Week 12/9 Reflection

     Reflection with regards to my mentorship at Back In the Game Physical Therapy…

Social Conscience:
I think the therapists at BIG have every intention to heal patients and get them "Back In the Game." They do their best to educate physical therapy aides like myself and patients. Brendon Blake, the owner and main therapist at each of BIG's three offices, has charitably offered to help employees with different aches and pains, an action that never goes unappreciated. However, I don't see a notable effort to reach further than their offices to make a true difference in the community, which may be due to limited time and resources. The office is still a friendly and inviting place to be, though, and the patients leave with a grateful smile.

Building Your Network:
Brendon does a phenomenal job marketing his business. He makes lasting relationships with patients and their doctors. I believe that I've heard him say that receive the majority of their new patients through doctor and previous patient referrals. Sadly though, I sometimes feel that the relationships and efforts are not motivated by true compassion for people. Money seems to be a driving force and I completely understand this.
I've seen how important remembering names of people and small details about them can be not only in the healthcare field but in life in general. Just going the extra mile of making a mental note to ask about an event a friend was so enthusiastically beaming to you about attending the upcoming weekend can go a long.

Week 12/2: Essential Question

How does nutrition contribute to one's overall health?

Why did you select this as your essential question?  

- I selected this question because nutrition and health are highly important and interest me. They are topics that I enjoy researching and relate to my mentorship at a physical therapy office. I know that nutrition can impact your functioning and recovery but I do not know exactly how. I'd like to learn how exactly required nutrients benefit and affect the body. As a diabetic, I have found nutrition and exercise to be the key to maintaining stable blood sugar levels. I am curious as to why exactly a diet of fresh vegetables and fruits, complex carbs, lean meats and nuts makes me feel better than a diet including added sugar, simple carbs, and processed snacks.

What excites you most about finding the answer to this essential question?  

- I consciously try to make healthy choices for my daily diet because I find that this makes me feel, function, and look better. I have recently chosen to remove meat from my diet and include foods like couscous, quinoa, vegetables, fruit, granola, yogurt, and nuts. I am interested in learning more in the area of nutrition so I can apply that knowledge to my life. I believe that knowledge is power. The more I can learn about healthy living, the healthier I can make my life. Additionally, I can influence and educate the lives of people around me.

Do you feel that this question accurately reflects a desire/need that you have to find out more about this topic?

- Yes, I do feel that this question accurately reflects a desire and true NEED that I have to find out more. Generally, Americans are unaware of how the foods they eat can affect their body. Ignorance leads to a decline in health as far as nutrition is concerned. Often times processed foods and foods that manufacturer's claim to be "healthy" make up the majority of the average person's diet. I believe that when people learn the importance of nutrition, they are more likely to lead a healthy lifestyle.  This question is important and relevant. 

Week 11/19 Mentorship Reflection

Reflection On My Mentorship

Over the past month mentoring at Back In the Game Physical Therapy, I’ve grown a comfortable relationship with my mentor Brendon. He has helped me grow my confidence working with patients and expands my knowledge of the physical therapy field every opportunity he gets. On a typical day, I will help care for as many patients that come to Brendon for treatment. Examples of what the other physical therapy aides and myself are asked to do is explain exercises, give STIM and laser therapy, make hot/ice packs, and apply tape to backs, necks, shoulders, etc. Brendon will often tell me to try the exercises a patient is performing to gain a better idea of the muscles being strengthened and has used books and skeletal models to explain an injury. I have seen the positives and negatives to working as a physical therapist and am thoroughly enjoying my experience.

My marketing principles class was an elective that initially did not interest me, and I chose it solely to fill my one remaining class period in 11^th grade. However, I have absorbed the lessons from that class possibly more than any other class I have taken. Physical therapy is very focused on building a relationship with your client and confidence, two things focused on in my marketing class. I greet patients with a smile, look them in the eye when they speak, and engage in light conversation. These things will keep patients happy and keep them returning to Brendon when they need therapy.

Week 10/7 Plagiarism

The Plagiarism Module defines plagiarism, gives examples of plagiarism, stresses integrity in your academics, and teaches proper citation. 

A) What is Plagiarism?

• I believe that plagiarism is stealing someone else's work and claiming it as your own. Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional.
• The module explains that simply changing a few words, putting sentences from several different sources together, and paraphrasing are plagiarism. Failure to put quotations around a direct quote or using the idea of another person without proper citation is plagiarism.

Example of Plagiarism:

• In 2002 Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, an assistant history professor at Ohio State University, found that her 1998 dissertation had been plagiarized and published in a new anthology of the American West by Benson Tong, an assistant history professor at Wichita State University. The book was never retracted leaving Ms. Wu feeling victimized.

B-C) Why is Academic Integrity Important?

• Plagiarism deserves a generous amount of attention. Besides the fact that plagiarism is illegal, proper citation gives you more credibility, helps the reader locate your sources, shows respect to original authors, and keeps you out of trouble. It comes down to personal morals of doing what is right and honesty. 

Proper Citation:

• You can use several different formats to cite your sources including APA, MLA, and Turabian. The Plagiarism Module say that your citations/ bibliography should include the following: the author's name, the name of the book or journal, the publisher, the date and city of publication, and the page number of the quotation. Parenthetical citation within your paper is provided to credit the original source and help locate the source in the bibliography. 

D) When can you imagine high school or college students struggling with plagiarism? 

• An overachieving student with a busy schedule may plagiarize intentionally or even unintentionally for example when stressing to finish and submit a paper by the 12 o'clock deadline. Sometimes when you've had an exhausting day and finally sit down to write your paper, your brain seems to shut down. It would be easier to just plagiarize but it would not be moral to do so. 

9/30 Bring on the Learning Revolution!

BRING ON THE LEARNING REVOLUTION!

1. What would you pursue or study if you had unlimited time and resources?
If I had unlimited time and resources I would pursue a several degrees including Exercise Science, Songwriting, Psychology, Physical Therapy, Music Pedagogy, and more! Knowledge and gaining expertise excite me. Of course, I would also want to be able to apply myself professionally in each of these areas.

2. Which has more influence, Aptitude or Attitude, and Why?
Attitude has more influence than aptitude. The saying, "Attitude is everything," is justified because an optimistic and grateful attitude will bring far more action and success than simple aptitude without motivation.

3. Do you think that our current grading system needs to be abolished? What alternative do YOU recommend?
Not only does the current A-F grading system need to be reformed, the entire school system needs to be reformed because too many students dread school and do not engage themselves. A more worldly, interactive, and diverse study environment could reignite excitement to learn. Sitting all day in a desk under fluorescent lighting surrounded by cinder block walls is boring and unhealthy. Teachers should take kids into the real world and into nature. Students learn the same subjects every year. More relevant classes such as budgeting, REAL sex education, and world hunger should be offered/required because they would truly benefit people beyond grade school. As far as the A-F grading system, get rid of it! I don't know what to replace it with...but it needs to go! :)

4. Some of the HMP class goals are: to help students develop time management skills, foster a sense of independence and accountability, and real life problem solving. This class requires a lot of student motivation since you are not meeting with a teacher on a daily basis. What areas of improvement or areas of personal growth has this class brought to your attention (time management, procrastination, self advocacy, computer skills, writing or communicating deficits, etc.)?
An area I have grown in because of this program is communication and personal relations. If I do not understand an assignment, I can't just ask the teacher at the end of class; I have to contact Mrs. Killingsworth. Also, my mentorship at the physical therapy office requires that I speak to and interact with people the whole time! I have gained confidence and learned from observing my mentor Brendon Blake's interactions. 
I've also had obtain better time management skills. To get to my mentorship at 7:00 A.M. three days a week requires that I get to sleep at a good time the night before and finish school work, college apps, workouts, etc in a timely fashion. I HAVE to plan. 

9/23 College Planning!

The following answer critical questions to aid my search for a college that offer the major Physical Therapy.

1) College options:
Berry College
Mount Berry, GA
http://www.berry.edu 

South Carolina University
Columbia, SC
http://www.sc.edu

Clemson University
Clemson, SC
http://www.clemson.edu

2) When decided which school I will attend, I would need to ensure that they have adequate and modern laboratories and exercise facilities. 

3) Berry College, South Carolina, and Clemson University all have the criteria I have expressed. 

4) A good understanding of biology from high school would be helpful but not required to my field of study,

5) I'd like a medium-sized school relatively close to my home, no further than 3 and a half hours. I would prefer a suburban area as I am partial to large cities. I prefer that it have many sports and most importantly, football! Diversity is much less important to me than the overall atmosphere. I would benefit greatly from academic scholarship. If I attend an in-state college, I will receive Zell Miller scholarship so that gives incentive to attend a school in Georgia. 

6) Physical therapy is rapidly growing career.

7) The APTA, American Physical Therapy Association, honors outstanding achievements  each year in the areas of overall accomplishment, education, practice and service, publications, research and academic excellence. 

8) Clemson offers a Non-Resident Merit Scholarship I am eligible for.

Berry University offers merit-based scholarship of which I would automatically be considered for upon applying. 

I am eligible for HOPE scholarship and Zell Miller scholarship. 

9/16 "What's your sentence?"

I thought a lot this week about what my sentence is. To define yourself in one sentence is kind of scary! As a seventeen year old, I'm not sure how exactly I plan to impact on the world one day. However, I pray that I have the confidence and faith necessary to accomplish great things. "She believed she could, so she did." Vague...but powerful.