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.