I Wanna Change the World...

Other than being an actress or doing something on stage, I honestly cannot imagine a better job than being a child life specialist. I just wanna do something where I have the opportunity to change lives.

“Child life specialists are trained professionals with expertise in helping children and their families overcome life’s most challenging events.
Armed with a strong background in child development and family systems, child life specialists promote effective coping through play, preparation, education, and self-expression activities. They provide emotional support for families, and encourage optimum development of children facing a broad range of challenging experiences, particularly those related to healthcare and hospitalization. Because they understand that a child’s wellbeing depends on the support of the family, child life specialists provide information, support and guidance to parents, siblings, and other family members. They also play a vital role in educating caregivers, administrators, and the general public about the needs of children under stress.”
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fchildrenshospital.vanderbilt.org%2Finterior.php%3Fmid%3D6296%26video_id%3D47&h=d15a0
　
If I can’t get a good job with the movie studio here in Wilmington, my plan is to move to Nashville and work at Vanderbilt as a CLS. I guess I should probably graduate first though…wish me luck!
　
　

where are you, Iza? why can't I find you?

I am the queen of keeping in touch. If I met you for 5 minutes, I will probably friend you on face book and try to keep in touch. Maybe I’m nosy, but I really just love knowing what’s going on in people’s lives. So currently, nothing is bothering me more than thinking about a person that I have lost touch with.
In 10th grade, during the worst year of my life (legit), an exchange student from Poland came to live at my house. Being an only child, this was my first and only opportunity to experience what life could be like with a sibling…and I loved it (most of the time). I can honestly say that I don’t know how I would have made it through that year without Iza Lecyk.
We fought like sisters. We made up dances and made home videos in the play room like sisters. We slept in the same room, anxiously awaiting Christmas morning and our Disney vacation like sisters. We rode our bikes to CVS together like sisters. We memorized all of the words to the Kelly Clarkson “Breakaway” CD together and sang at the top of our lungs, like sisters. We had family dinner every night and often made a trip to ColdStone for dessert (chocolate devotion, of course).
So anyways, I found a copy of a note that I wrote Iza, and thought I would share:
“Hey Iza,
The cheese stands alone…what?…sharp right!…hypo-po-to-mass and bam breakfast, chocolate devotion and Michael Myers. We have had so many good times. I will miss you more than I can even explain. Before you came, all I wished for was a sister, or even a brother, just someone who I could share the bond with. When I was told we were getting an exchange student I NEVER imagined the bond that you and I would share. You are such an amazing person. You took care of me when I was sick and you ALWAYS made me laugh when I was sad. We did everything together, from sleeping in a tent, to doing Pilates. I don’t know what I will do when you’re gone. I am assuming it’s going to be a little easier for you because you are going home to all of your friends and things. When you leave you will leave behind three very sad new family members and a ton of friends. You came into my life and in just ten, very quick months you became my sister, my workout buddy, my Nintendo girl, my laser tag partner, and my best friend. I wish we had just a little more time so we could do more things together. I will miss you so very much and I will never ever ever forget you and I hope that even when you go home to all of your friends, you won’t forget me either. Always remember that I love you.”
To have someone come into your life during such a terrible time, and to be so completely vulnerable with this stranger…that was what made us close. We shared every waking moment together for 10 months. The little things I always wished for in a sibling had finally come true. I had another kid in the house to share my excitement with on Christmas morning. I had someone to fight over the bathroom with. I had someone to share clothes with and go shopping with and dress up for Halloween with. I had someone to dance and sing and be silly with, and someone to go with me on the first day of school. I had a best friend who lived with me and became my sister. I think one of my favorite moments was waking up on Christmas morning and opening a present labeled “To my sister, love Iza.”
SO, right now my heart is sad. My heart is sad because I am realizing more and more that she was a temporary sister and I don’t have that anymore and never will again. But mainly I am hurting because I have no way of keeping in touch. She has deleted her face book and become inactive on Skype. I literally have no way of knowing what country she’s in or how she’s doing. Does she have a boyfriend? A girlfriend? How is Alan? Is Chica alive? Is she in school? Does she ever think of me? I don’t know. And I have no way of knowing. So in some ways, it feels like a death. A major loss. So, Izabela Lecyk, if you are out there, let me know how you are. I miss you.
-B-
Some random Iza memories: Black Eyed Peas, dancing in the bathroom mirror, ‘for a while’, the trying on clothes dance, cooking chicken schnitzel, retard parking, death people, just loose it, where is your heart, where the people are touch the sky, slim jims, burnt grilled cheese and soup, Sims, your sure friend, Bailard, POTATO, Hi I’m mary and I’m choking, wet ones, this sh*t is bananas, no principals no student TEACHERS.

Where is the love?

Unique. Individual. One of a kind. Exceptional. Extraordinary. Special.
Like fingerprints and snowflakes, no two people are alike. At this moment there are 6,900,644,905 people in this world, and each person has something that makes them unique. I think that if we take a minute to really think about this, this is one of the absolute coolest concepts! So here is a question (and somethat that I am completely guilty of as well)...Why do we try to look like, act like, or be someone we're not? Why do we try to force other people to be, look like, or act like someone they're not? Sure, there are things about myself that I would like to change, and there are people who have qualities that I greatly admire. But what's not to say that other people aren't saying that very same thing about you and me? We all have our own individual strengths and weaknesses. We should use our strengths to help others in their time of weakness, rather than to overpower them and impose our personal beliefs on people who need help, support, or sometimes just a friend. I guarantee you that one day you will be the one in a time of weakness looking for someone stronger to guide you along and help you. Out of the 6.9 billion people in the world right now, I would be willing to bet that if you boil it down to the basics, most of these people want one thing: to love and be loved in return. So with 6.9 billion people, 6.9 billion personalities, 6.9 billion strengths, shouldn't we be able to fill this world with more love?

-Brooke

Weird? OCD? Just a quirk!

<-- WARNING: This spider is deceivingly cute... Everyone has their quirks. Their little personality traits that make the unique…Their habits that make them who they are. You never realize how strange some of your own habits are until someone points it out to you. For instance, I have a thing about spiders. I hate them, and in 7th grade my teacher missed school because her father was in the hospital. He had been bitten by a black widow spider that was living in his gloves. I’m not really sure why that story sticks out to me so much, but it did, and I refuse to be taken out of this world by a spider. So, I have some habits to prevent this. Before putting on closed toed shoes, I shake the right shoe, then the left, and then beat them together and turn them upside down. Apparently, I think that this will shake the spiders loose and then dump them on the floor before I squish my toes into the shoes. However, it had become such a habit, that I honestly don’t even think about what I’m doing as I’m doing it. Another weird habit of mine is that I have to have the tag sticking out of my pillow and pillowcase. Most people put their pillowcase with the closed side over the tag. But for some reason, I feel like I have to have the tag sticking out.
Most people have some strange habits or rituals that they really don’t even realize are strange because they are so engrained in their normal routine. What are some of yalls “quirks”?

Dreamer

Maybe it’s the fact that graduation is in about 3 months and possibilities for the future are practically endless; maybe it’s the overwhelming amount of time I spend on a TV set, working in a fictional world; or maybe it’s the amount of time spend procrastinating homework…but whatever it is, I have never been as much of a dreamer as I am now- second semester, senior year. Recently, I have found myself spacing out for long periods of time, daydreaming about my future. Some of these dreams are much more realistic than others. And sometimes I snap out of the dreams more excited for the future, and sometimes I end up more disappointed that the dreams are not real life. The cool thing about these day dreams is that none of them are impossible; like I don’t sprout a third arm or gain the ability to fly in any of them. So who knows, maybe with enough determination, hard work, and luck, some of these day dreams can become a reality? Now how exciting is that!?

“I am a dreamer. Take me higher. Open the sky up, start a fire. I believe, even if it's just a dream.” -Bethany Dillon

Last First

Well, I will start by saying HAPPY FEBRUARY! Where the heck did January go? Not that I’m complaining…one month closer to warmer weather and graduation! Which brings me to my next point- tomorrow/technically today is my last first day of classes. After 17 years of school, it’s weird to think that this is it. I know nursing school is technically school, so it might not be my absolute last first day, but I like to think of nursing school more as training since it is so specialized. So this is it. These 5 classes, these 5 professors, and these 5 separate groups of classmates will be the ones who are with me in the very end, when May rolls around and 17 years of schooling come to a sweet, sweet end! Bring it on.