. During week four the clinic visits began with an impromptu trip on Sunday to a clinic for the homeless. I was beginning to burn out from the lack of success but energy from the people I was meeting gave me what I needed to keep going. Weeks five and six were much of the same with many meetings and more energized volunteers. As things began to slow at the end of week six and into week seven I was beginning to lose that desire I had as the summer began. The Thursday of week seven however I knew I was presenting to a group at a Donate Now Seminar and I devoted my time to getting ready for that day. I only had one person show up and while that didn’t lift my spirits the meeting that afternoon brought me back to that desire to help that I had when the summer began. The clinic I had the opportunity to visit was what I envisioned from week one, someone who truly desired the help I had to offer and was even interested in how she could help me. As my summer started coming to a close I had the opportunity to speak with this Executive Director many times all of which seemed to help me as much as she said it helped her. Needless to say when I had donated computers to deliver I knew who I was taking them to.

Failure is always a little easier for me to judge, I can always see how things don’t go the way I planned them. I feel my biggest failure this summer was not pushing the whole Donate Now program. From the beginning it seemed a little harder because I was pushing a program that I didn’t really know the people behind it. It didn’t help my progress in that area either when I only had one person show up to my Donate Now Seminar. The hardest thing for me to do was pursue people who acted like they didn’t have the time for me.

Success was small in numbers for me this summer but I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot in the way of self-discipline and getting up in the morning when I didn’t always feel like it. I also learned that cold calling isn’t that hard. The easiest thing for me to do as well as my favorite thing to do was just sitting down and meeting with people. Finding out why people did what they did and trying to help them the best I knew how.

Over all this summer was a great experience in learning what I want and don’t want to do. I also did what I wanted to this summer in that I helped people as I increased my skills for the future.

Final Thoughts

Well, now that the summer is coming to a close, it is interesting to look back and assess my time spent. This has been a fantastic summer of growth and opportunity which has provided me with enriching and valuable experiences. I will be heading into the ‘real world’ very soon (maybe too soon?) when I graduate in December, and I feel I have had a real taste of what it’s going to be like when I get there. I don’t believe that I can be one hundred percent prepared for the transition into life after college, but this summer has put me miles ahead of where I have been.
The success and failures of my summer sometimes feel like they are one in the same. A few of the things that I have struggled with have become my greatest accomplishments. In that case, I guess that means they aren’t failures at all. My successes include personal issues such as time management and self-motivation as well as social aspects of the job – cold-calling, meeting so many new people, and feeling the responsibility of being the face of the company. I really like meeting new people, but I get nervous when I have more responsibility than saying ‘hi’ and remembering their name. I question my knowledge of the company or our products, if I will be able to convince these people that what I’ve got to offer them is worth their time and extremely beneficial to them, and even if I am representing Aidmatrix in a way that would make the ‘clients’ feel positive about their experience with me/us. I think it was Keith who helped during training, and told us to think of it differently. He helped a good deal. He taught me not to think of it as a make-or-break experience, that if they don’t understand me for who I am and why I’m really there, then so what? He asked what was the worst thing that could happen? They don’t talk to me again! It’s no big deal, I’m not going to die, I’m not going to lose my job or have the incident permanently inscribed on my record that this person didn’t like me. It was comforting to hear that, and what helped even more was getting a couple meetings and calls over with. After I did that several times, I realized that Keith was right; it’s not so bad at all. I’m really not a newcomer to ‘sales’. I’ve waited tables in restaurants for nearly 4 years, and I feel the apprehension to some degree every time I go to work. It’s probably healthy for me to feel that way. But it’s really been great to finally take that salesmanship out of the restaurant and apply it to different areas. I feel much more confident that I’ll be able to know the right information and answer the right questions, and that I can be the face of the company.
To address the question of how my time was spent, I would have to say that the majority by a large margin seems to be pursuing people. Whether that includes trying to contact people for the first time, or getting back in touch to follow up or take the next step, it seems to me to be extremely difficult to get people to call or email me back. It has been one of the most frustrating things this summer for me. I think the biggest thing I’ve learned about that is that persistence pays off. If you continue to attempt to get a hold of people, you eventually will figure out an answer. It may be that the person is no longer (or never was) interested in our services, or that they have genuinely been very busy (this is the case a lot of the time with free clincs!) I’ve found that it is something that I just need to understand that this is the way it works sometimes. I can’t take it personally, I can only keep trying.
All in all, this has been a fantastic summer. I have learned a lot about myself and how I work, as well as a lot about the Big Wide World After College. I have especially enjoyed getting to learn about the fantastic things Aidmatrix is doing, and getting to know the interns and staff at Aidmatrix. I appreciate being given the opportunity to help make a difference in my community.

Life of the Party...

Well last night I was invited to attend a social gala with a clinic that I was trying to help. As you can tell I wasn't the life of the party... they kicked me out... no, don't worry I left because I didn't know anybody. It was an opportunity for me to meet the clinic administrator and I thought that Brad would enjoy more work so I went. They were showing off their new renovations to their granters and celebrating with sandwich and cake... how could I turn it down.

This Is for Diego

Well I got the opportunity on Friday to meet with a very special doctor. He was not an Aggie fan believe it or not. The first thing I saw when I walked in his office was this jersey, and his next question was where do you go to school? Then he proceeded to show me a picture of a National Championship ring and a poster of the National Champion Texas Longhorns. Turns out that his son was one of the kickers on the team and his game jersey lives in his dads office. It was also neat to find out that his other son was in the band for the National Championship team from Michigan. The Meeting went great, and it turns out even though he is a member of the NAFC the clinic isn't even open yet. But they already have 11 doctors lined up to volunteer. I also got to meet with 2 of his clinic volunteers and explain the Free Clinic Link system as well as Donate Now. So even though My Flat Tex has his Saw'em off belt buckle on he was willing to take a picture with the jersey.

Do-Over

I finally got over to the clinic that I had the mix-up at earlier this summer. It was fun just to sit in the supply room and listen to stories of which the 2 that I met with had plenty. I think they talked more than I did, and on top of that she filled out the form to update to FCL_2 before I even showed her FCL_2. Matter of fact I need to go send that...

Also had an amazing experience yesterday... I have been trying to contact a clinic all summer by phone (the same clinic that I had the whole call back at 7, oh shes not here, no shes busy experience). Well I just decided to Google the ladies name yesterday and happened to find an email address. I sent her an email and had a response before the evening was done. So if the secretary won't give you the time... just go around them!

Long overdue...

Lately I've been feeling a lot like Santa Clause! I've been delivering several computers recently, and it's really been fun to see how excited they get to receive them. This is Irving Interfaith clinic, and you can see two of the three computers I've taken them. Plus I really liked the wall in the background. :)

This is a picture of the sign to one of my favorite clinics I've been to, in Grand Prairie. They do so many different services for the patients; weekly, they have dentists, chiropractors, gynecologists, counseling sessions, primary care and more. I went to meet with Tencha for a second time today to help her finish her credit form. She gets so busy that it really helped to go meet with her again to finish up. She is a very people-oriented and loving person, so it's been fun to talk with her.

I can't believe that we have only about 2 1/2 weeks left! It has flown by. We've all learned so much about getting out and meeting with people, and it is exciting to know we're hopefully making big impacts on these communities. It's made me realize so many problems as well though, with the health system and with the number of people in need. It makes me want to solve all the problems in the world and give these people hope! But for now I am happy to know that there are so many opportunities to use what I know and what I have learned to help people. We'll see where that goes in the future.

I Accomplished Something!!!

I delivered 10 computers this morning to the Free Dental Clinic I have been working with and it went off without a hitch. I had an easy time picking them up this morning after the manager on duty double checked with the store manager. I went to the clinic and dropped them off and even, get this... got help unloading the computers. Amazing isn't it... Something went right for Charles this summer! Oh and if you are trying to count the computers in the picture... one is off to the right and the other is under the table behind the other two on the left. I am just glad I get to feel like I've done something. The question now is... what do I do this afternoon?

The day that is Today

Well today has been a full day...

This Morning I had my donate now seminar and lets just say I have been putting in a little time to make sure its a success. It was a lunch event where people bring their own lunch and sit and enjoy what I say (well that's what I envisioned).

Where is Big Tex you might ask... Well it turns out that he didn't get the memo along with everybody else so he didn't show up for the picture... I had a whopping 3 people present including myself and the organizer. O well the building looked cool!

This afternoon I had a meeting with a free dental clinic...

It went great!!! She was excited about the program and how we at Aidmatrix could help. She was just impressed with the price of the latex gloves! So she was gonna read a little more and then hopefully sign-up.

Invacare stealing customers?

I thought this probably was blog-worthy. Here's an email I sent Brad:
Brad,
I did a training session with Rick Sample yesterday, and he said he had already ordered stuff through us. It really caught me off guard, but eventually, I figured out that some Invacare salesman called him and he placed an order through the phone directly with Invacare, at the prices offered through us. I taught him how to use our system and explained that for our reporting, we need him to go through our system. Anyway, it's pretty much taken care of. I just wanted to make you aware of the situation and see if there's anything more you wanted me to do about it.

Thanks,
Ben

1st Training Session

I visited the Raphael Community Free Clinic in Kerrville this morning and had my first opportunity to train an existing NAFC member. All she had ever done was order donated products off of FreeClinic Link because she didn't realize what was available under the discounted products list. It went well and hopefully now she will check our prices for discounted products as well.

First ACS Visit

Today I had my first ACS/SDO solution meeting and it went Great! I got to explain the system and then make it work for them... They seem excited enough so hopefully everything works out to get their system set-up.

The Clinic Road Trip

Tuesday I made the the 4 hour 2 stop clinic road trip...

The first clinic of the day was in Banderra, Texas. As you can see from the picture above they still have a little work to do before their doors are open. After calling a number on my target list and discovering that it was for a thrift store and that they only took appointments for another clinic I was a little disappointed. However she knew the name and number of a man starting a new free clinic. After getting in touch with Bill I discovered that they already were aware of AidMatrix and were trying to contact us as well. He was excited that I was calling him because they were trying to get in touch with us and all they had heard and had to say about AidMatrix were good things. They are not ready to sign-up yet but they are ready to work with us when they get up and running. So how about that networking.

That got me really excited for my 2nd appointment because they were one of the 2 clinics that recommended us to the new clinic. But my excitement was short lived... When I got to the clinic the lady that I was supposed to meet with wasn't there. I was early so I just sat in their waiting room and waited... When it was all said and done I had been there for an hour and never made it past the waiting room. A little sad yes but I left my card and hopefully we can do it again (not the waiting part). Needless to say I didn't take a picture cause I wasn't really thinking about that.

Rewind...

Well I got picked on by Ben for not adding any pictures to the blog and today I finally remembered to bring my camera and cable to upload these pictures...

Here is San Antonio branch of AidMatrix for the summer and the office space that I call home on the weekdays.

And this is the office I snuck into at the beginning of the summer and the phone that is forwarded to someone else if you call it... (Brad Knows) Its a nice little 14 by 12 cubicle I call home.

Donate NOW!

Hi all! Yesterday I did a training for about 15 non-profits on DonateNow. It went really well, and they were all very interested. I also learned a few things that I thought I would share with you interns who are doing this in the future:

1- Tell them you are an intern from the beginning. A few of them asked random questions about other programs I had never heard of, so it would be good for them to know that. And, for all you Aggies (sorry Diego), it will probably be a plus; there were several Aggies in the room that were glad to know I go to school there. I even got a few Gig'ems.
2- Know the basics really well, but be prepared for random questions.
3- And finally, speak slowly and have fun with it. They'll be appreciative!

2 More Visits

As I have been doing, I've got some work-related pictures to share, and some non-work-related pictures to share. I guess we'll just get this work business out of the way first!


Monday, I met with the Business Manager of Health For All in Bryan. It might be debateable whether or not Bryan technically falls into my 'area', but I figured that it certainly couldn't hurt to extend my stay there an extra day into the work-week and work from what will be my new, permanent home in August, and visit the clinic that's there. Well, I didn't get to meet the Executive Director like I had been hoping. She was gone, staying with her husband who was having heart surgury. So instead I met with the Business Manager, and it turns out that it was good to meet him, since he is going to be my main contact person at the clinic anyway. So, I'm happy to introduce Mr. Sample to the blog! He got a Big Kick out of Big Tex!


Yesterday, I got to visit a clinic called the Lone Star Circle of Care in Georgetown. They have 8 clinics and will be joining our program as well! Shveta (pronounced ShvYE-ta, if that makes sense; she refused to let me call her Ms. Bhambhani) was quite reluctant to have her picture taken with Big Tex, but eventually consented after I assured her that Big Tex always takes the spotlight and makes anybody else in the picture seem insignificant. Big Tex can sometimes be a little egotistical, but it seemed to make Shveta feel a little more comfortable about taking the picture!


In other news, while I was in Bryan visiting the girl with a head the size of a flower (or a flower the size of a head?), I was able to create the most perfect foam on a cappucino that you have ever set your eyes upon. This foam was the foamiest foam that's ever been foamed. I'm telling you, it was good. You bet I enjoyed it. Come to Bryan and I'll make you some foam!

First Meeting

I was invited to come to a clinic while it was open this last Sunday and it was crazy... it was for the homeless and they had a medical clinic, dental clinic, vision clinic, clothing "store", and breakfast all going on at the same time! Needless to say everyone was a little busy to just sit down and talk. I got some info and business cards and left my own so maybe something good will come from the madness. They were not originally interested but maybe after they think about it things will change.

lions and tigers and bears...

I just wanted to put up this picture because it this place was really cute! It was a children's clinic so there were animal murals all throughtout it. Mary Nelle was very appreciative and had dreamt about having this clinic.

I had also just picked up 2 computers the day before and thought I would carry them around for a while. She ended up taking one, and as I drove off she called me wanting the other one! It's cool how it works out perfectly like that.

Spurs Win!

"Woo hoo!"

Hello all... Today I had one of the funniest experiences yet. I went to Metrocrest Family Clinic and met with Jane. She was very nice and VERY talkative... Loved to tell me about her clinic, and the problems they have.

However, she lit up when I showed her the product list, and every time she saw another product she needed she said, "Oh! This just makes my day." Probably said it around 10 times.

To top it off, I said goodbye to her and she went back in her office; as she was closing the door, with her other volunteers in the room with her, I heard her yell "Woo hoo!". I couldn't stop laughing as I walked to my car. All the excitement however made me forget to take a picture with Big Tex! But I am going back to train her on FCL, so I'm SURE she will be more than willing to take it. Hopefully this brightens everyone's days. It was a good reminder to me of how this really does help them, and it definitely reminded me why we're doing this!

Howdy friends!

I am here reporting two more meetings. The first was another meeting with the director of El Buen Samaritano, and he just had some questions to ask. I was able to get a picture this time, so here we go:

Today, I met with the Clinical Ops. Manager at People's Community Clinic, and I don't think they are going to sign up for our services at this time. I went ahead and did the survey and took a picture. She was definitely pretty reluctant to have her picture with Big Tex, but I told her that's not the first time I've had that expression in one of these pictures. It was funny, she was rolling her eyes. Haha!

On a different note, I'm excited to report that I am taking advantage of the fact that Austin is the live music capital of the southwest! I went to a show of a Christian 'hardcore' band called mewithoutYou, and the concert was a whole lot of fun! Several other bands opened for them, and some were definitely better than others, but they all had a good time on stage. I'm a big fan of mewithoutYou, and this was my first time to see them perform -- my ears are still ringing! It was really funny, the lead singer, Aaron Weiss, kept filling up plastic cups with water and passing them out to people in the crowd who were thirsty. Then he asked if anybody wanted some potato salad or fresh fruit, and handed out little bowls of that too in the middle of some of his songs! It was pretty funny. Here are a few shots of last night:

This is Pam at Grace. She was very entertaining and very willing to take a picture with Big Tex. I don't know about everyone else, but a few times I have found it hard to take a picture at the clinics. One time, at Agape,

they were having clinic and lots of people were in the very small clinic, and we were talking about problems they were having, and it just didn't feel ok to take a goofy picture with Big Tex. I guess it is more important to talk seriously than to whip out Big Tex, but I'll try to remember to snap a picture even when it's easy to forget. :)

Can I Get A Call Back...

Well I was hoping to hear back from some of the people I talked with this week today and set up visits... so far my wish hasn't come true. Lets hope next week finishes what this week started.

Bad day!

Well, it's Friday at the end of week 2. For me, it's been both a good and bad week, but I'll get to the bad part later. The good part is that I got two clinics to verbally agree to sign up! I'm meeting with both of them next week to go over paperwork stuff so we can get that sent in. I've also had one other clinic in La Grange agree to pitch it to her COO and see if she can't get involved. Things seem like they're really moving now! I've got several calls and a couple visits lined up for next week, and I'm real excited about meeting more people.



I had forgotten to get a picture with Big Tex at the first clinic, but I'll snap one on Monday when I go back. At the second clinic, Mrs. Hopkins was not real sure she wanted her picture posted all over the internet, but I talked her into it! She was real nice and excited about getting involved. She also gave me another contact in Austin which I'm looking forward to calling on.


On to the bad part of the week:
On Tuesday, I had just an all-around bad day. The saying goes, "When it rains, it pours," and it definitely held true. The worst part was that I left my sister's apartment to walk to campus and find my workspace in the morning, and I left my keys and wallet in the apartment. I didn't realize this until I was walking back for lunch around 1 p.m. I called her and she was at work. She works at a sandwhich shop and she couldn't get off to come let me in until about 2:30. I had a meeting with Mrs. Hopkins (pictured above) scheduled at 3 p.m., and Mary works about 20 min. away. So, she told me to take a bus up near where she works and I'd pick up her keys. I trooped all the way across campus to the bus stop and waited about 20 minutes for the right bus. I didn't realize until my bus arrived that these buses aren't free like the buses at A&M -- and I had left my wallet inside too! Frustrated, I called her back and told her what happened. I told her not to get off work, I'll just figure it out. I called Mrs. Hopkins and rescheduled the meeting (I told her I couldn't get my car started --which was true!) and worked the rest of the afternoon lunchless until Mary brought me food at 4 p.m. It really isn't that big of a deal, but it sure put a damper on my day. Fortunately, I haven't had any other bad days this week!

In other news: I saw an albino squirrel chasing another squirrel around yesterday -- it was crazy!

Also, I hear Brian also didn't have a real fun day on Tuesday either. Lets see if we can get him to tell his story!

Training week pictures

Hey you guys!

From all that I have heard, yall are doing very well so far. I really enjoyed having yall in the office for the training week. I think that it went really well... I hope you did. Remember to utilize me and Brad. Call us if you have questions or need encouragement. Keep pressing on, believe in the message, genuinely care for the people that you're talking/meeting with and you definately begin to see results.

Here are some pictures that I should have posted on here last week.

Look how cool Brad is...

Rollin....

Rollin...

Rollin...

On your first site visit!

Sorry big tex...

Well today at Dental Health Arlington, Sally had a better idea for a picture than big tex. She wanted to use this giant mouth instead. It was pretty hilarious and we had a good time talking.

Even though she is only a dental clinic, she was really interested to join the NAFC. So good luck getting out there guys! I'm beginning to wonder where Diego, brian and charles are... Good luck in your creative picture-taking.

First Clinic Visit!

Well here's my Big Tex's first appearance! I went to HOPE Medical and Dental in Cleburne today. This is Diane Westcott. She was so nice and loved to tell me about her clinic. I showed her the new FreeClinicLink and she is really excited to use it once its complete. She has a great heart and it was really fun to meet with her.

Suggestion? Try to ask to take a picture with Big Tex the least awkward way you can. She thought it was funny and didn't really understand why we had colored in a Big Tex, but was glad to take a picture with him. So good luck getting past the awkwardness. :)

Hi all! Just wanted to try it out too.

Get excited for tomorrow! And i'm sorry about your apartment Ben... looks like you won't be working from there often!

My sister's apartment

So, like I said, I helped my sis move into her new apartment that we'd be sharing for the summer. I knew it was an efficiency, but I don't think I realized quite how small it was.

Here are some pictures:

This first picture is a shot over the living room into the entryway, with a peak into the bedroom, too.

Next we have a shot of the study with my sister hard at work at her desk. Also, you can see the kitchen in all it's glory.

After that we have a picture of the bathroom and closet doors, and finally a shot of the living room

where LouLou (my fiance) is working hard at facebooking (or something).

Hey guys! I thought I'd try out my first post.

Have a great summer!

The Best Summer EVER!

Hello Tx Interns and welcome to your blog. This will be an online forum for all of you to stay connected. Feel free to share funny, enertaining, or even horribly depressing stories. Use this tool to suggest to each other best strategies and vent concerns. Please do NOT post anything obscene, malicious, or inappropriate. Include pictures and whatever else could be of value for the group. We will take the best posts and upload them onto the website. Thank you for your hard work and committment. Finally, Good Luck this summer!

Brad