What Am I Grateful For?

This summer, I am thankful for both the school to career class and my internship. I'm very happy that we've been able to learn about interest rates and financial decisions in class because we will need to know about those types of things when we're living on our own. I now have a lot better idea on how much I can spend, especially since overspending is a very easy task to do during the summer. I'm also thankful that we did a 5-15 year plan because it made me understand how hard I want to work in order to achieve my goals in my field of studies for science and medicine.  With my internship, I'm glad that I was able to be in an office job atmosphere and get a real feel on how important professionalism and all of our other work readiness skills come into place. I learned to be tolerant and respectful, dedicated, and have good communication skills. Being tolerant and respectful is crucial when speaking to patients and their families. They are at a very uneasy state, so their caretakers must understand all of the paths that the family may want to take during this time. This may include whether they want spiritual care or not, the types of medications the patient needs, how often the nurses come visit, and other personal decisions. Being dedicated is important too for one must be committed to their job at Heartland 100%. At orientation, our supervisor made it clear that we should be comfortable with the conversations of death and dying around the office. Heartland works with every bone in their body to make sure that they are putting in their best effort to keep the remainder of patients’ lives free of stress and troubles. Finally, I'm thankful that I've improved my skills of serving the needs of others. Heartland Hospice centers their work around helping people wherever they may call home, whether it’s the house they’ve owned for years, an assisted living facility, or a skilled nursing center. I'm so grateful to have these types of opportunities because I know a lot of children, teenagers, and young adults around the world don't have any sort of education whatsoever. In a couple weeks I'll be traveling to Mexico to build orphanages and help kids learn English, so I'm very excited to spread knowledge and help a community with children that needs all the assistance they can get. Overall, this summer has matured me a lot. It has made me realize how important my future is, and I really am grateful for that.