Introduction

Emily Vrotsos

Jaclyn Mallan-King

WST 4415

19 January 2010

Introduction

Hello all! My name is Emily Vrotsos, I am a sophomore English Lit major, minoring in Women's Studies and Creative Writing. I am from Ocala, Florida, about an hour and a half north of Orlando, but I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. My mom, dad, younger brother, and I moved down to Leesburg when I was 10 years old, and we then moved to Ocala the next year when I was 11. My favorite book is called The End of the Affair, by Graham Greene, and I wish I liked television a lot less than I do. I love it so much, I feel like a bit of a traitor to my major, like I am not a legitimate English major if I love watching cable. I have been on a year-round swim team since I was 10 years old, and I was really disappointed to find that not only is UCF without a swim team, it has since filled it in to expand the gym.

I really enjoy the idea for a fundraiser of some sort for Haiti. I think that would be a wonderful cause, and one of my other classes is considering doing a project for the same cause.

Last semester I worked with Animal Safehouse of Brevard. It is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to giving women a chance to leave homes ridden with domestic violence by giving them and their families peace of mind by providing good homes to foster their pets until they can be reunited. Recent studies have found that 40% of women in domestic violence situations will not leave to save themselves because they have nowhere to take their pets, as women's shelters do not permit animal companions. Oftentimes these animals are the only source of unconditional love and affection that these women experience, and they are at times refusing to part from them, worrying about what will happen to the animal(s) when they have fled. In the hopes of saving many lives by protecting their animals, Animal Safehouse fosters, feeds, and finds new homes (if needed) in order that all of the lives suffering from domestic violence may be improved. For my service learning project in Fall 2009, my group and I put on a showcase with five local bands that were willing to play for free. We did a music showcase out of one of my group partner's friends, and it was a huge success. We asked that people attending the show please make a donation of money, pet food, cat litter, etc. at the door. We ended up raising enough money that we could afford to send a basset hound out to Portland, Oregon to be reunited with it's relocated family. Animal Safehouse provides all of the transportation and care for the pet, no matter the monetary cost, and all foster homes are compensated, but because they do not have any government backing yet, they rely heavily on donations of money and time. If you are interested at all in a service project dedicated to this organization, I would love to work on something with you! If you just want to help this organization by becoming a foster, or help volunteering we could use all the help we can get, just ask me about it!