Journal

Graduation Project Journal

Sept 23, 2010 1:47 pm ½ HOUR – 1 HOUR I e-mailed the keystone hospice place to see if I could do volunteer work there for this project. I just got an email back and they told me that they would love to have me and that they would call me. Which they did but I couldn’t answer it because I was in class. It was the Director of Volunteers at Keystone Hospice and she left me a voicemail. At around 6 o’ clock I called her back because that is when I was done my homework. So I called back and she told me they were excited to have me and they would love for me to be there. I was so excited when I heard that they actually wanted me to help them. October 6, 2010 2 hours I went to the hospice and did my Paperwork that was issued to me. There was so many and it took me a while just to fill them out. After filling them out I had to have a conference with the Director of Volunteers Christine DeVore. We talked for a while and she practically interviewed me. I felt like I was on a job interview. After we had a conference she took me around the building to see what it was like. I felt a deep heart breaking emotion when we went into the room my Grandfather was when he was there as a patient. After all was said and done, I left and was on my way to my house. To be able to volunteer at the hospice house I had to get reference forms and physical forms filled out which included the flu shot and a PPD test. October 24, 2010 3 hours Today was my first day of actual blood, sweat and tears of volunteer work. I worked with some kid named Sam that I didn’t even know went to my school. At first Sam and I had to take apart a hut that was up for the fall season. In the beginning it seemed easy but after a while it was very time consuming. After we took the hut down and cleaned all the debris up we had to rake the front. That wasn’t really that hard and it was kind of fun. The workers there seem to really like me. I hope they do because even though it was my first time meeting them it felt like we have been family or at least known each other for years.
 * December 21, 2010 **

Throughout my volunteering at Keystone Hospice has been very fun and eventful. Doing this helped me accomplish many things there and also many things in my heart. When my grand pop died I thought it was the hospice’s fault and they did that to him. However throughout my service there I’ve realized this wasn’t the case at all. By working with many of the Volunteering advisers and also with a fellow student, Sam Wessier, I have learned that this was not true. Usually Sam and I would rake leaves and yard work like that, however, it wasn’t about the work that I have done while volunteering at the hospice center. It was mostly about the people I met and actually had conversations with. Some went from my schooling, did I know anyone that was in hospice care, all the way to politics. All of this that only happened to me in the matter of a short 3- 4 months made me stronger, well rounded, well spoken, and has taught me many other qualities that I believe I need to be considered a man in my eyes.This experience I don’t think I will ever forget. Being there when I was younger with my grand pop to being in there now it still feels like family in my opinion. For this exact reason, I would like to thanky Grand pop fir everything that he has done for me and for letting me open my eyes to the world outside of my saftey zone.

**Reflection** This experience was like no other that I have ever felt before. I mean I have volunteered many places before but none had so much importance to me as much as this did. By the end of this journey, I set a goal to understand what hospice does and why are so many people against it. Through much research and talking to the professionals at the hospice house, I finally understood the questions I have been asking myself since my grand pop died 2 years ago. People don’t like hospice because some may say that it is a life choice that executes you to your death. However, that’s not the case at all. Many people believe that hospice is the best place to be under when you are terminally ill. This is because they make sure you die in peace and without pain. Along with learning about the hospice care field, I also learned a lot about myself. I learned that I loved helping others rather than just caring about myself and what I did rather than others. I also came to the conclusion I like the elderly and people who seem to be abnormal in today’s society. Also I learned that family is the most important thing to have in your life. Without family by their said most of the patients in the hospice wouldn’t live as long. From experience I know that family makes the patients fight worthwhile. When I was younger when my grand pop was a resident in the hospice I knew it meant the world to him to see his family because he never really knew when it was going to be his time to leave this earth. When we tried to leave be began to sob and cry and told us that he would see us soon if he died within that night. From this experience I will be taking friends, people that I now consider family, and life experiences that I needed to consider myself a man.