Special Olympics

Saturday, March 24^th, 2012

Special Olympics Day

Today was a pretty dang good day.  I am pretty freaking exhausted though!  I woke up at 5:30 this morning and didn’t go to bed until around midnight last night.  At six o’clock I had a Folk Dance Rehearsal, and that was pretty fun.  It was a good practice, and I had way too much energy for that early in the dang morning.  It was fun to be with everyone and have some extra time to practice the dances.  Nothing too great to really add. 

I had to leave practice early-ish because I had the Special Olympics to get to.  I had plugged North Fork Park into my phone before I went to rehearsal, but it sent me to the wrong place.  So I called Melissa and she told me where to go.  It was a beautiful drive on the way up, but I hate driving through canyons because of how narrow it is.  Not really my cup of tea.  I pulled over a couple of times where the road widened to let some people pass. 

Once I got to the park, it was just a great day overall.  There were a ton of volunteers there, but not a ton of snow.  Much more snow than I was expecting though.  We spray painted lines in the snow for the snowshoe event.  Then we got running.  I was in charge of making sure that the volunteers where cheering and positive, which really was not a bad job at all. 

There is something special about the Special Olympics.  It went so smoothly, and I LOVED how positive the volunteers were.  The biggest thing for them to do was cheer on the athletes.  It was such a neat thing to watch the athletes do their best to run down the track, and to have all of these great volunteers cheer them on and help them to do what the can.  The parents and family were all great too.  It reminded me of what I might see if the veil was lifted from my eyes.  As I am striving to keep the commandments and do what is right, I am sure that all around me there are a whole host of angels around me to bear me up, cheering me on the whole time.  I am sure that even when I fall, or sin, or my snowshoe falls off, there is not a single person on my team telling me how awful I am, or feeling disappointed by my choices.  But, I think that they are there to cheer me on.  There may be some sympathy, and “Oh nos,” but there is no judgment at all.  Just hope that I will get my snowshoe back on and get back in the race, or get back in the track and simply finish the race.  And I am sure that when I do finish the race, I will be surrounded by my supporters who will be so ecstatic to put on my medal and receive me into the fold.

In general, the whole day went really well.  There were only a few of the people that had to be disqualified or otherwise, but it was a great experience.  I met family of Elder Horn, and got the number of one of the girls that is my age.  She was a pretty cute girl. 

After we got everything cleaned up, not a hard feat because there were SO many volunteers, I went to the Union Building to help set up for the closing ceremonies and the festivities of the evening.  At the Union we had bowling and movies for the athletes and volunteers, and it was just a big party.  For the first little while I just tried to direct traffic, but I spent some time hanging out by the movie room talking with two of the day volunteers.  It was a pretty good time. 

When Garrett Flint showed up, I hung out with him for the rest of the evening.  He is such a good guy.  I called a girl from Manakambahiny, Madagascar, who lives in Salt Lake.  I was so giddy to hear TRUE, PURE Malagasy spoken again.  She had such a great “tinkle” to her voice, and I felt like I was walking on air.  Garrett and I watched a bit of Enchanted with the athletes, and then we went and bowled for a little bit before dinner.  It was really the best game of bowling I think I have ever bowled, and I barely lost by three points at the end.  Dinner was good at it was a lot of fun to get to know some of Garrett’s cute friends, and talk to Jacob Burns too. 

The Closing Ceremonies were a lot of fun.  Each of the teams had a sign to carry into the Wildcat Theater.  The thing that surprised me the most was how many of the teams just went home and didn’t stay.  I think at least half of the teams went home.  But there were 30 Weber State Football Team members that showed up to escort the teams in.  They were so much fun and really got along great with the athletes.  I was trying to tell one of the guys that a team hadn’t shown up, and he could escort other athletes, and he wasn’t getting it.  I think it took me a good 2 full minutes to get into his skull.  Great guys, just not the brightest. 

The Closing Ceremonies went great.  All of the speakers were great, and I really REALLY liked the local band, Double Or Nothing, from South Ogden.  They even had an electric fiddle.  So cool.  I would totally buy their CD, and they were just cool guys.  The athletes loved their songs and were rocking out like nobody’s business.  I think that I liked the talk by paralympian Muffy the most.  She was very motivational.  She told the story of a guy that chooses to have a great attitude, and then gets shot.  He tells the doctors and nurses that he was choosing to live and that he was only allergic to bullets.  I have heard that story before, but it really spoke to me tonight.  It is all about my attitude.

After Closing Ceremonies was the dance.  That was a blast.  It was really fun to dance with the athletes and the other volunteers, but it was hard to keep going because I was so tired.  I would dance for a little while and then have to just stop.  The International Banquet ended write as the dance was underway, and it was HILARIOUS to watch the Middle-Eastern guys get out there and dance with them.  Such a great time.

After we were all done, I walked out with Garrett and Jake.  Garrett left and Jake and I sat around and talked for a good long time in the parking lot.  It was good to talk to him and realize that he feels the same way that I do right about now.  The hard thing about coming home from a mission is finding purpose and feeling like you are making a positive contribution, especially spiritually.  I got this thought that spirituality is like a tree/muscle.  The more you work and are able to do, the bigger your tree or the stronger your muscle.  I feel like when I first got home from my mission, I had a testimony the size of a redwood tree.  Then I didn’t feel important or worthwhile at all.  So, my treemuscle slowly shriveled all the way down until sometimes it feels like a dandelion.  It is kind of sad.  I feel like my testimony is growing again and I am contributing again, but it is a hard thing. 

We also talked about how FRUSTRATING girls are.  They never know what to seem what they want, and it is so hard to find a really neat, humble, awesome girl.  I just want to meet my best friend.  But, I guess I just need to be more open to the Lord’s timing. 

Birthday Wishes

This year I was really excited for my birthday, because it was my first birthday since I got home from my mission.  I was so excited when I woke up, that I went to Smith's before my first class and bought two bags of Twix and two bags of Hershey's kisses.  In all of my classes, I gave candy to my classmates because it was my birthday.  I felt like I was in elementary school again, and it was quite the party.

The day went pretty normally, and I didn't really do anything too exciting.  I guess the older you get, the more you have to work and have obligations.  I tried wearing around a button that my extremely old sister-in-law gave me, and it blew off before my first class.  The top part says, "It's my birthday. . ."  I guess it was pretty scandalous to wear, but I wasn't too worried about it.

At work I got to put on a flashing pin that said, "It's my birthday!"  It was pretty fun, nice to have something to do, I guess.  After work I hurried home and wrote an essay, and then I went to optional Folk Dance practice.  We have so much to do and I could really only stay for about an hour.  I was kind of frustrated that I couldn't get tininkling down as well as I had it before the break, but I guess that is just some motivation to work harder.

I left practice early and went and worked on some physics homework for a good hour as well.  I guess you can say that I might have my priorities mixed up a little bit, but I just had stuff that I needed to get done.

After that, I called my friend Bailee Paxman to see if she wanted to go country dancing.  She had to meet as the Folk Dance Presidency, but she said she would call me when she was done, and she did.  She is probably one of the most committed people I know that way, always following through on her promises.  She and Jack Shapiro came over and "kidnapped" me and took me to Denny's for food.  It was so much fun to talk and laugh with them, and I realized how blessed I am to have them in my life.

We were driving back from Denny's when Bailee had the idea that we should climb to the top of the Browning Center.  Both Jack and I are not the most spontaneous nor courageous guys on the planet, but after a little bit of coercion she had us convinced.  And thus began the adventure.  We stopped by my house to grab jackets and my camera, and then we were off to the races.  When we got to the parking lot, an older woman was leaving and so we just sat in the car until she left, and she was probably scared to death of us hooligans parking in the parking lot after midnight on a school night.

We hurried over to the west wall of the Browning Center, and Bailee explained how we would need to get over.  Jack just jumped right up like a cat and was on top of the wall in no time.  I gave Bailee a boost, and she lithely reached the summit as well.  Then it was my turn.  Let's just say that there are some people that are born to climb things, and the rest of us are left to stay on the ground.  With a little bit of help, I was able to get onto the wall and stick my foot into the first crevice, probably a good 3 feet off the ground.  And that was about as far as I could get. . . My legs kept shaking and I couldn't make it the rest of the way.  So, Jack got down and I used his knee to get up and then he helped me get a hold of the top of the wall.  I am surprised his arms didn't fall off from sheer exertion.  The rest of the way was pretty easy, but still intense.

The Browning Center has a series of roofs that are all connected by some pretty narrow metal ladders.  We scaled the first one, maybe 30 feet or so to the second highest roof.  The adrenaline was already pumping.  The next ladder was a slight drop to another roof, or you could just jump down about 10 feet.  I was aiming for a little ledge that was higher than the rest on, and when I dropped my feet didn't land on top of the ledge but were spread a bit too wide.  I landed and almost racked myself on the ledge, but luckily one side was higher then the other.  Bailee led us to the next ladder, the mother of all ladders.  I almost wet myself when I saw it, cause I swear the things was a hundred feet high.  Probably more like fifty in reality, but hyperbole is much more interesting.

Bailee climbed up first and then Jack.  Then came my turn.  I started to get light-headed halfway up the ladder, and thought, "Well, it was a great birthday, and I guess I'm going to die on my birthday."  I get a little freaked out by sketchy situations.  I kept climbing and praying that I would be okay.  I jumped off the ladder at the top, and my legs were pretty wobbly, with a big sigh of relief.  There were a few small ladders left, and then we were on the top!  It was probably one of the prettiest views of Ogden I have ever seen, and the temperature was perfect.  Campus was lit up like Disneyland, and I was just giddy that I made it up there!

The way back down wasn't nearly as scary, except for the huge ladder.  I will probably have nightmares about that ladder for the rest of my life.  Oh ya, I forgot to mention that the jacket I grabbed for Jack was bright orange, and kind of a joke for the night.

So, I had a great birthday and can't wait to go home this weekend to celebrate my b-day with the greatest family on the planet!!

Job Shadow

            “A Menu of Venues” was one of the lectures in my Life in Medicine class that really spoke to me during this section of the course.  I had never really taken the time to consider all of the many options that are available to me as a doctor.  I had always really considered doctors to work in the hospital or in their own practice.  The lecture on options for practicing as a doctor really opened my eyes, and brought a new level of stress.  The large assortment of choices all along the way is something that really stresses me out.  So, I decided that it was time for me to really determine if a life in medicine is a good decision for me.  I then decided to shadow some doctors during my spring break to try and get a feeling of what the end result can be if I do choose to pursue a course of medicine. 

            All of the options available to a medical doctor have their pros and their cons.  Some of them are much more appealing to me than others.  I find it helpful to consider my thoughts in a written form.  Owning my own practice and working in a clinic with other doctors are probably the best options for me and my future plans.  If any of these options wouldn’t work for me, I think I would love working in a hospital, especially if I could work for an academic institution.

            I would really enjoy to work in my own practice or in a clinic with other doctors for a variety of reasons.  First, I would really enjoy the autonomy that comes from working in my own practice.  A physician working in his or her own practice is the boss.  One of the physicians I shadowed during spring break was a podiatrist, and the other was a family doctor.  Both men mentioned how much they enjoyed owning their own practices and not needing to answer to anybody else.  The podiatrist I shadowed mentioned that one of the biggest stresses he has is worrying about all of his bills.  He has to worry about renting his office space, paying his employees, and other expenses required to operate a practice.  These are some of the stresses that are real for someone operating their own practice.

            I also really enjoyed the management aspect of working in a small practice or in a clinic with other doctors.  Both physicians that I shadowed had excellent, efficient staffs, and I began to realize how extremely important it is to have a happy, hard-working, and efficient staff.  The podiatrist mentioned that he enjoys being the boss and the manager because he has control of his employees.  He mentioned that if you work in a hospital, all of your employees are hired, and also fired, by the Human Resources Department.  He has had employees in the past that have caused problems because they could not get along.  But, he had the ability to be a great leader and a great manager.  I was extremely impressed by his motivation, philosophy, and example as a leader. 

           

            His philosophy in running his practice and in his life is to never crush anyone’s dream.  If they have a goal or a purpose, you should have every motive to help them achieve it.  His medical assistant was one of the most capable and efficient workers I have ever seen.  She knew exactly what he needed, and went the extra mile to accomplish her tasks.  However, she has a dream of becoming a dental hygienist.  The doctor told me that he will do whatever he can to help her with her dream, because that is what he wished others had done for him.  I learned that it is most important to be a mentor and a philanthropist in all aspects of your job in medicine, not just in working with patients.

            I really enjoyed the one on one time with patients available to both doctors in their practices.  It was a great feeling to be with patients and to not only assess their needs, but to also get to know them on a personal level and take an interest in their lives.  The family doctor had a patient who had been out of work and did not have enough money to pay for his medical bills.  So, he set up an arrangement with this patient to see him and give him his necessary prescriptions free of charge.  This doctor demonstrated to me the care that is essential in operating a great practice.  As I watched him communicate and treat each of his patients, I could sense the care that he had for helping each of these people.  He did not treat them as numbers, but rather as a person to be cared for and helped.  I really enjoyed this part of family practice. 

            The other aspect of family practice that I really enjoyed is the variety.  I love to be challenged, but I do not enjoy feeling boxed in to a corner or one specific area.  I loved shadowing a podiatrist, but I felt that after a year or two of looking at feet day after day I would grow bored.  Knowing myself, I realized that I need stimulation and change to keep me excited about what I’m doing.  I feel that a career in family practice would fulfill this need.  I watched while a bead was removed from a toddler’s nose, common illnesses diagnosed, casts put on, IUDs inserted, and learned that family doctors can also deliver babies.  I feel that with this much variety, it would be very difficult to become bored at work.

            One of my desires is to teach at some point in my career.  I love teaching and feel like I am a talented teacher.  I have not completely explored a career in family practice, but it would be a complete sell to me if I knew that I would have some opportunity to teach.  This is why I would consider working for an academic institution.  So far, I have not been a huge fan of primary research, but I have also not had much experience in the field.  These are some areas that I plan on researching as I continue to study and pursue a career in medicine.