School 4 Visit

Today I visited School 4, but when I got there, Judy wasn't in the room because one of the students was out sick. So, I went to find her in her room, where she was sitting filling out her paper work. Then we went to her next visit in the preschool classroom. This is the boy that has a tube in his stomach, so he can't do to much activity. Judy just stretched him a little and had him reach for object, like a book that I was showing him. She also had him turn his head in different directions, but he was sometimes a little distracted by other people in the classroom. After that, we went to go grab a young man from lunch, but he was also out sick. It's seems a lot of people are getting sick lately. I, myself am feeling a little under the weather and a lot of others in school are sick. Anyway, next Wednesday will be my last visit with Judy and it saddens me, because I am starting to get closer to the children. I think they are getting to feel more comfortable around me too. Some are learning my name.

So Little Time

I can't believe that we already went on our senior trip and now it's over! It really makes me think of how soon the year will be over. It also is really stressing me out that my presentation has to be given in a couple of weeks. These next two weeks are also very busy weeks with my cousin's wedding this weekend and prom next weekend. These events are the kind of things that get you so excited that you just want them to happen and you can't focus on anything else, but I have to try my hardest to stay focused on school work and this presentation.

This morning, in first period, Cindi and a bunch of us were talking about a song to play at graduation and it's crazy that were at the point that we are talking about that. It's hard to have everyone be happy with one song, because some want a rock song and some want a rap song, so I think we are going to go with an older song that some people won't even know. We played a couple of Beatles songs and I really like that idea! Whether someone knows the song or not, the tone of the song will have everyone crying. I almost started crying while the song was playing and we were talking about graduation.

Hook and Anecdote

Can you imagine not being able to do daily tasks on your own, like putting in your contacts, dressing yourself, bathing, or styling your hair?

People with disabilities, like, Cerebral Palsy need help to do those everyday things. I know, first hand, the difficulties people with this disability face. My cousin, and one of my closest friends, was born with Cerebral Palsy. She has trouble with the tasks I said earlier and many other things.


For another part of my presentation, I think I am going to make a video of me stretching my cousin.

April--Poetry Month

Here is the poem that I read in front of the class:

A poem is a little path


That leads you through the trees.




It takes you to the cliffs and shores,



To anywhere you please



Follow it and trust your way



With mind and heart as one,



And when the journey's over,



You'll find you've just begun.



- Charles Gbigna



I chose this poem because it is short and sweet and it has a happy connotation. Reciting poems helps us develop a nice tone of voice that keeps people's attention and helps your words stay interesting. I thought it would be very easy for me to get up in front of our small class, but it wasn't as easy for me to get into.

Friday Trip :)

On Friday, April 24, Sam and I went to see her students from Bancroft perform at Haddonfield High School in their show, "Celebrating Our Calender Year". It was adorable and impressive. I underestimated the students' abilities a little at first. The two kids that hosted the show were great, just like the hosts at our talent shows, they told jokes and asked trivia questions, along with getting the audience excited for the next act taking the stage. With a little help from a teacher, they did a wonderful job!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet the students and teacher of the class she visits, but I watched them perform their skit for July, which celebrated the 4th of July and included dancing to the song, "Yankee Doodle Dandy". They were full of energy and hilarious. Watching this performance showed me that children with mental and/or physical disabilities are more capable to do things than I originally thought.

In Class Project Preparation

In Senior Project we have been doing this activity that helps with public speaking. I know that it is scary for many of us to get on stage in front of everyone for forty minutes, including myself. For this activity, someone opens the dictionary to a random page and picks a random word for someone else to talk about for a minute. This helps you develop some of the skills of a good public speaker that is able get up in front of anywhere and talk about anything on the spot. One of the things that I noticed that I need to improve is my habit of saying "um". I need to be able to think on my toes and keep talking so that the audience stays interested.

Yay!

Tomorrow I am going to take a trip with Sam to Bancroft for their play and I am very excited. Technically going there does pertain to physical therapy because many of the students there have disabilities. It should be a very fun and interesting experience.

Vick and Paul Meeting

On Tuesday, Vick and Paul visited us to discuss procedures of our presentation. They handed out a packet that was from a student's presentation and together we picked out the important parts and the details that we that it was missing. When we do our presentation, we must make our own packet to hand out to our evaluators. The evaluators consist of two senior project students, a mentor of one of the students, and a community member. When the student is done presenting, they will sit down with the evaluators for about twenty minutes to get feedback on their presentation. They encouraged us to invite our family, friends, neighbors, etc. to watch us preform and also tissues!

School #4

Yesterday I went to School # 4 like I always do on Wednesdays. I arrived a little earlier than I usually do, so I got to be there for the end of Judy's session with a little boy, Justice. He just had surgery and had a pump put in his stomach, so he wasn't allowed to be on his stomach or side. This limited the activities that could be done with him. She had him laying on his back with objects dangling above him and he reached for them and pushed them. After his time was up, we went over to Jesus. We walked all the way down the hallway with him while he kicked or threw the ball. It seems that he walks better with a little support from Judy rather than using the walker. Then for the last session of the day, we worked with William. Since he was the end of the year testing, Judy brought in a game that he likes playing for all of us to play. Unfortunately, the game wouldn't work, so Judy just had him throwing objects into a basket and then kicking a soccer ball into a goal she set up. After he left, she told me that she probably will discontinue his therapy next year, because he is at the point where he is getting older and he would rather socialize and where he is kind of embarrassed of his therapy. Plus, he has improved a lot over the years and he will always be a little uncoordinated. I would imagine that Judy is upset about this being her last year working with William, because she has been seeing him since he has been in school.

Letter to Ms. Carroll

Dear Mrs. Carroll,

Now that the year is quickly wrapping up, I am excited for the greatest part of the Senior Project, the presentation, to come into play. In class we have discussed ideas with students and Mr. Abrams to come up with a clever project to present. For the last couple of months, I have been visiting Judy Hunter, the physical therapist at school #4. We came up with the idea to create a collection of model devices used for physical therapy patients. I will have a whole group of different technologies and newly discovered devices to show and teach the audience.

By completing this project, I will have learned many new techniques for helping physical therapy patients. I will study and research these products closely so that I will know how they work and how to construct them out of clay. I think my sponsor will be happy to help me with this project. My mentor, Mr. Snyder will also be there to help me along the way and keep me on track. I know this will take plenty of work and commitment and something that I worry about is not having enough time to get it completed on time. The month of May will be very busy for most seniors, with senior trip, college decisions, prom, and this presentation. There is no question that I will get it done, but I know that I must stay focused on it.

Project Brainstorming. . .

Now that I have finished my research and turned it in, which feels like a hugh weight has been lifted from my shoulders, I have to move on to creating the actual product. Mr. Abrams and I brainstormed some ideas for the project yesterday. I like the one idea we talked about, making a diaramma of a bunch of model devices used for physical therapy made out of clay. I like the idea of presenting and being able to hold up and show them a physical object that I created. I dont know what I would actually make, but I have some good ideas. I will have to do major research to find the different devices made for different injuries. I will also talk with my sponsor and get tips from her share ideas. Another good suggestion from Mr. Abrams was to compare the gadets that were used a long time ago to the kinds of technologies that are used now and also make models of them.

Some of the questions I am wondering about are:

* Will the models look professional enough to display for my presentation?

* Would I make models of prostetic limbs or things like braces or both?

* What materials will I need and how much of each?

* Where will I get the information I need in order to do the project?

* How I can be completely prepared for this presentation, so that I will not be extremely nervous in front of the judges?

School #4 Visit

Yesterday, me and Sam visited school 4 and again it was great being with the little kids. When I first got there, Judy was finishing up working with Jesus. She was rolling the ball to him and having him roll it back to her, then it was time for his lunch, so she helped him walk to the table. Then, it was off to her last student of the day, William, who is in the process of the end of the year test. The test is to help Judy determine if he will continue therapy again next year, and if so, how often or how much he will need it. There are several different sections of the test and he was on the second to last one. This section tested balancing. It included standing on one foot with his eyes open then again with his eyes closed, walking in a straight line, and balancing on a small platform. Judy timed him while I recorded the times and points for each activity. The points range from one to four; four being the best and one being the worst depending on the time he lasted. When he finished all of the activities I added up the points and wrote his score on the front of the test where the scores for the other sections are listed and will be added to determine his overall score at the end. After he went back to class, Judy told me how William has improved since last year. Last year he had a lot of trouble with balancing on one foot and he couldn't hold that position for very long at all, but this he could hold it for ten seconds. Next week, when I visit again, he will be finishing the last part of the test. She predicts that this will be the most challenging part for him to do, which has to do with coordination. I am curious to see how he does.

Researching...

While researching for my paper, I found this article about a new software made for mobile devices that makes it quick and simple for physical therapist to document patent's information. http://www.dashboardinsight.com/sponsored-articles/hands-on-technology-delivers-mobile-physical-therapy-documentation-software-with-componentone-flexgrid-for-mobile-devices.aspx

Before software like this was available, documentation would have to be done by hand and written during or after working with a patient, and most of the time it would be typed up later by someone. This is a waste of time and a risk of transcript errors. The designers of this product searched desktop software to find a way to back up the information to save it. Physical Therapists are able to put a full days worth of documentation on the Pocket PC, and reduce note-taking time by five minutes a note.

Cheer Weekend!

On Friday morning, I left for Virginia with my cheerleading team for our final national competition. Over the weekend the team learned some valuable lessons. There has always been drama on our team and I finally realized that our team would never be performing to our full potential while this was going on. On the first day of the competition, which was just to see if you qualify for the second day, we received second place.

Frustrated!!!

Well, first of all this is the first blog that I have written this week and my paperwork is supposed to be turned in today, which I know is my fault, so I'm really just frustrated with myself. Some weeks, like last week, I get a good start on blogging or jounaling and I'm set for the week, but this week I didn't go to my sponsor, so I didn't have much to start off with. The reason I haven't gone to my sponsor is because the first time I visited her, she told me to come on Mondays at 2:30 because that is when she gets back from lunch break. I can't go at that time anymore because I have softball practice after school. I tried calling to set up another day and time to visit, but I left a message for them to get back to me. I called again today and spoke with Lisa, the receptionist and she told me Carol's hours and said that she would have Carol call me to set up a day and time to meet. She still hasn't called me back, so I don't know whether I should just go one of the day on my own or wait to talk to her.

WDHS

This morning during first and second period, I went to West Deptford High School, where my cousin, Lisa, goes to school, to observe her Physical Therapist. I met her in the front of the building and her aid took me to the office to get a visitor's pass, but the lady at the front desk said I wasn't allowed to be there. I thought I was going to have to leave but her aid said that i can just wait for Linda, the physical therapist and go in with her. So, atleast I was able to stay. We went down to the nurse's office to use one of the beds so that Linda could stretch Lisa. As I mentioned in one of my other blogs, lisa recently had surgery done to her feet to stretch her tendons and it is extremely important that they are stretched often, because if not the surgery could be reversed and made way worse.

Therapeutic Horseback Riding

http://www.raiseyourdreamsfarm.com/Therapeutic.htm

This weekend, I visited my cousin Lisa's house. She has Cerebral Palsy, a disorder that causes her not to walk. Because of this, she is doing a variety of physical therapy, one of which is called Hippotherapy. Hippotherapy is a form of physical therapy that involves doing the therapy on horses. According to the American Hippotherapy Association, the therapeutic benefits of the horse were recognized as early as 460 BC. While with my cousin Lisa, she described her experience of doing Hippotherapy with her physical therapist, Linda. Lisa said that she enjoyed doing the therapy on the horse versus doing it on a mat because the horse made the session more fun, and made her feel like she really was not doing therapy at all. I believe that Hippotherapy should be used more because it could eliminate the aspect the doing hard work; especially for younger kids. Hippotherapy is rapidly becoming more popular in the physical therapy field. I predict that within a couple years, Hippotherapy will be the most practiced treatment in the world of physical therapy.

School #4

Today, right after 3rd period, me and Sam went to School 4. We were only planning to stay during 4th period, which is our gym period, but we ended up staying there until 8th period. It was just so hard to leave those cute little kids. At first, I thought that I might not be welcomed, only because I didn't have a chance to contact the Physical Therapist before I showed up. My prediction was wrong. All the teachers I met, were very happy to have me and Sam there. When I first got there, Judy was working with two little girls. The one girl recently got surgery on her feet so that her feet would have the ability to stay flat on the floor to make it easier for her to walk. This surgery is very similar to the surgery that my cousin just got done. They stretched the tendons in her foot so that she can have more flexibility in it.

Later, Judy worked with a boy in Preschool who had a disorder that causes his body to get rid of the carbohydrates. We did different activities where I threw the ball to him and she helped him catch it and then told him to throw it back to me. After that, she told him to walk towards me and he walked back and forth a few times. Afterwards, we went back to her therapy room and she showed me the paperwork she has to fill out to record the progress the students have made. Judy told me that he has made a lot of progress and he will probably be able to walk on his own by next year.

First Visit With My Sponsor :)

Yesterday, I met with my sponsor for the first time. It went surprisingly smooth for the first day. I was a little nervous at first, but everyone was very welcoming. First I met Lisa the receptionist at the front desk, then, I went over to my sponsor, Carol, who was already working with a patient. Carol introduced me to the assistant and I am sorry that I can't remember her name, but she showed me around the facility. She also asked that I help out a little, like when I see someone done using one of the examination tables that I rip off the old plastic covering and change the pillow cases and when someone needs ice I go and get it for them. The other PT that I met was DJ, he likes to make it fun for the clients. Everyone I met there was very nice. The first patient that I met was Erin, a high school student with a case of Tendinitis in her shin. I put on a pair of gloves and felt the injured area, which felt like a mushy bubble. Carol began massaging the area followed by a stimulus treatment. The stimulus is a machine that delivers electric waves to the body that contracts the muscle in order to get the affected area moving and working. After a while, I sat down and just observed because it got pretty busy and I didn't want to be in the way. When it slowed down a little, DJ asked me if I wanted to try the stimulus. I was a little bit scared at first, but he reassured me that it wouldn't hurt. He started it off at a very low level which was just a little tickle then he turned it up slightly and it felt like I hit my funny bone. He said that once someone gets used to this treatment, they turn it up to a level that contracts the muscle and most patients say it feels like a massage. In fact, the one woman was getting the treatment done on her shoulder and she looked so relaxed. When the treatment was over, she said to the assistant, "Can you put it on longer?"

I'm looking forward to going again next week and learning new things. I will feel more comfortable this time because I've learned the ropes already and met mostly everyone. I will start becoming familiar with the terminology, which will be a great advantage if I decide to go to college to become a Physical Therapist.

Sponsor

I got back in touch with my sponsor after a month or two of first meeting her. I was afraid that she would've forgotten about the Senior Project or she wouldn't want to do it anymore, but after speaking to her on the phone I felt relieved. She is a very nice lady and I am excited all over again now, that I will actually begin shadowing and learning from my sponor. I will be visiting her for the first time tomorrow after school. I have my nifty little name tag! haha This will be like a little sneak preview to becoming a Physical Therapist.

Accepted

What ever happened to old fashioned college acceptance letters? Lately, it seems like colleges are accepting students through quicker ways. Sam read her great news, that she was accepted to WVU, in an e-mail and I just found out last night that I've been accepted to Albright College over a phone call. I don't think that it should be done like that! I wasn't even home to get the phone call, so my mom called and told me that I was accepted. Maybe they just wanted to notify me as soon as possible, because I did apply a few months ago and they just told me earlier this week that I needed to send something else in to them. Miss Haffner faxed my mid-year grades that I was missing and the next day they called and said I was accepted. I really don't know why I applied there or why I am interested in this school and Sam thinks that is the funniest thing. Mrs. Ryan asked where I applied to and I told her one of the colleges I applied to was Albight. She said this school is a "perfect match" for me because of the size, the student body, the atmosphere, etc. I really don't know what I should do about college. I don't if I'm ready to be away from home or if it would be better for me to get away from home to focus on school. I can be really quiet and shy, but I would do my best to expand to try new things and meet new people, and I know it would a great, life changing experience for me. I applied to Widener University and Cabrini College also, which both have Physical Therapy programs. Hopefully, my Senior Project experience will help me figure out whether I want to go into the field of Physical Therapy or not. College is just such a big leap and I don't want to mess up or waste all of that money.

Stress Over Senior Project!!!

I feel really behind with the project. I don't know if there is anyone else who has not visited there sponsor yet, but I think I am the only one who has not done so yet. Well, I will admit that I am the only one at fault for this problem, but I would have started on time if I wasn't required to get the Tuberculosis test. Again, it is my fault for hesitating to get the test done and then, after getting the first test done, I found out that the process would take even longer than expected. They inject a bacteria under the skin on your arm to see if you're allergic to it, but to determine that, you must wait two to three days for them to check the injected area. So, I came back two days later and there was no signs of the disease, but they told me that I had to come back two weeks later to get another test done. Finally, yesterday, I went back to Cooper for the last time to get my arm checked and now I'm cleared to volunteer. Now I have to get back in touch with Carol Stratton, who I have not spoken to since Mr. Snyder and I met her a couple of months ago. I know this is also my fault, because I should have stayed in touch and told her when I was getting the TB tests done.

Ronald McDonald House

On Tuesday, I went to the Ronald McDonald House in Camden with the Business Buddies. I also went there last year and I am very glad that I got to go again this year. I was paired up with Kirsten. It was community service that was fun, and helpful at the same time. Our tasks were to clean out the fridges and to bake some treats for the families that are staying there. Of course, my partner and I would rather bake the cakes and cookies, but we had to clean out a fridge first. Then, when we got the dirty job out of the way, we were able to ice and decorate a cake. Me and Kirsten were a great team. We worked together to help complete each job. This experience allowed students from the Special Education program, who may not get much time to spend with students other than those in their everyday classroom, to connect, relate, and interact with students from outside their classroom.

My Support <3

My family is my greatest support system. They are, now, and always will be there for me. Sometimes there are problems between us, but we will always overcome them. It may take some time to forgive them or vice-versa when the conflict between us is very serious, but I know in the end we always reconcile. Especially with my immediate family, I can not think of a time when I've held a grudge on one of them for more than a few days. I just can't stay mad at someone that long that I care for so much. Life is too short to stay angry at someone! And when you go back to think about what you were in disagreement about, eight out of ten times, it will be something so not important or life-changing. It sometimes feels that our family is divided and it is, because my parents are divorced, and there is a strain on my siblings and I sometimes. Despite that separation, I have a close bond with each of my parents and they each support me in their own ways.

Lifegaurding<3

Tonight, Sam and I are driving to Mercer County College for our second training course to obtain the lifeguard instructor position for this summer. Before we are able to become instructors, we must pass the pool test and written test that will be given by an extremely strict woman from the Red Cross corporation! The previous session that we attended was the review in the pool. We first had to take the pretest that requires us to swim three-hundred yards (12 laps), which seems pretty easy but it is actually pretty tiring. The second part of the pretest is to retrieve a ten pound brick from the bottom of ten feet of water and swim on our backs to the other end of the pool with the brick sitting on our chests. Me and Sam both passed it pretty effortlessly, but I must admit we were a little tired. Then, we worked in partners, practicing the techniques used to save victims in different situations. Tonight's meeting will not be in the pool. We will be reviewing in a classroom, things like CPR, saving a chocking victim, caring for wounds, and dealing with heat exhaustion. We will also make sure we fully understand by demonstrating CPR on a dumby, like the skit I performed at Miss LHS, but of course this lesson will be more serious because we may have to actually use it on a real live victim. We also have classes on Saturday and Sunday. Its getting to be a lot of work.

If I pass the tests to become an instructor, I will have a lot of practice that would be great for the Senior Project presentation for the end of the year and it would also help with future experiences in the work place. I would be teaching a class, mixed of people that are around my age to people much older than me. The thought of speaking in front of a bunch of people I don't know kind of makes me nervous, but I'll have to get use to it. I will make sure I study hard so I know the facts like the back of my hand. I would be getting paid $12 an hour!

Island in the Sun

The oddly warm weather on Sunday and yesterday gave me the BEST feeling! On Sunday morning, driving home from cheerleading practice around 12:30 in the afternoon, I had the windows rolled down and the music jamin'. It brightened my whole day! Then, yesterday after school, it was also fairly warm out; warm enough to keep the heater off and the windows down with out a coat on. While on the way to my dad's house, on the radio came Weezer's "Island in the Sun", which made me into an even better mood. The song juxaposed my thoughts and feelings perfectly. This mood triggared the thought that summer would be here sooner than we think. I love the summer time and I'm beginning to grow tired of the frigid tempertures and nasty weather. I was thinking about the near future. It made me realize that this is the second semester of my senior year and that the class of 2009 will be gratuating very soon! I thought about Senior Project and the presentation I will have to make at the end of the year. Softball will be starting very soon and that also means warm weather and plenty of outside activity. The sunshine tends to make people more happy and give them more energy. The end of this school year will be a very happy, but also a sad time, because many of the graduating seniors will be leaving to go off to college. We will have a time for almost all of the seniors to spent one last time together on our Senior Class Trip to Disney World. We will also have our last prom together. I really can not wait until this summer!!!

Great Weekend!

On Friday I hung out with some friends that I've been out of touch with for a while. It was nice to see them again to remember old times and find out news things they've been up to. Sam and I went over our friend's house and began watching the musical, Rent. We didn't finish watching it because it was getting late and we were tired. The one song goes, "I'm going Ouuuuuuuttttttttttt tonight!" We were singing that song and dancing for the rest of the night!

Today is my mom's birthday and on Saturday we had a 50th surprise party for her birthday at my aunt's house. She was shocked when she walked into the party! I think she felt so loved that her friends and family would do this for her that she had tears in her eyes. The party was filled with friends that my mom works with and family members we haven't seen in a while. This was also a night of catching up with family and friends. My aunt bought a cake with a picture of my mother as a little girl on it that was also on the invitation. It was nice to see everyone come together and organize this for my mom.

I felt like I learned a lot today. I didn't do anything special, I just had a normal day, but I discovered so many new things. For example, when I was helping my cousin with her English midterm project, which was to create a test on a book The Face on the Milk Carton, it was as if I read the whole book and I can now summarize it. We worked together to come up with the right questions and excerpts from the book for the essay question, which was the perfect example of the saying, "two heads are better than one". We finally finished the assignment hours later, but at least it was done and to me it deserves an A! When we were done, we were able to go to the movies to see "Mall Cop," which was great by the way. This made me realize that it is so much better to get your work done first, then go have a good time. You can't go have fun first, then try to go back and get focused on doing work. This reminds me that I really need to prioritize better and I need to improve my study and work habits about 90% to get through the second semester of my senior year and adapt to my freshman year in college.

"Knowledge is power."

"My New Year Resolutions Essay"

As each year comes to an end, I think of something I should improve on and make a New Year’s resolution, most of which I do not fulfill, but this year will be different. Most years I have forgotten about my resolution after about the first week. Usually they are too difficult to reach. This year I made a few achievable, foolproof resolutions.

My first resolution is one to improve my physique and heath. I want to simply get into shape and stay in shape. I began going to the gym over the summer after my dad bought me a membership to Bally Total Fitness. We tried to work out there at least twice a week, but our number of visits slowly declined when school started and over the holidays we haven’t gone at all. I will make a promise to myself to work out at least three times a week, whether it is at the gym, in the weight room after school, or at home; doing exercises or running. Softball season is quickly approaching and this year we will be preparing by working out in the weight room after school together. If I do not stick to my word, it will be a struggle for me to keep up at practice. I also want to eat healthier. In my elective, Nutrition and Wellness, I have learned what to look out for on nutrition labels. I will limit the food I eat that contains high calories, sugar, sodium and carbohydrates.

My second resolution is to benefit my mother. I often feel guilty when I see her come home from work exhausted, then have to make dinner, do laundry, clean up around the house and do the dishes. I do load and empty the dish washer sometimes, but I know that isn’t enough. Instead of placing my soiled dishes in the sink, from now on I will put everything I use or see sitting in the sink, in the dish washer. I will fold any laundry that needs folding and offer to help with anything else that she needs. When I come home from school, I relax for a while and watch TV, then start my homework. Instead of being lazy I will first see what I can do to help out. My mom does everything for me, so the next time I think I am so tired from school I think of how hard she works and know that I need to do something for her.

My final resolution is what I consider the most important. I resolve to be more focused on schoolwork and graduate satisfied with my grades. Soon my high school career will be over and I will move on to college, which will put more responsibility on me and load me with more work. I often lack the ability to prioritize and this second semester is going to be a very busy one. With Senior Project, I need to stay motivated in order to keep up with my journal and research. Most of the time I work hard to complete assignments, but once in a while I get frustrated with all the work and slack off and especially being a senior, towards the end of the year I will be so eager to finish school. I need to just keep thinking with the end in mind.

New Year’s resolutions should be meaningful promises to make improvement and this year, thanks to this essay, mine will be taken seriously and accomplished. I will get in shape, help clean up around my house and focus on school.

Blog Visits

I read six of my classmates' blogs: Brionna's, Mr. Abrams', Turquoise's, Jamie, Ty'ana's, and Enrique.

Brionna's blog about love gave a great outlook on the different kinds of love and the way people who are in love feel around the person they are in love with. Mr. Abram's blog about how he would spend $1 million dollars shows that he is a selfless person. He cares a lot about his family and would put away a chunk of the money for his children's college funds. He would give some of the money to charity. I was immediately drawn to read Turk's entry when I saw that she wanted to rob a bank! She did admit that she was weird in the blog. I do agree that it would be quite an adventure. I was interested to find out Jamie's fear. I can relate to her. I also sometimes have low self esteem. Before I read Ty'ana's blog, I never thought of emotions, in the way that they could make or break your life. It sounds like she has learned a lot about emotions. I was surprised to read that Enrique was interested in human anatomy; it was cool to learn that about him.

Weekend Grab Bag

Today I was surprised with a new car! Well . . . almost surprised. Back in November I got in a car accident on my way to Friendly's to meet some friends after the Powder Puff Football game. I was driving down Chews Landing Road when a lady pulled out of the Wawa parking lot with out looking in my direction! I slammed on my brakes, but there just wasn't enough time to stop. Later I find out she doesn't have insurance. They declared my car totaled with $4,000 worth of damage and they would only give me $2,300.

So anyway, today my dad picked me up to go to my aunt's house for an Eagles party and on the way he said i have a surprise for you. My family already knew that he had gotten me the car, but apparently some of them didn't know that he didn't tell me yet. We were all sitting around the television, talking and watching the game and one of my aunts say, "So I heard you got a car". My dad just sat there for a second then he quickly said, "No not yet we're still waiting on the money from the insurance company". Then I knew that my surprise was the car. I was really mad that it was ruined. But oh well, I got over it. For the rest of the time at the party I just wanted to leave so I could go see my car. It's a cute little red car, a '96 Chevy Geo. Before I can actually drive it, there's some work that needs to me done and it needs to be inspected and registered. In about a week it should be ready!!!! It was a very special day; it felt like my birthday or like Christmas all over again. :)

Project Exploration

What is something you've always desired to learn more about? I've always had strong interest in animals. I used to dream of becoming a veterinarian, but I convinced myself that this would not be a good profession for me, since I feel sick over the sight of blood and open wounds. I also think I would feel horrible seeing suffering animals everyday. I would like to do something with animals still, maybe even a volunteer service. So, if I had a chance to use school time to become an expert about anything it would be about caring for animals.

When I was younger, I used to think that I had some kind of a connection with animals or even insects like caterpillars, moths and butterflies. This sounds weird, but I used to love to catch frogs and tadpoles. On summer nights, a lot of times moths would make their way into my house. Some of them would land on my finger and stay there, so i could walk around with them. I felt like they were comfortable with me. I kinda felt like one of those animal lovers that have their own shows, like the Crocodile Hunter. I had several hamsters one of which was my favorite, named "Fatso". I swear he was the coolest hamster ever!! I had a doll house and i would put him in front of it on the floor and he walked up the steps onto the top floor; I thought it was amazing!! Now I have a dog, Hazel and a cat Sparkle.

P.S. Whoever reads this is probably laughing at me because I sound like geek. lol

Grading Journals

I believe journal entries should be graded about once a week or maybe even though random checks. If the journal is being done electronically, through a blog, the entries can be graded by being in a network with each other and you can just read our blogs whenever you get a chance. They shouldn't be read word for word or everyday, you can read the entries that interest you and judge them on the information written; not on grammar or spelling. Grading should be something natural for you, by reading it and deciding if it sounds good or not.

Path of Study

Journal Assignment #2

For about 20 minutes, please write about what excites you about the course of study that you have selected for Senior Project Seminar (teaching grammar - especially commas - rocks my world. Please strive to use all three examples of how we use commas in a series. Let's see how this COOOOOL speck of punctuation can go to work, separating words, phrases, and clauses.

I chose to study the career of physical therapy for my Senior Project. I am very interested to learn the ins and outs of being a physical therapist. This experience will help me decide if I truly want to persue this career in college. The main reason I want to study Physical Therapy is because, I have a cousin who I am very close to that has the disability of cerebral palsy. We do many things together and I help her with tasks that she has trouble doing on her own. One day she said to me that I should be a physical therapist, because I enjoy helping her and I have patience. When I heard her say that, I thought about seriously, since I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I always knew that I wanted to have a career in which I helped people in some way.

First Thoughts about Blogging

"How do I feel right now about journal writing?"
"How might journaling help me as I navigate Senior Project Seminar."

As of now, journals are not my idea of a hobby that I would enjoy doing everyday. The main reason is that I do not like writing in general. I feel like it would be a waste of time. However, for something such as the Senior Project, I think that it may be helpful to keep a journal during the shadowing period. It will allow me to go back and read about my experiences, so that I can reflect on them and look over my journey from the beginning. I would be able to see how the relationships between both, my sponser and I and my mentor and I have grown over the four months we will work together. I will also look at what I have learned over this time period.