1/29-Rascal Flatts

New Vocabulary: Deal - Facebook application in which you can coordinate ticket giveaways while building anticipation for the show.

Saturday night was my second show night, and my first country show. I gave a special thanks to my sponsor for letting me work the show considering I wasn't assigned to advertise it. The show consisted of two opening acts and the Rascal Flatts. When I entered the show (flashing my intern badge to every employee) I noticed the Rascal Flatts patrons contrasted greatly with those at Ben Folds. Everyone I saw was wearing flannels, boots, cowboy hats and American flag t-shirts. During Chris Young, the first performance, me, Adam, and Anne proceeded to survey those who had already found their seat. Although It was slightly awkward (as usual), It was interesting to see the difference in artists requested from Ben Folds. Instead of bands like Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, and Matt and Kim, it was more like Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood. It was a good example of the diversity of different target markets.
Next me and Anne escorted a photographer from the Buzz to the floor of Luke Bryan's first two songs. The floor was pretty intense because the music was incredibly loud and everyone was dancing. I had fun standing to the side while my entire body was pounding from the sub woofer. After we guided the photographer back up to the marketing office I simply sat down and enjoyed the rest of Luke Bryan and the first half of Rascal Flatts. Overall the concert was a great experience for me because it showed the diversity of shows that come through Assembly Hall.

1/24/2011

Today I sat in with a client whose husband had just died. Before his death, her husband had investments in some stock which she now wanted to sell to make a profit. She also wanted to revise her will and replace one of her brothers with her sister-in-law. If she died and her brother died she wanted all of her assets to go to her other brother's wife instead of her brother, assuming they were still married on the date of his death.
After the woman left, I created a memo including all of the information she had told us in the meeting that would be relevant to the will when we revised it. I got her will out of the will vault and made the necessary changes that she had said she wanted. I was a little nervous to show Kent because I know how crucial the wording of a will can be, and that if it is not worded exactly right it can be very easily misinterpreted. He looked it over when I was finished and seemed please with my work.
After that I went back to typing up the answers to interrogatories.. BORING. At least I'm almost done though. Well that's all for now. Adios :)

Just keep writing.

Playwriting 411 has been wonderful! Monday we read our scripts that we wrote over the weekend and did a class critique. Because the class is so small, it's easy to feel comfortable enough to share your work (even if you think it's far from your best). Then Dr. Miller passed out newspapers. Everyone had to take two sections, and find an article from each that you could combine and use for inspiration as a plot. We worked for about ten minutes and then we wrote our ideas, and a potential title on the board, and we discussed the pros, cons, staging ability, and potential for each of the ideas. Then we each wrote a few lines between our potential protagonist and antagonists. Our assignment for Wednesday was to come back with three ideas for plays, and names for protagonists and antagonists. If we wanted, our newspaper inspired piece could be one of them. Dr. Miller shared his class motto "It doesn't matter if whatever you think of is brilliant, that's nice, but what's important is that you're thinking. A lot of times artistic excellence comes from complete and utter bull. No one has to know." It's actually a nice little thought to keep in the back of your head. It really does help to just write everything down and then work later to sift through and pick out what's worthwhile. Wednesday we brought in our ideas. We shared them, and all three of us kept our newspaper ideas, but we all had modifications. We did a question-answer type discussion about each potential play, then we picked our favorite and worked through a few writing exercises to help develop our ideas. It was nice, and fairly helpful. For Monday, we need a 3-10 page script.

1/24/11

My sponsor said that this patient’s injury was the worst knee injury I would ever see, because he had tor his ACL, PCL, and had very bad vain damage. So we did balance work outs, leg press and standing hip exercises.(D) I felt really bad for this patient because he can’t play football ever again.(F) I realized that you really have to be very careful because you can really hurt yourself when playing a sport.

1/24/11

Today I made a spreadsheet organizing the class of offence for different types of Aggravated Assault. The categories I used were victim type (occupation), the weapon used, location of assault, as well as the sentencing given. Basically it was like a game of clue; I had to piece together clues to make "Ms. Scarlett in the library with the candlestick." I was a tedious and exhausting task because some idiotic legislator decided to make two Aggravated Assault statutes instead of just editing the first one. I made the spread sheet so Julia could discuss some of the new additions in the Local Government/Legislator meeting we would be attending later that day.
If you're interested in seeing the outcome take a look below:


We left the office around 1:30 and went over to the Champaign Public Library for the meeting. I was really intimidated because 1.) I was the only one under 30 2.) I had absolutely no idea what topics we would be covering, and if I was supposed to participate in the discussion 3.) just about everyone there was either a state representative, senator, or Mayor. I was just a little inexperienced high school intern....and Julia expected me to do what?

Turns out she expected me to be her personal note taker. So I took detailed notes throughout the entire meeting; good thing I did because afterward I had several of the attendees ask for a copy of the notes I had taken (which completely blew my mind).
Here is a look at the notes I took:

Printers, hardware and more

Well, I must say I did not think it was possible to injure yourself on a printer but I believe I became the first person to ever cut them selves while unplugging a printer. I unplugged it, and the paper tray was being a burden and wouldn't budge so I applied force and yeah I cut myself. So that was the injury of my week. The rest of the week was kind of short due to me being sick Tuesday and Wednesday. On Monday and Thursday though, were pretty mind warming days. I learned exactly how hardware reads data, which was pretty cool and very complex. The highlight of my short two day week was a simple job of dusting a machine and giving it to Ms. Peete. I then took my personal intellect and looked over her machine and saw that it is still running kind of funky. So I deleted things off her machine and now it is working much faster! No sponsor around, just me going on my own nature! Then when Mr. Peters came to check on me he saw what I was doing and was proud that I took away a couple lessons that he has taught me in making machines run to their full capability. So I must say I feel like I am learning very fast, and am liking the things I am gaining.

1/27/11

Vocab:
Lease Abstracts- A summary sheet of leases to make it easier to reference important details in a lease

This week a started on a project a will be working on whenever I have nothing else to do over the course of my internship; Lease Abstracts. I have to go through all our tenant leases at Lincoln Square and get out certain information in the lease (Ex. Contact info, lease length, rent amounts and due date, etc.). Although going through these leases didn't seem very intriguing, it proved to be a bigger and more entertaining task then I thought. They can also get very frustrating at times when not all the leases are the same. But as I do more they get easier as I start to memorize where information is. Thursday this week I also had a meeting with our South Central A/V rep to catch me up on my project I will be doing this semester. This meeting was to inform me about the project and to get me up to speed. Wade also informed me that I am going to have to present this project with Jim Webster (the owner of Lincoln Square) to get it approved so we can actually do it! This was made me so nervous! I have never put a proposal for a project together so it should get really interesting. Overall this week has been a good week and a learning experience.

1-28-2011

New Vocab: Woolworth's-an old-time downtown eatery for lunches and quick meals that was especially popular in the early to mid-20th Century. Suite-ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment.

This week has been very relaxed and I feel like I'm starting to become a part of the swing of things at WILL. All I've been doing is transcribing interviews and even those are becoming easier and I can complete them quicker. This week it only took me two days to finish an interview of Erma Bridgewater, a notable figure in Champaign history. She's currently NINETY-SEVEN and on the interview she stated that on her 95th birthday she swam a mile. It's just so interesting to hear her personal experiences of growing up here before all of the things we see in Champaign today. I can't imagine living to be that old but still have all the physical and mental stability that she has. My sponsor Kimberlie was gone this week, but Henry Radcliffe, who's been there the most since I've been at WILL is a great friend and it's nice to have someone around.

Seem to be Getting Closer :)

Today started out like any normal day, I just pull files for the clients. The partnership wants me to get an engagement letter, a policy letter and a cover letter to place in each file. Depending on where the file goes depends on what gets put in it. In all the folders, but Karl (he's drake in Bray, Drake, Liles, and Richardson), i place an envelope, in Melissa (an Accountant) and Neils (my sponsor) i place a memory stick in and those are the only excepts, but Curtis likes his envelopes in the back of the file. Anyways the only people in the office was Neil, Sharon(I'm with her all the time), Claudia (another accountant) and Karl. Curtis wasn't suppose to be in until Saturday, Matt(another accountant) was with his sick child and Melissa, lucky her is in Mexico i think on vacation. So Sharon has me print off Karl's organizers for clients and get them ready to be mailed out. I'm was kinda glad he didn't have as many as Neil's, because Neil has the most clients and that's a lot. Well i was doing that Curtis comes into the office unexpected and i was like Oh! Hey. So he needed me to pull three files and i was OK with that. While the printer was still printing i did that. When i was finished with both of those, Neil told me to get with Claudia and get the trial balance for these two companies so i could place them on ATB. She had been working on something else and she said she would do it when she got finished. While i had down time, Sharon was going to lunch and she had me look at these 3-D books to look at new ones for the wall outside. They were really difficult to see, I don't see how people can see those things. So i tried looking didn't help much, but Claudia finished the trial balances and i was able to do my thing. In the middle of all that mess i still had to answer the phone, which isn't that bad. The purpose of doing all that is to help the clients for the firm. If someone didn't, then it would be really confusing around there. Its good to have structure and to know everything has a place.

Dreams Become Reality 1/24-1/25

It's proven to be most difficult choosing one day to share with my fellow interns.  It seems this week has been very inspiring to say the least.  It's hard to fathom that this is only my third week. [F] Dr.  Escobar along with all the nurses no longer treat me as an intern they expect me to take patients, take blood pressures, and handle their x-rays.  The reasoning for their expectations is because recently a nurse was let go because of her lack of effort in the clinic, so Dr. Escobar was forced to let her go and now the Oral Surgery department is short handed.  However temporarily this problem has been solved, Because of my quick learning and my natural ability to interact with patients with ease, they've asked me to help out as much as I can.  I've been told that I am doing an amazing job and that they had no idea how natural everything would come to me.  Dr. Escobar kindly proclaimed "He's a great kid VERY quick learner; I think he has a future in this career".  I feel like I've made a great impression on not only him but the other members of the clinic, my presence is much appreciated and my company is very enjoyable. [A]

                On Tuesday we had a surgery where we had to pull out 5 teeth.   At the time we had no patients, so I was reading over some patient charts when the nurses come get me and give me a pair of scrubs.  I was extremely confused to why they gave it to me, but without question I quickly changed into them. As I walked out I was directed to one of the operating rooms and was told today I would assist in my first non wisdom teeth surgery. (No need to be afraid Mrs. Sherrick they had been preparing me for this and there was a nurse standing by in case I were to make any mistakes).  Assisting may seem easy to some because all that takes place is retracting the tongue and using a suction to suck up the blood, however there is a certain technique that must be used.  You absolutely must have stable hands because if you were to bump into the surgeons hands he could make the wrong incision.[D] Throughout the surgery Dr. Escobar kept me cool by directing me and the nurse was guiding me throughout the surgery.  But no need to worry friends tooth extraction is not something someone can die from and assisting in such surgeries does not require much schooling.  In the middle of the surgery it turns out that the patients jaw had been rotting due to bad hygiene.  So when Dr. E attempted to pull a tooth, parts of the jaw came along with it. It was shocking seeing his jaw be extracted.  However he was very fortunate that Dr. E discovered this because if you did not remove the rotten parts his whole jaw would have been infected.[D]  After the surgery I was given praise for being extremely well at assisting.  Dr. E expects to teach me much because of how quickly I am able to catch on to things.

                Later on the week I was able to take a visit to the pharmacy, and I've come to the realization how boring and tedious it really is. (no offense Anna) However it was only my first day and all I did was refill prescriptions and manage the drive thru.  Bruce, the head pharmacist, said if I started coming more he'd show me more interesting things such as grinding up medications and combining them when necessary.  I feel as if I've become extremely lucky with my placements and sponsors because they are very open with letting me experience new things and willing to teach me what Pharmacists or Doctors actually do. [F]  I will be visiting Bruce every Wednesday and he told me he will teach me everything he knows.  There is also a Job offering at that pharmacy on the weekends and thanks to my pharm tech license, if I talk to the pharmacy manager of Christie about the job, then Bruce will pull some strings to help me get the job. So I am very fortunate for having such amazing sponsors.

                Thursday was possible one of my most life changing experiences.  Today I had the pleasure of shadowing a Gastroenterology Physician Assistant, Charles Ragona .  Chuck is extremely hysterical and he allowed me to follow him while he looks at patients and diagnose their problems.  Chuck told me that whenever I wanted to see something other than teeth and face surgery then I should come on down to GI to observe him and his work.  Watching Chuck diagnose patients showed me the more personal approach to medicine.  Recently I've seen surgeries, taken x rays, handled patients, refilled prescriptions but I've never had the pleasure of taking a patient in and diagnose them with a problem.  After working with Chuck I saw a more personal approach to medicine.  Chuck handles patients by interacting where as Dr. E does primarily surgery.  Chuck introduced me to a new type of job, being a PA, Physician Assistant.  They make 6 figures, handle patients but go to school for less years and are not drowned by medical school bills.[A]  It's in my head now that I might want to become a PA for the time being and later pursuing my dreams as an actual doctor.

                This week has definitely been a handful and I've learned a lot about medicine and I believe I am coming closer to my decision on which field I would like to study. 

Ward 4

Monday January 24

New Vocab:
Rectal Prolapse: The abnormal protrusion of the rectal mucosa through the anal opening.
Trimming chute: A head gate used to restrain a cow, each leg can be lifted mechanically using ropes.

This week I have been interning in the Food Animal Medicine area, I have witnessed a lot of I never knew veterinarians dealt with. As always I seem to always start each different rotation with a very interesting experience (D). On my first day of interning in ward four I walked in to find one of the veterinarians dealing with a sheep who had a rectal prolapse. At first I thought the sheep would for sure die and had no idea why stuff that looked like ground raw meat mixed with blood was coming out of the rectal area nonstop, the initial sight of this made my stomach turn but I did get used to it (F). The doctor had a very unusual method, in order for the blood and rectal mucosa to stop falling out he would put a pile of sugar in his hand while gently shoving everything back in. He explained to me that a rectal prolapse could happen to various animals and that given time the animal will heal. To my surprise the sugar did the trick and he was able to stop the rectal mucosa (D).
After they were done with the sheep, there were four show cattle that were going to get their hooves trimmed. It was really amazing to see how they easily could trim the cow's hooves with their machine. They used a machine that was both a tilt table and a trimming chute. What I would do was put the cow in the machine which would tilt so the cow was on its side, then they would tie each leg to a side and use an electric sander (D). I asked the doctor how he knew how much to trim from the hooves, he told me that you have to trim until the cow can put its whole hoof on the ground for the bottom and the top he tries to make it a nice straight and smooth hoof. What he did to make sure that a hoof was trimed right on the bottom was use a piece of wood to see if the whole hoof touched the wood. It is very important to trim cattle's hooves because it helps prevent disease and lameness in cattle. I realize that there is so many useful techniques to learn from each individual doctor because they all have their different methods that do make tasks easier (A).

Day 1/26/11 - CHARLESTON!

This week has been a range of new and exciting experiences as well as some somewhat tedious tasks. Yet, on Wednesday I had a very interesting day. The initial plan was to go with my sponsor Shayla to court to view a few traffic cases, but Mr. Dodds wanted me to go with another attorney to Charleston (D). This lawyer was working on a guardian case where the client was not a minor but she has special needs so that she needs someone to constantly look after her because she can not take care of herself. Her previous guardian passed away, so a different relative decided to petition as her replacement guardian. The attorney that I was following was not the client's specific attorney, but rather an "attorney to the court." Basically, the client's attorney presents the court with the new guardian, but my attorney was the overseer of the entire process. Her duty is to make sure that the client with the special needs is being taken care of at her day-time center and any other center or home that the client attends. My attorney does not fight against the client's attorney unless she feels that the new guardian is an unfit match for the client. Anyway, the attorney and I traveled to Charleston because that is where the client resides. We visited her "job" which is really a facility that watches over the patients and tries to teach them simple tasks and to keep up their hygiene (D). When we first arrived I felt very welcomed, all of the people were very kind (F). Although our client could not communicate verbally, we still had to give an interview because it's the law. When we asked about her new guardian and how she liked her home and job she got very excited and laughed a lot. It was great seeing her so happy and it made me smile (F). After we looked around her job we came to the conclusion that the supervisors take very good care of her and she has plenty of friends. Then we visited her home and she showed us her room (which was very neat and cute) (D). This visit was very good for me because it showed me the wide range of tasks some lawyers have to complete. Depending on what kind of law you practice, you are most likely not sitting in an office reviewing documents all day long. You really do get a lot of interaction with people (A). After this trip I have come to the conclusion that I want to be a lawyer who goes into court a lot and also deals with my clients on a more personal level than just a contract and a few documents (A). Overall, Wednesday was very entertaining and I also got to know a different attorney in our office a lot better and I see that we have a lot in common. I'm very excited to see how this case will turn out.

Cooking Demo for College Athletes!

1/27/11
NEW VOCAB: kefir: a tart-tasting drink made from cow's or goat's milk
Today was unlike any other day of my internship, but probably one of my favorite days so far! I got to help out today with a Foreman grilling class that Susan (my sponsor) was teaching at the Irwin Learning Center on campus (D). I felt really confused upon arriving and had to wander the halls for awhile before I found the right room, because I'd never been there before (F). I finally found the room, and Susan had already gotten everything set up and ready to go (D). The college athletes started arriving about the same time I did, and the class began! We demonstrated 3 recipes that I compiled in my cookbook that I just finished: Italian meatballs, French toast, and turkey-cheese paninis (D). I loved having enough experience to be able to actually teach college athletes how to prepare healthy meals on the grill-and they all loved the French toast recipe I created, which made me feel very happy and proud of myself :) (F). I also enjoyed getting the chance to taste the recipes, which were all fabulous (F)! Unfortunately after the class ended, Susan, her college interns, and I had to clean the grills and dishes-TONS of scrubbing and hard work (D)! However, helping with this class was definitely still worthwhile and a rewarding experience for me because I got to see other people enjoying the recipes that I had worked so hard to find/invent (A). I also learned the importance of keeping work surfaces sanitary and washing your hands often when cooking for other people, because we were working with raw meat and eggs (A). I enjoyed my day today, and can't wait to help with another cooking class!!

In the Lab: 1/25

Vocab

Sonicator- machine that emits ultrasonic waves through a water bath to agitate or mix particles

Spectrophotometer (Spec)- machine that measures the reflection/transmission of particles as a function of wavelength; collects data in absorbance units (AU)

After further research on phenol red, we discovered that we had overlooked that there are two different types of the same molecule; one for acids and one for bases, both of which carry different wavelengths in the visible spectrum. After changing the wavelength preference on the spectrophotometer from 550 to 440, results became more clear. Our process continued. Using the same stock solution as yesterday, I calculated 4 different dilutions and tested their absorbency with the spec. Unfortunately results were not linear (that means I probably messed up). Being my first day to work independently, I wanted everything to turn out right. We then had to look at my calculations and measurement techniques and all of them looked correct. I was excited that at least I had done everything I was supposed to do. In the end I just remade the dilutions and tested them again. With the same calculations and tools, the results turned out to be completely different and also ended up being linear. I guess there is a reason for making a wide range of samples and repeating procedures for accuracy. Tomorrow we will imput the results into excel, create a graph of the data, and measure my standard deviation and coefficient variation.

Week one make up blog-Character sketch

Key Vocab: RSO - Online billboards that I can post show information on.

Adam is a senior at the U of I in Advertising Communications. The first day I met him he seemed rather distant, however within a few days of working with him he turned out to be a very outgoing person. Upon meeting him we discussed who we were and I found out some interesting facts about him. For example, he worked at a huge marketing firm in Chicago called Starcom over the summer. This alone made me realize he was a driven individual who possessed marketing talents. I have a feeling he will be helping me through my internship a great deal and teaching me how to advertise like a professional.

1/26/2011

Today I got to input scripts into the computer for the first time! [D] It was a little scary because it involves finding the patient's correct medication and correct dosages. So I was definitely worried about getting any information wrong because mistakes in healthcare can be very serious. But I was also glad that Jeanine trusts me enough to let me do this [F]. Also, while Jeanine was at lunch, I had a little free time to work on my make-up essay for the seminar that I will be missing on Friday. So that was useful time for [D]. I'm really enjoying my internship so far [F]. My sponser has also informed me that there is a Carle pharmacy in Bloomington where I may be going to college at Illinois Wesleyan. And if I do go there, she has said that she will give the pharmacy a recommendation for me to work there, which is a great incentive for me to go to college in Bloomington [A]. It's looking that this internship is definitely going to work in my favor when I look for a job in the summer [F].

1/25/11 just chillin with D-Will

1/25/11

Dr. Williams was back in the office today, so I was to linger around with him. I noticed that I need to be quicker on my feet because the Doc is always on the move, but I still managed to keep up. I was more involved today with minor procedures such as injections and the removal of sutures and stitches. As routine as these procedures may seem, it may get very stressful for a doctor when the patient struggles to remain calm and allow him to do his job. One of the patients felt that the injection was too painful and unbearable. At one point this patient broke off into tears due to the pain she was suffering despite the numbing agent Dr. Williams has introduced. Dr. Williams then tried another approach by injecting the shot elsewhere and the patient was able to tolerate the pain better [D]. This experience showed me how important for a doctor to be patient and remain calm. It also gave me an idea of how to evaluate a patient’s pain tolerance and how to work around their inability to endure pain [A].

Another notable case I witnessed was that of an older gentleman who had his leg amputated due to poor circulation caused by diabetes. Dr. Williams was the one who performed the operation. The patient was coming for a postoperative checkup, when Dr. Williams noticed that the patient was lagging in the healing process. There was inflammation and swelling of the patient’s stub, or remaining part of his leg, and Dr. Williams assessed it as an infection. Dr. Williams said this was due to inadequate circulation because the patient was a smoker and the operation required the loss of large amounts of blood and body mass as well as tight compression of the wound. This compression would alter the pressure applied on the arteries thus bringing an inadequate blood supply to the healing wound. Dr. Williams was very concerned and wished to take action as soon as possible. He suggested that he revise the operation by opening the infected site and cleanse the wound from the inside. He would then leave part of the wound open in order for puss and excess fluid to leave the body [D]. It was very disheartening to see the pain the patient was going through as well as the worries of his loved ones [F]. Dr. Williams explained that it was part of the job to be weary and understanding of a patient’s emotions but it is within a physician’s duty to keep the patient optimistic in these circumstances [A].

I learned something!

Along with my sponsor, we visited the 7th floor (surgical floor) to attend a nurse's informational meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to inform all nurse's on how to work the Bipap and Cpap breathing machines. First walking in, the nurse's were given quizzes to see what they already knew. A bipap machine is a breathing machine that basically breathes for the patient, the patients would not have a choice but to breathe when hooked up to this machine. The Cpap machine only assists with the patients breathing, so that if the patient was breathing irregularly and not entirely on their own, the Cpap would help out with that. I'm not sure, but I suspect the lady giving the lesson was a head nurse on the floor. But that is what took out of the lesson given by her. Once we left, my sponsor proclaimed, "I wished that they would teach like that in school!". She found it easier to follow along, as they were given a slide show, and expected to take notes on what was said.

1/25, Ben Folds Show

Key Vocab: "The Pit"- Floor directly in front of the stage
Patron Survey-Survey I ask the concert goers to fill out for me

The Ben Folds show was the first show I had ever been to as an intern, so it was quite the learning experience for me. My night began with my arrival at the NE lot in Assembly Hall. I then went through the entrance called "Press Pass Only", where they already had my name on the list. From this point I continued to the marketing office where me, Anna (intern-senior, markting major) and Anne (intern-senior, marketing) began our surveys. This involved going into the crowd before the show started and politely asking patrons to fill out surveys. I found this job to be slightly embarrasing, as many attendees had no interest in me or my survey. However it was a good chance to learn what my first objective would be at shows. Soon enough Anne went backstage to run the ice cream booth while me and Anna took on our next job-photographs. Anna and I walked down to the floor and asked if we could take pictures of patrons for the Assembly Hall website. Interesting enough, we ended up seeing Nick Lund, Luke Bial, Sean Grady, Gabe Foote, and Ben Thompson all at the concert for an available picture. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the night because it felt like we were getting the concert goers excited.
Lastly, me and Anna met up with two photographers in the marketing office. From here we proceeded to escort them to the floor and capture photos of the first three Ben Folds Songs. After the songs we guided them off of the floor. After I was told I had no further obligations, I simply grabbed an open seat (as close as possible of course) and enjoyed the remainder of the show.
This show was a great experience for me because it was not only fun to see the show and behind the scenes work, but I am now fully prepared for the next show I attend.

1/20/11

I had the opportunity to work with a football player today! He had a knee injury, so we did different exercises to loosing up his muscles such as balance and lifted weights. (D) I felt so shy and surprised because he kept talking to me and I didn’t really know what to say. But he was cute! (F) I learned how to use this machine where the patient has to lay on their back and push off with their feet.(A)

Vocab Proprioception=Bigger word fo balance

Another great week

This week, I had an amazing time in the CVB office. I am so happy that I hasd the opportunity to I assisted in a sport meeting with Kip McDaniel, who is the sports and event directors. It was interesting to see people being deeply interested in what they were doing. During the meeting, we talked about what kind of sports and even we should promote to the community but mostly tourist/international people. The meeting was fun because we mostly gave our opinion on the super bowl and some people made some funny comments. I started working on a new project which is to sell space to promote companies in the area and out of state. I can already feel the stress of all the work but I plan to enjoy it even if it is not easy to do so. During the meeting, I realized how important international people are for a company. The most shocking thing is that the Market Place Mall serves about 10 millions shoppers annuallly. Now, I can see why most company promote most of their products to international people. I realized that these people have more impact on the company's growth.

1/18/11

Julie was out of the office today, so I was working with Gabriella. She had a lot of abuse/neglect cases piling up so she gave me a short run down on how to do them. Basically what I did is look up the suspects legal history in the Circuit Clerk section of JANO and then I did the same thing in the State Attorney's side of the program. Then I looked through all of the offences and see if any of them relate to the case I was reviewing. Finally made up a report summarizing my findings and giving my opinion on the situation and what I think should be done. I also work with DCFS to make sure that this case has been reported, and if it hasn't I am required to call the hotline to inform them on the situation. This work is extremely rewarding to me, and although a single report can take an hour or more to finish knowing that my work is helping someone out of a bad situation keeps me from giving up.

I also got my own cubical today with a computer, and recieved my ID badge, and email account. This is very exciting and shows me that my sponsor trusts me to stay on task without constant supervision.

VOCAB:
JD = juvinile delinquency
AD = adult diversion
PR# = poice report number
JANO = a program storing all of the cases this office handles
SAO = state attorney side of JANO
CC = circuit clerk side of JANO

1/10/11

My first day at the States Attorney’s office was interesting...to say the least. It started out pretty normal; I arrived a little before noon and checked in with the secretary at the front desk, who then informed me that I was a whole hour early (I swear stuff like this only happens to me). Fortunately Ms. Reitz’s secretary Julie was available and I was able to get some paperwork filled out while I waited for her to finish her lunch. Julie took me on a tour of the office; specifically showing me some of the things that I was going to use. She then told me that I would be able to sit through arraignment court with the Assistant State Attorney Andrea Bergstrom. Julie introduced me to her, and then left me to go finish her work. Andrea is extremely funny and we got along really well, I was nervous when I found out I would be in court the first day and she made me feel a lot more comfortable about the situation.

While we were waiting for court Andrea went over some of the cases we would be hearing. I got to look through the files, and even saw some of the evidence! Around 1 o’clock we went down to the courtroom and I got to sit with her while she made her case. Before I knew it, it was over. I was so interested in the proceedings that two whole hours had passed and it felt like only 30 minutes.

The only thing I didn’t like about this experience was that about halfway through the hearing I noticed that I knew one of the people who were on trial. I was really shocked, and it made me sad to see one of my classmates go through something like that. That experience opened my eyes; before I had a very biased opinion on criminals, but seeing someone I knew showed me that those people have lives, and families, and could be really nice. Basically it taught me how to see criminals not just as a name, but as a person.

VOCAB:
"ic" with a circle around it = defendant in custody
DPONG = defendant pleads not guilty
D = defendant
V = victim

Playwriting 411

Every Monday and Wednesday, instead of going to Krannert to work with Tom, I will go to 333 in the Armory for ‘Playwriting 411’. It’s a second semester playwriting course, but I’ve been e-mailing with the instructor Tom Miller and he’s given me the readings from the prerequisite course and last semester’s syllabus so I’ll be catching up independently. Mr. Miller has also offered that I can fully participate in all the class discussions and assignments not simply sit and observe.

Wednesday was my first day, because this past Monday was MLK Day. The Armory has a few rooms that you can only get to through specific staircases and Tom had told me that I should go to the side across from the business building, the “northwest” corner. Students are back and it is a pain getting around campus, especially with the weather. I got to the armory with a whopping eight minutes to spare. I was calm, but then realized that the business building is actually on the southeast side, so I wasn’t entirely sure where I was going. I figured I had a 50-50 shot of going through the right doors so I entered through the business building side. I picked the wrong fifty percent. Thankfully I found a map after wandering through a few different hallways and I ended up to my three o’clock class just in the nick of time.

I walked into class, but there was no instructor, and only two other students sitting in the class. I started to check through my folder to make sure I was in the right place. One of the two boys must have recognized my confusion, and told me that Miller was probably on his way, and that it’s a really small class. I took a seat and waited.

About five minutes later Mr. Miller showed up. He brought over the materials from last semester for me to photocopy and return to him on Monday. The first class was fairly brief. We all introduced ourselves, the other two students who were there are both seniors in Creative Writing at the U of I. There’s another girl apparently, Jillian, who I’m pretty sure I’ve met before. She’s in theatre at the U of I, and is always, always late. We discussed our expectations for the semesters, our assignments, and what we wish to improve on through the course. He pointed out that our syllabus only covers the next three weeks. He likes to structure the course around what his students want, and it’s particularly easy with such a small class.

We received our first two assignments. We have to have a name of a play published in the last two years that we’d each like to read. The entire class will read the plays each person selects. He gave us a list of websites and festivals to check for scripts we’d like to read. Our next assignment is actual writing. We listened to a piece of music, but we weren’t told the title or artist. We have to write a three to five minute scene (in a well written script each page should correspond to roughly a minute) based on what we heard. We’ll be reading our pieces aloud and doing a class critique on Monday.

1-19-2010

Today was a relaxed day and I was grateful because the past weekend and for most of this week as well I have been battling a tough cold. When I first got to my internship, Mrs. Sherrick was already there, for we had a scheduled meeting with my sponsor, Kimberlie. After talking for a while and showing her the things I had been doing, I continued my work on transcribing Mayor Schweighart's interview. I love transcribing because I like doing individual work and I'm also learning new things about figures in our community. After and hour or so of work, I took a break so Henry could explain his Community Cinema project. It sounds so interesting I hope to attend once basketball is over. Overall it was a calming day to the end of the week.

First Day

Monday, January 10th marked a day full of many new, yet interesting occurring themes. I walked in on a meeting that my sponsor attended. It turned out that it was a just a daily meeting, starting at 11a.m., taking place in the staff lounge. Oblivious to the purpose of the gathering and participants, I quickly made observations. Those who had on scrubs, (including my sponsor) I assumed to be nurses. They were the only ones speaking, as there were others writing down what the nurses said, sometimes asking questions. These people were dressed in business casual, some wearing white jackets. I presumed they were doctors perhaps. Again it turned out that the people wearing scrubs were indeed the nurses, and the note-takers were case managers. In this daily meeting, the nurses discuss their patients health conditions primarily, and other important financial and health-related information needed to know about them. The case managers take note of this and make decisions based off of health concerns, decide when to release the patients, where to put new incoming patients etc.. I have attended three of these brief meetings so far. I find interest in the discussions being held, and look forward to attending more in the future!

Second Week

This week was a week full of surprises and jobs to accomplish. The first few days of the week was more knowledge based material on the ins and outs of software structure and hardware. Some of the jobs i did this week involved cleaning keyboards, hardware and even screens. At first I was doing it wrong with the cool spray i had to use. I was not supposed to tip it upside down but i did which was a no no. So i felt kind of bad about that but I then figured out not to ever do that again. I also polished key boards for future projects. The biggest thing i did this week was converting the old hardware in the learning center. So we had to go in and unplug all the old machines and plug in the new ones. It was actually pretty painless but it seemed overwhelming at first. After I looked at it more clearly i felt very comfortable, and Mr. Peters gave me a lot of responsibility. The only bad thing that happened this week was when I accidently spilled a can of pop while eating lunch in his office. I felt really bad about it, he reassured me everything was ok but I still felt very bad. I am happy I got to go to a meeting also this week. That was the biggest surprise I had for the week. I got to see a full interview with a woman representing Nettech, the tech department is very unhappy with the server company that currently possess so that is the reason for the interview. I am unsure if Nettech will be the new supplier but I think she did a tremendous job of showing her company in the best way possible. That was my fun filled week!

1-20-11

Vocab:
Digital Signage: A form of electronic display that shows information, advertising, and other messages (Wikipedia definition)

Today was a pretty laid back day. This week I have been working on coming up with modified descriptions for all the different pages on our web site. Since I only had one left it did not take me very long. When I was done with that, Wade (my sponsor) was leaving for a little bit and told me to research about the up coming project I'm working on. For this project we will be putting up T.Vs around Lincoln Square to advertise the different companies in the building. To do this we are using digital signage to send the ads to the T.Vs. So for about an hour I was researching the company I will be working with for this project, South Central A/V, and I also had to do a little research about digital signage and what it was. Although researching is VERY boring to me, it was necessary that I looked more into this project before I went into the meeting next week with our South Central A/V rep, Steve. I also had a little bit of filing to do, which took like 2 minutes. Most people find filing boring, but i actually enjoy the process of organizing and alphabetizing everything (Unless it takes forever, but like I said this only took like 2 minutes).

The website descriptions that I had worked on early Wade read over them once he got back to the office. I was SUPER nervous about this. I'm not a very confident writer and it shows in some of my work so I was scared that he was going to correct like everything and find a lot of mistakes, or not like what I came up with. After reading them he went over errors with me, which wasn't as bad as I was expecting. He said that only a few things were worded awkwardly, but other than that he was very happy with them. Even though the whole process of coming up with these descriptions became very frustrating at times, it was worth it in the end and made me very proud to here Wade tell me he liked them and to see the look on his face knowing he didn't just say it, he meant it. Also, I know that it's to make our website look better, and in the end it is beneficial to Lincoln Square, and knowing this helped me to get through the frustrating times with writers block and thinking what I wrote was terrible.

Testing...

123

Tofu Taste-Test

Monday, January 17, 2011: Neither Susan ( my sponsor) nor any of her college interns were at Strawberry Fields today, so I spent my afternoon testing out tofu recipes on my George Foreman Grill at home, one of the projects Susan assigned to me (D). Tofu has always seemed very strange to me (F), so I have never attempted to cook or taste it before. Since I had no idea how to prepare tofu, I first did a bunch of research (D). The first thing I learned is that you have to "press" tofu: this means sandwiching it between two dinner plates, putting a book on top, and waiting about 30 minutes until all the moisture has come out of it (D). Next step was to marinate. This was the fun part for me (F), because I invented my own marinade recipe that was a combination of honey, soy sauce, and ginger (D). I felt very proud that it tasted pretty good (F)! The other marinade I made was a bbq sauce recipe I found online (D). So I sliced the tofu and let it marinade for a couple of hours. While it was marinating, I researched more information about grilling tofu on the George Foreman grill (D). Finally, the time came for me to grill my tofu, and I placed the tofu on the grill with high hopes that it would turn out tasty (D). However, I was very disappointed by the results (F). First of all, the sauces burnt to my grill pretty badly, even though I sprayed it with cooking spray beforehand. So I had to scrub the grill for a LONG time afterward (D). Not fun (F). Secondly, the flavor was fantastic, but I discovered that I absolutely cannot stand the odd jelly-like texture of tofu (F)! I did not care for it at all, but my mom (who loves tofu) thought it was delicious (F). I realized that everyone has different opinions, and that just because I think that something is bad does not necessarily mean that it is bad for everyone (A). I also learned the importance of testing recipes, because it took me a few different slices of tofu to figure out the perfect grilling time (A).

Trial and Error: 1-20-11

The monotonous reading has ended! Unfortunately, lab work is nothing like I expected. First we spent an hour talking about the importance of precise measurements. Next, we discussed how to take hypothetical data and plot it in a linear regression (had to think way back to my Algebra skills). Next I was asked to create a 50 milligram/50 milliliter aqueous phenol red solution (thinking back to the chemistry skills). I was pretty lost. I started by trying to measure 50 milligrams of phenol red. Unfortunately, the scale was in grams and my unit conversion skillswere also a little rusty. After tediously measuring up to .000001g I found out that I had not done it correctly. Certain chemicals require specific weigh boats, scales, and measuring techniques. This means I had to start all over again. After an hour I had a little teaspoon of red die in some water. It was extremely frustrating. Next I had to use that stock solution to create a 20 microgram concentration solution with a volume of 60 mg. After many miscalcuations of moles, units of volume mass, and elementary math errors I had another solution. I have to do this five more times on Monday too. So far the life of a scientist has been monotonous and frustrating. Still, I can't begin to caclulate how much I have already learned. I just hope I can retain all this new information for the rest of the semester.

Well I have had a pretty poopy week so far. I've been super sick for the past few days so I haven't been able to attend school or my internship. It was so frustrating for me because I was really enjoying my assignments that Kent was giving me.. Anyways, I'm still feeling pretty bad but haven't had a fever since Tuesday night so my mom let me go to school and my internship today. It was pretty relaxed today. I arrived and immediately began working on typing out the answer to interrogatories in a divorce case, which basically means that I typed out answers to questions about the husband's finances, job, education, and property. Not too exciting but I'm almost done so I don't mind too much. So far I have finished several things on my to-do list that Kent and Sarah typed out for me, including documenting affidavits, which means that I counted the hours that Kent spent working on a particular case so that they could bill the client according to their hourly rate. It's kind of ridiculous how many hours they spend on these cases! The total for this one was close to 210! I guess that's why they make bank haha.

Originally I had an appointment with Dr. Escobar (shout out to JACKSON :)) to get my wisdom teeth removed tomorrow morning but I cancelled it and plan to attend my placement after seminar so I can make up some of the hours I've missed this week. I have a few hours of overtime from last week that will help me out too. Well that's all for now. Hopefully I'll have more interesting stuff to talk about next week!

An "organized" day!!

To day was a fairly easy day. I mainly answer the phone, which i have learned it's not that hard to do and i put together tax organizers for my sponsor. I've been doing organizers since like day three but that's because i had four people to do them for. My sponsor Neil Richardson, had the large number of clients compared to Curtis and Melissa. I finally finished all of the organizers today. I had to place them in to envelopes and weigh them. I had to seal them and add a stamp, but, I'm lucky i didn't have to lick all those envelopes. They gave me a little bottle that allows a little amount of water at a time. Today was also one of my longer days and so i was able to finish the organizers. I needed to finish them before i left so they could be sent out to the clients. It was a very important task that took a long time, but it's worth it to the clients at the firm. The purpose for all of those organizers is so people are ready for taxes, and I'm so glad i could help them make it one step easier.

Favorite & least favorite

My favorite part of my internship so far would have to be when I got to know how to use the different machine and learn new stetches that Carle Sports Medicine let their patients use when they come for therapy. It's my favorite because I got to learn how to deal with the machines the right way rather than just using it the way I thought it might have being used, which would probably be wrong. I have also learned about different stetches that I could show my teammates or just anyone who might be hurt. My least favorite thing is when we don't have any patients. It's my least favorite thing at my internship because thats when we just sit in the back and their either on their phones or computers or talking to each other. Or it is a patient but i was just doing the same thing the day before and they don't want me to see just the same injuries.

-Nicole Sanders

Law Office 1/19/2011

Today was a pretty busy day for me. My sponsor (Shayla) had several tasks in mind for me, along with her assistant. First Shayla wanted me to create a spreadsheet containing the figures for child support (D). I had to use Excel, which I have used before but it had been a couple of years since the last time, so I was freaking out because I didn't want to mess it up (F). There were several sheets of different figures that I had to determine which was accurate and I had to label them the way Shayla wanted which was a little tricky since I'm not completely familiar with all the law terms yet (D). When I was finished I printed it out and immediately had to go sit in on one of Mr. Dodds' consultations. This consultation was with new clients who were trying to settle trust funds for their deceased father (D). After the meeting I checked in with Shayla and it turns out she made some changes to the spreadsheet, which made me feel really embarrassed because I wanted to get it right the first time (F). Fortunately they were only minor changes and she even printed out my copy and the copy she made changes to so I could see my mistakes which was really helpful. I'm glad Shayla gave me a task that I could not get completely accurate the first time because it gave me an opportunity to understand how exactly she wants her work done and it challenged me to do better (A). After the spreadsheet I began organizing some of her assistant's papers which takes over an hour so I didn't finish all of it (D). Around 2:30 me and Shayla went to the courthouse to file a few documents. She wanted to show me exactly how to do it so in the future I could go by myself and and get them filed and stamped. This makes me nervous but also excited because I know it's great experience because every lawyer must learn how to file their documents in the court system so learning it at 17 is only putting me ahead of the game (F/A). Overall today was a great learning experience.

Second Day

New Vocab:

"Dog House"- The large scafholding and light system suspended above the Assembly Hall Arena

Dorecap Sheet - Excel spreadsheet that includes all of the financial information regarding the show.

Today was rather dynamic to say the least. Upon my entrance into Jenny's office, I already had work assigned (which was nice because it made me feel productive). First came an assigment which was rather expected for a highschool intern's first job - updating flyers in bathroom stalls throughout assembly hall (D). This did not turn out too bad for me afterall, because it gave me a chance to learn the layout of all the bathrooms in the building (A). While it may not have been a glorious job, it was certainly better than nothing (F).
My next objective was just as straigh foreward. I made fifty copies of a Ben Folds flyer in blue paper (D). This may sound like a joke, however if you have never worked a touch screen, state of the art copy machine, then it poses as a slight challenge. This was yet another learning experience that got me more in touch with my sorroundings (A, F). Shortly after I was shown a dorecap sheet of which I would have to edit for the upcoming Ben Folds show. This sheet was a summary of all of the financial components that go into promoting and advertising a show (everything from newspaper costs to facebook). This was especially useful because I now know that I will gain some experience in excel.
Next came the weekly staff meeting that occurs every Thursday. This was by far the most interesting part of the day, because I learned alot about how the workplace functions and upcoming shows we have to book and promote. While I may not be allowed to share them all (confidentiality- HOW EXCITING), I can assure you all that there are some great names coming into town. After basic information was voiced, we went in a circle and talked about what we're working on.
Lastly I was introduced to the other three college interns - Anne, Anna, and Adam (confusing right?). They were very nice and productive as well, as I hope to learn a great deal from them.

First Evening After Break

My first week at Krannert was filled with room measuring and inventory. Students were on break so there weren’t many rehearsals happening. My first serious work in theatre began Tuesday evening after most students returned. Beginning at six on Tuesday, there was a 5-hour LX hang where a crew of tech grad and undergrad students worked to hang lights for the upcoming February Dance performance. For the first two hours I learned a wide variety of lighting jargon and set up techniques. It was dusty, everyone was tired, and we still had three more hours to go.

Then came break. Out of no where Skittles (a petite woman who changes her hair color almost every week, not literally the candy) pulled out a huge assortment of snack food, water and the crew crowded around for five minutes ate and talked. I haven’t been around legitimate theatre people in a very long time (no offense Urbana High, but the atmosphere and the resources really are different beyond the high school level). I forgot how personable they are…and how colorful their language is. It reminded me a lot of when I’d go to my dad’s rehearsals with him when I was little. It was a brief chocolate and profanity fest.

After ten minutes, we got back to the work grind. Tom, my sponsor, was popping in and out. Grant, the grad student I was mostly working with for the first two hours, set me up with Robert, and undergrad. He was great fun and extremely high energy, which he repeatedly confessed was due to the cup of coffee he had before arriving. Robert’s goal was to “make things pretty”. We revisited all the lights we had set up and attached the multicables that Grant had completed stringing into the appropriate outlets. We made sure all of the cables were untangled, and then we tied any loose cable into a hitch know, which Robert taught me to tie. It’s commonly used in theatre, and is particularly useful because if one end of the rope is suspended to weight or some other object, which is often the case, you can still tie a complete hitch with only one end.

After all the cables were secure, Robert checked got the ok from the master electrician to go through all of our tests before moving on to the next step. First he checked weight. He raised the bar to its performance height and checked all of the safety measures. Next we checked all of the lights themselves using the master remote. You type in a circuit and a light number and it turns the light on if the system is completely functional, and you can move down the line light by light.

Our last task for the evening was to attach the colored gels. The master electrician’s chart denoted which gels were used for which lights. Gels are assigned a color and a number based on the company that produces them and the shade. For example, when we needed a purple gel it was marked as an R78. It may seem like an unnecessarily complicated system, but it helps distinguish between various hues. If someone said “just grab a purple”, with out the gels actually being attached and the lights on, it’s nearly impossible to tell a purple and a blue gel apart.

I was done for the evening, I was only there until ten, not for the full five hours, but Tom said it was perfectly alright if I felt like getting home a little early. I gladly took him up on his offer. As I was exiting, the master electrician told me I was a “lovely unexpected hand”. I told him that I would be returning on Thursday, and he said that he’d be happy to have me around and that they would start focusing, and that they’d be happy to teach me. I don’t know exactly what focusing will entail, but apparently it’s more interesting than the cable and circuit work.

Another Day at the Office; 1/19/11

New Vocab:

· Subluxation: Incomplete or partial dislocation of a bone in a joint.

· Luxation: Complete dislocation of a knee.

· Trigger finger: Tendon swelling (tendinitis) results from a person's own tendency to collect fluid (inflammation) around their tendons and joints. This may be aggravated by repetitive or strenuous activities. When the tendons which bend the fingers (the flexor tendons) become irritated, they can cause pain, swelling, and stiffness. Tendon swelling interferes with the normal movement of the tendons and can cause the finger to and click, catch ("triggering") or lock in position.

· Posterior (dorsal): The back or behind, as opposed to the anterior.

1/19/11

I was disappointed when Mrs. Sherrick broke the bad news to me this morning [F]. Unfortunately there are complications with Provena and I have been denied privileges of being in the OR (operating room) and possibly the facility (?). I thought I may have a bad day at the clinic today but it turned out to be worthwhile. Since today is one of Dr. Williams’ surgery days, one of the PA’s (physician’s assistant), Brian Shore, volunteered to show me a bit of what he does. Brian and his assistant Tiannie are exceptional teachers. Tiannie’s job is to seat patients and question them about their condition and the basis of their visits. I was able to assist her with that and communicate more with the patients. Brian then takes over and diagnoses the patient, taking any necessary action [D].

Brian was especially helpful with breaking down x-rays and MRIs for me. He showed me what to look for when examining these graphics and the common treatments for conventional injuries. Although Brian does not have the same medical authority as a doctor, he can still prescribe medications, and use his own judgment to diagnose patients and treat them [D]. If a case is serious enough and may require surgery, Brian refers the patient to one of the surgeons. A large part of his duties is to filter patients, so Dr. Love and Dr. Williams’ schedules aren’t as congested. This helps the doctors to focus on the more severe cases [A].

He also helped me with the anatomy and terminology typically used. This helped me put the body’s organs and their functions into perspective with each other. I was amazed by the complexity of the body and how simple injuries can impair its functions. In many cases, the patients just have arthritic joints, which take a great toll on the patient’s bones. Some patients elected not to go into surgery, the alternative is injecting them weekly (for about 4 to 5 weeks) with lubricant or a steroid to help ease the pain and enable fluent motion [A].

Overall, it was a productive and educational day. I look forward to working with Brian more in the future and explore the rehabilitation process in physical therapy. I also plan to draw more knowledge from Dr. Williams when he is available.