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.

First Car Accident

We got back to Pullman from Thanksgiving Break around 5 p.m. and decided that we should go grocery shopping at Winco since we had some time to kill, we had no food (milk, bread, cheese etc.) and it was a Saturday.  We got into the car and drove the back way on Airport road to Moscow.  Little did we know that the weather had changed in the ten minutes that we were driving.  The moisture on the road had quickly turned into black ice and we had no idea.  I told Megan to slow down just past the Pullman-Moscow Airport, I looked ahead and saw some lights…similar to road flares.  We crept forward to see that they were road flares and Megan hit the brakes too hard and we went out of control and into the ditch we went, hitting the back end of a truck that had already been in the ditch.  

Megan started hyperventilating and I was in too much pain to even move.  My seatbelt definitely saved my body from being hurt really bad.  I calmed Megan down as best as I could and a guy who ditched the truck came to our rescue.  He pulled Megan out and then he pulled me out, I had to climb out of the driver’s side.  The car was definitely on its side with the passenger side parallel with the ground.  We were not dressed for the occasion.  We had no idea we were going to spend the next hour outside in sandals and a thin layer of clothing...at least I was wearing a coat.  Megan called her dad and told him what had happened.  While we were calling parents and tow trucks, another car tried to make the corner and ended up in the ditch.  

 A few moments later a police officer came and told us that they blocked off the road so no more cars could come through.  The only other vehicle that came through was a gravel truck lining the road with sand and gravel.  He assured us that the tow truck was on its way.  While we waited, one of the friends of the guy with the truck was there to lend us their car for warmth, we climbed in and waited.  When the tow truck arrived, they got the car ahead of the truck out first, then the truck and then Megan’s car.  I went down into the ditch and grabbed the pieces that came off her car, just for souvenirs and to remember the occasion by.  Megan paid the tow truck guy and the car actually still drove. 

 We drove it to Dissmores because we needed milk, bread and some other things to get us by for the time being and then drove it home.  Megan was too afraid to drive it anywhere else.  She didn’t for a week, until it was time to take it in for repairs.  We also documented the damages just in case.    

The next morning I got up and I was really sore.  I even saw a light bruising on my upper body where the seat belt had pulled when we went into the ditch.

After the accident, every time I drive down that road, I remember the exact spot where we went into the ditch.

Yep, I Had a Kidney Stone

During the fall of my junior year, I woke up Thursday morning around 6:30 a.m. with a really bad side ache.  It was no ordinary side ache.  I got up to pee just to see if it would go away, it didn’t.  I lay back down in bed curled up to see if it would go away, it didn’t.  I continued to lay there until about seven.  I heard Megan get up because she gets up every morning early to take a shower and go into the training room.  At that time, Lauren was living with us on the couch.  I walked out there in excruciating pain in sweatpants, clinching my phone and my wallet.  Lauren looks at me frantically, “Val, you ok?”  I went and laid in front of the door curled up in a ball.  Lauren gets up asks me if she should call the hospital.  I tell her to see when they open and Megan can take us.  Megan comes out of the shower in a towel wondering why Lauren is freaking out and why I am up at 7 a.m. and lying in front of the door.  I couldn’t stand, sit or lay without it hurting so badly.  Lying, curled up was the only thing I could do.  “Megan, take me to the hospital…please…”  She agreed and ran into her bedroom and threw some clothes on.  She went outside got the car and I slowly walked down the stairs and curled up into the back seat of the Echo.
 
The ride to “student death” (student health/hospital) took soooo long for some reason, longer than usual.  I walked slowly up to the admission desk and gave the nurse my information.  They set me up with a room, I got a robe on and they started doing tests.  “Make it stop hurting!”  I said that over and over until I had a lot of morphine in me.  Lauren and Megan were in there with me.  I had Megan call my mom on my cell phone.  Megan was very vague when she was giving information to my mom.  My mom told Megan that she would come to Pullman as soon as she got off work.  At that point, we really couldn’t give my mom any information about my status because we did not know.  I remember puking on the floor because the pain was so bad.  I have never had pain that horrible before.  I even yelled out to people that I just wanted to die than live with the pain.  They took x-rays, a MRI and the other general tests that they do on patients.  They put me in a room and they hooked me up to more machines, then they started asking me questions.  Lauren and Megan decided to stay with me for a while.  They left around lunch time but Megan was the only one to come back and stay with me until my mom showed up around 11:00 that night.  Megan missed an exam to stay with me in the hospital.  She got it cleared with her professor.  I had her talk to my professors because I had a test the next day I was not going to make it to.  She got everything taken care of.  I slept most of the afternoon because I was not in pain anymore because of all the morphine that was pumped into me.  Megan is definitely a true friend

The doctor that was assigned to me came in with my x-ray and she showed me why I was in so much pain earlier that morning.  I had a kidney stone stuck in the tube between my kidney and my bladder.  The reason why it hurt so much was that the stone has little miniature barbs on the outside of it, so it scraping down every couple of minutes through my fleshy insides was indeed painful.  They told me the stone was not big enough for a surgery, it would have to come out on its own when I peed.  I slept most of the afternoon until the nurses came in to check my vitals.  Megan spent most of the day at my side until she left to go run some errands.  When she got back she brought me back a stuffed duck filled with those Styrofoam bead things.  My mom showed up to the hospital around 11 p.m. that night.  She told me about her drive.  She said it was the fastest drive over to Pullman she has ever driven.  This was due to no traffic and she was in a hurry to see how I was doing.  Once mom was there everything was okay.  The doctor explained it all to her as she got ready for bed.  The nurse said it would be okay for her to spend the night with me in one of the patient beds.  One of the other nurses wanted to know if I wanted any food or anti-nausea medicine to make my stomach feel better.  I told her I was not hungry and that I should try the anti-nausea medicine to make my stomach feel better.  Bad idea.  The anti-nausea medicine made me puke more than I had in years.  Every time I got up to pee (because of the IV), I came back and puked before I got into my bed.  It hurt so bad to puke since there wasn’t anything to puke up except the IV fluid.  During the night, the nurses came in every hour to check my vitals.  I didn’t get any sleep at all.  Not a wink. 

The next day I was feeling a little better than the day before so I ordered some wonderful hospital food and they checked me out.  I went and got a prescription of Oxycodine from the pharmacy and left that awful place.  We went to Safeway to pick up a few things and then we went home.  I took some medicine just to keep the pain from coming back.  We hung out most of the day on Friday, just kept it easy.  We tried some home made remedy to break up the kidney stone and I just ended up puking all over my bedroom wall.  We ended up going back to the hospital to see if there was anything else we could do.  The nurse just said to take the medicine to ease the pain and just wait until it comes out on its own.  We went home and watched TV.

On Saturday my dad called us with good news and bad news.  He wanted to talk to me first.  I wanted him to tell me the bad news first and then the good news.  He told me my cat Erving died and I just lost it…I never got to hear what the good news was.  Later on that day there was a football game against Stanford.  We walked over there from Boulder Creek and got there in time to get a good seat.  It was raining and miserable.  The game started and my pain came back.  I told my mom we had to go, I wouldn’t make it through the whole game.  So we left at the first quarter.  I felt bad for my mom because she has never been to a football game in Pullman and she still hasn’t.  We made the long walk back and it was indeed painful.  I walked hunched over pushing on my lower back to keep it from hurting a lot more.  We got back and I immediately took my pills.  Ten minutes later I felt like I was floating on clouds with no pain.  We watched the rest of the football game on FSN (Fox Sports Network).  We lost to Stanford 17-23.  The following day my mom packed up her stuff and got ready to go back home.  Two hours into her trip home, I went pee and out came the kidney stone.  I got some gloves and plucked it out of the toilet and saved it in a jar to show people.  Later on during the school year, my sister came to visit during her spring break and thought it was an empty jar and lost the kidney stone in the carpet.