Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I worked from 8:30am to 12:45pm for a total of 4 hours and 15 minutes.
Total hours so far: 4 hrs 15 min
Today was the first day of my WLE with UCSF Medical Center. I have not yet attended my training for the Volunteer Services Department, but I was able to work at the Child Study Center, working with little children. I spent the whole day with children between the ages of 2-4. Overall, I had a ton of fun with the kids. My first impression was complete chaos, but then I saw that it was structured by the children: playing around with blocks, play-doh, drawing, cutting, etc. It was so cute and it reminded me of my time in Pre-school. Some of the children were so welcoming, wanting me to sit next to them and help them build with blocks. The staff was also very welcoming. I worked with a group of 3 year olds, and the staff members with them were Gita and Hanan. Both women were extremely interested in learning a little about myself and let me just interact with the children. They told me a little about each of the kids and just let me work with them.
The time I spent with the children was first playing with them with blocks etc. Then, the group I was with, went to do an activity they called Kinder-Gym. In Kinder-Gym, the kids would run around, focus on one specific activity, which in this case was spinning. The instructor, Daniel, did an activity called Spinning Seagulls. In this game the children would spin and scream at the same time, and once they ran out of breadth they would fall to the ground. One of the little girls spun for about 5 minutes straight and ended up extremely dizzy. After Kinder-Gym, the children sat in the Center's Library and read a couple of books. Next was lunchtime, and I then had to leave once they were starting nap time. Seeing all the kids sleeping in their little beds reminded me of nap time when I was little, and I really wished that we have nap time now in high school...
Overall, my day was fun at the Child Study Center. I can't wait to see what I will be able to do at the Volunteer Services Office. There are a lot of opportunities for patient contact, and I am excited to see what my job will be for the Office.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Vision
Seeing as how I am working with children and at the Volunteer Services Office, it is hard to actually grasp what I can do as a WLE project. During my interview, my mind was rushing with ideas about what opportunities may lay ahead for a project that I would enjoy and know would be beneficial for my mentor. I have yet to see what my duties will be at the Volunteer Services Office, and that I will find out at the end of this week during my training. Working at the Child Life Study Center, I imagine a potential project would revolve around the children's work and art activities.
Okay, so here's my vision:
I imagine, in the Volunteer Office, to compile a RATING of all the movies they have in stock for the patients. The patients would vote on "what's hot and what's not." Then, they can have this alongside their list of movies so they can get some suggestions for which movies they are considering to watch. However, this may already exist, and I will not find out until this Friday when I go for my training. Bummer.
For Child Life Study Center, I am either thinking of compiling a little album of all the kids with pictures of them playing, working on arts and crafts, or of their artwork. I could maybe have a gallery walk through? I don't know, they're little 2 year olds and 3 year olds. They would have adorable finger painting projects though!
Anyways, this is all I've come up with so far. I might have some more ideas (better idea) once I've had a day getting to know the workings of the Volunteer Office and the Child Life Center. Whatever my project is though, I'm sure it will be fun to work on.
Okay, so here's my vision:
I imagine, in the Volunteer Office, to compile a RATING of all the movies they have in stock for the patients. The patients would vote on "what's hot and what's not." Then, they can have this alongside their list of movies so they can get some suggestions for which movies they are considering to watch. However, this may already exist, and I will not find out until this Friday when I go for my training. Bummer.
For Child Life Study Center, I am either thinking of compiling a little album of all the kids with pictures of them playing, working on arts and crafts, or of their artwork. I could maybe have a gallery walk through? I don't know, they're little 2 year olds and 3 year olds. They would have adorable finger painting projects though!
Anyways, this is all I've come up with so far. I might have some more ideas (better idea) once I've had a day getting to know the workings of the Volunteer Office and the Child Life Center. Whatever my project is though, I'm sure it will be fun to work on.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Workplace Learning Experience
Oh, the hardships of trying to work in the medical field. For the past few... no, many, months, I have been trying to work out a WLE at a hospital. After many calls, emails, and conversations, I have finally landed a fantastic WLE that will definitely be a great experience.
My WLE this year will be placed with UCSF Medical Center. It has been a long and hard process trying to obtain a mentor, especially in the medical field. However, after a long time of being persistent and calling many hospitals, I will not be volunteering at UCSF. Today I went through an orientation, getting myself acquainted with the Volunteer Services coordinators and learning about the opportunities UCSF has to offer. The next step would be to go to an interview, where the coordinators and I will work out all the WLE details.
I am so excited for this WLE, it is unimaginable. I feel giddy just thinking about which department I might have my WLE in or the possible projects that could come out from them! This WLE will definitely be a step up from the 3 years I have been volunteering at Kaiser's Main Hospital. The only downside I can think of is that for many departments the minimum age is 18, but there are still many opportunites available for me. Oh, and also, I can't work more than 4 hours a day, but still, it's not about the hours as much as it's about the experience, right?
My WLE this year will be placed with UCSF Medical Center. It has been a long and hard process trying to obtain a mentor, especially in the medical field. However, after a long time of being persistent and calling many hospitals, I will not be volunteering at UCSF. Today I went through an orientation, getting myself acquainted with the Volunteer Services coordinators and learning about the opportunities UCSF has to offer. The next step would be to go to an interview, where the coordinators and I will work out all the WLE details.
I am so excited for this WLE, it is unimaginable. I feel giddy just thinking about which department I might have my WLE in or the possible projects that could come out from them! This WLE will definitely be a step up from the 3 years I have been volunteering at Kaiser's Main Hospital. The only downside I can think of is that for many departments the minimum age is 18, but there are still many opportunites available for me. Oh, and also, I can't work more than 4 hours a day, but still, it's not about the hours as much as it's about the experience, right?
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