My Experiences

Relay for Life Committee Member

2010-08-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

As Relay for Life finished up and people send in their finally money, they decide to do a wrap up dinner for all the captains. It was a great way to finish such a great event. Then they asked for people who would be willing to help out for next year already. I signed up right away because if there was a better way to help out more than being a captain i would be willing to do it. I haven't got official word of what I'll be doing yet and how throughout the year I'll be helping but i'm so excited to be helping in the race for cancer in a better way than just raising money! It's going to be a great year to work for and when next year's relay comes i'll be enjoying all my hard work on a different level.

To Celebrate More Birthdays. =]

July: Relay for Life

2010-07-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is my first year being a captain for Relay for Life! and boy was it hard!! Never knew how much time and work it took to make sure that everyone was doing what they needed to do! I decided to get my work involved because we wanted to put our name out in the community so we did it in Fairfield CA this past weekend! There were cold moments, there were hot moments, and everything in between. It started out very stressful with setting up but it turned out to be totally worth it. Relay for Life is a great event anywhere you go because so many people are passionate about finding a cure for cancer! There were many great prizes and raffles to win that my own booth had 11 different ones for all ages. In Fairfield, we were the Relay that had the most Trail blazers out of the ones in Northern CA. To be a Trail Blazer, the team had to raise their $100 each, go to captain meetings, have a survivor on their team, and have a public fundraiser!

We had so great prizes this year from gift cards to many different places to a brand new ipad. Fairfield almost their goal by the end of it but we still have time to raise money. The thing I won't forget about this relay will be the $750 in 5 minutes. This lady told her story about her sister and cancer. The DJ gets down and says I have $20 to donate who else wants to help? Soon before we could go on, we collected $750. Then we all grab a flag and walked our last lap of the relay. It was crazy! I was sad I had to leave but I feel good about staying the whole night and walking until 4am and then again 6am. Good event that everyone should experience at least once even if you aren't on a team. I actually got one of my coworkers to fall in love with it! Hope I can continue that!

CELEBRATE. REMEMBER. FIGHT BACK.

June: Pre-Law

2010-06-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

The past couple months I've been thinking of my career later on in life. I have always been pushed to towards medicine and becoming a doctor and that interested me for a while. I have thought of maybe a Paramedic but I couldn't see myself doing that for the rest of my life happy. Well my parents have always told me I'm good at arguing and we happened to be watching Law and Order: SVU and I was just so amused on how they have to find evidence and no matter what side they are on they have to prove them right. It's not easy trying to prove a side right if you don't have evidence and I like a challenge. To see if this could be real I'm taking a law and business class and a criminal justice class.
My assistant manager is also helping me with one of his friends. She is a criminal justice lawyer that works in Napa and it would be good to hear it from someone who has gone through it and can give advice to someone going through it. I hope she becomes really helpful to me but I will make sure that she knows how grateful I am for everything she is doing for me even if it is a simple email every couple months. I think this is a career that I could really do for the rest of my life and be happy with it because there will be new challenges every time and as I grow as a lawyer so will my cases and clients.

MAY: PREPARING FOR RELAY FOR LIFE!

2010-05-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

Relay for Life is a 24 hour event held to raise money for cancer. It is held in many cities and many are willing to help, and each person just has to raise $100 each. It starts off with a little speech and a very heart warming survivor walk then everyone jumps in and joins the fun. Each team sells something at their camp site to raise even more money for cancer. The people who run it play games throughout the day and little stations for kids to have fun with arts and crafts. It is a great event that people get to camp out too.

This year my goal is to walk 20 miles! It's crazy I know but I'm going to be there for 24 hours so why not? Plus my mom will be there by my side. So this year I decided to captain my own team because it is such a great event. I'm getting friends and family together. My work place, Under Armour, is the one who is really helping me and we currently have 3 teams going from my work place. Cancer has touched so many people's lives that they are willing to do fundraisers like this. I personally have raised the $100 already but I'm not stopping there. I'm still asking for donations and seeing who can help out. I'm so excited even though it's in July, there is still a lot to do until then. LET'S GO TEAM UNDER ARMOUR 1,2, &3!

APRIL: Kaiser Volunteer

2010-04-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

This month I was suppose to become an official Kaiser Adult Volunteer. I was so excited until I got to the meeting and there are no spots in my availability with my school schedule. I was so sad! BUT as soon as the ER opens up for volunteers the director is going to call me and give me notification so I can sign up right away and become a volunteer then.

But the program is a great program. I can't wait to start it. You get to work with a certain place in the hospital and volunteer. Each department has a different part. You are assigned 3 or 4 hours a week in one department and required to work that every week with a year commitment. It seems like a long time but it's 4 hours a week. I don't think it's that long and when your schedule changes they can adjust and either put you in another department to learn something new or see if you can fit in the same department but a different shift. Some people are in this program just to volunteer with their time like me. I don't care about how many hours I might be getting and what looks good on a college application, I do it because I want to. I mean for a year commitment, that has to be more than just to do it for hours. Volunteering to me is a great way to give back without getting anything in return except learning more than they did before they volunteered. I love it and i wish i could more than i do now. I'm really going to try and do it more especially now that volleyball will be over soon.

March: Food Kitchen

2010-04-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

So many people volunteer to help others and two of my friends always volunteer at the Soup Kitchen to help their church. I decided to go with them twice and it turned out to be real fun. I mean so many people nowadays just volunteer to get the hours to look good for college or because they have to. I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE HOURS!!!!! it is good to help others that need it.

It was a totally different experience for me because I usually volunteer where I just copy things or have to do little errands. But here I had to put on gloves, hair nets, and an apron to pass out the food. I got to see those who are being hit really hard because of this bad economy. It felt really good to help out twice. I'm probably going to go back and do it a couple more times just to spend good time with my friends and helping others at the same time. =]

February 2010:Teens for Jeans

2010-02-26T06:34:00.000-08:00

I work at Aeropostale and they put together this fundraiser of if you have old jeans that you don't fit anymore and they are gently wore we will take them and give you 25% off a new pair of Aero Jeans. We then give these jeans to homeless teens around the state so they have clothes that fit the seasons.Some people are so generous. I saw so many people bring in 30 jeans at a time, even those who only brought one pair still helped because they will go to some homeless teenager who needs them. All the employees got together with their friends and families and had a competition who could bring in the most jeans from outside sources. I got my friends and families to bring in 20 jeans.
I didn't win the contest because one of my coworkers got his church to help and brought like 60 but still if we didn't have this competition we wouldn't have had this many jeans come in. Our store goal was 300 jeans. On the very last day we made it because this group brought in 30 pair of jeans at the last minute. We were happy to make our goal and I was very happy I could help. People don't think that one pair of jeans will help but if you aren't wearing them anymore why throw them away when you can donate them to help someone who doesn't have the luck to go out and buy jeans when they don't fit anymore. This also showed me that there are a lot of good people out there still willing to help those in need even though we are at a down time with money.
The company also sent 100,000 jeans to Haiti so they can have some good jeans while they are going through their hard times!

TEENS FOR JEANS!!!!!! Put on by Aeropostale every year =]

January: Massage Therapy

2010-01-31T21:43:00.000-08:00

So this year I decided I wanted to do a little something else so I can find out more about different types of way I can enter the medical field and all I can do. So this month I interviewed a massage therapist. She asked me not to put her name in the report since it is on the internet.

I learned that massage therapy isn't just for people who want to have a relaxing day, it actually helps people mentally and medically. We all know massages relieve stress so that's one way mentally. But I asked how medically? It actually helps with cancer and there are special massages for oncologists' patients. People spend so much money for something that I thought was just for fun when reality it helps in so many different ways. Life is stressful and this is one way to get rid of it.

So I decided to look up how to become a massage therapist and what is required. There is actually many different schools that will give you the training and hours you need. The school I was looking at was in Davis. Most places to become a massage therapist you need 500 hours of training and certified. And the school was very flexible with having night classes, day classes, and weekend classes options. They are even willing to give you a tour of the school before you sign up. I didn't have time to go look at the school but this school would be my first choice for sure.

We all know graduate school takes a lot out of us and requires a lot of our time, so I was thinking I would become a certified massage therapist and do that during graduate school. They have flexible hours and you can earn good money this way without me going into too much debt.

I love getting a massage. I get mine because of my back is always sore because of volleyball and the stress for everyday life. But if I knew it could medically too, I would b happy to do that as a living in the medical field. There are so many options in the medical field that when I find the right one I know it will be worth all this time

December:TOY DRIVE and BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB

2009-12-21T20:56:00.000-08:00

When they say this is the time for giving it is true!!!!!!!

Between school finals, volleyball and work, i got to squeeze in two things that benefit others.

FIRST ONE, my volleyball team decided to get all the loose change and extra coins we had around the house and gave it to my coach so she could buy toys for the toy drives that the fire departments put on. what made it really fun is that my coach decided to double the amount with her own money so it gave us motivation to bring in even more so she would give more of her own money and we would have more money for toys to buy for the toy drive. I'm not quite sure how much money we raised but we bought brand new toys and happy to give them away =]

SECOND ONE, i actually did earlier today! Every year my work, Aeropostale, give out holiday teddy bears when you make a purchase of $100 or more. The company does it every year and the teddy bears are so cute and soft it's hard not to try and keep one lol. but we had extras so we decided to take them to the BOYS AND GIRLS' CLUB in Vacaville. My boss, me, and one of my co workers took them down there and the little kids were so excited to see them and to have them. I mean their smiles meant so much when they got one. I mean even the older kids wanted one and happy to have one. They also gave us popcorn and gave us hugs and thanked us. The Boys and Girls' Club is such a great thing for kids like that. I mean I never knew what it was until today and when they were giving us the tour of the place i'm glad they have a place like that to go to and have fun.

Both these things made december a good month and I can't wait to do more next December to show that there is more to do than stuff with other people but that I can do by myself =]

Nov: Sports Medicine

2009-11-29T20:57:00.000-08:00

So I play volleyball at my college and we have trainers that take care of us and I always wondered how they worked. I always wanted to become a doctor in an office that people come visit and a lot of people say they put you on rest too long. Well with our trainers they try to get us back on the court/field as soon as our bodies allow so I decide to sit in there one day and observe.

WOW! a lot of players come in for many different things. Some come in everyday for therapy, some come just to get taped up, some are just getting checked out and some are first time injuries. But no matter the reason the trainers were there to help in anyway possible. Every team has a specific trainer assigned to their team so that trainer knows the injury so the player doesn't have to explain it to every trainer. but just as back up they put it in the computer too of what they were doing in the trainer room and what therapy they need or need to do.

I just changed my whole view of it. I mean I was one who use to think that the longer you wait for an injury the better. But in sports medicine it is kind of the opposite. I like seeing the new sides of medicine and that not all of it is the same and this is helping me decide what kind of doctor or what kind of medicine I want to study in. Got to study and shadow more types of medicines so I can make sure I'm picking the right one =]

OCTOBER: cancer awareness month

2009-11-01T06:38:00.000-08:00

OMG! this month has been amazing. I have done so many things to help represent cancer and raise money for it. So in the beginning of the month my volleyball team played dig pink against Laney College. We were all dressed up in pink and showing our support. But also for that game every dig we got we got a certain amount of money. It was televised by their local tv network.

My volleyball team was so inspired from that game we started wearing all kind of pink. We have three different pink ribbons for our hair and pink socks. We wanted to make shirts but it was too late by the time we tried ordering then BUT we are going to do that next year for sure.

But the thing i was so surprised was the digs for pink at my old high school. One of my best friends leads the team that we do for relay for life so we were talking about how to raise money. We convinced the volleyball team to get pink shirts to play in, order extra shirts so that students and parents can wear them (which sold out) and there was also pink goodies that they sold at the snack bar. The whole school go involved and made the cancer symbol out of pink balloons and the cheer group wore the shirts that were made. It was a good event and i'm not sure how much they made but i know it all went to ACS.

So if this was this year for Oct. wait until next year when we can do everything we want by planning ahead of time =]

Helping fight Cancer

2009-09-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

So I got an email from Massage Envy saying get a massage and help raise money for breast cancer. I already have a strong passion for cancer so no matter how much it was i was going to go and i even go my mom to go.

when i went i was so surprised to see how many people were there and how the people who worked there were so worked up to help. I mean they were giving massages after massages and they were still in a good mood after all of them. I got one of the best massages ive ever had but the reason was great. i gave as much donation to the cause as my massage and i felt good about it/

And it made me think what i can do to help. I mean i raise a lil bit of money for relay for life in the summer but how could i raise more? I talked to my old high school student government teacher and he is going to help me organize a fund raiser for cancer for the month of Oct around the school. I hope i can get it done and raise a lot of money because it is all going to a good place.

SO whenever u have a chance to help donate to cancer please do so because cancer is growing everyone and more and more people are getting it and we are still struggling to find better medicine and hopefully a cure so please do your part and donate today because if one of your family members all of a sudden has cancer you want the best medicine possible.

Another Loss to Cancer

2009-08-11T23:46:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month I lost another close person to me to cancer.

The whole reason I want to become a doctor is because I lost my Grandma Betty to cancer in 2007 and I took it really hard. And my determination to get through all the schooling and go through the hard times is because of my Grandma Betty. I want to make it my goal to help find a cure for cancer so another little girl can have her grandma or someone close to them in their lives another day.

But this recent one was one of my best friends' grandpa. We play volleyball together and her grandparents came to all the games and tournaments. So her family became my second family and I still turn to them when I need something. Well one day her mom came over to my house and asked to speak to my mom. They sat in the room talking for hours it seemed like both with tears and laugher and I wanted to find out what was going on. Finally she left and my mom sat me down and told me that my best friend's grandpa had cancer and he has less than 3 months to live.

I tried to be there for them as much as I could but I just cried every time too because it brought up my past and he was a really sweet guy and didn't deserve it. So one day my mom was on the computer and finds out he died. He lasted around a month but couldn't hold on anymore. Of course I cried but to me it didn't really hit me. I don't know why but I felt like oh he's going to be at the next volleyball game. I'll see him again. I even went to the viewing and it still didn't even hit me.

Finally, later that week my best friend went to a camp that my college was putting on and I was just thinking there is only going to be 3 grandparents from now on and I became sad and I didn't know what to do. I mean they are my support when my family couldn't make it to my games and I got so close to all of them I can't believe one is gone forever.

It reminded of me why I want to become an oncologist so bad! I want to save that grandparent/parent in that kid's life for even a day or week longer because I'm realizing very quickly that everybody's time is limited and in a blink of an eye u can lose anyone. So as I just enter my freshman year of college and I look forward to med school, I realize I don't care how many years of school I have to take, if I can finally become an oncologist and help someone live a couple more days to stay in their loved ones' lives I will be happy.

Cancer can happen to anyone. Sometimes it happens slowly and people catch it in the beginning but other times, it happens so fast that they didn't even know it was happening until they are already at Stage 4. And I want to learn as much as I can to find a way to help people deal with it and not think of it as a death wish.

MedUSA at UCLA

2009-07-27T21:03:00.000-07:00

I just spent the last week at UCLA and I can't believe how much I learned in just a WEEK! I met some incredible friends that I still keep in touch with and I hope to see them again very soon! I can't believe the week went by as fast as it did but I will remember so much that they taught us and keep all my good friends I made.

SUNDAY

The very first day they took us to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Hospital which was amazing because they took us in the room where they announced Michael Jackson dead! it was amazing and that hospital is huge... even though we kept going into doors that were locked lol. that night we got to really get to know each other and play a bunch of games where nicknames came up and we got really close.

MONDAY

I think monday was the most informational for me because we had Dr. Finn come in and talk about Oncology and I am really passionate about oncology and want to become an oncologist. This is also the first day we met Professor Ridgeway which he has changed my views on so many things. If we work hard and dedicate ourselves to something we really want, we can get it. and it isn't as hard as it appears.

TUESDAY

This is the day that pushed me to think in a totally different way. Professor Welsh made us think of patients and ethics in a new way and how doctors have to decide between what is right and what is wrong. This was really challenging because half the stuff we needed on the paper we had to look up on the internet and it showed me how much doctors battle with ethics in their line of business. This was also our first day of hands on with learning how to take the blood pressure, lumps and bumps, x rays, and so much fun. i enjoyed it so much

WEDNESDAY

This day we had to do a pathology research project. Our group got to do designer babies. WOW! i didn't know how much different views and people's strong opinions there were on that subject. I mean who would think just picking the babies gender would cause so much fuss. but i learned to see it from both views. BUT THAT NIGHT! the staff tried to get us by surprise and put us in high pressure situations by running us around the campus performing many different things to patients that we learned like CPR, a passed out drunken guy and then shocking a guys back to normal. It was one crazy event but it showed me how much pressure it really takes for doctors.

THURSDAY

This was my favorite day. In the morning we got to go to the planetarium and after lunch we got to do more hands on things like suturing, injections and keyhole surgery (which was soooo hard lol) BUT THAT NIGHT'S LECTURE CHANGED MY WHOLE VIEW ON MED SCHOOL! This was done by professor Ridgeway and he truly is amazing and i hope to keep in touch with him. He has taught me so much and he really just wants to help us get where we want to go.

FRIDAY

This day was a little crazy because we started with ethics debate which got everyone and their opinion out there. Of course some people are more passionate about one side of somethings than others but this really brought out everyone's opinions. But what really helped me was the mock interviews for med school. They did the interview and told us what we needed to work on and how to make it better. IT WAS ALSO A SAD DAY we had our goodbye bbq where we couldn't stop laughing and after played a little dodgeball. I think we stayed up until 1 a.m. sitting in the hallway talking with Laura (head of MedUSA) and everyone because we knew it was our last night in those rooms.

SATURDAY

VERY SAD DAY! we got a lecture on plastic surgery that morning but all of us were sad because slowly one by one people were leaving because they lived on the east coast. I had lunch with my friends one last time and it was so hard not to get emotional. I mean we get so attached so easily and in such a short amount of time, we didn't want to leave at all. I got to hear Dr. Dorsi last speech but i sadly had to leave an hour early because of my flight. I hugged everyone and it was sad because i sat on the airplane thinking that week was filled with so much and i can't believe it is pasted already. But i will remember it forever. and take what I learned from there with me where ever I go.