December:TOY DRIVE and BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB

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

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

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

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

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

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.