Personal Narrative: My First Cross Counttry Meetings

“In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle or last. You can say, ‘ I finished’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that” - Fred Lebow. I began cross country in eighth grade shortly after my brother joined the year before. He enjoyed it a lot, so I thought it would be fun. I’ve been on the team for two years. I would like to run for the rest of my life. Cross country changed my life positively forever. It taught me to push myself past what I thought was my limit. It revealed to me a great community of people and it taught me to leave my comfort zone.

Day four of clinicals was really long. The first patient was scheduled from 8 until 1, he was getting fitted for 4 crowns and an implant crown. When the patient came in he had a horrible odor and looked like he hasn’t taken care of himself in months. I seated him down and the dental assistant just glanced at his teeth and looked at me strangely and whispered come here and look. I look in this old man’s mouth and saw nothing but a brown layer of plaque and calculus build up and it disgusted me. How could someone not take care of their selves? Anyways, we ended up sending him to the hygienist's room next to us and they cleaned his teeth extra good. He came back into the room and Dr. Williams came in and quickly did a check up on his teeth and

After every race, you can vaguely expect what you will see up on the clock. I know, now, how much I put in, is only as much as I can expect to get out. Running has helped me form some ideas that are still fresh in my brain but will hopefully help me become a better version of myself. Just remember, someone may have a lifetime ahead of them, but they need to make the last bit just as good as the

My second clinical day at Mercy Defiance Hospital, progressive care unit, was overwhelming but rewarding and very educational. Through the 8 hours I was there, I learned a lot. I engaged myself in many self-directing learning practices to futher promote my professional growth. My first time interaccting with my patient,I was joined with my clinical instructor. While in the room, I got to listen to to my patients heart, lungs, and bowel sounds. I was able to see and examine the patients ostomy bag, as well as help them to the bathroom. There were ways that I can improve my professional growth, suchas,having the confidence to not second guess my self about things to do in assessments. For example, I know how to assess the lungs, I should not second guess where to listen for the sounds. One of my goals for next week dealing with professional growth would be to have the confidence to know what I have learned and use it. My second one being to go into the room with a confident attitude and believe in myself.

I had heard about the cross country team but I didn’t know anyone who was a part of it. The cross country team was full of girls who were welcoming and shared the same passion for running as me. I was putting in a lot of time into this team, from long practices everyday and meets every Wednesday and Saturday, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I was able to mentor the younger members on the team and share my love for running with them. After being a part of this team for three years, together, we have won three consecutive senate championships and developed a bond like no other.

My first APPE rotation was pediatrics in Cleveland Clinic. Before starting the rotation, I was scared but excited to have experience in Cleveland Clinics, since it is one of the biggest hospitals in the country. I was worried because I had no knowledge about pediatrics. Also, the first day of the rotation was a day after the final, so I was in a rush mode.

The meeting began as one man named Rodney read about the purpose of the AA. Hi, my name is Rodney and I am an alcoholic. “Hi Rodney”, everyone replied; this seemed to be the standard introduction for each AA meeting. Others introduced themselves in the same manner while others patiently waited or were fiddling with things in front of them since we had already been asked to remove our phones. One young man, in particular introduced himself explaining that it was his first time with the group and the group responded happily and many got up to hug him to thank him for taking the first step to being sober. I then took the opportunity for me to explain this was my first time attending this meeting also but it was due to me needing to observe for

For 2 years I was a member of the Central Toronto Athletic Club. CTAC is a competitive middle distance running club that trains its athletes to compete in track and field and cross country events. It is a year round athletic club that is a platform for talented people of almost all ages to train and to focus on their self-progress as an athlete. At CTAC I was encouraged to push myself to test the limits of my speed, endurance and strength and to discover what my body is truly capable of. Running was a very satisfying sport because my achievements were directly proportional to the amount of work that I put in. At CTAC, I learned discipline, dedication and perseverance. I had to balance my schoolwork with daily practices or workouts, I ran six

They congratulated me and I saw and felt their pride. I, myself, felt pride for conquering my obstacles and overcoming my frustration. I had more confidence and even though Running Club ended after the 5k, I continued to run with my friends and my renewed confidence. Joining that club aided me to realize that I truly enjoyed running. My enjoyment for the sport influenced me to become a member of the 7th and 8th grade cross country team, along with the track and field team. Overall, my experiences in the Running Club guided my participation in running sports and improved my attitude toward those

This is probably one of the reasons why I love Cross-Country. I think the feeling that you get after you accomplish a goal that you have been working towards is one of the best feelings in the world. Cross-Country continues to give me this feeling's and has taught me many things about working towards goals, which is why I love it so much and considered one of my favorite

My second clinic rotation is internal medicine and I’ve had many encounters, both with patients and colleagues, which have made me pause and reflect. One of those encounters, in particular, will still be on my mind long after I finish typing this reflective journal. The patient at the center of it all is a lady I’ll refer to from here on as “Mrs. Flowers.” Mrs. Flowers is an 81 year old female with dementia and diabetes. She arrived on our unit with a diabetic foot infection that had progressed from a simple toe ulcer to wet gangrene. Over the last 2-3 months, gangrenous changes encompassed the distal half of her left foot. During pre-rounds, our medical team unanimously agreed that we would contact surgery for a consult. At time, it was obvious

When I had gotten to the meeting, thankfully, I had seen a couple of my friends who had chosen to go. My first impression of the leader of the running club, was that he seemed very nice and also corky. I truly did think that this would be a really great club to join after he talked more about it. He had explained that there were different categories from the running club that we could choose. There was the expert, advanced, couch-5k, and the walking group. For me, I was personally the couch-5k because I had not run since junior year of high school for the track team. I thought this would be the perfect in-between group for

While I was in track we had practice every Monday through Friday five o’clock to seven thirty, Wednesday's was three to five and even on some holidays.Those two hours were filled were stretches, with gruesome drills and excruciating laps. There were plenty of times where I thought I could finish and just walk, but I remembered how it feels to loose in last and so I kept pushing and until I was drenched with sweat. Some of the worst practices were in the cold while it was windy, or in the hot, sweltering sun. I pushed until I could not push anymore. I would go home with my legs and screaming of and pain shin splints. My legs would be red

After I got there, the meeting was called to order by the person in charge of the meeting. The man read some things that were in a book, I do not know what it really know what the book was called. Then three of the people that were there for the meeting also reads something to the group. The person in charge of the meeting then asked if there were any newcomers or people attending that particular meeting for the first time who care to introduce themselves only by their first name. Next the person in charge of the meeting made some announcements about AA and the days and times that they have meeting at their location. Then finally, the person in charge of the meeting began to talk on the topic. After everyone who wanted to share, they allowed the

You had to have the determination to keep running through the pain especially because since my ankle was not fully healed I had to put past the pain barrier. There were days that practices were very hard and I just felt like I couldn't go anymore yet the teamwork that my team showed to push each other just motivated everyone to keep running to the finish line. You had to have so much commitment to run Cross Country because you could not just show up to meets and run an outstanding race if you didn't run every practice and train as hard as you could. The meets were all after school towards the night and so as a team we were all very tired, worn out, and nervous so sometimes