This quarter I am doing my clinical for the phlebotomy program and working on finishing up my HIT course requirements.  At first I was terrified of the thought of doing a clinical–the word clinical made me cringe.  All I could think of was not being ready and messing things up.  I sure didn’t want to drive 30 minutes away to go to a site where I didn’t know anyone and a place where no one cared about my success or failure in the least.  I was freaking out about how I was going to put in my 120 hours and still work, do my other course work and take care of my family.  The mere thought of figuring this puzzle out gave me a migraine.

So as my fear and nervousness was mounting, along came the first day of my clinical.  I arrived at the site and checked in with the supervisor of my clinical experience. My heart was in my throat the entire first hour I was there.  The ladies I worked with were nice–they had me complete some paperwork for them and then showed me how they did things.  Then about twenty minutes after I had finished my paperwork, they had me draw on a patient, A REAL LIVE PATIENT, not someone from my class who was ok with being stuck. A patient who was not excited about having their blood taken in the first place so I mustered all of the courage I had.  I put on my gloves, put the needle together, gathered my tubes, got my gauze ready and got my tourniquet.  I put the arm rest down on the chair; I tied off my patients arm and prayed.  I prayed that I would be able to feel a vein, that I would be able to find a vein and most of all that I would be able to perform this draw with no issues.  Then I clean off the area and palpated the area for the vein, BINGO a big fat juicy vein was right there.  It wasn’t trying to hide or anything; I put my needle together, anchored the skin and poked the needle in.  I pushed the tube on and a beautiful geyser of blood comes pouring into the tube.  I filled the 2 tubes that I needed, released my tourniquet and took out the needle.  I applied the gauge and wrapped up the patients arm with co-flex.  I had done it!  I preformed a draw on a real live patient, just me with the techs just looking on.  I was no longer nervous about my abilities because I knew if I got the first patient I had the ability.

As I am now in my third week at the clinical site I feel my confidence growing, I am still learning ways to improve but I know I have the basics to succeed in phlebotomy.  Oh, by the way, I love drawing blood, I think this is what I was born to do, maybe in a past life or something I was a Vampire?  I will get back to you on how I am doing soon.

By MTC Student Ambassador, LP

Do you remember Dorothy and Toto?  How about the Tin-Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion?  What an adventure they had, searching for their dreams along the yellow brick road.  Meeting along the way the Munchkins, Glinda the good witch from the north, and the scary wicked witch from the west, they skipped along that path.

As their journey progressed, they began to mature, to look beyond what they wanted and instead they began to look for what was good for all of them.  It was no longer just about Dorothy going back home or the Tin-Man gaining a heart, but it was about strangers becoming friends and learning to take care of each other, to mature into a selfless group looking out for the good of the group.  When their adventure was coming to a close, and the great and powerful Oz was discovered to be just an ordinary man, the true lesson of life was unfolded before their eyes.  It was pointed out to them that the heart, brains, and courage that they (Tin-Man, Scarecrow, and Lion) were searching for was within them the whole time.  And Dorothy’s search for her way back home was really inside her very own heart all along.  When we stop to think about it, this is exactly how our life really is.

We all came to MTC starting an adventure down our own personal yellow brick road.  We enrolled here with the ultimate goal of obtaining the education required for either career advancement, or a career change.  Along the way we meet friends, counselors, advisors, and instructors who have each added to our adventure.  As time progresses we mature, moving from the self focused journey, into one of a group effort.  We impact each other’s lives, and leave our marks on each other’s hearts as we travel down our own yellow brick road.  Instructors not only educate, but impart in us a new way of thinking; being able to approach life with a new positive attitude, and attitude of change.  Advisors, counselors, administrators all lead by example.  Encouraging, assisting, leading us as they walk the halls talking to us, and doing the simplest form of care – giving us a much needed smile – a smile that says we know you are here, and we are here for you.

As the quarters begin to all mush together, and the only focus is graduating (like Dorothy wanting to go home), we need to remind ourselves to slow down, stop, take in every minute, every opportunity, making every memory count.  After graduation we will embark on our next journey.  We need to remember to always take the brains, heart, and courage that we have gained from our friends here, and hold them tightly in our own hearts and minds; to take the wisdom from Oz (our instructors, advisors, counselors) and apply it to our lives.  Graduating from MTC will leave us prepared to face life and to start a new adventure!

Now, standing arm in arm, together we will travel down the MTC-brick road, facing any obstacle that comes our way!

Singing: “We’re off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz!”

What I remember most as a child is sitting on Santa’s lap letting him know what the one thing was that my heart desired the most for Christmas.  I remember lying to him about being good because I often was not and praying the whole time that he didn’t find out about me and my little fib.  I remember the excitement of waking up Christmas morning and running down stairs to see if he indeed had showed up and if I had fooled him yet again this year.

Now that I am a mother, I love hearing my daughter talk to Santa about what she wants for Christmas and how wonderful she has been, the whole time knowing that her room is a disaster and that she in trouble daily for back talking.  But I hold my tongue and with all the joy in my heart I watch my daughters eyes sparkle at the thought of Santa’s impending arrival.  Seeing my child experience Christmas makes my heart sing. There are only few things that I enjoy more than this.

This year I find myself lacking in the Christmas spirit department.  I find myself remembering people who are gone and how I would love to see them again, if only just for Christmas Day.  As they are ever a part of my Christmas memories, the holiday just doesn’t seem right without them being here.  I don’t want this to put a damper on my child’s Christmas as her memories are just forming.  So this year I think I am going to add some of our family history to our Christmas tree.  I think I am going to find pictures of the people we love and somehow make ornaments with their pictures on them for our tree.  I think we are going to put pictures of those who are with us and those who are not.  I want my daughter to feel how the love of her family envelopes her on Christmas no matter if they are celebrating Christmas with us here on Earth or watching our celebrations from heaven.

My question to you is how do you bring the memories of your loved ones into your Christmas celebration and still keep it a happy event?

By MTC Student Ambassador, RR

Every year at Thanksgiving I look forward to eating lots of good food. The turkey, ham, stuffing, and pumpkin pie are just some examples of most common Thanksgiving Day meals.  Around 1975 is when the term “Black Friday” started to be used for shopping the Day after Thanksgiving. It is considered the first day of the Christmas shopping season.  It is the time that most retailers get “into the black” when it comes to their profit.  Thanksgiving to me and most people is supposed to be a time that you get together and spend time with family and enjoy everyone’s company.  Thanksgiving started as a day to celebrate the year’s harvest.  The shopping every year normally starts around 3am for most stores to get the really low priced bargains. This year however, some stores were open all Thanksgiving Day and it was considered a “Pre- Black Friday” sale. Other sales started at 10pm on Thanksgiving Day. This year I think it went way too far. The people that had to work didn’t get to spend the day with their family. I feel so bad for them. Retailers are trying to take the family holiday away for selfish profit reasons.  I love Black Friday shopping don’t get me wrong, but I don’t believe that it should have gone as far as taking the day away from family gatherings. I got to one of my Thanksgivings of the day and over half of the people were gone. Normally everyone stays till around 10pm-12am. Everyone was gone by 7pm this time because they needed to make the 8pm specials at Wal-mart. I was so disappointed. The sales to me were not more important than family time.  I like spending all night with family, staying up and watching movies until we go shopping at 4am. We would then shop until around 11am or noon and have brunch and go home and sleep. That was a fun family tradition. This year everyone was split up. Retailers have just gone way to far, and people are losing sight of why we enjoy the holiday.

Did Kim Kardashian Make a Joke on the Sanctity of Marriage?

Kim Kardashian got married to Kris Humphries on August 28, 2011. Kim had been married once before.  In the past few years her sister Khloe has gotten married after only dating her husband for a few short weeks. Her other sister Kourtney had a son named, Mason with her boyfriend Scott. It seemed that her sisters were growing up and starting their own families and Kim was not. She is and always has been very career driven. Some say that she may put her career in front of everything, which is why she hadn’t gotten married yet.

Kim thought that with Kris it was finally her time to shine and start her own family.  Only 72 days after the wedding, Kim filed for a divorce.  There are many speculations on what the reasoning was for the split. Many say it was staged, just for publicity and money. Others say it was that Kris was rude and wanted Kim to move away from L.A. because she would soon be a “has been”.  All I know is that there are many people in this world that would like to get married, but they can’t. If this was just a horrible marriage and it shouldn’t have happened, then I truly do feel sorry for Kim and Kris. I wish that people would have to go through extensive classes and counseling sessions before they would be able to get married. It is not a joke, nor should it be used as a publicity stunt or money maker. What are your thoughts on this?

This time of year, most of us are concerned with the fact that we’re stuck behind a combine, a semi, or a tractor hauling grain carts.  Sure, it does hold up time and often can make us late to our destination.  My question is, do you think about the person that is driving the said equipment.  I do.   These men and women have more than likely been up since 0530 in the morning getting their tractors ready to get in the field and begin harvest for the day.  Soon, their semis will be filled up with grain and they will make their long haul to the farmers exchange.  Most do this at least 30 times a day.  Soon, 1200 comes.  Most of us are eating lunch at this point in time.  I can almost guarantee that said farmer is not- unless they’re lucky enough to have someone that is able to bring them food to the field.  Next thing you know, it is 1700.  Almost 12 hours have been spent in the field.  Now the farmer is tired and very hungry, but I can guarantee when you go by their field a few hours later they will still be out there.  Most farmers spend at least 18 hours a day doing harvest this time of year- Sunday through Sunday.  They miss their spouses, their children.  They miss their beds, their food.  The thanks they get from their families are wonderful.  The thanks they get from motorists are not always that.  Next time you feel agitated and upset because you’re stuck behind a tractor, think about the hard work that is being done and how their hard work more than likely puts food on the table.

I am so tired of cooking the same old things week after week.  My family and I need some excitement in the menu at our house.  The thing is I am worried about trying new things because I have a fear of my family not liking whatever new dish I make.  So I have been discussing this issue with some of my family and friends and I have gotten some fairly good suggestions.

My sister who is having the same issue has started buying cookbooks and starting at the beginning she makes two to three recipes out of them a week and then the recipes are rated by everyone in the household.  If the recipe gets an average above  4 or 5 then it is put into the rotation for regular meals if the recipe is rated low on the scale then it is not made again.  My sister writes the rating right on the recipe in the cookbook, I think this is a wonderful idea.  I just need to find a cookbook that I want to take this chance with.

My best friend just goes online and finds a recipe with the ingredients she likes and tries it.  She is much more adventurous than me.  Then there are my in-laws who have a Facebook page that they trade their favorite recipes on.  I have found a couple recipes there that look interesting…I just haven’t had the courage to try them yet.

I am a full time student with a part time job and I am looking for healthy meals, that are easily made and don’t cost a fortune to make.  Maybe this is why I am having such an issue finding new things to make.

Are there any foodies out there that care to share some recipes with a cook whose family is bored with the same old grub?

Thought #1:  Marion Technical College isn’t the “traditional college.”  The average student age is about 28, we have students of all ages and walks of life attending here.  Yes, there are students fresh out of high school, but there are all students, like myself when I began, fresh out of a job who are looking for something to help them when we go back out into the world of looking for a career.

Thought #2:  Marion Technical College has improved in this area.  Last year I received the honor of becoming a Student Ambassador.  As a Student Ambassador, I realized that the college offers so much more than what you see on the surface.  For instance, I was involved in the first ever student production of a musical here on campus.  The production was Little Shop of Horrors and it also involved students from OSUM.  We rehearsed very hard for the musical and hopefully will be considered pioneers when students in the future on campus will still be doing shows over at Morrill Hall.  I am also a part of an honor society, one of a few opportunities that are not only helpful resources but also look really nice on a resume.

Thought #3:  I love this campus.  I have spent time here going to school, tutoring, being an Ambassador and as we speak (I type?) I am filling in at the receptionist desk and get to see everyone coming in and going out of the TEC building.  Marion Techinical College doesn’t need the appeal of a “tradional college experience” because it offers a Unique College Experience.  We are still in a small enough community that people are willing to help one another, offer a smile, and take time to get to know you so when you pass in the halls, you say “hi” to each other instead of awkwardly looking the other way.

I try to put a plug in for the school when I can, (I mentioned I’m an Ambassador, right?) and this time is no exception.  People are always told that if you’re considering going back to school then MTC may be right for you, but I want to encourage even those who are looking to go to school for the first time, fresh out of high school or not.  This is a good school, it will treat you well and there are opportunities to get involved as much as you want, or don’t.

Autumn is my favorite season.  I love the vibrant colors of the trees, the crisp air and of course Halloween.  I have a young child in my house and that means trick-or-treating.  Which means it is time for bubble gum, lollypops, chocolate and all things spooky or creepy crawly.  I love taking my daughter trick-or- treating and seeing all of the children dressed up in their costumes.  I also enjoy going to haunted houses, graveyards, and prisons.  Halloween is just a fun time for everyone in my family.  As usual we have already decorated the yard and house with all creepy and crawly wonders of the holiday.

This year we started a new tradition at our house.  My daughter at the ripe old age of 9 has become a scary movie addict.  For years now she has watched Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State with me along with anything else that involves ghosts or the paranormal so I guess this is the natural progression of things.  She has decided that she is old enough to handle being scared.  So I have given in and on Friday and Saturday evenings we are having a scary movie night complete with popcorn.  So far we have watched:  Pumpkin Head, The Grudge, The Others, Bram Stokers Dracula and The Sixth Sense.  They are scary but not the blood and guts slasher movies and for my daughter they are still plenty frightful.  I am slowly but surely running out of movies that I can show her as many of the scary movies have way too much nudity and foul language for a nine year old.  I am looking for some age appropriate suggestions as to other movies that will give her a good jump but will not be too advanced for her.  I have thought of some of Stephen King’s movies, like The Shining or Cujo but after this I am lost.  So scary movie buffs, any suggestions?

Our school year is still in its early stages, but for one person this next month may be one of the most critical months of their life. Luke Fickell, Columbus born and raised, has been vaulted from relative obscurity to one of the biggest jobs in college football. Now in his dream job, he faces an immense challenge in the month of October. Fickell takes his young team through a veritable gauntlet of Michigan State, Nebraska, Illinois, and Wisconsin. At this point, all four teams are ranked in a major poll.

How does one attempt to take on this challenge? One week at a time. With his coaching future unknown at the moment, Fickell has to coach each and every game as if it were his last. Each and every game is experience added to his resume. Each win increase the chances of extending his tenure as the head coach of the Buckeyes, but each loss takes that reality further and further out of his reach.

One could say that the deck is stacked against Fickell. Teamed with a group of assistant coaches that are remnant of the previous coach’s regime and leading a talented but inexperienced roster, the situation is far from ideal. However, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and he needs to take advantage of what he’s been given. Fickell can use what he has and do something great with it. With a successful season, Fickell can solidify his position and be the head coach at his alma mater for years to come.

How does any of this relate to life at MTC? Like Fickell, we are all at an important time in our lives. We’ve been given a great opportunity to receive an education. Some may not like the idea of going to class every day, studying, doing homework, and taking tests, but it’s part of what being a student is about. Going to college might seem like a daunting task that cannot be overcome, but it just needs to be taken one week at a time. Focus on what needs to be done every week, and stay on top of knowing the material. It is up to you to take the advantage of the opportunity given to you and make the absolute best of it. With some hard work and determination, anything can be achieved. You may even land the job you’ve dreamed of since you were a kid, just like a hometown guy in Columbus is doing right now.