HD 205

“Notice…adjust...evolve.” –Dr. Kim Kidwell

My experience with HD 205 was pretty interesting.  I really did not expect it to go the way it did when I first walked into my discussion session on the first Monday of discussion groups.  I had discussion group before the actual lecture class.  That was a first.  I almost got lost trying to find my way to Clark 151.  I had no idea that part of campus existed.  As I walked towards Clark, I asked two people if I was going the right way.  Thankfully enough I was.  I walked into class and I felt like I was being stared at.  I even asked Tiffany, the teacher’s aide, if I was in the right room because it really didn’t feel right.  I thought to myself…a human development class in an animal science building…weird.  I knew this trek from Cleveland to Clark was going to be a problem, a ten to fifteen minute walk from and to polar opposites of campus.  I was going to be late to discussion every Monday unless my noon class got over early.  I really feel bad walking into discussion five minutes late.  Turns out, it was not a problem during the course of the semester.

One of the most memorable experiences from HD 205 was our second week of classes.  It was the week when we met in the CUB Ballroom for Challenge Course I.  At that point, none of us in our discussion sections really knew each other.  The week before we learned each others names, majors and where we were from.  We did not get to learn each others leadership skills or how we dealt with a different variety of people and their opinions.  It was definitely a learning moment.  I walked into the CUB Ballroom and some people called my name, at first I did not recognize any of them right away, I’ve only seen these people three times.  I went and sat with them as we listened to why we were here.  For Challenge Course I, we were supposed to build the tallest tower (and it had to stand by itself) out of “the bag of goodies” they handed out to each group.  They gave us two instructions, you have fifteen minutes and you have to use the materials in the bag.  Other than that, we had no rules.  We could construct this tower in any which way or form.  The fifteen minutes started.  It was interesting to see who dove in and who stood on the outside of the group to observe everyone.  I felt like I made a difference in the tower building project because I was the one who suggested using the paper bag as an anchor and my group agreed.  It was pretty cool that my group liked my idea and put it into effect, it made me feel a part of the tower making process.  At one point, Dusty had some great ideas on how we could make it stronger…it was nice to have some construction management majors in our group I might add, and we went with his ideas.  It ended up working for us in the end.  At the end of the fifteen minutes, it was time to put down the remaining materials.  Our tower…team 11’s tower was the only one left standing.  We won the challenge.  At that point, I thought we were all going to get along and the project was going to be a piece of cake.  I was so wrong about that.

As we moved into our community service project, people became very hostile with one another and each others ideas.  We had a great bunch of ideas when we were deciding what to do with our projects.  Once we figured out what we were going to do, some of the people did not like the ideas and we would have to start over from scratch.  This became a difficult task because our deadline for our proposal was due in a week.  It was crunch time…were we going to get it done?  We should have tried out an idea to see if it worked rather than shooting it down before it had time to breathe, who knows…it could have worked.  That was the biggest problem throughout the entire project, just doing it!  I learned while working with this group of people to just get a plan see if it works and do it, if it doesn’t work, try it again and find something that does work and when it does give each other high fives and do a happy dance.  

Around the middle of the semester we did these self disclosure projects, an assignment to get to know your teammates a little better.  Most of the stories I heard were really sad things like family members dying, alcoholism, drugs, prison, hard life lessons and divorce.  Mine was nothing like that.  I took a different approach to my story.

Near the end of the semester was the final challenge course if you wanted to do it.  Of course I did, it was the coolest one out of the previous courses we have done.  I walked up to the REC Center and joined one of the groups.  It was a chilly afternoon and I am glad I brought my jacket.  We had a safety lecture about the challenge course, got our helmets, ropes and safety harnesses all straightened out.  We each got to go up one by one to the course and it was the coolest feeling ever.  We were about fifty feet in the air strapped to a rope.  You could swing, hang upside down or just walk around...I have no idea why I didn’t bring my camera.  It was probably one of the coolest activities I’ve ever gotten to do in a college class.

There was one lecture activity that really stood out as far as group 11 was concerned.  Kim, our professor, handed out a piece of paper to everyone in class.  On it was a list of different types of people, their occupations, and an item he or she had with them.  They were all on a boat and it was sinking fast.  We had to prioritize what we thought was most important to keep as we tried to save their lives.  The first task was to put them in an order that fit your criteria first.  Then we got into a group of people sitting close by (which was most of my group 11 teammates) and had ten minutes to put them in an order and we all had to agree on it. Some groups did not survive and others did depending on if they could reach a consensus about what to get rid of and what to keep.  We got into a bigger group and it made it more difficult to reach an agreement.  We had fifteen minutes to make the list.  My group did not make it.  One of the items on the list was a dog and it wasn’t exactly a lap dog either.  According to me, the dog was the first thing to go overboard, however many people did not see that the dog caused a huge problem and so they kept it.  It wasn’t just confined to my group; other groups struggled with the dog.  After awhile, we had representatives from both sides of the argument went up to the front of the classroom and presented their sides of the problem.  The both had great arguments but I am still sticking with my decision…get rid of the dog.  The two things I noticed from this activity were that people have different opinions and they were not willing to compromise at all.

As we moved closer and closer towards the completion of our project, time was not on our side.  We came up with many good ideas and this time we just did them without the bickering and fighting.  The projects we chose to do for the Council on Aging (out of Colfax, Washington) turned out to be a success after fighting over it for many weeks.  We put together a food drive (Rosauer’s in Moscow where I hung out with Zach), a car wash (at Dissmore’s) and completed services for the people of Whitman County (I partnered up with Jessica Dominoski, who was from Hoquiam, and did yard work for a lady in Pullman).  It was really fun to help the people of the community with things that they could not do by themselves.  I learned that community service can be fun.

I missed our final presentation because I went to nationals in Maryland.  I presented it to my group during one of our class sessions and they said it was okay to miss it.  My classmates and my professor were not going to punish me or my grade for missing the presentation.

The part of HD 205 that I thought really meant a lot to me as a student was the last day of discussion session because we completed something that I did not ever think would happen. We had our fair share of fights, fusses and feuds with one another, but in the end we worked together as a team to get it done.  Kim was right, breakdown does lead to breakthrough.  At the time I did not believe it, but now I do after what we accomplished as a team these last sixteen weeks.  In discussion, it was extraordinary to hear all of the nice feedback from my classmates.  A lot of them said I put humor into just about everything I did.  I honestly did not know I was being funny…it’s just my personality.  It is important to let people know you appreciate them and they need to hear you say it out loud for it to actually mean something.  It was encouraging to hear some nice comments from our own teacher about each and every one of us and how we contributed positively to this project.  Kim has been the only teacher I’ve had that actually cared what her students felt, said or did.  She knew that we all had other things to focus on besides her class.  I am really glad she mentioned that in one of her lectures, it relieved me.  She is also is the only teacher that knew every single student in her class by name.  I have gone through so many teachers who just come to class and teach and don’t really care who’s in their classes or not.  She is very animated when she lectures and the stuff that she said was pretty funny.  She even used “liquid courage” as one of her examples.  The last day of discussion she gave each of us a blue “teamwork” bracelet and complimented that our group was one of the best ones she taught this semester.

P.R.O.W.L Center Practicum

My responsibilities in the P.R.O.W.L. center consisted of making sure the student athlete is greeted with a friendly hello and ask if they need assistance, if they do not need help of any kind, I continue with overseeing the center.  The P.R.O.W.L. center is student-service oriented so we must keep the area clean so we can use it for years to come.  I am also responsible for taking a head count of everyone every half hour in the center and recording the number of people in the book.  I also am there to make sure all of the equipment is being used properly, this including the television/VCR, computers/printers/copy machine, refrigerator/microwave, telephone/radio and the sofa/chairs.  I have never opened the center but I have closed the center and those responsibilities include:  making sure the area is cleared with trash and clutter (newspapers and magazines), replace items to designated spots (make sure the water cooler is full, replace it with new container if it is empty), close all computer programs and turn off the computers, turn off the printer and copy machine, turn off coffee pot and microwave and check the refrigerator door is closed, make sure all offices are locked, turn off all lights and lock the door on your way out.

Some of my other jobs in the center were cutting the Cougar sports out of the local newspapers and filing them for the athletes to come in and keep them, if they wanted them, I made some phone calls for Jeremey to let the athletes know about their Team Care meetings twice a month, I learned to navigate my way between Bohler Gym and the Physical Education Building (that is something I did not know how to do before my practicum) and I learned where all of the sport offices are because I delivered the athlete resume books to all of the offices.  I helped out at a dinner that the center held for the University partners.  They took them to a baseball game against the Huskies and their dinner was catered and they received a keepsake for attending.  It is an annual event for the people who make time for education and they are well appreciated for all that they do for Washington State University.  I am very grateful for having attended and it was great to see all of the events that I do not normally hear about.  Finally, I familiarized myself with all of the other practicum students and our supervisors, Pippa and Jeremey, we became good friends.

Over the course of this semester, we encountered a problem.  On January 25, 2005, the 61-inch television and the VCR/DVD player were stolen from the center.  The door was locked and we could not see how the man stole the TV.  We were told that he slipped in through one of the windows, unlocked the door, wheeled out the TV and closed the door behind him.  He was later caught when the police arrested him for an unrelated forgery charge.  The police just happen to notice the TV in the living room, obtained a warrant and linked it with the reported missing TV from the Physical Education Building.  The police released the TV back to the center on March 4, 2005.  

We had a meeting about the theft and made changes to our list of responsibilities.  The windows were securely fastened shut. All of the practicum students had their pictures taken and on their day of work, their pictures would be pinned up outside to show everyone who comes in who is working that day.  The last person who closes the center must initial the head count sheet before they leave.  They must make sure the lights are off and that the door is locked.

The P.R.O.W.L. center is pretty well kept up.  Everything is in order and is very organized.  The only problem I saw with the center was its security, when the television was stolen.  As a suggestion, it would be beneficial to have two people at a time working their shifts.  I haven’t had a shift where it went into evening when not a lot of people come into the center, but it would be nice to have someone there with you, especially at night.  

As far as myself in this job, I really liked that they gave me a chance to work there because they were only looking for twelve or thirteen people and I made it on the waiting list just in case someone dropped.  They told me to come to the meeting anyway and so I did.  Someone did end up dropping and I had the opportunity to work my practicum hours in the center.  They did their best with scheduling people according to their classes and other commitments.  Each practicum student worked three hours each week.  When it was my time to come in each time, I came a half an hour to fifteen minutes early, I was never late.  When I was not going to be there for my scheduled time, I let them know a head of time and I was scheduled for another time during the week.  I did every one of my responsibilities when I was in the center.  When I was asked to do other jobs I went and completed them.  When I had questions, I asked and they answered them as best as they could.  I never complained or put down a job that was given to me.  I did everything they told me to do.  

This practicum experience has been fun since it was the very first one I have ever done here.  I had to change my major last year to something that I would enjoy more.  This practicum experience has gotten me a little bit more involved with college sports and how they operate from season to season and from year to year.  Starting the first part of my practicum in the P.R.O.W.L. center has put my foot in the door for other opportunities within the athletic department here on campus.  I enjoyed working with new people this including Pippa, Jeremey and the other practicum students.  I am thankful that I had the opportunity to work with them in the P.R.O.W.L. center in the Physical Education Building and that I learned a lot about the athletic department.