Volunteering Day 10:

I did not go volunteer this past Monday April 19th, 2010 at the San Jose Clinic. I managed to fall behind on my work over the weekend and had to reschedule several things in my week-volunteering was one of them. Every day that passes makes it harder for me to keep up my work ethic. I can definitely feel myself slacking off and I need to hold this off for as long as possible.

Last week I may have written the worst lab report in the HISTORY of lab reports and it is all because I am ready to graduate. Less than a few weeks are left now but I MUST stay strong!

I will volunteer tomorrow to make up for my unscheduled absence last week. I look forward to it.

Until Next Week,

-pmoney

Volunteering Day 9

This past Monday, April 12th 2010, Jon Newsome and I went to the San Jose Clinic. Like always, we checked in with Sam and she sent us off to find work to do. We bumped into Joe and he told us to assemble a desk for IT. IT had recently gotten a new full time guy and they needed a desk so Jon and I started to make it. Rachel Wilhelm joined us and soon the three of us built a decent desk from the parts that we were given.

After we had completed the desk we went to a new section of the clinic that I had never been in and we were told to transfer material from boxes into the file cabinets. We did this and tried to do everything that they had wanted us to do. One of the ladies that worked in this area graduated from St. Thomas in '86 and knew my dad and uncle when she went there. It was a pleasure to see some of the people that my family befriended during their undergraduate lives.

This was our 9th time to volunteer at the clinic and the staff know Jon and I by name. It is a nice feeling, but this week will be very busy and I do not look forward to going to the clinic tomorrow! This is because of all the work that I have managed to not do over my long three day weekend! Oh, the dilemma of being a college student. Hopefully I can pull through this last tough week because then it is smooth sailing until graduation!

Until Next Week,

-pmoney

Volunteering Day 8

Jon Newsome and I did not volunteer this past Monday, April 4th 2010. That day was the day after Easter and the San Jose Clinic was closed. We would liked to have gone and volunteered, but the week soon snow balled into a very very busy week. In fact, this may have been the busiest week that I have ever had at St. Thomas even though I did not have a single test.


I spent a good amount of my time preparing for the presentations of my Independent Thesis and the Honors Contemporary Problem. In fact, I gave my presentation to Dr. Frohlich three times over the course of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. After each presentation I stream-lined my power point and presentation heavily. I did not have my presentation completely finished until Emily Calasanz heard and critiqued it on Thursday Night.

In a way it was a blessing that the clinic was closed on Monday, so that I could sharpen my power point presentation and script my parts. I have put a great deal of effort into my presentation because I needed to show that I deserve 3 hours of Biology credit for my thesis. I hope that I have done so or otherwise I won't graduate! I feel very relieved that the presentations are over-- I had a calendar count down for the last 10 weeks for the Research Symposium.

Although there is MUCH more work to be done on my thesis, I can finally rest easy for a good solid week. Over the course of this next week end I will "finish the fight" and edit my paper, improving my conclusion and including some of the analogies that I used for my presentation. As I can now rest easy for a bit, I will enjoy my time at the Clinic tomorrow and contribute as much as I can.

Until Next Week,

-pmoney

Volunteering Day 7

This past Monday, March 29th 2010, Jon Newsome and I volunteered at the San Jose Clinic. We went straight to medical records and helped them arrange their files for the week and, because they have not had time to move the records from the cardboard boxes into nice shelves, Jon and I became very tired from all of the bending over.

After we helped Hermalinda and Jack, we went and saw Joe the IT guy to help "check" the old computers in storage. Essentially we checked the various parts of the machines to make sure that they were all properly working. However, because I am not very tech savvy, this job played more to Jon's skills. It is always nice to learn new things however, and I became very acquainted with the various inner workings of a PC. We were only able to help for a little bit however, because by this time Jon and I had to get back to the school for various projects.


The Clinic is not open tomorrow because of Easter weekend but this is a blessing for me! This week is very busy and I am hoping that it will pass painlessly. I look forward to presenting my independent thesis and I pray it will merit 3 hours of Biology credit from the Biology faculty.

Until Next Week,

-pmoney