Grace Helfant
Final Journal
For my senior project I showed my progress as an LNA. I did this by maintaining my license and getting a job at Gifford. Throughout this project, I have become a much more open person. For example, if I see someone that needs help, I am much more likely to go help them. I guess I would say I have become more caring and comfortable stepping up to help people. I have learned that I prefer work over school. I think it’s because I get to take care of and help people. This is work but it’s work that I enjoy.
A major high point was actually getting my LNA and then getting a job. It took a whole year to even get my LNA. It took months to get my jobs and I’m just barely now getting off my orientation. There was a lot of work involved getting my LNA. A lot of studying went into it. Some low points were all of the non-physical parts. For example studying to get ready for the test, passing tests that I needed to pass in order to even try to get my LNA. A situation in which I handled myself poorly was waiting until the last minute to get everything done and finding the motivation to keep up with it. I handled myself well throughout the interview process at Gifford. I had to do a phone interview, then I did an in person interview. I also had to take a tour of the hospital, have my blood drawn and have a face mask fit to my face. I managed this well enough to get the job.
Sadie is my mentor. I’ve known Sadie since I was in 7th grade. She has always been a person that I thought I’d go to for something like this. She has provided me with a safe place and good advice along the way when I need help. Another person that I’ve worked with is Mr. Finnley. He is the one that helped me get the job. He set me up for phone interviews, helped me apply, talked to people at my job when I was too shy to and helped arrange it so I could get credit for my job.
Writing the paper was definitely a long process. It was really difficult because finding a topic was hard to start with. Also, the transition between the tech center and coming back to the High School was very difficult. It didn’t help anything because there is much more hands-on work at the tech center than there is here. It was kind of like a switch and I wasn’t used to it. I had written an actual paper in god knows how long. It was hard to get into the routine. Writing is not one of my strong suits so it took me an unusual amount of time to write. Teachers helped me get the paper done. For future reference, now I know, to get my work done before it’s too late and get more help along the way.
If I could go back to the beginning of this project I would have been more organized. I would have gotten a mentor when I was supposed to and my papers would have been turned in on time. If I could start over, I would try to stay at the tech center so that I didn’t have to do this. If I had more time I would have added more interactive elements to my display. I would have also researched more ways for people to get their LNA’s paid for.