Thoughts on What's Broken in our Society

I really enjoyed Seth Godin’s take on “broken” things because I can relate to his experiences of seeing something and saying “WHAT?” Personally, I’ve always questioned the placement of certain Braille characters, especially in places where I highly doubt a blind person would be. One time I even saw Braille on a sign marking a janitor’s closet.Yeah, a blind janitor would make sense. Another thing that makes little sense to me is the use of the yellow “Caution: Wet Floor” signs. Assuming that the slippery part of the floor extends farther than the sign, using more than one of those things practically turns the area into a minefield. All I see are the little yellow signs, and I have to tiptoe around them, hoping I don’t slip up.

            When it comes to modern day education, almost the entire thing seems broken to me. How many times have I been taught something and thought to myself, “Self, when am I ever going to use this?” I’m an advocate of narrowing down career choices at an earlier stage. Why do we consistently waste time learning stuff that may never pertain to us? I do understand certain aspects of learning seemingly random stuff, but I also often wonder how much time I’m wasting. I also think school is broken in the way that it has become unappealing by its redundancy. I feel that there are other ways to approach education besides the boring mess that it is now. I don’t think that school should be something that anyone should dread. More interaction and different classroom settings are things that would extend the already short attention span of the average teenager. While I am a proponent of “not fixin’ it if it ain’t broke”, school is something that should be constantly changed for the betterment of its pupils. Why settle for anything less?    

Essential Questioon

Essential Question

How has modern technology sculpted the operating room, and how will I implement it into my life in the future?

Q: Why did you select this as your essential question? As I have experienced different procedures at GSC this year, the thing that has caught my eye in each was the “super-fancy” machinery that has assisted each doctor. It’s easy to take advances in medicines for granted, and these robotic-life savers deserve credit. It’s scary to imagine a life void of the technology that allows my body to be cut into without much pain and effort on my end. Technology is always advancing and moving forward at a rapid pace, especially in the medical field, and I’m interested in what health professionals have in store for us.

Q: What excites you most about finding the answer to this essential question? The introduction of new surgical devices compares much to the anticipation of the next iPhone or virtual game system. I know over the course of my life that my body will experience much physical harm, and it’s exciting to imagine a day where breaking a leg is as painless to fix as slapping a band-aid on a cut. I look forward to seeing the ideas that people have dreamed for a much more efficient and safe future in healthcare. I’m also hoping to formulate my own ideas for a product that could change our future dramatically, whether I could realistically make it or not. The future is an exciting, and these advances are some of the reasons why.

Q: Do you feel that this question accurately reflects a desire/need that you have to find out more about this topic? As I stated, healthcare technology is constantly and upgrading. Researching all that there is in the world of health is a never ending process that will consistently lead me to new technology that will fry my thinking mind. I’m very interested in learning of the history of technology in the operating room. It will be interesting as to how it will affect my life, whether I’m the one using the power saw or the one being mutilated by the power saw. When I’m an old man, will I have my own robotic assistant to help me each day? Will doctor’s offices be outdated, and everything be available from the comfort of our homes? These are questions I hope to answer, and hope will lead me to the answer of my own essential question.

Thoughts on Modern Schooling

One of the saddest parts in a human life is the sometimes obvious wastes in natural talent and passion. Dr. Robinson made valid points on why our education system needs reformation. There are too many cases of people milling through life unhappy, yet afraid to make any radical change to their career. A lot of this has to do with the school systems way of sheltering the youth from experiencing how many different careers are out there, and how there’s more than just being an astronaut or a fry cook. Mentorship’s and other high school career programs have quickly become the leading cause for the drop in the usual “indecisive twenty-something’s” and the increase in confident, experienced, and prepared new-generation workforce.

            What would I study/pursue if I had unlimited time and resources? I would definitely take my musical interests and abilities to the next level. For over 3 years I have been dedicating late nights to learning the guitar. I have recently gotten involved in a “band” with some friends, and I enjoy it immensely. My main problems are lack of time and space to practice. If I had unlimited funds I would build a studio and new equipment and spend my days playing, writing, learning, and producing. This would be something that I would wake up super early everyday to do.

            Which has more influence, Aptitude or Attitude? This is an easy answer and goes back to what I said at the beginning. Attitude makes all the difference. Many people have the aptitude and ability, but don’t have the drive/courage to pursue what they’re good at. It’s easy for someone with aptitude to sit around and achieve nothing, but someone with the right mindset and always accomplish their goals.

             What is the purpose of someone who is going to start a massage school to annotate a book? This is the fundamental problem of school nowadays. Too much emphasis is put on learning the standard that years of schooling has brought forth and not enough of tailoring each individual student at achieving what they were born to do, even if that means being a farmer. Kids drop and flunk out of school not because they are lazy and apathetic, but because they don’t understand how what they are doing will ever help them achieve what they want to be doing. The school system needs to rid itself of the “standard”, and divulge in discovering the secret talents its pupils possess, even if this means no books get annotated.

            My mentorship has helped me tremendously on allotting my time and effort and figuring out how to compact a booked schedule to keep me from being bald from stress. I’ve learned how to communicate with professionals and schedule my time in a way that is efficient for school, work, mentorship, and of course my thriving high school social life. While some weeks are hectic, what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, and I’ve definitely seen myself mature in the three plus months I’ve been in the program. Hopefully at the end of the year I will have a much better grasp on my future, and walk into it with confidence and appreciation.

Analysis of Collegeboard Survey

            The hard part of the college-picking game is figuring out which college has which program to offer whatever it is I want at a price I can handle. The problem is that there are too few colleges in the U.S. to be nit-picky about where to go, but enough that I can find the ones that very closely suit my needs. I took the college survey on collegeboard.com, and picked my preferences to their detailed question (there were a lot that I couldn’t even be sure of my preference on). Collegeboard spat out some solid colleges in north Georgia that tailor to the future plans that I have laid out as of now.

            I’m looking heavily into North Georgia College and State University, but am also weighing my options with Kennesaw State and Georgia State. These colleges and 10 others came up as possible choices from the survey. They all offer Bachelor Degrees in nursing, and some of these are online. NGCSU’s BSN program is approved by the Georgia Board of Nursing and accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. North Georgia has roughly 5500 students, and I prefer a smaller class size. It’s located near my house, accepts HOPE scholarship while at an already reasonable entrance price. They also award undergraduates 71% of student aid through scholarships.

            NGCSU is a smaller college and doesn’t receive much national spotlight. It’s ranked at a solid #56 (southern region; calculated by school size, funding, etc…) in the USNews.com rankings, but has over the years earned the title of “military school”. After speaking with three different doctors at my mentorship, however, the school was number one on all three of their lists on where to attend for a nursing degree. They said that with the low number of nurses in the U.S., getting a BSN at North Georgia almost guarantees a job right out of the gate. Considering that I’m not attending college for the experience, this sounds right up my alley. I plan on visiting those three colleges in the near future, and hopefully making a good decision on which is the best for me.

Mentorship - The First Week

            It’s only the second month of school, and I can already feel the pressure building on me. Junior year is the big one; the one where everything comes together, gets stapled, and sent off to the college of my choice. The past week of school has consisted of an unnecessary amount of work that I have deemed “pointless and monotonous”. School, after attending for 12 years, has lost its touch. There was a point where I really enjoyed learning the new and fascinating material, but I feel, especially this year, that I’m just taking the same classes I have been since freshman year. Thankfully, my mentorship arrived just in time to pique my curiosity and untie the mental restraints that school has forced on me this year.  

            Last week was my first week at Gainesville Surgery Center. The first day was spent getting acquainted with the staff (and with over 70 doctors available it will be quite a difficult task) and getting to know how the filing system works. On just my second day I was ushered into the OR and was able to witness, up close and personal, a foot surgery to remove bunions. This is what high school has been lacking. Sitting in a desk and learning about something is nowhere near in the same league as experiencing it; the sights, smells, sounds, and just the atmosphere. From school I have been mildly interested in medicine; mildly being slightly more than anything else. Now that I have been on the “frontlines” I have found myself excited about progressing into my future and have been doing the rare task of finding a path to get to where I want to be. I’m narrowing my career search and gaining valuable experience at the same time. All the frustrations that the school year has presented has been softened by my passion that I’ve found in my mentorship.

 

~Grey

Thoughts on Money

“We do not break the bad habit of debt through earning more money, but rather we break any habit by replacing it with a better one.” This quote is true all across the spectrum of money making. It’s hard to believe that a Pro football player who makes millions is a lot worse at handling money than someone who makes just above $50,000 a year. One of the hardest things to do in life is NOT doing what you want to, such as spend the paycheck as soon as you get it. Getting into the habit of spending is a difficult, but rewarding process.

           

Being a 17 year old student looking at colleges to attend in the next year or so, the thought of “how could I afford this” is constantly nagging at the back of my mind. With college costs, gas costs, and just the costs of living in general, I HAVE to be able to handle my money in a mature, efficient way. My goal in avoiding financial trouble is to try to avoid loans, relying on banks, and other means of obtaining unearned money to fund things that I have no business buying. As Dave Ramsey stated,” The average household credit card debt has increased approximately 167% in the past 17 years”. If at all possible, pay with cash so that you can be assured that you actually have the money. I like to go by the motto, “only swipe if you gotta’”. This helps a lot in decreasing overdrafts and outragous monthly bills.

In the field that I’m mentoring in (medicine-surgery), money is usually not a problem for the employees. While most doctors and nurses make a sizeable pay each year, what really helps them is their good spending and saving habits. Having to pay for the amount of school they undertook, and the responsibility of having to ace the classes all contributed to their good habits. I view myself as someone who is good with money, and I really do enjoy making it. As far as money being an influence in my career decision making, I would say that it has very little. While worn out, the old adage “money doesn’t buy happiness” has a level of truth when deciding what to do with your life. Whatever I end up doing, I will always value my happiness over my income.

~Grey

Mentorship And My Future

            As I head into my mentorship at Gainesville Surgery Center, there are a few goals that I have set for myself to get the most out of this experience. I want to obtain a deeper understanding of what goes on behind the scenes in a medical facility, grasp the concepts of different surgeries and medicines more thoroughly, and learn how to work efficiently in such an environment. My plan to achieve these goals is to go in each day with a curiosity for something new and ask lots of questions. As of right now I’m trying to find exactly what I want to do as a career, and this mentorship is a great way of discovering what I don’t want to do, but more importantly, open the doors to what I do want to do. This mentorship will do what a high school classroom can’t, which is let me actually experience rather than imagine. If I can achieve the above goals in the time that I’m at GSC, I think that I will be able to narrow down my career path a tremendous amount and free myself from the thought of “what if I never know what I want to do?” If I can do this, then the mentorship will have been very successful in my eyes, and have a big impact on my future.

 

  

My Mission Statement

I will work hard and passionately on achieving my personal goals, and helping others with theirs.

I will pursue a life that Christ would have me lead, and let Him shape my future.

I will treat others with the respect they deserve.

I will take the road less traveled.

Thoughts on the Lapdog Communication training

            Over the past week in HMP, we have been participating in personality exercises (what type of communicator we are) and learning how to talk to others. I’ve participated in these in the past, but the Directionality and Communication training we did at Lakewood, thanks to Lapdog, really helped me get to know myself, and others, better. Naturally, I’m a shy person. When I’m around people that I’m unfamiliar with I feel too awkward to say much, and I believe it was because I haven’t thought about how to REALLY talk to someone. Natural leaders can subconsciously take the information that Lapdog gave us and apply it in their everyday speech, which is why people are attracted towards them. This is a vital ability and one that Lapdog helped us hone.

            I feel that I’ve always been able to communicate with people well enough, whether they are considerate, systematic, spirited, or direct. I’m a considerate person myself, so my conversations with people come across as caring and interested. For the most part, I’d rather listen than talk. I try to be a leader more by example than talk. At school I’ve been able to be more patient around other spirited or considerate people, because Lapdog showed that these groups require patience, and when they receive it they are much happier.

            For me, my biggest fear in myself is failure. A lot of times I won’t do some sort of event because I’m afraid of the consequences of not being able to complete it. I like to be trusting in others, as sometimes I’m afraid that if they trust me I will let them down. A big personal project I’m working on is pushing myself to do things that risk success and failure. Speaking to people that I don’t know more often is a task of such magnitude, and one that is tough for me. I participated in Lapdog just in time to assist with the project, and they’ve helped me understand myself and others on a more personal level, and have allowed me to leave my comfort zone the past week or so.

            The Lapdog training itself was really fun for more reasons than just missing school. I was able to get to know some of the other people from different schools better, breaking down that invisible divide that’s been there in HMP for a couple of weeks. We also played some really fun, challenging games that I’ve never heard of before. Overall, the training wasn’t another personality seminar, but an engaging experience that I definitely benefited from.

Thoughts on "...Know Your Mentor" and "Opportunity..." podcast

   I think that both the podcast and the "...Know Your Mentor" worksheet held the keys to success in the workplace. All of the tips were very well thought out and important in making it in the real world and surviving. In my experience with meeting future employers/bosses/mentors, the first impression makes all the difference. The worksheet listed some possible questions to be able to answer when first meeting someone. This is very important as being able to counteract confidently when first meeting someone leaves them with a solid impression of yourself.

   The podcast makes a good point on dressing nicely the first time you meet with your mentor. When someone sees that you made the effort and were conscientious enough to dress up for their job, they can already see that you're serious about whatever task you want to partake in. I've found that another biggie is to be the best listener possible. The podcast calls it "twenty percent talking and eighty percent listening". By listening intently to your mentor, you might learn something new, and you let them know that what they have to say is more important that what you have to say. Being new to a workplace means that you're a subordinate, and by accepting this and assuming the role, you will earn the respect of your higher up and a permanent position in the workplace.

    Overall, it's important to just go into a mentorship with lots of enthusiasm and energy. It takes stress off of your mentor when they see that they don't have to babysit and entertain you, and that you willingly accept any project they give you. If you can do the above things proficiently, then the mentorship will be an enjoyable, rewarding experience!

~Grey