My First Day

My first day at Canterbury was today! :D I think I did amazing and I absolutely loved it!

Well first things first I only got lost once, so that’s always good. I only had to ask two people where I needed to be.

I went in, signed in and met with Kathy. She brought me to the room where I got the cart that I needed to bring the books, CD's and puzzles around to all of the residents of the assisted living portion of the community.

I went to every room but twelve or so residents were out to picnic for lunch. A few of the residents were busy doing other things. But the majority were there and allowed me into their rooms. Only one man took out a CD.

One lady let me in and we talked for twenty minuets about her family. Sadly she's blind and is forming Dementia. This is why she couldn't check out any books but she was glad I could come in to talk with her and she said shed be looking forward to me coming next week.

The reason most of the residents didn’t take out books is because they aren’t used to me coming to their homes. I'm hoping once I start coming regularly they will begin to open up and take out books they’d like.

After this adventure I went to the bingo hall and helped mark off some peoples bingo cards and then helped with cleaning up. I met a very sweet older lady during this too. This is the conclusion of my first day.

I wont be able to say any names of the people I have met living in the community because of the HIPPA law. This law states that anyone working in the medical field can not divulge medical information about any patient. When I speak of residents I will only write pronouns in place of their names.

--Melanie Lynn

TB Test

Monday afternoon I had to go back into Canterbury to get my TB test results. The TB test was just a little shot they gave me in the arm during my interview. Everyone who works in health care has to get a annual TB test, so its a common occurence.

TB is short for Tuberculosis. If you have this disease your arm will form a rash showing that your body is having an immune response to the shot after two days. No suprize that I passed with flying colors:)

It only took a second for the nurse to glance at me arm and record my results. But it took me about seven minuts to actualy find the right room and four to find my way back to the parking lot. But everyone was very patient and kind getting me to the right place.

Getting lost just to get my test checked made me even more nurvous! I was very worried that I was going to get lost during my first day.

My Interview

My interview at Canterbury on the Lake went so much better then I expected.

So, I went in and the lobby was beautiful, with all old fashioned furniture that I later came to find out has all been donated by the inhabitants of the community. I think the lobby intimidated me even more then I originally was walking in.

I filled out my application and then met with Kathy Krause. She was a very nice lady full of enthusiasm for her job. When I gave her my resume she seemed happily surprised to see I had one. She simply asked me about my hobbies and what times I could come in. Before I knew it she was assigning me three different jobs that I will be performing two days a week.

On Tuesdays I will go in at 1:00pm and go to every room to offer the residents books, DVD’s, CD‘s, and different types of puzzle games that they can check out for a week. After I go to every room on the first two levels I then go to the bingo hall to help out. This should take anywhere from two hours to four. On Thursdays I will go in at 9:00am, and on these days I will be escorting the elderly to their hair appointments at the salon that they have in the community.

Kathy then gave me a tour of the entire community and its much bigger then I expected. Inside they have three different levels of living. These consist of 74 independent living apartments, 39 assisted living apartments, and a 140 bed health care facility. It also contains a chapel, hair salon, dentists/hand, foot, ect. doctors office, three restaurant type food serving areas, and recreational rooms. So as you can imagine its going to take some time to remember where everything is.

I'm very excited for this opportunity and cannot wait to begin my work! I feel so far the most important thing to remember is that I’m in their house. This is where they live, so being polite and energetic is going to be the most important thing during this experience.

--Melanie:)

Searching for an opportunity

In order to begin my project I needed to find different charities that would be willing to accept me as a volunteer.

I started with the internet and found some volunteer opportunities that interested me like: Hugs for humanity, and the Humane society. So I refined my search to helping people. The reason for this is because I want to see what my time, mind and out look on life can do to help others. I don’t want to collect money I just want to understand what some human interaction can do to put a smile on someone’s face. I believe the best way to cheer yourself up is to make some one else smile. Can I truly inspire others? Will people listen to my ideas learn from them, even if they don’t agree with them? Will they give me a chance?

So I e-mailed hugs for humanity but sadly they never got back to me. After two e-mails and a couple of days wait I decided to move on. This was only a minor set back that was not to be taken personally. So I asked my friends and family what else I could do. My friend Julie told me that she spent her time at Canterbury on the Lake. She gave me a representatives e-mail and her recommendation of me to the organization.

I e-mailed Kathy Krause and she e-mailed me back the next day to tell me about the living facility for the elderly and that she would like to interview me for a chance to spend my time there. When I called she was out of town so I left a message. Afterwards she called back and we set up an interview for Friday, June 25th at 10:45am.

I’m very excited about this opportunity and the chance to experience my first interview. I’m also pretty nervous but I'm sure I’ll do fine. I certainly appreciate this opportunity and I think she'll see that when we meet tomorrow. Between my professional look and attitude and prepared resume hot off the printer I feel ready to wake up and get going (before I’ve even fallen asleep).

Wish me luck! I'll be sure to tweet about the experience tomorrow!

-Love Melanie Lynn Caples

My Idea

Do you feel like your a good person? I've debated this question internally and its given me a bit of turmoil that I want to work out.

Life is simply a series of decisions we all make every second of the day. Our brain is constantly processing information that helps us make these choices. Even for the simplest activities like deciding were to go out to dinner. We evaluate the risks and benefits in hopes of making the right decision. Many times this is done subconsciously.

I believe I'm a good person as I'm sure most do. I avoid poor decisions and try not to let my emotions be taken into too much account. The thing is i feel regreatful that i haven't been the kind and generous person outwardly that i know i am. I feel as though i do the right thing and work through the problems i have with others and myself fairly well. Although many would say I am a good person at heart is this enough?

I've had many ideas for my summer project, from getting in shape to learning of others religions. But, with some thought i think i've finally come up with a great idea that will not only put a smile on my face but hopefully the faces of the many people whose lives i've touched through the course of the summer. I have really wanted to go out and donate my time in a creative and productive way with no money introduced into the equation. So, charity it is!

I'm doing this I hopes that the reactions I create from this decision will be of great help to others. I will not be collectiong money or buying toys for children. Instead I will be sharing my time, creativity and enthusiasm for life with others. This is all in hopes of becoming a better person and finding a type of peace the I feel i've been missing. Not to mention giving to toughs who truly need and are thankful for what I have to give. I feel this process will be a great success and I'm truly hoping to change lives including my own:)

"We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give" --Winston Churchill