Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

I am really proud of the overall out come. I am most specifically proud of my knowledge of the different programs the American Cancer Society provides and the differences between theirs and the programs provided by other organizations.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your 2-Hour Presentation (self-assessment)?

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b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

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(3) What worked for you in your senior project?

In my senior project, the thing that worked for me the most were efforts to find more. In a way this ties in with my second answer. "Empowering yourself with knowledge" When the hospital gave me such a minimal amount to do, I knew it wasn't going to be enough. I used my ability to go out and ask for more. That lead me to the American Cancer society. When I first went there they were skeptical about letting me participate in anything else besides office work. Though with persistence I was able to gain the trust and confidence of the staff. I was eventually trusted to attend events on my own and represent the American Cancer Society. This was a very big accomplishment for me. I was very proud of myself to go out and represent the American Cancer Society all on my own. 

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would have you done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time? 

Mentoring at the hospital. While majority of my hours and interviews came from there I felt I learned the least there. From the people during my interviews I did learn a few things, though since my mom is also an employee at the hospital I feel I could have found ways around being a volunteer and still met the nurses. Though I did enjoy helping people I learned the least about my topic from that experience.

(5) Finding Value

How has the senior project been helpful to you in your future endeavors?   Be specific and use examples.

My senior project opened my eyes to how much I enjoy helping people. Beforehand I really didn't understand that I had such a passion for helping people. For instance when I was at the hospital and people would ask me for water I felt it. Now it may not seem like bringing water to people can truly help. But such a simple gesture in a desperate time of need really does help people and it really does matter to them. You can see the gratitude on their faces. 

The American Cancer Society really helps people at every event they attend. When I attended the Pasadena women's health convention I could see the excitement and gratefulness on the faces of the women that the american cancer society was there. 

Susan G Komen

Home Page

American Cancer Society

Breast Cancer link

American Cancer Society home page

Cancer tattoo

A co-worker of mine came in today with a new tattoo in support of cancer research. I thought it was beautiful and he told me the story behind the tattoo and I explained my project to him.

Reach to Recovery

Reach to Recovery

2 hr.

Today I have put the final touches on my 2 hr. Now I just have to mentally prepare for and rehearse until Thursday

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legistaltive ambassador email update.

This reminder is being sent to all ACS CAN California Volunteer Legislative Ambassadors & select staff.

Dear ACS CAN California Ambassadors:

We are looking forward to our call tomorrow evening and hopefully you will be able to join your Ambassador Constituent Team (ACT!) for the California Ambassador Quarterly Call at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time.  Attached is the agenda, which includes the dial-in information as well as a sample agenda for your ACT! Team Meetings for those of you gathering together in groups.  We hope ACT! Leads will complete the ACT! Team Report Back Form and return it to the ACS CAN California Office no later than Friday, May 24th.

Important:  We have a new conference call provider, so it will not be necessary for you to join the call early as well will not have an operator-assisted call.  Please keep in mind that all participant lines will be muted for the duration of the conference call so please do not use any previous codes on your touch tone phone to mute or unmute your phone line as some of those old codes will actually disconnect your phone line.  For those of you who may have questions, there will be an opportunity to ask your question after the official adjournment of the call, which should be around 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time.  We will stay on to answer any questions.

We are also very fortunate to have Pam Traxel from the ACS CAN Washington, DC Office join us for tomorrow's call to talk about ACS CAN Fundraising.  Attached is also a document for your reference.

If you did not have an opportunity to complete the Spring Ambassador Survey, it is still open and available.  We hope you will take a few minutes to answer the questions as it will help us prepare Ambassador Biographies.  Please copy and paste the web address into your Internet browser:

Legislative ambassador 2

I participated in the legislative ambassador survey today. This survey helps the people who run the program understand how people are willing to help. It also helps them to run the program smoother in the future.

Legislative Ambassador

On april 22nd, I officially received my legislative ambassadors badge in the mail. I hope to attend many events where I can use it.

CPS3

As a part of a CPS3 champion (cancer prevention study) I am able to go volunteer and help sign people in to be a part of the study. I sat at the front desk checking people in and giving them instructions for the rest of the day. The study consist of a survey, a waist measurement, a blood sample and the ability to make a long term commitment over the span of 20-30 years.
The first Cancer Prevention Study linked smoking to lung cancer.

Caring for the caregiver.

On Tuesday april 30th I attended an event at San Antonio Community hospital. The event was entitled "caring for the caregiver" and featured The American Cancer Society and the programs they provide for caregivers, as well as a presentation by Kim Hurley-Smith.

Blog 25: mentorship

Literal:
log
Kim Vollers, San Antonio community hospital; 9099852811
Janice Chow American Cancer Society; 6265646078
Interpretive: The most important thing I experienced was the willingness people had to help others. The nurses and workers at the American Cancer Society wanted to help people. They weren't there because it was their job the genuinely wanted to help people, and that is why it was their job. They truly appreciate every moment of it.
Applied: Working with the american cancer society in person and as well as over the phone and email in unlisted hours, showed me the help they have to offer. It really helped me in choosing to  say that families need to use the resources provided by and stay in contact with the American Cancer Society as my best answer. Not only that seeing the materials provided by the American cancer society at the hospital and seeing their involvement in their events helped me a great deal as well.
Though being at the hospital and receiving a chance to talk to the nurses and hear their feedback was a wonderful opportunity I am glad I did not miss out on. My second answer, empowering families with knowledge stems from what both my mentor Livia Vargas said in interview number two and what Jamie Anderson said in interview 3.

Exit interview questions

1) What is your essential question?  What is the best answer to your question and why?

How can a family best cope with a breast cancer diagnosis? My best answer is to stay in contact with and use the resources provided by the American Cancer Society. It is very easy to tell people to go get help, however help isn't always easy to find. The American Cancer Society helps you help yourself. This non-profit organization has many different programs such as the Reach to Recovery program where women with breast cancer are paired with other women who have the same diagnosis and treatment as them to meet and show they are not alone. The american cancer society also provides a 24 hour hotline, constant updated research and countless events for survivors and their families throughout the year.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

I volunteered at multiple places throughout my mentorship, and every where I went the American Cancer Society was a part of that. Their pamphlets, speakers, and influence is greatly seen. At the hospital I volunteer at pamphlets provided by the American Cancer Society are given to the patients so that they can help themselves figure out what to do next. I used cancer.org constantly throughout my research as well

(3) What problems did you face?  How did you resolve them?

When I first began volunteering at San Antonio Community hospital I wasn't allowed to do much and I realized that it wasn't going to good enough for the year. I couldn't exactly learn much from filling up water glasses and wheeling out patients. That's when I decided to volunteer at the American Cancer Society. Unfortunately the closest offices is in Pasadena and I live in Pomona. But I made the commitment to drive out there despite having transportation difficulties. My car broke down 2 times driving home late at night on the 210 fwy and eventually on my way to mentorship caught on fire. Once that happened my parents bought me a new car and I no longer had transportation problems.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

The American Cancer Society's website really helped me learn cancer facts, and learn about the different programs that the organization provided. Multiple links such as the PDF's placed out every year and the "Find Support, and Treatment" link really helped provide me with great information. 

(5) What is your product and why?

Throughout the course of the mentorship I have become a very active member of many volunteer activities. I participate in CPS3 and the legislative ambassador program. I have really enjoyed helping out these people and plan on participating in these programs for many years to come.

Blog 23

1. Rhaven Innis South House.

2. I actually have two ideas for my senior project. I want to either do experimental psychology or graphic design. I'm choosing experimental psychology because I absolutely am infatuated with anything that has to do your brain and why you do the things you do. It's always been something that I've been completely interested in. I'm choosing graphic design as my fallback option. I love design aesthetics and I think that it's only right for anything to be aesthetically pleasing to the audience.

3. I plan on mentoring at some institution where I can observe children as apart of developmental psychology. I was also thinking of mentoring somewhere where I can work with psychology majors who do experiments on adults. I think it would be cool to take those same experiments and try them on children to see the different results. For graphic design mentorship, I would like to go somewhere like a university of some sort where graphic design is a major study.

4. When watching the senior presentations I hope to gain presentation skills. I don't want to be boring because I heard that these topics that I chose tend to be boring which is always bad. I love these topics and I think they're interesting and I would want my audience to be intrigued as well.

5. How was senior year overall? Wrap it up in one word. I'm considering whether coming back or not because the things that teachers tell us and the things that I hear are pretty persuasive. I don't know if I can handle the stress to tell you the truth. Also what was the hardest part of completing your senior project? What are some valuable tips to "surviving" dreaded senior year?

The hardest part is sticking with it. Towards the end it kinda feels like you just can't do it anymore. But u really am proud of my project and my topic. Don't fall behind on your mentorship! I didn't but I know some people who did and it's gonna suck in the end if you don't keep up with it. It really is worth it to keep going.

Blog 22 3-column chart.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1nd0RQ0Xu-xY2NqbTBDOVFkTGs/edit?usp=sharing