Everyone Has an Impact

In this big world sometimes we don't realize how far a simple gesture can go. You could change a person's day just by saying hi to them. It is hard to realize how big of an impact you may have on other people. This past weekend my parents attended a bar mitzvah and they shared a very important story with me. At the ceremony, the boy expressed the impact we all can have on each other's lives and the lesson he learned. He said that at his school he became very good friends with this one boy, but the next year he decided not to talk to him. His mother heard the news and she was in shock. She told her son that he needs to say hi to that boy and there is no reason not to when they had been such good friends. One day the boy said hi to his old friend. At the end of the school day the other boy exclaimed to his mom, "he said hi to me!" The boy was so excited by a simple hello. I feel that this story is very easy to relate to. There are very friendly students in the hallway that say hi or simply ask how I am doing and it really does make a difference in my day. It feels good when people care about how you are feeling that day. You never know how someone is feeling that day or what they are going through. Even the little things can turn a person's day around. Recently in our iQuest class, we decided to express our gratitude in various ways. In my group, we wrote positive messages on sticky notes and left them on cars in the parking lot. Then when the school day was over, students would see a note that would make their day a little brighter! We wanted to impact more than one person and that is why we decided to write a lot of different sticky notes. 

After the group activity in our class, I did an act of kindness on my own. I chose to make a card and have everyone at my work sign it for our new manager. I currently work at Vitality Bowls. Within a small time frame, he has already improved many different aspects of our store and we all let him know that we appreciate his work. He is very creative and brings new ideas to the store.  Managers have a lot to handle and I thought we should let him know that we are very thankful for all of his hard work. I know that when I get positive feedback at work it makes me feel great and that I am doing my job to the best of my ability. That is why I thought it would be nice to do that for someone else!

Internship Update

Since last September I have been interning at our local hospital for four hours twice a week. I love seeing the different medical procedures first hand. I have witnessed the insertion of PICC lines on patients, vitals being taken, IVs, patients being discharged, and reports of all the patients in the hospital. I have delivered a specimen to the lab, towels, blankets, and snacks to patients. Additionally, I've learned how to answer patient calls from the rooms, page nurses, and I have copied down the hospital schedule. Everyone there is extremely friendly and they all tell me how much I am going to love being a nurse. It is very inspiring to be involved in a field where the workers have such a strong passion for their jobs. There is an abundance of people in my life that work in the medical field and it is awesome to talk to them about my experience. Now, I feel like I can relate more and understand what they are describing because I witnessed it. The best part is seeing the gratitude the patients have when they have been helped through their medical situations. However as I have seen from following the nurse, it can be hard to please every patient with a mass amount of patients that have to be cared for as well. Through these past couple of months I have discovered that I want to be involved in some hands-on activity, but not everything. It has made me look into becoming a nurse practitioner. I will be able to do a little more than a nurse, but less than a surgeon. I feel that for me it would be a perfect balance. As I continue my internship I would really enjoy watching some surgeries. I have talked to my nurse about it and it can be difficult because most surgeries are during the morning. So far the nurse has worked more weekdays and I am in school during that time. I am going to go in on the weekends that she works and ask if I could watch the surgery. The nurses want us to have as much exposure as possible, it is just a matter of my schedule working with the hospital schedule. It would be ideal if I could intern on the weekend and a patient has surgery at that time.

Inspiring the Inspirational

Recently I have been reading an inspiring nursing book called Inspiring the Inspirational words of Hope from Nurses to Nurses, by Sue Heacock. However, the book is filled with lots of short stories written by other authors as well. I am going to read 20 pages of my 145 page book per week to finish it before Christmas. This book aims to inspire readers by sharing touching nursing experiences. It tells the sentimental stories and show that the littlest things can mean the most to someone. It is a very touching book that grasps the emotional side of the reader. The whole book is about memoirs from different nurses and how they have effected people's lives. In my first two chapters the short stories are centered around nurses caring for kids and the philosophies of nurses. The philosophies discuss that nurses are always needed and in the very beginning of the chapter it is filled with inspirational quotes from nurses. It also mentions that a poem about an elderly woman who may seem crabby, but she is saying to imagine if you were her. We are all going to get to that age some time in our life and it is hard. The chapter about nurses caring for children is filled with touching stories and my favorite is when a little boy Charlie comes in every day to the school nurse to take his pill, but he would never talk. The nurse bought a stuffed monkey and Charlie spoke up that day to ask who the monkey was. Ever since then, when he would come in he would speak to the monkey. At the end he tells the monkey he is his best friend. The nurse never sees him again, but every time she looks at the Monkey she prays for Charlie. All of the different stories the book is filled with have a different way of inspiring the reader. The stories stay with me and show me how much a nurse can do for a person. Nurses are there to care for people in every way possible. So far I love the short stories and they excite me for the experiences I will encounter in my nursing career. I want to wake up and read this book everyday. I know I'll finish way before my deadline because I can't get enough of the nursing field and hearing about it. It makes me so eager to see how I will effect people's lives and the difference I can make.

Cal High Mentor

For my Cal High Mentor, I chose my Physics teacher that instructed me during my Junior year. I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting her last year and having her as my instructor for the whole year. She has taught at Cal High for quite some time and teaches multiple subjects. Along with Physics, she also teaches Chemistry. I really enjoy her teaching style. She makes it challenging but helps you completely understand the material, leaving nothing uncovered. I love it when things are a little more difficult as long as the teacher teaches the material well and is helpful. This is exactly what she did and I love that she is so eager to help answer questions. It is vital that I can go to my teacher and not feel like a bother when I have a question. It shows that the instructor wants you to learn and is there to support you. I chose her as my mentor because I really enjoyed her class, and she was the start of me discovering my strong interest in Physics. It is the perfect balance between math and science. I understand it and grasp it very well, but it still makes me think. I want to major in physics and then I will be able to apply to medical school. As a little girl, I never would've imagined myself choosing it as a major. I'll admit I was scared enough as a Junior before I stepped foot in the classroom to attempt the material. I had overheard from numerous people that it was extremely hard. I've learned that different subjects are going to click for different people. Without this class, I may have never discovered a major that I am passionate about that would help me pursue my medical passion. Over the course of this year, I hope to create a stronger bond with my teacher and hope that she will always remember me as a great student. It will be great to have another mentor to look to and be able to reach out to. It will be so amazing to be able to share how I keep making steps towards my dreams.

We Were all Made to Fulfill our Dreams

In my life, I can see myself one day being very successful in my career while being very involved with my family. From being a very driven person I know that I am meant to go far in my career. I expect to exceed high above average standards. I don't settle for anything less than exactly what I want. That is where my driven personality can also be stubborn and get myself into trouble. But, we all have our imperfections, right? It's hard for me to know exactly what career I plan to pursue. I want this internship to open my eyes to more job opportunities than I have ever known. I always wanted to attain a master's degree at least and possibly a P.H.D. I have a passion for learning. For me, attaining new knowledge is what keeps me going. It is a necessity for me to take on new tasks and tackle new challenges. I always want to get as much exposure and broaden my capabilities as much as possible. I am going to go into the medical field and I plan to excel in it. My personal goal is to always be a step ahead of everything and I want to be a leader. I see how to plan things in an organized manner and what would make everything run the most efficiently. I have always had leadership qualities in my personality and that is something I am going to bring into my job career. I like helping everyone and working in teams. It's my goal to be the leader of that team. My career will be a leadership role in the medical field and I want to work tell sixty-five, at the oldest. I know I am meant to be a mother with at least two kids and balance my family with my work life. When I am young I realize I may spend an excessive amount of hours at my job because that is what will be required of me if I really want to excel in my position. I must put in the time and effort to get where I want to be one day. I feel that I was made to be a balanced person with my work and personal life. I know I'm not mean to have one side of my life weigh me down drastically. Balance is something I always talk about it and would be the word that would best describe me. 

Keeping Myself on Track

In my life day in and day out I would say I have proficient time management skills. In middle school, as well as the beginning of high school, I had poor time management skills. I procrastinated, didn't do my work as well as I could, and was really taken over by the social aspect of my life. In sophomore year I kicked myself into gear and was extremely motivated to be the best student I could be. Junior year really shaped me to become very skilled at balancing my school and social life. That was the best year of high school so far and I know if I keep up my good habits I can make senior year even greater. I really like to get my tasks done and not have the extra weight on my shoulders. I start assignments as soon as I can once they are given to me. If I don't start them right away it will constantly be on my mind and ruin my free time. I enjoy my time with friends and family much more if I don't have other priorities to worry about. A planner is one of the key items that helps me keep me life organized so I can't forget anything and end up having to rush to finish it. Whenever I have free time I have made it instinct to get my homework done so then when I want to do something fun I won't have it to keep me from time with my friends. The calendar on my phone is also something I use constantly to set reminders. That way I can set a reminder right before the time the task needs to be done. If I remind myself right before the event or task needs to be done I am much more likely to remember. For example, If I remind myself a week in advance to bring my friend's sweatshirt she left at my house I'll forget and leave it at my house. However, If i remind myself with a phone reminder right before I leave then there's a much slimmer chance of me leaving it behind. I have to remind myself in the moment with certain tasks that are smaller like that. During the school year I am very good about cutting out time spent on my phone, except sometimes when I'm laying in bed drained after a long, strenuous day. Once you give up the social media sites it becomes very easy to not need to see them constantly. When you are on them all the time and constantly keeping up with the latest news then you are more likely to want to pick up your phone to see it again. At night I am guilty of trying to catch up on all my news feeds and seeing what went on during the day. I mean we all need some time to lay and relax right? Most of the time I'm so tired I end up skipping most of it, but I am still trying to cut out those nights that I waste a little to much time. When I have school, work, and go to the gym all in one day my body is in need of a good night's rest. It's important that I get to bed early because I also have an A period and the latest I can wake up is 6:30. Getting my tasks done efficiently and thoroughly helps me feel good while letting me have more free time. In addition, having free time keeps me happy and motivated to keep on top of my work. It's a flowing cycle that works for me and I plan on keeping it.

Inspirations That Will Help me Reach my Aspirations

For my future and the high set goals I have for myself I know that certain role models will play a huge part in my life. I have so much respect for the people around me and I am surrounded with such intelligent human beings who have made me who I am today. Starting with my parents, who have done way more than just playing an active role in my life. They are extraordinary and have made believe in myself. I have such a close and rare relationship with them that not many kids experience in my eyes. I live with only them and I think that has played a big part in bringing us so close together. Words can't even describe the amount of knowledge my dad has attained in his lifetime. He obtained his bachelor's degree and his master's degree. This has inspired me to want to attend also attain two degrees or more. He's taught me to love school and has been the biggest help when it comes to needing some extra help. Now, as for my mom, she has raised me to be the hardworking and determined young adult that I am. She stops at nothing and is always on top of everything. She is very helpful when it comes to helping me with my creative side and brainstorming how to make my projects look exquisite. Her creativity and organization are two qualities I now strive to maintain. Both my parents have such strong, gifted traits that will keep on inspiring me to strive for my goals. They give me so much support and it keeps me going. Whenever I may think I can't get there I know they will be right there to lift me back up and make sure I reach my goal.

As I will be interning this year at our local Hospital, I will be working with a registered nurse. I cannot wait to have the opportunity of a lifetime and to be able to express my passion in the medical field. She will be the main role model that will be guiding me in my journey of exploring this new field hands-on. It will be so amazing to see new things and have different experiences from anything I've seen before. I can't wait to dive deeper into my career path and really pursue my dreams. My main goal is to further my experience in the medical field and she will be there helping strive to become better every day.

For my Senior year, I will have lots of wonderful teachers who will all contribute to helping reach my goals. However, two that stick out in my mind are my iQuest teacher, and my mentor, my physics instructor. During my sophomore year, I had my iQuest teacher as a history teacher and I honestly can say I have never had a better teacher than her. She really changed how I look at history and now I enjoy it. Her style of teaching not only helps you understand the work but also want to learn about it. She is my iQuest teacher and she will know everything going on in my internship. She has already been such a big help with setting us up to work in the hospital and I would not get the same opportunity without her. For this class, we also choose a mentor. I picked my physics teacher because her intelligence was such an inspiration to me and someone I will always look up to. She definitely pushed me to improve my skills and be the strongest student I can be. She believes in her students and wants them to understand what they are learning. I could ask her as many questions as I needed and she would still want to answer them all. That is something I would always want in a teacher and it was such a good feeling that my teacher wanted to help me become better. Both of these teachers will be hearing about my experiences from the internship and I am so excited to talk about it with them. They will help me by having someone I can express my passion because I love to talk about what interests me in my life. It will create an even larger passion and I can't wait to see where this year is going to take me.

On my way to striving to reach my big goals, I will have to get some tasks finished before I start. The beginning of the year is stressful completing college essays, and applications. For now, I have one essay left that I need to write, and it is about my internship, but I want to have some experiences there before I begin it. I volunteered a lot at the beginning of the junior year and that is something I need to start again. I plan to volunteer for my dad's work and to also join the interact club again for my senior year. I also need to read more again like I was in the summer under the nice warm sun. We have a book assigned in English class and that will help me get back into my routine of sitting down for some quiet time to relax and take a little break from my busy life. Washing my car is at the top of my list of putting things off. I am always so busy and can't find time to wash it. I don't want to pay to get it washed either because I could spend that money on something better. I really shouldn't put it off since it also causes danger when driving the car. Having dirty windows can impair the vision of the driver. I need to take the time out to make my car look extra clean and safer for me to drive around. The last thing that is on my to-do list is to spend quality time with my family. During the school year, it can become difficult to have a simple dinner with my parents due to my busy schedule. After school and work all day I don't see my parents tell around 9 once I return home. By the time I have completed my homework all I want to do is lay down and go to sleep after my long tiring day. This barely leaves time for me to even have the chance to sit down and talk with my parents about our days. It's nice to spend some extra time with them when I have it because I know I'm always very busy and I don't have much time left living at home. Tending to these last few items on my list will allow me to focus on solely my goals and to accomplish them.