Respect Leader

I just got notified that I am to be a Respect Leader starting Fall 2014! I didn't mention anything about my interviews after my one for Info Desk, but at the end, since I had applied for three positions, all with Student Life, they had me make a list for level of priority between the three. Really awkward when I gave my current position bottom priority. I began to suspect that I may have scored Respect Leader when I started getting more highfives from the Respect Team, and when, after the seizure incident, I was thanked "for my leadership" by someone from Student Life.

Oh, and by the way, since some of the participants at my placement have the potential to seizure, I was asked if I had ever been around one during my interview. I talked about the Info Desk event and I was commended for taking quick action and making the quick judgment to clear the area. So I feel better about the whole thing.


I got my renewed G1. They used the same photo as they used last time. So this photo is going to be ten years old by the time I (potentially) get a new photo. People are gonna be thinking I have a fake ID!

Second session of Non-Violent Crisis Intervention was basically defense class at Karate. Well, not exactly, but there were a number of parallels. It was like the first two belt grabs condensed into a single four-hour class, but with the addition of hair pulling and biting (biting and hair pulling are not Karate moves).  Also, a number of the techniques were modified so as not to hurt the aggressor.

I got so into it. It's been two and a half years! I still got it. I don't think my partner was expecting me to be so athletic.

Went Bowling

So today I found out that there's a grocery store right by where I work. One of my coworkers forgot to bring a lunch so she said she was going to buy one. We were walking together so I went with her and found out that she was going to a grocery store. At first glance it looked like heaven, although really it doesn't make much of a difference because I'll be able to go grocery shopping tomorrow.

Remember how I said people think you're a saint in this field? Well, today, someone on the bus came up to me to tell me that he respected me for what I do, and that I'm the kind of person that makes the world go round, and that it's people like me that change the world.  Haha, told you.

I got to leave the building for the first time today. I took some of the participants bowling. They were so good, I was completely destroyed. I went around asking each of them for pointers and to show their techniques, but I could not bring myself to their level in that session.

Placement and Time Management

Placement has been great, but having one class a day for almost a full semester has gotten me lazy. I'm getting some extra training, too. On Monday I did Non-Violent Crisis Intervention training for four hours, and I'll be doing it again tomorrow. It's two hours after my work ends, so I've got that as downtime but I can't go home for it because I take the bus and it's an hour-long commute. So I'm stuck in the area for an extra six hours. Then I have a work shift today for three hours. Then tomorrow I have an extra six hours near work again. I planned my first week poorly. I haven't had to pack a lunch regularly for a while, because I've figured out all the tricks to scoring free or cheap food. So I didn't have enough time to shop, and I haven't all week, and so I've been living off gas station food.

Training is good though. I'm gonna get Non-Violence Crisis Intervention, then I'm gonna get First Aid and CPR (a better version of what I had before) which are both huge for employment. Then I'm going to get another certificate that is huge within Extend-a-Family... All for free.

I lost my work shifts, but due to the generosity of a co-worker, I still have one three-hour shift per week. Today, I get to close the desk for the first time.

This is the kind of work that's good for your soul, though. Everybody thinks you're a saint for doing it, but really, it's just fun.

Seizure

WOW!!! It has been ten days! Surprising how time flies.

The other day, someone had a seizure in front of the info desk. This is the third time I've been around one. He was just around the corner, so I didn't actually see it happen. Someone ran up and told me to dial 911. I knew that the security office had medical professionals and could get there faster than 911, and that everyone else in the area was dialing it anyway, so I opted to call security. Because you don't do exactly as someone says, you're sure to get the stink-eye, and I wasn't going to take the time to explain to them why I glanced at my list of numbers instead of dialing her recommended number.

So I called security, got a dial tone, called 911 (people noticed me do the redial and I got more stink-eye) and 911 redirected to security. They asked me a bunch of random questions I couldn't see the necessity for.

"Do you know their name?"
"No"
"Do you have their medical history?"
"I don't even know his name."
"So it's a male?"
"I don't know, he's not in my line of vision."
"How long has he been like this?"
"I think this happened pretty much immediately."

Security was there and the guy was being treated in maybe under two minutes.

The first time I was around someone who seizured, she was in another room and we didn't know until after-the-fact. Later, I was in the centre of a crowd. Someone put her into the recovery position and then someone else phoned her medical contacts. I wasn't able to do anything. These events made me feel helpless, and I've lived with my inability to do anything twice already. A guilty part of my mind was waiting for the opportunity to do right in a situation like this, as a way of redeeming myself.

We have a "panic button" on our keychain. That was maybe the only opportunity I would ever have to use it, but I didn't. Instead I opted to call them manually. After I'd dialed 911 and hear dit ringing, did I think of the panic button.

When our medical staff was rushing over, I ran up to check the scene. From there, I warded off observers so that the effected individual and the medical staff would not be interrupted. You would not believe how many people tried to dodge around me for a closer glimpse, even though that would mean practically stepping over him.

Afterwards, everyone from Student Life was asking me if I needed anything, if I wanted the rest of the shift off, if I wanted to talk to one of them, if I wanted to see counseling. They wanted me to know that I had reacted perfectly, they thanked me for my leadership, they told me that security was impressed with how I dealt with everything.

I was like wow, I am not so delicate that I need support, and really, I didn't do anything that wouldn't be a natural reflex, so no need to thank me either.

Honestly, I keep reflecting on the experience, thinking about how I'd wanted redemption, how I'd been offered the opportunity, and how, even if I got the proper people where they need to be, was I quick enough to really call that redemption?

I got to go to my student placement. I tried to navigate the bus system. Google Maps failed me, so I wound up taking a cab when I showed up at a terminal that was only sort of close to where I wanted. I tipped the taxi driver too handsomely. I don't know why. I mean, he was cool and he got me where I needed to go quite quickly... But perhaps it was the desperation of the situation and the relief he brought led me to be that gracious.

Workplace was cool. I wound up getting there like half an hour early. I would have walked around the block and pretended like I'd just arrived about ten minutes before interview, but as soon as I got out of the cab, I heard.

"Oh, you must be Gryphon!" and from there I was invited in. I apologized for being so early, but they laughed it off, offered me coffee, and said it was cool that I could see how the day starts. The interview was pretty informal, then I got a tour of the place. Afterwards, they said I could stay and hang out for a while if I wanted. I did want that. Very nice atmosphere.

Speaker Last Friday

Last Friday my group brought in five speakers. Me and one other girl were in charge of bringing in a speaker from Sunrise, a therapeutic organization for people with autism. We were supposed to go meet her, but she showed up at the beginning of the one previous. She appeared to be quite elderly... Like, my great grandmother level elderly, and she played the look up by wearing a shawl and the whole bit. She didn't speak much to us before presenting, and when she shuffled up to centre stage, I wondered what she was going to offer.

Wow. Such a powerful voice! She spoke with a clarity that rang through the class, she spoke passionately, she was hilarious, she was so forward-thinking and empathetic to modern youth, she was quick on the uptake and wove the previous speaker's words into her own speech.

And it's wasn't even like a "good for someone of her age" type of thing. I wish I was as good as her. No matter what age she was, she would have blown everyone out of the water. She had people laughing, people crying, had them on the edge of their seats, and by the end people were piling in on her to see if they could volunteer.

And I mean, she was talking about autism, something that a lot of people should have trouble relating. with. Really, a very, very powerful speaker.

I had my Info Desk reapplication interview today. I think it went fine. I knew both of the interviewers very well. They gave me 30 minutes but we were done in 15. Someone said "They were just going through a formality, confirming what they already know" which I hope is true. I didn't have any questions at the end. You're always supposed to have a question ready to show interest... But I mean, I work at the desk! If I had a question, I would just ask them.

Got My English Conversation Organizer interview tomorrow... And an Info Desk Staff Meeting.

I had a legit nightmare last night. I dreamt that I had bitten an electrical cable and my throat lit on fire. It started on the inside as a small burning and then burst into flames. I remember seeing the fire come out of my mouth and realizing what a bad situation I was in. My mother and brother were in the dream, and there was lots of shouting and confusion. I managed to get a glass of water and drank it, but while the fire died down a bit, it just kept coming back stronger and faster. I realized it was because it was a chemical fire. I remembered the impending sense of doom (I even recalled a time in Canada World Youth where I tried to put out a sparkler and it didn't work, which actually happened) and remembering how you can't put out a chemical fire by pouring water or snuffing it out.

Then I woke up, and when I woke, my throat still felt like it was burning. But it got less and less and eventually it stopped/ Yeesh! What a classical dream! Usually my bightmares are like, I have a test and my time is running out but the teacher keeps putting work on my table, or something like that.

Random Guy Shouts At Me

Last Thursday, I was in the school, and some guy walked by, flipping his beard and making eye contact with me. I held my arms out in a "Why my friend" stance and gave him the upwards nod. Later, he came by giving me the middle finger. I gave him the "Oh stop it you" hand wave. After he left, it was really hard to explain to the people I was hanging with that he wasn't my friend. I guess I'm just way too friendly, and when people aggress at me, I smile and give "Trash talk" gestures that come across as playful.

Then security is bringing him in, restrained. They walk by me and he shouts some derogative at me that nobody caught. All the people I was talking to reassured me that he was just yelling at me because I was "Surrounded by beautiful women" and he was jealous.

But this is kind of an ongoing issue. Every once in a while, someone will yeall something at me out of their car, or throw something at me. It's happened in Ontario, but also during my travels. Usually, my presence has a universally unanimous acceptance, but a couple times a year it seems like people want to mess with me. And it doesn't happen with most people.

Expressing this to my company when the most recent disturber went by concluded in reassurances that it was because other men are threatened because I'm so "big and handsome".

Very flattering, but not really an explanation. When I told others about the experience the next day, it turned out that everyone had spoken about it themselves. So it looks like it was more of a stand-out occasion than what the girls played it up as beforehand.

Placement

I know where I'm going on placement now. WALES at Connect-a-Family, working with people who have developmental conditions. I didn't put it on my preference sheet so the person placing me asked me if I was up for it. I told him the only reason I didn't put it on was because I've already worked with that population and I was looking to try something new.  He said I'd enjoy how it's run there, that it's quite different and that it would be a new experience.

It's a complement because he placed me pretty fast and came to the conclusion I'd be a good fit without any leads. He didn't know of my past experience and my preference sheet didn't indicate I wanted to work with the population. So it makes me feel like a bit of a stand-out.

Well, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't where I wanted to go. I just worry about losing motivation. Those organizations are always in demand, they are always hiring, and males are sought after. Work is really fun and the pay isn't too shabby. Seems like a really comfortable place to fall.

I spoke to my friend about how I was worried that I would go there, love it, do a good job, get hired, and never try to advance because it's such a comfortable place to be. My friend was like "You're already writing up your whole life!"

I know the 2nd years who are working there. Right after I found out, I ran into them at Tim Hortons. I only knew one of the was at WALES though. So I already have a connection there.

Edit: Somehow I have no memory of my previous update. I guess since it's so brief and basic, must have written it as an after-thought. Oh well, this one was more thorough.

Co-Op Chosen

Today, I was asked aside by the person who is in charge of placing people for co-op. He asked me if I would be willing to work at the WALES program for Extend-A-Family. It's a program for developmentally disabled people. I hadn't put it on my preferences list because I was hoping to experience a new population. But being singled out for having a proficiency in the area that I had the most job satisfaction is sort of a validation on my behalf.

Tired

I've had six hours sleep in the past 48 hours... And not like, in a row, either. Three two hour naps. I have four things due in five days. I just finished the two most high-intensity ones, though, and have nothing due tomorrow. I literally don't know what to do with the free time.

I landed all three interviews I applied for. I also have a mock counseling session I have to attend, so I have interviews four days in a row...

I got a new laptop. It has a touch screen. It also has a mouse pad though, which is good. It's smaller than my old laptop. One gripe I have with it is that the mouse button is part of the mouse pad, so it's easy to slide your mouse when you click. I'm not using it right now. I managed to fix my old computer's Internet, and I haven't had the spare time to try and find out how to connect my printer with my new laptop.