PROM

iVAN'S PRESENTATiON

Today I was able to watch Ivan's presentation. Taking the fact that he was the first person to present his senior project ever as Lindenwold under consideration, I think that he did an excellent job. He went 37 minutes and it didn't even seem to be that long. He had visuals and videos, he explained everything so that we understood what he was talking about, he was really great! By watching his presentation, it made me even more stressed out about what mine is going to be like. I feel at a lost with it because I'm still trying to organize it and make it come out great. I know it will all come together even if it's last minute, but it is still nerve wrecking!

THE FUN iS OVER.

Senior trip was a lot of fun. It was nice being with everyone in a different environment and being able to have fun together. There was a lot to do in Disney like rides, parades, virtual videos, tours, everything you could think of. Now that were back, it's really time to get the ball rolling. I'm extremely stressed out about my project because I feel like I'm at a stand still with it. I've been putting together my powerpoint that I plan on doing for my presentation, but I'm not too well with making everything look spectacular! I'll probably need some outside help, but once I get done that, I think I'll be fine.

ANiMAL ULTRASOUNDS.

Since the beginning of this project, I was not only interested in human baby ultrasounds, but animal baby ultrasounds also. I've been searching here and there, but could not find ANY. When I was with Mrs. Dimartine, I was Googling and I FOUND SOME. I think they are awesome so I'm going to post them here so you can see yourself.

DOLPHiNS.

PUPPiES.

ELEPHANT.

ALTERNATiVE.

What I thought it was going to be like with my sponsor didn't turn out to be as I hoped it would have been. I'm pretty much left empty-handed in that aspect of my project, but just like they say... "When there's a will there's a way!" What I decided to do instead is just do a whole bunch of research about ultrasounds during pregnancy. I've saved links to video clips, saved pictures of ultrasounds of animals when they're pregnant, and have just tried to learn as much as I can about it so that I'm not stuck when it comes to my presentation. I'm pretty much going to be self-teaching myself to learn the basis of ultrasounds. HOPE IT COMES OUT WELL!

TREE MAN. :\

Can 'Tree Man' Be Saved?
Doctors Hope They Can Cure Dede Koswara From Extremely Rare Disorder
By MARGARET CONLEYJAKARTA, Indonesia, April 16, 2008

Dede Koswara, popularly known across Indonesia as "Tree Man," has been living in a tropical hospital for months, where a team of doctors has been sawing away at the barklike growths that have slowly encased his entire body. "This is the most remarkable case, the most severe case, I have seen in my career," said American doctor Anthony Gaspari at a news conference in Bandung, about a two-hour drive from capital city Jakarta. For Dede (who is known by his first name), what started as a simple wart on his knee as a teenager spiraled his life out of control when it became infected. Treelike growths gradually spread all over his legs, arms, chest and face. He became physically unable to do basic functions and everyday tasks.
As a result of his condition, Dede lost his job, and his wife left him. He moved in with his parents and has been supported by extended family. His two kids often visit him at the hospital.

MAN LiViNG WiTH HiS TWiN iNSiDE OF HiM! :O

Man With Twin Living Inside Him--A Medical Mystery
Another Person Lived Inside a Man for Nearly Four Decades

Sanju Bhagat's stomach was once so swollen he looked nine months pregnant and could barely breathe. Living in the city of Nagpur, India, Bhagat said he'd felt self-conscious his whole life about his big belly. But one night in June 1999, his problem erupted into something much larger than cosmetic worry. An ambulance rushed the 36-year-old farmer to the hospital. Doctors thought he might have a giant tumor, so they decided to operate and remove the source of the bulge in his belly. "Basically, the tumor was so big that it was pressing on his diaphragm and that's why he was very breathless," said Dr. Ajay Mehta of Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. "Because of the sheer size of the tumor, it makes it difficult [to operate]. We anticipated a lot of problems." Mehta said that he can usually spot a tumor just after he begins an operation. But while operating on Bhagat, Mehta saw something he had never encountered. As he cut deeper into Bhagat's stomach, gallons of fluid spilled out -- and then something extraordinary happened. "To my surprise and horror, I could shake hands with somebody inside," he said. "It was a bit shocking for me." Removing the Mutated Body

One doctor recalled that day in the operating room. "He just put his hand inside and he said there are a lot of bones inside," she said. "First, one limb came out, then another limb came out. Then some part of genitalia, then some part of hair, some limbs, jaws, limbs, hair." Inside Bhagat's stomach was a strange, half-formed creature that had feet and hands that were very developed. Its fingernails were quite long. We were horrified. We were confused and amazed," Mehta said.
A Mutated Body Within a Body At first glance, it may look as if Bhagat had given birth. Actually, Mehta had removed the mutated body of Bhagat's twin brother from his stomach. Bhagat, they discovered, had one of the world's most bizarre medical conditions -- fetus in fetu. It is an extremely rare abnormality that occurs when a fetus gets trapped inside its twin. The trapped fetus can survive as a parasite even past birth by forming an umbilical cordlike structure that leaches its twin's blood supply until it grows so large that it starts to harm the host, at which point doctors usually intervene. According to Mehta, there are fewer than 90 cases of fetus in fetu recorded in medical literature.

MRS. DiMARTiNE.

I have been very frustrated and tired of trying to get things together for this class. I actually tried to plead to get myself out of it, but of course guidance isn't having it especially because it's me. (Grr). So, I had my mentor meeting today and Mrs. D gave me a lot of good ideas and eased my frustration. (I think that's why I was able to talk infront of class today). Because I'm not getting the experience needed for my presentation, Mrs. D and I decided that maybe I should just do as much research as I can because finding a new sponsor is going to be hard, and add in animations and videos and what not to support what my topic is on. I found a lot of new things, I found ultrasounds of animals today, I got an educational video, and Mrs. D gave me the idea of talking about animals that have ultrasound abilities. I hope I'm on the right track since I had to change it.

POEM & DiCTiONARY GAME.

Today, I finally recited my poem and played the dictionary game. Monday I was supposed to, but I was just not in the state of mind to be spontaneous and think of something off of the top of my head. Because I'm in a better mood today, it helped prepare myself for it. I was extremely nervous. Since I knew what I was going to talk about before I spoke in front of the class, it helped because I had an idea of what I wanted to say. I found a skimpy poem off of Firehotquotes.com just to get the grade and I actually picked one that was lame, but silly at the same time. I think the class liked it, well I hope you all did! :). I'm just glad a faced my fears for now and got it done and over with

OVER MY SPRiNG BREAK..

My spring break was not long enough. Honestly, I was so busy with work that I didn't have anything to do with my time. I went to my sponsor and hung out with them on the Friday's. I still just chilled there, I didn't really do much. My new friend Rob kept me entertained. One of the best things I did over spring break was spend time with my munchkin (niece). She made my break great! Well, I drove by MYSELF, all the way to New York for the first time to go spend the night with my sister. I was extremely exhausted my whole time there and my sister was upset with me, but I think she got over it. My niece came back with me and she slept the whole ride so it was easy for me to drive with her. I think it was on Friday, after my meeting, I took my niece out for the rest of the day. I took her to Friendly's with my boyfriend to get her some ice cream. We had to leave because my niece was BEING BAD. :) . Then we took her to Veteran's Park and she cried because she didn't want to leave. After that, we went back to my boyfriend's house where she slept for about 2 1/2 hours straight. I loved the time spent with my niece. She was the high light of my week.

LETTER TO MRS. CARROLL.

April 9, 2009


Dear Mrs. Carroll,


I’m currently using the Senior Project to help reassure me that I definitely want to be an ultrasound technician and to also give me an idea of what it’s like to work in that particular field. As for my actual project, I’m still tossing around ideas about what exactly I’m going to do for it. Two days ago in class we had an open session to throw out our ideas or problems and get feedback from the rest of the class, which I did and got a lot of ideas from my classmates. For example, one of my classmates gave me the idea of video taping me acting out as an ultrasound technician and having someone act as if they’re pregnant, have them lay down on one of the beds in the trainers room next to the ultrasound machine and use it to act as if I’m giving her an ultrasound. Because the machine isn’t the same one as an actual machine used to perform ultrasounds for pregnant women, I would have someone stand behind the machine holding up a picture of an ultrasound of a baby. That seems to be what I may go for as of now. I’m still trying to think of new ideas, but it’s a little hard. If I do go with the video taping, I plan on trying to make it entertaining as well as educational. For my presentation, I’m doing a power point as well as a video tape (if I choose to do that).
By completing this project, I will be completely sure if I want to pursue a career as an ultrasound technician or if I want to pursue something else. I have been doing research on it and have learned a lot about its history and how it came about. I have just started to volunteer at Virtua Hospital to try to get some experience there. I’m not sure exactly what to expect because the ultrasound department didn’t know I was coming, but I’m still hopeful


Sincerely,

Brooke Garcia

SPRiNG BREAK.

Over break, I do plan on meeting with my sponsor still. Just because it's break doesn't mean I'm going to completely let go of my senior project because every meeting is vital. Over break, I'm probably not going to blog just because I don't want to and because I'm only meeting with my sponsor once a week I probably won't have anything to blog about, but I am going to start working on my power point and try to finish my research paper so I can get grades in.

SPONSOR MEETiNGS.

On Friday and Monday, I went to see my sponsor at Virtua. I was a little anxious when I got there on Friday, but the warm welcomings of everyone made my anxiousness go away. I was introduced to the ultrasound department and there were two women there, Kim and Marge. Unfortunately for me, they had no idea I was coming and had nothing for me to do. They pretty much had me answering phone calls and while they were doing paper work, Marge showed me what it looks like to have liquid in a gald bladder. She said that she would show me more once we got settled in. They're going to teach me how to do the paper work so I can help them. THERE IS A LOT OF PAPER WORK. I made a new friend there already though, his name is Rob. He's really cool and funny so while I was sitting there with nothing to do he was my entertainment because he likes to crack jokes on everyone there. On Monday, it was pretty much the same thing except more phone calls. I really like the people there, I'm hoping that after I graduate I might be able to get a job there. Rob has the easiest job there and it's to transport patients around the hospital and he gets paid $10.70 an hour. JUST TO WALK AROUND A HOSPITAL! But, anyway, I'm really looking forward to continuing my volunteering there. Also, the director of radiology told me that if the ultrasound department didn't have anything for me to do I can just go to him and he'll put my in a different department that might have something for me to do. :)

1ST SPONSOR MEETiNG.

Tomorrow, I go to Virtua Hospital to volunteer there for the first time. I'm very excited about it because I felt like I had to do so much in so little time and I was never going to be able to volunteer. I told my job I couldn't work Fridays until the end of the school year and told them why, but because it is a business, they weren't too excited for me, but they gave me the days off so that's all that matters! I cannot wait to go tomorrow. What I love even more about it, is that they only require 4 hours a week. That's great with my schedule because I can volunteer for 4 hours one day out of the week and still work and be caught up with my school work. She said I could even bring my work there if I'd like to do it during my break. They even give me lunch cards with $4.30 on it so I don't have to spend money for food. I CAN'T WAIT! :)

A LiTTLE RELiEF.

So far, I have still not started my research paper. Between History and English, I'm having a hard time bouncing back and forth with both of them. I feel a little relieved that they are both due soon so I know when it's crunch time, I'll do both of them and get them done with. After they are done, I'll feel relieved because I hate stressing over school work and that's exactly what I think they are, STRESS!

STUPiD COP.

Some time last week, I was getting ready for school and I was listening to the radio. On the radio, they were talking about a cop in Dallas, Texas that pulled over NFL star Ryan Moats for running a red light with his wife because he was rushing to the hospital to see his mother-in-law who was dying at that moment. Moats got a call in the early morning of March 18 and raced to the hospital. When they reached the hospital, the cop refused to let Moats go into the hospital until he wrote out the ticket. Moats's wife then got out of the car. The cop told her to get back in, but Moat's wife refused and said, "Excuse me, but my mother is dying. Do you understand?" Another officer that was in the hospital came outside to tell the cop that Moat's mother-in-law was dying and that Moats needs to get into the hospital. The cop then said, "I'm almost done." By the time Moats and his father-in-law went into the hospital, she died. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT COP?!!?!?

Dallas police delayed NFL player as relative died
The Associated Press
PLANO, Texas - A police officer pulled over an NFL player rushing to see his dying mother-in-law, drew his gun, threatened the player with jail and held him in the hospital parking lot as she died, officials said Thursday.
Officer Robert Powell told his commanders he drew his gun but did not point it, Dallas police spokesman Lt. Andy Harvey said. That was disputed by the wife of Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats.
"He was pointing a gun at me as soon as I got out of the car," Tamishia Moats told The Dallas Morning News, which first reported that Powell unholstered his sidearm.
The Moats family did not return messages left by The Associated Press.
Powell, who has been reassigned to desk duty, stopped Moats' SUV outside Baylor Regional Medical Center during the early hours of March 18 after Moats rolled through a red light. Moats and his family had gotten a call saying his mother-in-law was dying.
Video from a dashboard camera inside the officer's vehicle, obtained by Dallas-Fort Worth station WFAA-TV, revealed an intense exchange in which the officer threatened to jail Moats.
He ordered Tamishia Moats to get back in the SUV, but she ignored him and rushed inside the hospital to see her mother, Jonetta Collinsworth, 45, and was by her side when she died a short time later. She had breast cancer.
"Get in there," said Powell, yelling at 27-year-old Tamishia Moats, as she exited the car. "Let me see your hands!"
"Excuse me, my mom is dying," she said. "Do you understand?"
Ryan Moats, 26, explained that he waited until there was no traffic before proceeding through the red light. When Powell asked for proof of insurance, Moats grew more agitated and told the officer to go find it.
"My mother-in-law is dying! Right now! You're wasting my time!" Moats yelled. "I don't understand why you can't understand that."
As they argued, the officer got irritated. "Shut your mouth," the officer said. "You can either settle down and cooperate or I can just take you to jail for running a red light."
The exchange soon ended and Powell returned to his cruiser to write a ticket. A few minutes later, another officer approached Powell to tell him a nurse said the mother-in-law was dying right then and Moats needed to get into the hospital.
"All right. I'm almost done," Powell said in response.
When Moats and Collinsworth's father entered the hospital, they learned Collinsworth had died, The Dallas Morning News reported in Thursday's editions.
The Moatses, who are black, said they can't help but think that race might have played a part in how Powell, who is white, treated them.
"I think he should lose his job," said Ryan Moats, a Dallas native.
The ticket issued to Moats was dismissed, Harvey said.
"There were some things that were said that were disturbing, to say the least," he told the Dallas Morning News.
Powell told police officials he believed he was doing his job, said Dallas Police Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson.
,,,

EXHAUSTiON.

Today, I feel completely exhausted and overwhelmed with all my classes. I have two research papers that are due around the same time and it's stressing me out to have to do two different research topics to do an outline (which I haven't even finished), find sources, rough draft, and the final draft all done around the same time. he worse part is, I need to get good grades on both of them so I don't fail. It just makes me want to quit trying to do anything and just be like whatever, but unfortunately I can't! My freshmen seminar class has been very stressful, but I've been trying not to be stressed out about it and just chill in that class and not let it get to me too bad. I just wish that atleast one of my papers could be pushed back so its not so much on my plate.

OLD ABORTiON TECHNiQUES

I was wondering what to blog about when Desiree gave me a great idea! She mentioned old techniques that women would use to do an abortion at home. It reminded me of a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet called Revolutionary Road. This movie was about a young couple in the 1950's who have a depressing relationship. Kate's character is unsatisfied as a suburban housewife and Leonardo is unsatifised with working at marketing company. They wanted something different so they decided to move to Paris. On Leonardo's birthday, he sleeps with a secretary at his job and he continues to. Later on in the movie, Leonardo gets a promotion at his job and after everything was set to go to Paris, he decides that he doesn't want to go. He then tells his wife of the affair and she didn't even care, she was COMPLETELY FINE WITH IT. When your wife doesn't care about her husband having an affair, you know that marriage is beyong repair. Eventually, she gets pregnant and she wants an abortion. Leonardo doesn't want her to so one day she acts as the perfect house wife then when he goes to work, she tries to use a suction device to abort the baby. It goes wrong and she loses a lot of blood and dies.

Before there were clinics to operate abortions people would creat their own concoctions to abort their babies. Desiree told me that Mrs. Hansbury said they used to use hangers to have an abortion. Some people would drink poisons, knitting needles, hot pins, while they were sitting in a scalding hot bath to prevent the birth of another child. CRAZY! Not only were they trying to kill their baby, they were also endangering themselves. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out, but I guess people were so desperate to not have babies that they would do anything?

SPONSOR MEETiNG.

Yesterday, I went to go see my sponsor. I've been trying for the last week to set up a meeting with her and I finally did! She told me we could meet at 2:30 and so we did. When I got there, the stupid desk ladies told me she stepped out and told me to wait. After an HOUR of waiting, I finally decided that we could reschedule and meet on Thursday. The first lady that was there left while I was waiting and the lady that replaced her went to see if my sponsor was in her office and SHE WAS THERE THE ENTIRE TIME! I was highly upset, but after talking to her I was fine. She showed me around, where to sign in, gave me the polo (now I have to wear one for school, work, AND VOLUNTEERING. GREAT!) I have to wear, and showed me where I would have to go, and introduced me to some of the people in the Radiology section. They were all unbelievably nice. I'm excited to start there. She also had some bad, but at the same time good news for me. She told me that because the ultrasound department is small and that there is another student there, I wouldn't be able to just stay in that department. Instead, I get to touch every aspect of Radiology! I'm actually happier about that because now I get to experience all of the different types of machines and see how they work. So, now I'm going to be going there on Fridays from 2 o'clock to 6. They only require 4 hours a week so that's even greater because it won't interfere too much with my work schedule. :)

SLOWLY BUT SURELY.

Slowly, but surely, I am making progress. So far, I have gotten all of the paperwork that I needed to have to start volunteering done. I've been calling the woman in charge, but she didn't answer her phone all last week so I e-mailed her and she told me to come on Tuesday. I cannot wait! I thought I was never going to start my project and now I'm going to be able to! Hopefully, I will be able to start and didn't miss anything!

RESEARCH PAPER.

I am falling ridiculously behind in this class. I've barely done any of the blog sheets, I have to re-do my thesis, I haven't started any outlines let alone my paper and it's due in 2 weeks! At first, the topic for my research paper was going to be how ultrasounds support the pro-life movement. I am neither for or against abortions though and I think it is for the mother to decide without being judged so I decided to throw that topic out of the window! What I do want to write my research paper on is how the medical field was without ultrasounds and how it is now with them. I think that by exposing the benefits of ultrasound technology, I will be able to show why I am interested in it.

BiRTHDAY!

Today is my birthday! Most of my friends were excited to turn 18 because it's the legal age, but I just seem humble today. I don't know what it is, maybe I'm just tired today. I hate having to wear uniforms because usually I would come to school all dressed up, but unfortunately I have to wear a stupid uniform. It just ruins my mood. Anyway, because it's Wednesday, there's not much I can really do today. I still have no idea what I want to do this weekend though. All of my girl friends want to go to the club, but I have no idea which one I want to go to let alone if I want to go at all. I've been to Plush, which is in Philadelphia, and it was fun, but I rather try a different one. Now that I'm 18, I don't have to worry about not being able to get in. Next month, I'll be able to have my basic license so I can drive until what ever time I like! :) I'm kind of worried about how my parents will begin to treat me. I'm not sure if they are going to be the type of parents who put a shorter leash or actually let go little by little. Being as though my sister and I are treated completely different, I'm not sure if I should worry or not. I know that if I hold up my responsibilities in my house and at school, they won't have a problem with anything that I would like to do, but then again who knows?! Parents have their days just like teenagers do!

BLOGGiNG

I'm beginning to despise blogging. I have no idea what to blog about anymore. The fact that we have to write something 5-7 times a week and is our only grade is beginning to aggravate me. I haven't even been able to start doing what I'm trying to do for this senior project and I have to blog everyday about it. I'm beginning not to even want to do any of this anymore because I feel like I don't know what the point of everything is. For example, I have no idea what the point of this research paper is. I only know what I initially think about my topic without being able to experience it yet, but I have to write 6 page research paper about the technology which I have not been able to try yet. I took this class because I wanted to try something new, but now I just don't want to and the only reason why I am is because I have to for a grade.

BOYS VS. GiRLS

Before babies are born, sexes are different. In an article I was reading, it said that if you place a baby boy and girl next to each other, the girl is most likely to look for a person and the boy is more likely to look for something that is moving. Have you ever heard that girls are 2 years more mature than boys? At birth, girls have more mature skeletal systems than boys which makes girls less likely to get skeletal injuries! Baby boys are more of the physical type. They tend to move around a lot more which makes them at risk for more more accidents. A woman who had 2 boys and one girl said that her daughter had better speech than her two sons, but she took more time to walk and she could not climb like the boys did.

Boys and girls also perceive senses differently. Through examinations, there have been more than 100 differences between boy and girl infants. Girl babies are able to perceive colors and textures better than boys. Because they are able to have such great perception of the many different things in the world, it may be one of the reasons why they choose toys with different patterns and colors like dolls for example. Within the first six months of development, girls are more sociable and more likely to "coo" at people and when seeing a familiar face. Overall, girls are more healthier than boys during their baby years.

Boys are better than girls when it comes to discerning location, direction, and speed of objects. By 2 months, boys can see farther than girls, but are less capable of distinguishing specific details. Boys are better at keeping track of motion.

It is amazing what people are able to do as soon as they are born!

HOLOCAUST VS. ATOMiC BOMB

In history, we have two topics to choose from to write our research paper about. One topic is the Holocaust and the other is the atomic bomb in Japan. To help us choose which topic we would like, Coach Hanford had us watch movies on each. The one about the Holocaust was Schindler's list. Personally, I loved this movie. It was about a German Nazi, who was a very wealthy businessman who went from feeling indifferent towards the Jewish people to helping them. He spent all of his money building "factories" to help produce guns and such to help the Germans when in reality, he said he would be very upset if he made a gun that could actually shoot. Because he didn't produce anything that could really be bought, he made no money. All the money he had went to bribing and black-market supplies for his workers. He sacrificed his life and career to save more than 1,200 Jewish people. When the Nazi's were removing the Jews from the ghettos, Schindler saw a little girl in a red dress whom he began to sympathize for. Later on in the movie, the little girl comes back into the movie and Schindler sees her on a barrel carrying dead Jews to a fire because the Germans were trying to dispose of any evidence. After the war, Schindler lived among the Jews he saved because he felt that they were his people. The movie was very inspirational and truly shows how one person can truly make a difference.

The second movie which was based on the creation of the atomic bomb was called, Fat Man, Little Boy. It was called that because those were the names of the two bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. I didn't particularly like this movie, but it did teach me things I did not know about the atomic bomb and gave me an opinion on it. In the movie, a general in command named Leslie Groves led the Manhattan project which was the creation of the atomic bombs. He gave scientist, physicists, and mechanics 19 months to create an atomic bomb that worked and could be put into a jet so that it would not explode until they wanted to. The United States was very paranoid around this time because they thought that the Axis Powers were working on an atomic bomb also. In the movie, a spy in Germany sent a letter to General Groves telling him that Germany had no atomic bomb nor were they trying to create one, but the United States continued to work on one. The U.S. Army wanted complete secrecy about the project, not even the F.B.I knew about it. They split up the different sections of the project and gave each a little bit of information about the project, but not the entire story to prevent it from leaking into the public or worse, Germany or Japan. There were many against using the atomic bomb because it was extremely fatal and would kill thousands of people in which it did. The U.S. did not give prior warning except that they would suffer dire consequences if they did not surrender. Seriously, who would have expected the U.S. to build two atomic bombs and use that as a "dire consequence"? Learning about the atomic bomb really made me feel some type of way about the intentions of the U.S. government. Is the victory of a war truly worth the lives of +200,000 people? In my opinion, the U.S. could have found another method in winning the war, but they just wanted to be lazy and take an easy way out even though it took a lot or hardwork and effort to build the bombs. The people who helped create it even protested against the use of them and wanted to talk to the president who was then Truman, and they were ignored. I think that the government didn't truly want to tell its people exactly what they were doing because they would be against it. I know many people felt bitter about what happened to Pearl Harbor, I agree that it was also wrong for Japan to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet, but does that justify the murder of 200,000 people? After watching the movie, I truly felt disgusted. I felt so much sympathy towards the Japanese people because some of those people were innocent people who had no idea what was coming.

WHAT TO EAT AND NOT TO EAT DURiNG PREGNANCiES.

While a person is pregnant, it is very important to make sure they do not eat something that is harmful for their baby not only for the baby's protection, but also for the mother's health. Babies get their food from what their mother eats and it is very important that the mother eats a healthy diet. Most women do not like the amount of weight that is needed to be gained in order to have a healthy baby, but with the proper dieting, the weight will not be too bad and it will be easy to lose. During pregnancies, it is important to avoid eating raw meats like seafood including sushi, deli meats including hot dogs, refrigerated smoked sea foods, raw eggs, fish high in mercury, soft cheese, refrigerated meat spreads, liver, unpasteurized milk and juices, and of course alcohol. All of them may contain some type of bacteria, poison, or may be contaminated with something harmful to a baby. Caffeine is also not good because it increases the risk of miscarriages within the first trimester. A person who consumes 200 milligrams or more of caffeine each day which is about 2 or more cups of coffee or 5 12-oz cans of soda, is at risk of having a miscarriage. What is good to eat is a lot of fatty foods because it helps the baby develop its brain. Trans fat are not fats that should be consumed while pregnant. It is in certain oils that are made for some fast food restaurants so checking the labels on food is very important. Obviously, fruits and vegetables are a very important source for a babies nutrition.

Want to know more?
Go to: http://www.deliciousorganics.com/PregnantNursing/pregnant.htm#CAN%20I%20eat

VOLUNTEER PRODUCTiON.

So far, I've gotten most of the things I had to get done to begin volunteering at Virtua Hospital. I was required to get a PPD test, have papers filled out by both my guidance and doctor, parent permission slip form, and fill out the application. The last and final thing that I have to do is get a photo ID. I have to go get that done at one of the Virtua career centers. Hopefully, I can get that done some time this week. I have off of work today so I was hoping I could go today, but when I looked at the paper I was given to schedule the photo, I read that they do not take photos on Mondays. I guess I'm going to have to try to either go tomorrow before I go to work or I can go either Wednesday or Thursday because I have off both days because I want to see the play (which I'm very excited for). I had no idea that I was going to have to get all of these things done. I feel like I'm never going to be able to start. When I learned about the tuberculosis test, I began to wonder why I didn't have to get one where I worked at. I work in a grocery store surrounded by food and loads of different people. Germs are spread everywhere, TB is spread from inhaling mucus and can be passed on by breathing in the air from a person who is infected with it. I think ther tuberculosis is a very serious disease and needs to be taken seriously not only to protect the people who have it, but the people that are around them on a daily basis.

PPD TEST.

Yesterday I left school early to go get my PPD test. The last time I tried to go they were closed so I went to my doctors to get a form I needed to get filled out, so that the PPD test was the last thing I needed to get done. The PPD test is a test to see if a person has tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused my bacteria. Tuberculosis kills one person every 15 seconds. Crazy, right?! A person can get TB by breathing in mucus particles from the air. You can only get it from breathing in the bacteria not from touching someone or their clothes and it commonly effects the lungs. The symptoms of TB are kind of the same as when you have a cold. You can become tired, weak, lose weight, fever, and night sweats. If it gets worse, you can start to cough, have chest pain, cough of mucus or blood, or have trouble breathing. Because I'm going to be volunteering in a hospital full of people, it's very important to make sure I don't have TB so I won't spread it to other people. If left untreated, a person will just waste away. I don't think I recall having any symptoms like the ones I named above so hopefully I
Person with TB

don't have TB. The way the tested me to see if I have TB, is by injecting PPD (purified protein derivative) into my forearm. They use your forearms because there are less veins. This shot hurt, well burned. Usually when I get shots,
Infected lung with TB.

they burn for about a second while the chemical is going inside of you, but this one burned longer than the usual ones. When she removed the needle, the area in which she injected the PPD looked like a mosquito bite. It was weird, I thought she did something wrong, but that's part of the procedure. It went down eventually and now the area is just red. How they determine if a person has TB is by how the area of the injection reacts. It's not determined by redness, but by size. If it gets big or about 5mm long, then I'd have TB. If it doesn't change or if it grows to 2mm then I don't have it. It's determined two days after the injection, so I have to go back on Friday. My injection doesn't seem to be getting larger even though it's only been a day since I received it, but I'm hoping it doesn't change because who wants TB? NOT ME!

HAPPiNESS!

This weekend, I took off of work and went to see my family in New York. I was excited to see them because I have been missing them terribly. Since I got a job, I have been going there less and less. I spent time with my grandparents, watched movies, prank called them, and made ice cream floats with them, my two aunts, and my mother. I love being there. It's difficult for me to communicate with them because my grandparents speak Spanish and I never learned it. We have an unspoken love for each other so it kind of fills the void, but it bothers me because I don't have the type of relationship with them like other people with their grandparents. I went there Saturday and came back on Sunday. On Sunday, it was my little cousin's 12th birthday so we all went to Applebees. Everyone in New York must have been celebrating a birthday at Applebees because it was packed and its employees must have sang Happy Birthday to 20 different tables. Most of my mom's side of the family was there and I was happy to be with them. I needed to be around them because I've missed them. The best part is that I got to bring my niece home with me so she's staying with us for the week! :)

TEENAGE MOTHERS.

In the United States, approximately 1/3 of young women become pregnant in their teenage years. More than 80% of teen pregnancies are unintended and unintentional. Each year, about 1 million teenage girls become pregnant. Regardless of how early or late a young woman is in her teens, there are more risks of birth defects occurring from teenage girls. Teenage girls are less likely to gain the amount of weight needed for the baby to grow healthy. Some causes of teenage pregnancies are sexual behavior, lack of knowledge about contraceptions, age discrepencies in relationships, sexual abuse, dating violence, poverty, to get government money, and the environment in which they were brought up. I went onto http://www.ask.com/ and I asked, "Why do teenage girls get pregnant?" A lot of websites came up about teen pregnancy, but one of them caught my interest the most. Some other reasons why that teenage girls get pregnant are because some girls use pregnancy to rebel against their parents, they are missing love or emotional needs at home and try to get them fulfilled in other ways, lack of control so they use pregnancy to gain control, to keep their boyfriend from leaving, and/or because pregnancy is very strong within their culture. There are many reasons why teenage girls get pregnant, another reason may just be because it was an honest accident, condom might have broke, a girl may have forgotten to take her birth control that day. Most societies do not support teenage pregnancies. It is irresponsible, burdens the lives of other people whom had no help in creating a child, and puts the teenager's life on pause. Despite the obvious cons of teenage pregnancies, just like everything else there are pros. A teenager will learn the true definition of responsibility and discontinue their self-centered ways. They will no longer think about theirself, but care for someone other than themselves. Before the child is born, all the stresses seem difficult and inevitable, but in many cases once the child is born all the stresses seems worth it. Some teenage girls do not intend to get pregnant as others may. If you were a teenager and you accidently get pregnant, what would you do?

THE "PREGNANT MAN"

In April of 2008, there was a woman/man named Thomas Beatie. When I first heard about "him," I thought he was an actual man that magically became pregnant. To my disappointment, I was wrong. Apparently, this "man" was formerly a woman who had surgery to portray herself as a man. I was highly upset about this because everyone made such a big deal about it. HE'S NOT A MAN! HE WAS A WO-MAN! There was an article that I was reading about him from ABC.com and Thomas said he has the right to bear a child. Of course he does, he has woman organs. I understand the controversy of the whole thing because some people think it's kind of demeaning towards the child which may be true. If I found out my father was previously a woman before I wouldn't be surprised, but it would definately be a life turning event. That's besides the point of my argument though. I understand why it was such a big deal, but in my opinion when it came down to it, he is still a she. Besides the big issue, I was just angry because the media kept saying "He is having a baby." Maybe "he" refers to himself as a "he," but "he" is still a she if "he" can have babies. Maybe I'm just ignorant because I refuse to refer her as a him. I don't care whether she wanted to be both, she can call herself a he all she wants, but in my opinion, she can't be a he if she has a baby! (Just a little pet peeve of mine :P )

OCTUPLETS' MOTHER AT iT AGAiN !

I was reading an article about the mother of the octuplets that have just been recently born. Because she already had 6 children, she was receiving $490 a month in food stamps and collecting Social Security disability payments for three of the kids. Now, the taxpayers of California are going to have to pay more to help her pay for her 14 kids. She has a website http://thenadyasulemanfamily.com/ now that is made for collecting donations from people that want to donate money towards them. It is now becoming a controversy in California because many taxpayers do not feel that it is they're responsibility to support her 14 children and I agree with them. From one perspective, it was not the people of California who agreed to implant 8 embryos into Nadya Suleman when she already had 6 children, therefore, they should not have to pay child support. From another perspective, regardless of what Nadya Suleman's irresponsibility has created, those babies are going to need to be cared for so they can live healthy lives. They did not ask to be brought into this world so they shouldn't have to suffer the consequences of their mother's idiocracy. So many people are outraged by this that Nadya has received death threats and such from people. In my opinion, the babies should be helped not to help the mother, but help them.

ORiENTATiON EXPERiENCE

Yesterday, I went to the orientation so I could begin volunteering at Virtua Hospital. It was supposed to be from 5:00 to 6:30, but it ended up only being an hour. Usually orientations are extremely boring, but this one was great because it had cookies, crackers and cheese, and beverages as well. YUM :) I'm very excited about volunteering there. The people in the hospital are very nice and welcoming. I had no idea that hospitals use so many volunteers. I thought that there weren't going to be many people there, but to my surprise, every seat was filled. Most of the topics that were discussed during the orientation were rules and job opportunities. The rules aren't very demanding, more like common sense. For example, high school students that volunteer there have to wear yellow polo shirts that says junior volunteer and we must have a photo ID on at all times. I might as well invest all my money in polos because they seem to be all I wear anymore because I need them for school, work, and now to volunteer (great!). I also have to take a PPD test and a guidance reference form completed before I can start to volunteer. I'm sure Egan is going to love this! For people that don't know what a PPD test is because I surely didn't before I went here, it is a tuberculosis test. Tuberculosis is a deadly disease caused by mycobacteria (fungus). It usually attacks your lungs, but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system which carries clear fluid to your organs, the circulatory system which is nutrients, bones, joints, skin, and other types of systems in your body. Most of the job opportunites that the director of volunteers discussed weren't topics that I need for my senior project. They were more like doing admissions, water pitchers, making beds, and such. I talked to Diane (director) prior to the orientation and at the end of the orientation and she told me that she has a girl in the ultrasound department, but that until she's finished she will try to put me somewhere in radiology. I think it's great because now I can touch other aspects of radiology as well. Ms. Williams that is the social worker here just so happens to be her niece! It really is a small world! I'm very excited to start my internship there.

ORiENTATiON

Today is the first time I'm going to be going to visiting my sponsor. I have orientation there from 5:00 to 6:30. I'm kind of nervous because I'm going to be doing this alone, but then again I'm not because I'm pretty confident that I'm going to be fine. The only things I'm nervous about is: what to wear, where I have to go when I get there, who do I talk to, etc. They didn't give me too much information in the e-mail, but I just remember the woman Diane Theckston who is in charge of the volunteer program there said that I'm going to have to fill out paperwork and such. I suck at paper work, but HEY I have to learn how to do these things because my mom isn't going to be doing it for me forever! I just want to get started doing this internship already because I've had to wait so long to start and I feel like I'm behind because others already have the ball rolling. I'm ready, but nervous, but most of all excited. :)

My favorite person in the world.

My favorite person in the world is my niece. My niece is 2 years-old and goes by the name of Cyanni Danielle Romero. Her mother (my sister) stole the name from me because it was my idea so I guess you can say that I named her! :] This little girl is amazing. There is nothing boring or bad about her, she is a work of perfection. Ever since she was a little baby, she has been a semi-angel. I say "semi" because she can be a pretty tough cookie also! When she gets angry, SHE GETS ANGRY. I guess that must be a family trait because most of the girls in my family are like that. Anyway, I find her so fantastic because she has such a great personality. She must be the most goofy, smart, sneaky 2 year-old I have every met. One day I was at my sister's house and I was extremely tired so I was laying down with my niece. When my sister came home from the laundry mat, my sister and I began to talk. When I look in the direction my niece was previously laying down at, she was gone! I didn't think of anything because she is always everywhere in the house. Something caught my eye and it was her peeking out from behind the door then I looked at her and she left and my sister was talking so I didn't pay much attention to what my niece was doing. All of a sudden, my niece comes from behind the door again, but this time I can see her whole body and what is she up to you may be wondering? This little girl must have taken my phone from underneath my pillow when I wasn't paying attention and she was standing before me with it in her hand, laughing harder than I have ever heard her laugh while I was staring at her dumbfounded. When it finally clicked, I jumped out of the bed in a split second and screamed her name and chased her into the living room. She got a head start so the little brat threw my phone across the room! For some reason, I just could not be mad at her for it. I just thought it was the cutest thing so all I could do was pick her up and tickle her until she couldn't breathe. It was hilarious and to this day I cannot help, but laugh everytime I think about that or just her in general. She's amazing and I love her to death.

FRUSTRATiON!

So, it's my senior year in high school, I'm going to be 18 soon and I'm trying to prepare myself to become an adult. Unfortunately, I don't feel like I'm being given the opportunity to. My parents make me feel so aggravated and frustrated that as soon as I step in the door, I feel like I have 100 tons weighing me down every minute that I'm there. I'm so overwhelmed with school and work that when I come home all I hear is, "Brooke, is your room clean?!" I JUST CLEANED IT YESTERDAY! LEAVE ME ALONE! The only discussions I ever have with my parents are about MY ROOM and they text me about what I want to eat for dinner. It's my stuff, if there aren't any clothes on the floor, my room is vacuumed and dusted, and its neat, how much cleaner do I have to make it?? It's just so hard to satisfy them and now I just don't want to anymore. All my life, my mom was always on top of me about my grades. If I have a C, its literally the end of the world. What makes me so mad about it is that if I see that I have a C, I bring it up without them having to tell me anything, but they never say anything about that. They say I'm so negative, but I wonder where I get it from? Ponder. They make me not even want to try in school because they annoy me so bad. They get mad that I don't open up to them, but when I do, they jump down my throat, they don't listen and when I tell them I just want to be alone, I'm being disrespectful and they don't talk to me. WHAT IS THAT SOLVING?! They always complain that I'm never home and don't spend anytime with them. I HAVE TO SPEND 6 1/2 HOURS IN SCHOOL AND THEN AN ADDITIONAL 4 1/2 HOURS AT WORK! It was them that was telling me, "Brooke, you need a job," and now that I'm home by 9 o'clock every night it's a problem! The thing that really "grinds my gears" as Peter off of the show Family Guy says, is that when I am home THEY AREN'T SPENDING TIME WITH ME EITHER! For example, last weekend I did not go out AT ALL except when it was for work and I stepped out to go to Friendly's with my friend Gina, but right after I was home. I'm always in the living room when I'm home so I'm always within reach to be conversed with and where are they when I'm watching t.v. in the living room which is 5 footsteps from their room? In their room! How do they expect me to spend time with them if I'm never home when they are and when I am, they go to their room?? And I'm always the one to blame for everything. I have an attitude problem, I'm distant, I don't talk to anyone, and it's all my fault. Like what do you want from me? I go home and I can't even sleep at night anymore, I always wake up at 3 in the morning automatically. Who knows why because I sure don't? I just want to be given the opportunity to stay out for a weekend (two days) so I can get my head together because being at home obviously does not help whatsoever and what do I get, "No, your not coming in and out as you please." I asked for ONE WEEKEND TO MYSELF! Is that really too much to ask? Sheesh! I rather just leave and be on my own and do things my way without having to rely on them for everything. I think that's the issue, they want me to rely on them for everything and I don't want to anymore. I hate asking them to go anywhere or to use the car for something as simple as going down the street to get food because I get this long speech about MY ROOM. I just cleaned it, how many times do you want me to clean it thoroughly?! EVERY DAY?! Ugh, parents can be so annoying! I'm trying to grow up and they just will not let me. I don't understand why because my sister was staying in NY at her boyfriend's house when she was my age and I can't even go to my friend's house for a weekend so I can clear my head and relax! It's so stupid. I'm leaving.

Octuplets.

During one of our group discussions, I was stressing the fact that I feel my senior project topic is not as broad as others might be. As soon as I said that, so many people began to give me ideas about what I could blog about and one of them really stood out to me. I didn't even hear about this because I haven't been up-to-date on my current events, but one of my classmates told me about a woman who just had EIGHT BABIES! Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven, but EIGHT BABIES! THAT'S INSANE! Who would have ever thought for a woman to be able to carry eight babies in her stomach for nine months?! I could only imagine what her ultrasounds must have looked like. What I think is even more insane is the fact that she already had 6 kids prior to her having 8 more. You would think only rich people would do crazy things like this because they actually have money to support 14 kids, but no. This woman is an average woman who just filed for bankruptcy and lost her home. What was she thinking?! Apparently, she took fertility drugs to get pregnant and somehow ended up with 8 kids instead of 1. All of her children are below the age of EIGHT. The six kids she already had prior to the pregnancy are 7, 6, 5, 3, and a set of twins whom are 2. CRAZY! She just recently had 6 boys and 2 girls whom were prematurely birthed, but are healthy as can be. At first, I thought this occured naturally, but to my disappointment, it wasn't. It occured due to vitro fertilization. Vitro fertilization is an assisted reproduction process. A man's sperm and the woman's egg are combined in a laboratory dish where the fertilization happens. Then the embryo that is created is placed back inside the woman where it develops naturally. Since is happened, the woman isn't receiving blessings from people, she's receiving outrages from people because the media thinks she is stupid for bringing 8 more kids into the world that she cannot support.

My future?

I have been thinking a lot lately about what I said I wanted to do with my life and I'm not so sure about it anymore. At first I wanted to go to school for Diagnostic Medical Sonography which is the ultrasounds, but then I changed my mind and decided that I wanted to go to nursing school. Now, I'm not so sure if I want to do either. Egan told me if he found out that I wasn't doing anything with myself next September that he would be pretty angry with me, but I don't know exactly what I want to do anymore. Now that it's almost time for me to go into the real world and major in something so I can get into a good career, I don't know what to major in. I don't feel like my heart is in what I thought I wanted to do anymore. I don't think that that's the path I'm supposed to go on, but I'm still clueless on which one I am supposed to go on. I'm not sure if I'm beginning to feel like this because I'm getting scared or maybe it's just because I really don't know what I want anymore. Before, my parents always told me I'm going to college period. When I got to school, that was the topic of every conversation, but now I just don't know if I wanted to go to college because I actually WANTED TO or because I'm SUPPOSED to. Everyone always made it seem as if that was the only option I had and in reality it's not. College is there to further your education and help get you to where you want to be, but what if you don't know where you want to be? What if you start school and it's your second year and you still don't know what you want to do? What if you find something you enjoy and pays well and didn't even need to go to college to do it? Would it be a waste of time and money? I'm just so confused now and I think I need to do some serious soul searching.

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I love this girl Jamie Carter. I've had the biggest crush on her since we were in 6th grade when I first met her =X I haven't ever been able to tell her face to face becuase I'm a wuss but .. I hope she'll come check out on my blog and see for herself.

Prom.

Since I was a freshman, prom was always my thing. Before I went to my first prom, I told myself that I am going to go to prom all of the 4 years that I am in high school. Little did I know that I would be attending more than four! My freshman year I went to prom with Erick Jones who was a senior. I loved that prom, it was so much fun! My sopohomore year, I went to two proms. I went to Highland's senior prom with a boy I used to work with at McDonalds and his name was Ahmad Covington. The second prom I went to that year was to Lindenwold's prom with Terrance Carter. I love him soo much :). My junior year, I went to two proms again. I went with my child-hood friend Eric Smith to his junior prom which he attended Timber Creek High School and he came to my official first prom. Now, my senior year, I only plan on going to MY PROM, NO ONE ELSES. At the beginning of the year, I wasn't looking forward to attending prom because I've been to five already, I thought this year wouldn't be very exciting because it's just another prom. I was wrong. Out of all the proms that I have been too, this year's prom is the most important one, it's the one that means the most because it will be my last one. I'm excited about it now and I found a dress that I want to wear and it is $500 (crazy right?). But, if that's how much I have to pay to wear the dress that I am officially in love with and must wear to my last prom, that is how much is going to be spent! It's my senior year and I only intend on going to one prom this year and since it's going to be my last. I'M GOING ALL OUT!




[GOING TO ADD MY PICS LATER]

Teacher for a day.

For my History mid-term, myself along with 2 other girls in my class had to be teachers. We had to teach a section out of a chapter from our History book and make our lesson stretch from the beginning of the class until the bell rang. I WOULD NEVER WANT TO BE A TEACHER! Before we started, I was extremely nervous. I was so worried because if the class begins to misbehave, we have to control the class, Coach Hanford does not intervene unless we call a time-out. Each group gets 2 time-outs. One is a 30 second time-out and the other is a 60 second time-out. Our group didn't use any of them, even though we should have. The hardest part of teaching the lesson was that students from other classes were coming in, teachers came in acting as students to mess up our lesson, IT WAS HARD! There were only two teachers in our class today: Coach Hanford and Ms. Wenzel. They weren't too bad, Coach was being a pain in the neck, but he wasn't terrible and that was a good thing because we are only permitted to kick out one teacher, but fortunately we didn't have to use that. Booshon Warrington, Jesse Nemeth, Anthony Jones, Jamil Coleman, and Devar Robinson all came into my class that period to cause a disruption. Before they entered the room, I heard them talking outside the door so I made them walk away. Unfortunately, they decided to take nerf balls from the gym and Jesse threw them at me while I was at the door trying to get them to get away.

For the most part, I was pleased with how it went. Last week when we were talking about the project, the entire class agreed to behave for each other because we are not only getting graded as teachers, but as students also. If we are playing the student role, we cannot get kicked out of the class or we get a zero and this is our MID-TERM grade. It was definately a lot of pressure on us. I felt anxiety the entire period because I couldn't stop laughing at what everyone was doing. For example, Matthew Weil came into the class and was acting like a 10 year-old. I think I would be a bad teacher because today I realized I'm very sympathetic and therefore I'm a get-over. :( (haha) I just kept letting him get away with everything when all we really had to do was kick him out because he wasn't supposed to be in the class anyway. Eventually when he got out of hand, we kicked him out and he WENT CRAZY! He began to throw about 30 papers in the air and across the room, he threw a desk, and he went to the board and erased all the notes Yacqueline wrote. It was insane! I used to think I wanted to be a teacher at one time, but after being a Senior Mentor and doing that mid-term project I've realized being a teacher is one of the professions that I want to stay far away from! I'm just relieved it's over and done with :)

Myspace.

I've had a Myspace for about 4-5 years. Crazy, right? When I first found out about it, I wasn't even interested in having one. One of my close friends at the time talked to me into making one and so I did. At first, it was very addicting. I always wanted to change my layout, put all these codes in it to make it look nice, talk to new people, and just socialize! Over time, I began to get on it everyday, all day and when Tom made it so that we could get on Myspace from our phone, I went on it EVERYDAY from there also. It's insane how addicting it was at first, but now I just think it was foolish. Because I've had one for so long and knowing so many people that has had one I learned that Myspace wasn't all that great. Myspace was supposed to be something that people could allow you to socialize and meet new people, but some people made it the opposite. It became a big topic on the news because girls were being abducted, raped, and killed. Grown men were seducing young girls portraying as a young man, and showing up to their houses and such. People like that ruin the positivity out of things and make it bad for people that weren't taking advantage. When all of those things were going on, my mom began to monitor my Myspace everyday and it was annoying. I barely put anything on it that could reveal anything important about me like where I lived, my social security #, or even my dog's name! Every time she would mention my page, it would be like someone was screeching in my ear because it was just annoying! I wasn't doing anything stupid that would put myself or anyone else in danger. Well, as I look back at it now, I don't see why Myspace was such a big deal in the first place. I still get on it, but it's not that serious anymore. I just don't feel the excitement of people sending me messages, friend requests, or commenting my page or pictures. WHO CARES ?! What I really cannot stand about Myspace is how much drama was caused of it! Relationships and friendships were ended because of comments that were left on someone else's Myspace. It was just very immature. IT'S JUST MYSPACE!

MY BFF *

Over these past few years, my life has been rough. There has been so many things that I've had to deal with that I just couldn't get through on my own. That's when *she* would come along and help me through it. This *she* I would be referring to is my BFF TY`ANA. Ty`ana and I have known each other for years and we've always been close. Like every other friends, we have our times when we become distant, but do you think that breaks our friendship? I THINK NOT! My Bff Ty is the best BFF around. She keeps all my secrets, she doesn't run her mouth, she's always there for me when she is needed. She makes me food, she does my hair, she lets me borrow her clothes, oh-em-gee there is just so much! We've went on vacations together to Florida where we met some cute guys (well they were cute to us then, who knows how they would look now). We take RIDICULOUS pictures together, we've probably made about 50 nicknames for eachother, sometimes people question our sanity. We've baked cakes together, well tried to before we started to eat all the cake batter, make a game out of it until our stomaches hurt so bad that we almost threw up! Good timesss, good timess. This all couldn't have been done, WITHOUT MY BEST FRIEND!

A Letter from the Future

Imagine that you are twenty-eight years old, and you're writing to a cherished teacher whom you haven't heard from in ten years. Tell him/her about your professional life. What do you do for a living and how did you get there? Consider the following: What schools did you attend? What special training and degrees do you have? Where do you work and what is the name of your company? What do your coworkers and boss think of you? What professional successes and awards have you enjoyed since graduating from high school.

Dear Mrs. Isme,

I know you're probably surprised that I'm writing to you because I haven't spoken to you in such a long time! I thought about you the other day and out of the all the teachers, you're the one that I felt I had a relationship with. How have you been? Are you still teaching? Well I've been doing extremely well over the past 10 years. Since graduating from high school, it's as if time just went by in the blink of an eye!

After I graduated, I attended Fordham University and majored in Pediatrics. I did that for a couple years while I interned at Montefiore Hospital in New York. I interned there about 20 hours a week then I held a job at an eye physicians office. Managing my time between school, interning, and working was a big struggle for me for awhile. I did that for about 5 years then I decided to get major in business so I went to Du Bois Business College for an additional 4 years. That was tough, but it all worked out! After I finally got my degree in pediatrics and business management, I worked at Montefiore for about 6 months and by the end of those 6 months I finally had enough money to start up my own practice. My aunt is a therapist and my cousin is a lawyer so they helped me out incredibly over these last couple months. My practice is called "Advanced Pediatrics." I set out to help families that can't afford for medical procedures, medicine, or anything they may possibly need for their children. With the help of insurance companies, we have managed to make all ends meet so everyone benefits from it without my business struggling due to lack of funds. I love it because I'm helping people that can't help themselves. Regardless of if they have a penny to their name and has a sick child, they can get treatment.

After a couple years, I want to find doctors who have degrees in medicine so hopefully we can get a practice open for adults who need medical treatment also. A lot of people I've went to Fordham University with who are currently doctors now have already told me that they would love to be a part of what I'm doing, so hopefully all will go well.

Well, I hope everything is well and I hope you write back soon! It would be great to hear from you!

Love always,

Brooke Garcia

Blog Visits.

Today I read Desiree, Brionna, Aliccia, Jamie, and Turk's blogs. What I observed about each of their blogs were very interesting. We are all different, but can relate to each other in more ways than one way.

First and foremost, I love how everyone did their blogs. I love the different colors and pictures. They make you WANT to read the blog regardless of what the topic is. Like I said before, we are all very different, but alike in many ways. For example, Des and I both feel the overwhelming effects of our senior year. The pressure is intense and sometimes very hard to handle. With that being said, Jamie's blog about her self-improvement book and how she has her anger issues is one of the results of how I get because of the pressures of my senior year. To relieve some of these issues, Aliccia and Turk's blogs give me some ideas of relief. Aliccia's urge for danger and Turk's nifty fashion sense are both productive outlets to help release stress and have fun! Aliccia enjoys staring death straight in the eye and Turk's daring personality to cause her to wear tu-tu's to school or wear a mixture of bright colors that looks GREAT together, but I would NEVER imagine myself wearing that and I admire her for her individuality. The one blog that surprised me the most was Brionna's. I never would have imagined her to be a procrastinator or to be like me and not be confident in New Year's resolutions. I feel like I can relate to her now because she always seems to be on top of everything she needs to do when I was wrong, she has her struggles just like me.

Reading my fellow classmates' blogs has truly given me a different perspective about other individuals. It's very common to judge people by what you see, hear, or how one interprets their personality and behavior. By reading their blogs it just proves that if you dig a little deeper, you may find something you never thought would be there. Like my mom always tells me because I never find anything in my house, therefore, she has to look for it, "Brooke, you never see anything that's right in front of you unless your actually LOOKING for it," then right after she says that, she hands me the object I was looking for. Guess where it would be?! Right in front of my face! Ha ha (she hates when I do that).

Anne Frank.

I chose The Diary of Anne Frank, as my self-improvement book. I find myself very ignorant to the world because I take my life for granted. I don't appreciate the life that my parents have sacrificed over to give me and I take for granted of having a roof over my head, having food in the house at all times, and getting an education. Because I am well aware of this, I think The Diary of Anne Frank, will give me a different perspective. This book went on during a terrible war, she was a 13 year-old having to hide in houses, be in the house by 8 o'clock, only go into certain stores, and certain schools because she was Jewish. I never had to go through anything near that and because of it I don't appreciate the life that has been given to me. I think by reading The Diary of Anne Frank, I will open my eyes to many more things about life and appreciate what has been given to me and how fortunate I am to live the way that I do.

LHS EXPERT.

If I could become an LHS expert in anything I would become an expert in the individual growth of students at LHS beginning from their freshmen year to their senior. I would want to do this because I find students at LHS (myself included) very weird. For example, some people the same age that have encountered similar situations mature over differences in time. Some do mature, others continue to act as though they are in middle school still. Throughout my 4 years of high school, I know seniors that are ready to go into the real world and seniors that still act as though it's their freshmen year in high school and i just do not understand WHY?! Every year when a new freshmen class comes in and I'd be talking to teachers and they'd say "You guys were like that once," I just DO NOT believe it. I know as a freshmen my class was immature, but I don't remember us acting like we didn't have any type of home training. Of course there were exceptions, but majority of the class in my opinion didn't act like wild animals. I wonder if it's that the freshmen get more and more immature and child-like looking or if it's that I'm getting more mature? I've talked to some people in school about this and they have agreed with me also so to test it out I would want to observe certain individuals from different types of social groups and watch them for four years to see how each one changes. I think I would my results would be fascinating!