I've decided to volunteer what little free time I have to Shands, the major hospital here in Gainesville. I am going to be working in two areas - pediatrics and palliative care. I've always wanted to work in pediatrics somehow, and for the past several years I've been trying to find a way to get into the PR department of a pediatric hospital, but there aren't any openings in this already limited field. So I figured I'd volunteer my time and at least get to experience it without it being a "job." I'll start on the pediatric unit but I hope to move into being a pediatric cuddler. Cuddlers give parents a break by holding, rocking, reading to and playing with newborns and infants in the NICU. I love babies, but don't want my own any time soon, and babysitting opportunities are few and far between with my schedule, so this seems perfect for me.
Shands has a new program called "No One Dies Alone." A few others hospitals around the country have it, and it's basically what the company I already work for, Haven Hospice, does, but on a volunteer basis. Patients who are end-stage and receiving palliative care within the hospital, but don't have any family or friends with them, are eligible for the program. A volunteer basically sits with them and does anything from talking or reading to them, holding their hand, or writing any of their final thoughts. These patients are typically DNR. I'm not religious, and the program doesn't require me to be. In fact, it is preferred that volunteers check their own beliefs and opinions at the door and allow the patient to initiate any religious behavior. I figured since I already intern for hospice and want a job with them, this would be a great way to expose myself to our clientele's needs without it becoming a conflict of interest.
I start next Tuesday from 8-11am on the pediatric floor. A few weeks later is the orientation for No One Dies Alone, but it's from 9am-3pm on a Friday, so I don't know if my schedule will allow me to attend, but it's definitely something I'm trying to fit in. Either way, I can't wait to start next week!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mile-High City
I almost forgot that I've been meaning to post about our trip to Denver. We went for four and a half days, over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. We went for an underwater hockey but Andrew and I stayed longer than everyone else so we could enjoy the rest of Colorado. Here's what went down:
Friday
5am - wake up
6am - get on the road to Jacksonville, with Kelly already heavily caffeinated
10am - leaveJacksonville, which is 32 degrees when we take off. Luckily, the planes and runways don't need to be de-iced
11am - layover in Atlanta, Moe's for lunch
2pm (Colorado time) - arrive in Denver where it's 60 degrees and there isn't a cloud in the sky
4pm - get to our hotel and have a light dinner
5pm - practice at University of Colorado at Boulder
9pm - back to the hotel, bigger dinner plus drinks
Saturday
7am - wakeup call and breakfast
8am - tournament play starts at the Carmody Pool in Lakewood
4pm - tournament play finally ends for the day, with two losses, four wins, and a LOT of chlorine and high-carb snacks in my system
6pm - dinner at Old Chicago, which is next door to our hotel. "It's a-niiiiiice!" -inappropriate Borat quote
8pm - back to the hotel where Kelly and Andrew try to sleep, but Raf, Mark and Justin are not interested and our visitor and teammate, Weston, also has no interest in sleeping but in drinking by himself while telling stories of surfing, over and over again. All in good fun, though :)
Sunday
7am - wakeup call and breakfast
8am - tournament play continues, with two wins but a loss in the championship game. Yay for second place!
3pm - back to the hotel for showers/naps
6pm - banquet in the hotel
9pm - Kelly, Andrew and Raf attempt to get a heavily intoxicated Mark and Justin to the car so they can drop them off at the airport and make it to the hostel reservation on time. No such luck...
12am - arrive at Boulder International Hostel, which apparently also happens to be on Sorority Row = hearing drunk people in the streets all night
Monday
7am - wake up and take icky showers in the community bathrooms, Kelly also loses body wash behind shower stall and decides it's not worth reaching back there
8am - breakfast at the Original Pancake House in adorable downtown Boulder
9am - Kelly attempts to sign up for first-timer ski lessons at Eldora Mountain, but is 15 minutes too late
9:45am - fully geared, Kelly makes first attempt at skiing without killing herself of any of the 230,843 infants also learning to ski
12pm - break for lunch, both of us are exhausted but loving it
1pm - Kelly and Andrew brave the bigger hills, Kelly continues to fall multiple times but laughs through every second of it. Andrew also laughs at her.
3pm - exhausted from a full day of skiing, drive down the mountain and sweat in long underwear because it is still 60 degrees in Colorado! In January!
4:30pm - arrive in downtown Denver and have dinner and drinks at Vine Street Pub, a hippie-ish urban little place with delicious food
6pm - arrive at Hostel of the Rockies, which has some "interesting" guests that seem to be long-term
9pm - Kelly takes a sleeping pill and is fast asleep, leaving Andrew to deal with our newly arrived dorm-mate who insists on turning on every light in the room and then proceeds to sit on his bed and stare at us sleeping
Tuesday
8am - wake up and have breakfast at Pete's Kitchen, which has won all kinds of national awards
9am - walk around downtown Denver after learning that our anticipated tour of the Denver Mint has been canceled. Instead we visit
Friday
5am - wake up
6am - get on the road to Jacksonville, with Kelly already heavily caffeinated
10am - leaveJacksonville, which is 32 degrees when we take off. Luckily, the planes and runways don't need to be de-iced
11am - layover in Atlanta, Moe's for lunch
2pm (Colorado time) - arrive in Denver where it's 60 degrees and there isn't a cloud in the sky
4pm - get to our hotel and have a light dinner
5pm - practice at University of Colorado at Boulder
9pm - back to the hotel, bigger dinner plus drinks
Saturday
7am - wakeup call and breakfast
8am - tournament play starts at the Carmody Pool in Lakewood
4pm - tournament play finally ends for the day, with two losses, four wins, and a LOT of chlorine and high-carb snacks in my system
6pm - dinner at Old Chicago, which is next door to our hotel. "It's a-niiiiiice!" -inappropriate Borat quote
8pm - back to the hotel where Kelly and Andrew try to sleep, but Raf, Mark and Justin are not interested and our visitor and teammate, Weston, also has no interest in sleeping but in drinking by himself while telling stories of surfing, over and over again. All in good fun, though :)
Sunday
7am - wakeup call and breakfast
8am - tournament play continues, with two wins but a loss in the championship game. Yay for second place!
3pm - back to the hotel for showers/naps
6pm - banquet in the hotel
9pm - Kelly, Andrew and Raf attempt to get a heavily intoxicated Mark and Justin to the car so they can drop them off at the airport and make it to the hostel reservation on time. No such luck...
12am - arrive at Boulder International Hostel, which apparently also happens to be on Sorority Row = hearing drunk people in the streets all night
Monday
7am - wake up and take icky showers in the community bathrooms, Kelly also loses body wash behind shower stall and decides it's not worth reaching back there
8am - breakfast at the Original Pancake House in adorable downtown Boulder
9am - Kelly attempts to sign up for first-timer ski lessons at Eldora Mountain, but is 15 minutes too late
9:45am - fully geared, Kelly makes first attempt at skiing without killing herself of any of the 230,843 infants also learning to ski
12pm - break for lunch, both of us are exhausted but loving it
1pm - Kelly and Andrew brave the bigger hills, Kelly continues to fall multiple times but laughs through every second of it. Andrew also laughs at her.
3pm - exhausted from a full day of skiing, drive down the mountain and sweat in long underwear because it is still 60 degrees in Colorado! In January!
4:30pm - arrive in downtown Denver and have dinner and drinks at Vine Street Pub, a hippie-ish urban little place with delicious food
6pm - arrive at Hostel of the Rockies, which has some "interesting" guests that seem to be long-term
9pm - Kelly takes a sleeping pill and is fast asleep, leaving Andrew to deal with our newly arrived dorm-mate who insists on turning on every light in the room and then proceeds to sit on his bed and stare at us sleeping
Tuesday
8am - wake up and have breakfast at Pete's Kitchen, which has won all kinds of national awards
9am - walk around downtown Denver after learning that our anticipated tour of the Denver Mint has been canceled. Instead we visit
On The Market
Like most college seniors and final semester graduate students, I'm on the job hunt. I would like to consider myself pretty marketable - I've had three health care PR/marketing internships (hospice, hospital and university infirmary), one in patent licensing PR/marketing and one in sports media relations. I also worked full-time for a year after college, always worked during college, and have been really involved on campus during grad school, mostly in a (go figure) public relations capacity. And I've got really good grades.
However, the job market is scary right now. A close relative just found out they would be laid off next month after a decade with the company. This petrifies me to no end. If 50-somethings who are excellent at their job and low-cost to keep on the payroll are being laid off, what are my chances at getting a job that is going to make me happy and pay enough to help me start cutting down on my $50,000+ in school loans.
I'm not sure how my "picky-ness" ranks in comparison to others in my shoes. I'm pretty sure that health care, specifically hospital (and even more specifically, pediatric hospital) communications, aka PR. So right now I'm only applying to health care organizations that have openings in my field, but I am pretty much applying to anywhere in the southern two-thirds of the country. I'll stop being picky about geographic location if nothing comes up in say, two months. After that, I'll have to settle for a different industry of PR - maybe non-profit, government or the arts. But I really don't want to work in an agency or corporate setting, but I will if that's what it comes down to...
Hire me!
However, the job market is scary right now. A close relative just found out they would be laid off next month after a decade with the company. This petrifies me to no end. If 50-somethings who are excellent at their job and low-cost to keep on the payroll are being laid off, what are my chances at getting a job that is going to make me happy and pay enough to help me start cutting down on my $50,000+ in school loans.
I'm not sure how my "picky-ness" ranks in comparison to others in my shoes. I'm pretty sure that health care, specifically hospital (and even more specifically, pediatric hospital) communications, aka PR. So right now I'm only applying to health care organizations that have openings in my field, but I am pretty much applying to anywhere in the southern two-thirds of the country. I'll stop being picky about geographic location if nothing comes up in say, two months. After that, I'll have to settle for a different industry of PR - maybe non-profit, government or the arts. But I really don't want to work in an agency or corporate setting, but I will if that's what it comes down to...
Hire me!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Holiday Blues
I can't decide whether I'm jealous of the 10"+ of snow that my hometown got overnight and the prediction of another 4-10" by tomorrow night, or if I'm glad that it's 80 degrees here today. Don't get me wrong, I hate the cold and the snow, but I've been having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. Maybe it's because my parents announced their divorce plans last month. Maybe it's the fact that I have no money to buy anyone nice gifts this year (I do not recommend doing an unpaid internship!). Or maybe it's just because there is one part of me I cannot deny - I am a New Englander and white Christmases are simply what I expect.
I'll be home late at night on Christmas Eve (as long as there are no blizzards between Gainesville and Hartford) and hopefully it'll still be white when I get there, but Christmas just isn't going to be the same this year. My parents told my brother and I not to get them anything. I'm in charge of cooking Christmas Day dinner. And there won't be a real tree. This is the beginning of the end of my parents' marriage and there will be many 'lasts' this Christmas.
I'm not looking for pity or anything, I just can't help feeling like I finally understand why people hate the holidays. It's just not the same when the people you love the most are hurting and can't put that aside for a week or two. I am still blessed with good health, a great family, amazing friends and wonderful opportunities. There are so many people out there that don't have one thing to be happy about this holiday season - people who are homeless, sick, broke, incarcerated or really, truly alone. I have so much to be thankful for and yet I'm going to be selfish for one Christmas and say that this year, the holidays suck.
Monday, July 28, 2008
UF #1 in Something Other Than Sports?
Today the Princeton Rankings announced that UF was ranked #1 party school in the nation. While we can argue for days about whether that's true or not, I think it is directly related to our football team and high Greek involvement. If you ask every student how many beers they drink a year, you will get a huge number. However, if you subtract the drinks that are consumed on Saturdays in the fall - AKA tailgating - I would bet that number would be drastically reduced. The same probably goes from fraternity/sorority "socials". And it's all self-reported so who knows...
In other UF news, our Underwater Hockey team took 6th in the US Nationals this weekend in Gainesville. Our UF/Minnesota mixed team took 9th (I played one game with them!). And the team that myself and two of the other UF girls played on won first in the women's division! And I scored my first goal!
In other UF news, our Underwater Hockey team took 6th in the US Nationals this weekend in Gainesville. Our UF/Minnesota mixed team took 9th (I played one game with them!). And the team that myself and two of the other UF girls played on won first in the women's division! And I scored my first goal!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Welcome Back to the Sunshine State!
Well I've been back in Gainesville for only five days now. I got back in late last Wednesday night. The drive was boring and depressing. It felt like as soon as I crossed the Florida/Georgia border, all my anxiety and homesickness came back. So you can imagine how delighted I was on Friday afternoon when Andrew told me he was coming home three and a half weeks early! I got his flight moved up to Saturday and he spent the entire day flying from Madrid to Newark to Orlando, where I picked him up late Saturday night. We drove to his parents lake house in Dunnellon and spent the night catching up, exchanging souvenirs from our trips, watching movies, and eating good 'ole American food. We made a big breakfast when we woke up and his sister, Ashley, met us at the lake house around noon that day. We all went out to lunch and spent the afternoon fishing (unsuccessfully) and watching Cars. When we finally got back into Gainesville, Rags went insane. It's safe to say Rags missed Andrew as much as I did and they have apparently been bonding all day while I've been at work. I'm sure he's been busy all day especially trying to get his apartment back in order three weeks earlier than he was planning on.
Anyways, I am so glad he is home. I'm glad he went but I think that two and a half months is an awful long time to be in a foreign country where you don't speak the language, especially since his classes there ended a few weeks ago. It's great to have him back. Patrick and Alli will be back from their honeymoon in a week or two and Christina will be moving back from Baton Rouge in two weeks, so all of our friends will be back where they belong in no time! And before we know it, classes and football season will start, along with internships/jobs and organizations that we're involved in so who knows when we will get to all hang out. I'm glad we have a month before all that madness begins. Best of all, Andrew is back in time to play in Underwater Hockey Nationals this weekend, which neither of us were planning on playing in, but now that he's home, he can and he can also continue trying to convince me to play too. We'll see ;)
I finally uploaded pictures from Patrick and Alli's wedding and the rest of my road trip. Here's a few I like:
Anyways, I am so glad he is home. I'm glad he went but I think that two and a half months is an awful long time to be in a foreign country where you don't speak the language, especially since his classes there ended a few weeks ago. It's great to have him back. Patrick and Alli will be back from their honeymoon in a week or two and Christina will be moving back from Baton Rouge in two weeks, so all of our friends will be back where they belong in no time! And before we know it, classes and football season will start, along with internships/jobs and organizations that we're involved in so who knows when we will get to all hang out. I'm glad we have a month before all that madness begins. Best of all, Andrew is back in time to play in Underwater Hockey Nationals this weekend, which neither of us were planning on playing in, but now that he's home, he can and he can also continue trying to convince me to play too. We'll see ;)
I finally uploaded pictures from Patrick and Alli's wedding and the rest of my road trip. Here's a few I like:
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Lazy summer days
I have not done anything productive since I've been back in Longmeadow. Well, I visited my old office, went to lunch with some favorite former coworkers, bought a dress for Patrick & Alli's wedding (for a whopping $16 I might add!), and mowed the lawn at my parents' house. But I was sick at the beginning of the week and have been pretty lazy most of the week.
I leave tomorrow around noon to head to Charlottesville to pick up KD at the airport when her flight gets in around 10pm. We have a hotel for the weekend in Staunton, Virginia. Patrick & Alli are getting married on Saturday and then I'm going to head out early Sunday to go back to the Kiszs's in North Carolina. I am supposed to be back at work on Monday but that isn't happening. I physically cannot do the drive straight like I did on the way here. I'm going to take my time and be safe.
I am not looking forward to leaving. I'm so relaxed here. It's really hot but much more enjoyable than Gainesville weather. When I get back, I still have about a month before Christina and Andrew get back from their summers in Baton Rouge and Madrid, respectively. It's going to be a long month but Kayla is moving in at the end of July so that will be fun! I might be working part-time at Target, too. I'll be at my internship Monday, Wednesday and Friday so I can work at Target on Tuesdays, Thursdays, evenings and weekends. Hopefully I can save up some money and keep busy during the last stretch of summer. If not, I can work on my tan a lot!
I wish I had something exciting to post about, but I don't!
I leave tomorrow around noon to head to Charlottesville to pick up KD at the airport when her flight gets in around 10pm. We have a hotel for the weekend in Staunton, Virginia. Patrick & Alli are getting married on Saturday and then I'm going to head out early Sunday to go back to the Kiszs's in North Carolina. I am supposed to be back at work on Monday but that isn't happening. I physically cannot do the drive straight like I did on the way here. I'm going to take my time and be safe.
I am not looking forward to leaving. I'm so relaxed here. It's really hot but much more enjoyable than Gainesville weather. When I get back, I still have about a month before Christina and Andrew get back from their summers in Baton Rouge and Madrid, respectively. It's going to be a long month but Kayla is moving in at the end of July so that will be fun! I might be working part-time at Target, too. I'll be at my internship Monday, Wednesday and Friday so I can work at Target on Tuesdays, Thursdays, evenings and weekends. Hopefully I can save up some money and keep busy during the last stretch of summer. If not, I can work on my tan a lot!
I wish I had something exciting to post about, but I don't!
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