Mulch Delivery

In March, a number of my classmates and I delivered the mulch that was sold in the fundraiser for the All Night Grad Party.  Originally, I was suppose to work from 7:30 to 8:30 and then from 10:00 to 2:00.  However, when we showed up, we were missing a number of people who were signed up to help.  So, I ended up working from 7:30 to 2:00 lifting over a hundred more bags of mulch than I had planned on.  My classmates and I worked well together to get the mulch delivered both time and labor efficiently.  We had to load the mulch bags into Uhaul trucks, and the follow the trucks so that we could unload them at each of the destinations.  We also had to load mulch into the cars of people who hadn't ordered many bags and could pick them up by themselves.  I also worked to recruit many other people throughout the day since we were lacking people who had originally signed up.  In the beginning of the day, lifting the bag of mulch was very difficult and I had to try to find a more efficient way of carrying them.  Throughout the day, it seemed to become easier as I learned easier ways to carry them. 

Mulch Flyers

In the beginning of March, me and a couple of my fellow seniors, woke up early on a Saturday morning to go out in the freezing cold and walk around the Lake Barcroft community handing out fliers for the mulch sale.  Even though my fingers began to go numb, we continued to hand out fliers for around three hours.  Judging by the insane amount of bags of mulch sold this year, we helped a significant amount in the fundraising for the All Night Grad Party. 

JEB Stuart Writing Center

I think that the JEB Stuart Writing Center is a good idea, except we may have been the wrong group to start it with.  I think that if we were actually going to have had a chance to run it, instead of just planning it, we would have gotten much more into it.  That would have made it easier to wake up on the PLC mornings.  I do think that the Writing Center has the potential of helping the writing abilities of many students at JEB Stuart.  I think the main task will be convincing kids that they should go.  I think that the different groups we were split into, like scheduling, can help with this issue, though.  In scheduling, we worked on different plans for how to distribute times that tutors would work at the writing center, and students would go to the writing center for help.  We also had to think of ways to convince teachers that the writing center was a good place to send their students.  We came up with a plan to have passes for students to go to the writing center, and for tutors to go work at the writing centers.  We also planned on how to set up a schedule, with a group of people alternating through the different Raider Times to work at the writing centers and make it equal.  I think that this helped me developed good planning skills because we had to anticipate different possible outcomes and problems with the scheduling and try to prevent them. 

Training Mickey

At the stables that I work at, I give horseback riding lessons to children of all ages.  We are constantly getting new horses to try and improve the programs.  However, not all of the horses are always trained perfectly for kids.  Because of the economy, a majority of the horses that we get are green(inexperienced) when we first get them.  One example is a gelding we got, Mickey.  He was fairly young, and while kids could ride him, he was not very responsive and did not know how to jump.  I know this sounds dumb, obviously he could get over obstacles if he needed to, but he needed to be trained to make it "pretty".  In my spare time(haha) I took up this challenge.  I worked with him for hours to make him more responsive.  Along the way, I learned ways in which training him worked, and ways in which they did not.  I think that my knowledge of horse training was greatly improved by learning from my mistakes and finding the ways in which Mickey responded best.  There were many times along the way where I wanted to scream and give up, working with a 1,5000 lb animal with a mind of his own can be frustrating and painful at times.  However, along the road, I was able to see a vast improvement in Mickey and myself.  I am very proud of the progress that he has made and he is now a much better horse for the kids. 

Planning for Relay for Life

Relay for Life is an all night fundraising event at Thomas Jefferson High School.  This year, it is on May 21, and I plan to go.  For the relay, you assemble a team and throughout the night, someone from each team has to be constantly walking around the track.  This all night event raises money for cancer.  Since cancer is an issue that is close to me, I plan to rally as many teammates as possible to attend this event and help fight for the cure for cancer.

Working With Aboriginal Art

In my IB Visual Arts class, we have to create concepts behind our art that is suppose to have a unique style.  Throughout the two years, we are suppose to come up with a theme so that our IB Art Shows have something that connects the different pieces in the show.  Since I have worked with horses since I was very young, I have developed a love for them and I have also drawn them for a while.  My drawings were never very realistic.  In the fall of my junior year, when IB Visual Arts started, I started working on improving my drawing skills and working on the horses.  Since my dad is Australian and all of his family lives in Australia, we travel there every other year.  In my traveling, I have developed an interest in Aboriginal Dot Paintings.  I think that the techniques are very interesting, especially with all of the symbolism.  When I began thinking about what kind of theme that I wanted for my IB Art Show, I thought that I wanted something that represented me and things that I was interested in.  I decided to try and create a new form of art and combine my love of horses with my interest in Aboriginal Art.  In doing this, I came up with a unique theme.  I spent two years trying to improve my skills in this new, unique form of art, and I am happy with the way my IB Art Show turned out, even though it was incredibly exhausting to put together. 

Piano Recital in Australia

My dad is Australian and his family lives in Australia.  So we go visit every other year.  The last time we went was for the holidays in 2009.  My grandma lives in a senior citizen center there, so I decided to give a recital for her and her friends. Since it was in Australia, I learned new, Australian pieces like: Waltzing Matilda, I Still Call Australia Home, and I Am Australian.  These were a bit of a challenge because they had a different melody than what I was use to playing.  However, I practiced my usual hour a day to prepare for this recital, and I think that it turned out well. I was really happy to do this recital, especially since I do not get to see my grandma very often.  I know that it made her very happy and her friends said that they liked it, as well. 

Skiing and Learning to Snowboard

During January of 2011, my family and a couple of other families went to Massanutten Resort for a four-day weekend trip.  For the first two days, I skied, which I have been doing since I was little.  I went down some black diamond slopes, and while I know that I have room for improvement with carving to slow down on the mountain, I wanted to try something else.  So the next day, I decided to try snowboarding, which I have never done before.  I decided to take a class so that I would have some idea of what I was suppose to do, since snowboarding and skiing are so different.  After and hour long class, and a number of falls, I decided to continue to try by myself.  For the next two days, I continued snowboarding.  I think that the hardest thing is getting off of the lift.  I may have gotten off without falling about 1/10 of the time.  Besides that, I think I got the hang of snowboarding pretty well.  By the end of the weekend I had even managed to go down some of the blue slopes.  Also, I worked with my brother and dad to help us all get the hang of snowboarding.  We gave each other tips and suggestions on what we thought we were doing wrong.  I am excited for next winter so that I can work on snowboarding even more.  

Medical House Call Program

The Washington Hospital runs a program called the Medical House Call Program.  Through this program, they recruit volunteers to deliver Thanksgiving dinners to housebound patients.  I recruited my family to participate in this event with me.  We drove around different parts of Washington, DC and delivered Thanksgiving dinners.  Many of the patients were not able to get out of bed because they were either too sick or too old.  Many of them had house keepers or living assistants that answered the door and helped them.  I have to admit that when some of the house keepers asked us to go talk to the patients, I felt uncomfortable.  I was going into houses I did not know to see people that I did not know.  However, I knew that it was for a good cause and these people just wanted to thank us for trying to help them enjoy their Thanksgivings.  I feel good that I was able to help them have happier (and yummier) Thanksgivings.

Fannie Mae Help the Homeless Walk

I participated in the Fannie Mae Help the Homeless 5K walk in Washington, DC.  I will admit that when the day of the walk came around, I was not too excited about it.  Since it was in December, it was freezing cold outside and we had to be at the mall in Washington, DC, by 7:30 AM.  Frozen and tired is not my ideal way of spending a Saturday morning.  However, I knew that the walk would raise money for the homeless in DC and I believe that it is a very good cause.  Hopefully the money will go towards shelter, food, and clothes for the homeless.  I also think that since I was uncomfortable just during the 45 minutes or so of the walk, I developed a stronger sympathy for the homeless, who have to deal with these elements their whole lives.  I hope that my participation in the walk will help better the lives of the homeless.

Intern For Blacksmith/ Horse Trainer

During the Summer of 2010, I interned for a Horse Trainer and Blacksmith, Jack Earhart.  My goal is to become and Equine Veterinarian and to do so, I need as much experience working with horses as I can possibly get.  While I wouldn't be doing much Blacksmith work as a vet, I still think that it was an interesting experience to have.  Jack is the blacksmith for the horses at the stables that I teach horseback riding lessons at.  First, I had to talk to him about interning with him for part of the summer.  He said that he agreed because he could tell that I was genuinely interested in learning as much as I possibly could about horses.  My time interning with him was very exhausting.  Since most of the places we went were over an hour away, and there was a lot to be done, I had to be out on the road by 6 AM.  We usually did not finish for the day until between 6 and 7 PM, either.  It was especially exhausting because it was in the summer heat.  Despite the fact that I was constantly drenched in sweat, I loved the experience.  I went to different racetracks, horse training facilities, and privately owned farms.  I learned about different kinds of horseshoes and all about the blacksmith trade and process.  I was even able to pull a shoe (take a horseshoe off), which is a lot harder than it looks.  I also learned a great deal about horse behavior and the training side of the business.  I was often working with very expensive and very strong race horses, so it was a challenge to learn the different techniques that are used on such powerful athletes.  Jack also taught me about training barrel racing horses.  I learned how to teach the horses different skills that they need to know for barrel racing, as well.  I know that all of these skills will be very useful in my future of working to become an Equine Veterinarian. 

JEB Stuart Swim Team

I had been on the swim team at my summer pool, Sleepy Hollow Bath and Racquet, for five years and then had to stop because I began working at a summer camp and the times were conflicting.  I was also unable to swim for the JEB Stuart Swim team my freshman through junior years because I was working.  However, my senior year I decided that I missed swimming too much and I decided to join the swim team.  Although it was difficult at times, I am very glad I did.  Breaststroke is by far my worst stroke to swim, but my coaches decided that because I would need to swim the 100 meter breaststroke because of the placement of others in the swim meets.  This was definitely a challenge, and in the beginning it was an embarrassing one.  Throughout the swim season, I continued to work hard on my breaststroke and I eventually began to drop seconds in the meets and improved.  Although I would definitely not say that I am good at swimming breaststroke now, I am much better than I was.  In summer swim, the longest distance that you race is 50 meters.  In winter swim, the distances are much longer.  My coaches decided that I had to swim the 500 meter freestyle race.  I will admit, I was very scared at first.  The first time I swam the race, I kept a pretty slow pace, my only goal was to finish without drowning.  Thankfully, I did.  The next time that I swam the race, I upped my pace a bit and dropped about 15 seconds on my time.  I continued to work on the race and my pacing and by the end of the season I had dropped around a minute and 30 seconds on the race.  While my time still may not be very impressive to the people who swim constantly, it was a huge improvement for me and I feel that I definitely developed new skills at swimming longer distances. 

Donating 11 Inches of Hair

Seeing the effects of cancer first hand inspired me to donate 11 inches of hair to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths cause, which makes wigs for women with cancer.  I will admit that I was very nervous about cutting off that much hair at first, but I knew that it was something I wanted to do and I am very glad that I did it.  The feeling that came from knowing that my hair was going to provide a wig for someone going through what my mom went through, and that I able to help someone in the difficult journey, was amazing.  I know that somewhere, someone will be thankful for the wig that my hair was able to help make.  

Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

When I was in the seventh grade, my mom was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, which is a cancer of the blood.  There is currently no cure for Multiple Myeloma, but there are drugs to try and control the cancer.  It’s crazy how far away issues like this can seem until they come home.  She has gone through many different treatments and some have worked better than others.  She used to have to go into the doctor multiple times a week to receive different drugs and I would often go with her for support.  Perhaps the worst time was during my sophomore year when she was in the hospital for two weeks because of the cancer.  Since there is no cure for Multiple Myeloma, there has not yet been a resolution, but we continue to raise money to work to find a cure.  The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation hosts a Race for Research 5K walk/run on a Sunday in November every year.  My family and I have participated in this event for the past five years.  One year, I was the team captain for my team and we rose over $20,000 for research.  I did this by writing to family members and friends and explaining the cause and how I want to help find a cure for this cancer so nobody, including my mom, has to suffer from it.  I have also helped recruit over 120 team members each year for our team.  For the past four years, our team "G'Day Jill, Goodbye MM" has been the largest team at the Washington, DC Race for Research by about 30 people.  

Piano Practice

Ever since I was in first grade, I have played the piano.  Currently, I practice for an hour every day to prepare for recitals.  I give both group and solo recitals three to four times a year.  The solo recitals are usually between 45 minutes and an hour long.  I have to admit that practicing is not my favorite thing to do.  I can usually think of many other things that I would rather be doing than practicing.  However, I have found that the result of practicing is very rewarding.  When I play for groups at senior citizen centers or groups in the community or even just family and friends, I can feel my practicing paying off.  I think that the benefits really exposed themselves to me when I was preforming at a senior citizen center one time.  At first, I just could not wait for the recital to be over with so that I could go out and do other things, but when I started playing a piece called, The Girl from Ipanema, the senior citizens began singing along, without any prompting.  They were all laughing and seemed to have a good time.  That is when I began to really think about the benefits of playing the piano.  Yes, it took a lot of time away from other things that I may rather be doing, but I realized that it was worth it.  Since I mainly play at senior citizen centers, the people I usually play for do not usually have the chance to go out and do things that they may want to do.  Most are stuck in the centers.  One lady even came up to me after one of the performances and told me that she had been looking forward to it all week.  I remember thinking how sad it was that someone only had an hour of someone playing the piano to look forward to all week.  Even though I still do not enjoy the hour I spend practicing a day, I know that it is worth it to help make someone's week more enjoyable.  I am constantly branching out and learning new pieces to play.  I have found that I have a strength for jazz pieces and so I began playing many jazz pieces like: New Orleans Blues and Jazz Suite.  I also have found that classical pieces are harder for me because I am not very good at really counting everything and making sure that it is on the correct beat.  So I challenged myself to play Mozart's Sonata in A Minor, which is a piece that can go on for around half an hour.  I have been working with this piece for close to a year now, and while I may want to tear it up sometimes, when I think about it, I know that I have made a lot of improvement and it really has come along well.  My counting skills have gotten better and I know that that also helps me with my other pieces.