Nerves are Kickin'

After Thursday, I've been waking up a little shaky, and anxiety fills my body. As many of you know, Thursday was the sample presentation for us WISE students. As students, parents, and friends piled into York Lecture Hall, the stage was set. The WISE teachers began to explain how the process works, and broke it down so we could all understand it. I really didn't have a clue how this was going to go, and how Carrie's presentation was going to be delivered. I was extremely surprised of how well everything went, besides having no previous knowledge of her topic, her presentation was very well done. She was mixing up the crowd, and cracking jokes left and right. As I was leaving, I could hear the chatter of fellow classmates talking about how much work they still have left to do....Not even going to lie, I am in the same boat as those people. Carrie definitely set the bar very high for the upcoming presentations, and gave a lot of people massive amounts of nerves. After watching her presentation, it gave me more of an idea of how my presentation would be planned out. Of course I was taking notes, and wrote down the things I liked in Carrie's work, especially the audience participation. From now on, I've been trying to ignore the sunshine, and buckle down with my WISE work...

....forgot something

Oh and tonight Carrie will be presenting her sample presentation, and I am looking forward to this greatly. It will give me a great idea of what I need to work on, and complete for my presentation. I believe Mrs.Bryant will be there, and helping me take notes. I'm very interested on how this process will work, we've been hearing about it all year, but it will be nice to finally experience part of it. I will be back later to reflect!!!!!!!

For now, I will be leaving you with a nice picture that describes how I'm feeling at the moment.

meow!

Busy Week

 This week has been hectic with writing papers, researching, and trying to attend the last sporting events at Ithaca High School for the spring season. Deadlines are approaching, and yes I am flipping out......Blogging is probably a good outlet for me to lay it all out there though, which I plan to do.

On Wednesday I had a mentor meeting with Janie in her office. Tuesday night I had worked up a rough outline of how I want my presentation to go, and some of the minor details I will be sharing with my audience. This consisted of first introducing what I set out to accomplish, then giving a detailed explanation of the profession of Athletic Training. Although this particular blog post I wasn't planning on explaining my whole outline, I will promise to do so on the next one. What I really wanted to say about my mentor meeting was that Mrs. Bryant was extremely helpful in adding specifics that I could add to my presentation. She thought what I had produced could make for an excellent final project. The only thing I'm worried about is making it last 30 minutes, which I'm sure many other people are worried about. I plan on running through my material and testing it out, once I make the powerpoint presentation.


Here we goooo, yesterday I zoomed down to Kim's office around 540 to see the pre-game preparation for the Boys Lacrosse game. This was a big game for them, being their sectional game, it was do or die. Before the game, players trickled in wanting specific tape jobs. These ranged from ankle (high ankle), wrist, fingers, and knees. We then made our way onto the field about an hour early, of course ridin' durty in the golf cart. We then set up water bottles filled with water, and gatorade to fill the benches. After about 20 minutes of warming up, Kim and I took refuge by standing on the bleachers right behind the team the entire game. Now this was new to me, having a benchside view for a Lacrosse game was quite a thrill. It really gives you an up close personal perspective into coaches, and of course the players. As far as injuries go, some players needed more tape for their sticks, and many needed re-taping for their ankle for more support. Kim had a handy fanny-pack whcih she would furiously whip out whenever a player asked. The team was extremely respectful to her, and she mentioned this particular team was a pleasure to work with. Their was a sign of blood when I player sprinted over to Kim for help. He had cut his knee open and was dripping blood, Kim first wrapped the wound up with pre-wrap and tape, to stop the bleeding. She next cleaned the blood with a guaze pad, and off the player went back into the game. This all happened within 7 minutes. The game was a tight one, going back, and forth all night. Finally, the pulled it off with a big W (win), and celebrated to this fashion. After the game we drove back to the training room, and unloaded the cart and called it a night.
These live experiences really give me a great idea of what I will be getting into next year, and so far, I love it.
Kim said the very last sporting event will be next Tuesday, a baseball game, which she said are very easy....I will surely be in attendance, and as always, takin' notes.

Missing in Action....

Today I was feeling a little bit under the weather, and decided to take it easy this morning, and not go to WISE class. Yes, I know Ms. G I'm very very sorry. Although I did do the good student thing, and went to find Ms.G when I came into school. She told me that during class we talked about Student Evaluation spots, and talked about the sample presentation. She also mentioned that we were assigned to write about our WISE experiences by addressing juniors. The prompt for this assignment is "What I know now, that I didn't know in September..."

Coming into WISE my Senior year I was expecting a nice easy ride through high school. What I have come to learn is that it takes a lot more effort than you'd think. Of course, I knew I had to do a good amount of work in the first semester, and continue through individually with a project in the second semester. But as time passed I began to worry about my actions. As the first semester whizzed by with reading books, writing essays, and keeping on tab with my basketball season, the first semester was over before I knew it. Now onto the more difficult time, focusing during the second half of the year. One thing you have to realize is how you're gonna feel around April and May, and that is lazy. Senioritis does play a large factor, but it will arise in any classes you take. On the bright side I do really enjoy my time in WISE. The people were good to be around, and both teachers are helpful, informative, and most of all cool! The material we speed through in the beginning of the year will really pay off in the future. As for the project, it helps you build as a learner, and also as a person. It makes you really focus in on a goal that you set from the beginning of the year, and hold it until the end. It's a great learning experience for yourself, and will help you get a good start off in college.

Research-Mania...and film comments

Today my Mom and I looked over the film I had gotten from interviews with Katie and Bernie. Before I had watched the tape, I was extremely nervous with the sound being too low. After watching, we had come to find that the volume was hearable, and I could raise it if I absolutely needed to. I have some great footage, which is surely going to be used. I brainstormed out an outline for my presentation which basically will break down Katie's injury, and each section will be kicked off with a video piece of Bernie or Katie explaining each topic of rehabilitation.

In the footage I captured, Katie is starting her rehabilitation process out slowly by doing resistance band exercises. Below is a picture and some information regarding this topic. ENJOY!'

Basic Info
-Have a unique property known as "variable elastic potential". Meaning the more you stretch, the more resistance is applied.
-Can be used with stronger bands, for strengthening.
-Makes for better range of motion when injured, used with an isometric training strategy. Helps flexability

Speed and Quickness
-Expose coordination weakness, and muscle weakness.
-You will see this happening when your muscles begin to shake, showing that the muscle wants to return to a un-contracted state.
-When the muscle starts to shake, even slightly, while holding the position, the changing length of the band alters the bands resistance level and the new resistance level is sent back to the muscle. The muscle then attempts to quickly react and adjust to the constantly changing force provided by the band.




-Each color resembles a different thickness, for each level of intensity depending on your stage of fitness or rehabilitation.
-Often found in physical therapy areas, and athletic training

Trackside Chillin

Yesterday as I mentioned I went up to Cornell after school and video taped Katie and Bernie. It went really well!!!!! Bernie explained the details of Katie's injury, and what was done immediately after the injury, and the rehab process. I even video taped some new exercises Katie was learning to do, with explanations at the same time. I am very thankful for their help, and I'm hoping the film came out okay, which I will be looking at this weekend...


Today their was a STAC track meet at IHS track, and I met Kim in the training room after school. We embarked on our journey out in the rain, feeling miserable and tired. We set up our spot in a prime spot to watch high jumpers, and had a great view of the track. It was mostly pretty slow, their was occasional people wanting ice, to be stretched, or taped. Kim had to attend to some athletes who had gotten injured during their race. Injuries during this time included head, ankle, and shoulder sprains. As for me, I held down the fort with Kim and gave out my first bandaid and pre-wrap!!!! Most of the coaches and athletes thought I was a real trainer, so that was nice to hear. Although I didn't do anything I wasn't certified to do, don't worry! Kim talked me through many injuries that she's had in the past week, and explained injuries to me as athletes came for check-ups. Kim, as usual was oh so very helpful and continued to offer me a spot in the  cart for the next sporting event. Games are winding down as seasons end, but their is a boys lacrosse game next week which are assured to be very entertaining.

Class.....a little late & A Big Day Ahead of Me!

So on Monday, we all woke up to a very gloomy day, and nearly rolled out of bed into WISE class. We went over upcoming events, and of course the matters of business for the day. On Monday, it was making sure your presentation date was perfect, and had no problems regarding the place and time. Then we had to sign up for student evaluations,which I'm extremely excited to witness. I think it's a great idea for fellow students to support, and help critique other students work. We next shared our creative projects, and I wasn't surprised to see that half of the class did a playlist, as did I. I enjoyed doing this project because it gave me a time to reflect on what I have done so far, in music form. I mostly concentrated on the individual feelings I have been experiencing in relation to my project, such as time moving quickly, feeling stressed, and having everything be perfect.


Now onto the good stuff.....(not that the other stuff wasn't good)....
Today I will be heading up to the Cornell Athletic Training room to interview Bernie DePalma, (head trainer), and Katie Peterson (fellow student/teammate/friend) on tape. I'm pretty excited to get this done, because I've been planning it for quite some time now. I feel as though having this incoorporated into my presentation will add a nice touch, and great information.
Oh and Mentor Meeting Wednesday is upon us...Can't wait!!!!