Blog 26: Senior Project Reflection

1) Positive Statement: I am really proud of my research throughout the school year. I feel that I was able to come up with quality research that really helped me on my two hour presentation. I am also proud of my mentorship. I really enjoyed my time spent at Leaps and Bounds Pediatric Therapy throughout my mentorship hours. I spent well over the required mentorship hours there. I am also still continuing to volunteer. I love what their program is about, and I love how my mentor, Cassie, is so passionate and knowledgeable about hippotherapy. Throughout my entire senior project journey, she helped me so much, and I am so thankful. I am also proud of the setup of my room for two hour presentations. I feel it really related to the feel of equine assisted therapy, and it gave off a fun western vibe. I also put a lot of time and effort into the setup. I definately feel it payed off.

2) A. I would give myself a P+. I feel that I had solid quality information about my topic and my answers. Also, given the circumstances, I feel that I had good activities.

B. For my overall senior project, I would give myself a P+. I had quality research, and all of my research was on time. Also, I had more research articles than required for a P consideration. I also feel that I did well on other senior project related activities and assignments.

3) What Worked: One thing that worked is that I had plenty of research available, thanks to my mentor. She was able to refer me to different sources. Also, she was personally very helpful. She was readily available and gave me plenty of useful information.

4) If I had a time machine, I would go back and change my 2-Hour Presentation. I had a lot more to say, but I forgot some of it and talked fast due to me being nervous. If I were to go back, I wish there was some way for me to not be nervous. Also, I did not have time for my third activity. If I could go back, I would manage my time better to ensure I have time for all three activities. However, I do feel I got my answers across successful.

Blog 25: Mentorship

Literal: Log of hours and description of duties are below

• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsEoEBm8As4OdFNZa1lHTWNja0FodXkxSzJKNXo0QUE#gid=0
• Contact name: Cassandra Sanders-Holly
• Phone number: (951)340-0431

Interpretave: What is the most important thing you've gained from this experience?

• The most important thing I gained from my mentorship experience at Leaps and Bounds is the knowledge of how hippotherapy helps many children with special needs. Leaps and Bounds plays a big role in many children's lives. They are given the freedom attop a horse that they normally would not have. Hippotherapy is a fun and unique way for a child to recieve therapy. It has been life changing seeing children week after week grow and achieve their goals. I have really enjoyed interacting with the children and hearing about their lives and their everyday accomplishments. I have also loved working with my fellow volunteers. I have met many new people, from all walks of life, through my mentorship. Another thing that has been very important to me is the friendships I have made with the horse handlers, Melissa and Megan. They were of great help to me and always made me feel comfortable and welcome. My mentor, Cassie, was also of tremendous help to me. She is so brilliant and knows everything there is to know about hippothrerapy and clinical therapy. She was there every day, greeting me with a smile and a warm hello. I really, really appreciate all that she has taught and done for me.

Applied: How has what you've done helped you to answer your Essential Question?

• Everything that I have done at my mentorship has helped me answer my EQ. My essential question is, "What is the most important benefit a child with special needs recieves through equine assisted therapy?" If it weren't for my mentorship, I would have limited knowledge of hippotherapy, and I would not have been able to answer my essential question to the fullest. My mentorship gave me a hands on experience to hippotherapy. I was able to learn by doing, which was very helpful. Also, my mentor was always there if I had any questions. She was there to guide me in the right direction. She also explained some specific things about hippotherapy in her own words. I would later go and research further what she spoke of that day. Cassie reccomended places I should go to look up certain information. Without my mentorship with Cassie, I honestly think I would have been lost.

Blog 24: Exit Interview Questions

1)      My essential Question is, “What is the most important benefit a child with special needs receives through equine assisted therapy?” My best answer is the movement of the horse is beneficial to the patient. Hippotherapy is unique because it incorporates the horse into the treatment process. There is no other therapy that can compare. Without the horse, the therapy would be just like any other strategy. The horses walking gait is exactly the same as a human’s walk.  If there were no horse and no benefits of the horse’s walk, my other answers would not exist. This is why the movement of the horse is my best answer.

2)      I began the year interested in doing my senior project on something to do with horses. Because horses is such a broad topic, I wanted to hone in on a certain area. I didn’t know what I wanted to specialize in at the time, however. I later heard about hippotherapy. I looked into it, and I really liked what I had heard about it. So, I decided to proceed with hippotherapy being my final senior project topic. My essential question came to be, “What is the most important benefit a child with special needs receives through equine assisted therapy?” My three answers that I came upon were, the movement of the horse is beneficial to the patient, hippotherapy provides relaxation through a relationship with the horse, and hippotherapy provides postural improvement. Through a process of elimination, leveling out the pros of each answer, I finally decided that my final and best answer would be that the movement of the horse is beneficial to the patient.

 

3)      One problem that I faced was finding a mentor. Once I decided I wanted to do hippotherapy as my senior project topic, I really had trouble finding a center close by. This is because at the moment, hippotherapy is not that popular, and there are few hippotherapy centers in California. After searching and searching on the internet for places I could do my mentorship at, I finally just got lucky and someone I knew knew someone who worked at a hippotherapy center.  After explaining my senior project and hippotherapy to my aunt, my aunt mentioned that she knew someone who worked in the field. I was in contact with that person, Melissa Hidden, right away. Another problem I faced was that I did not receive my data for the science experiment in time. I resolved this problem by coming up with another experiment and performing it.  It was not as strong as my initial experiment, but I completed it on time. If I were to rely on my other experiment and hope the data would come in time, I would have been sorry. My data would not have come in time.

 

4)      My first and most important source would have to be my mentor, Cassandra Sanders-Holly. Cassie is a licensed physical therapist and a professor at USC. She helped me arrive at two of my answers and would always be open and willing to help me with whatever I needed. It was really great having her there. I got more information from her, than I did any other paper article that I read. My second important source would be the American Hippotherapy Association. I found several helpful articles from their website. From what hippotherapy is, to who it is used for, it can all be found from their website. It is also the official website for hippotherapy.

5)      My product is that I developed a relationship with the patients and children at my mentorship. I really feel like I connect with many of the patients who I see during hippotherapy. I also have developed a strong relationship and friendship with my fellow volunteers, horse handlers, and my mentor. I think the relationships that have been created have the potential to carry on for many years. Because I have enjoyed my mentorship so much, I plan on continuing to volunteer at Leaps and Bounds after the school year.

Blog 23: 2014 Interview

Content:

1.  I interviewed Daisy Zavala from East house.

2.  What ideas do you have for your senior project and why?

            "For my senior project, I want to do something involving animals. Maybe I could volunteer at a Vet clinic. If that doesn't work out, I am thinking of volunteering at a hospital."

3.  What do you plan to do for your summer 10 hour mentorship experience?

            "I plan on working at an independent animal hospital by my house.  I also plan on learning more about nursing  in case I change my mind and want to do nursing instead."

4.  What do you hope to see or expect to see in watching the 2013 2-hour presentations?

            "I expect to see presentations with a variety of topics.  Some presetations can possibly change or confirm my decisions for my own senior topic."

5.  What questions do you have that I can answer about senior year or senior project (or what additional information did you tell them about senior year or senior project)?

            Q: What is your senior topic? Did you enjoy learning about it?

            A: My topic is equine assisted therapy. I really enjoyed learning about it! I hadn't really heard of    hippotherapy ahead of time, so it was really great learning something new. I also really enjoyed           working with the children while they were on the horse. Overall, It's been a great experience.

            Q: Is senior year and the senior project hard?

            A: Not necessarily. Just don't get behind. Don't procrastinate. Stay on task and get done with        everything on time. If you do that, you should be good. It is stressful at times, but in the end it is           worth it. You feel accomplished knowing what you have done.

Blog 22: Final 3-Column Chart

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IjO6MGvGGO7dbv2gSHuPZ73Fj1UyQMZ1Vx8RhhrzomY/edit?usp=drive_web

Independent Component 2

LITERAL(a)  I, Amber Meek, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

(b) My mentor, Cassandra Sanders-Holly, helped me complete my independent component two.

(c) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ged8kSTvzsDXn9v2lU16spEfqrFbAe2VBperQ1H9Xv0/edit(digital spreadsheet) (aka log of the 30 hours)

(d) For my independent component two, I did an additional thirty hours of my mentorship with Cassandra Sanders-Holly. I do my mentorship at Leaps and Bounds Pediatric Therapy in Norco. During my mentorship, I serve as a side-walker for the children riding the horse. These children have special needs, so I walk with them on one side of the horse to ensure that they don't fall off, and I assist them with anything they need help with. I help them get their helmet on, get their safety belt on, and I help walk them up the ramp. I also make sure they are always safe! For my mentorship, I also double as a horse handler. For a few sessions, I get to walk the horse and lead the session with the horse. I do whatever the therapist says, and it is fun to see different perspectives of things. I help get the horse ready by grooming and brushing them, and I make sure the saddle is put on properly for the patient. If anything were to happen, say the horse shies or spooks, I am responsible for keeping control of the horse. I ensure that the horse is safe and the patient will not be harmed.

INTERPRETIVE
Due to Hippotherapy being a form of therapy, there is a doctor to patient confidentiality that needs to be kept. I did not take any pictures with the patients, but here are a few pictures of patients who did allow pictures.

This is a patient who I work with. I work with her every Wednesday. It has been great watching her grow.

This is a shot of the arena where I volunteer at.

Here is a picture of a patient after a session. He was working on walking without his walker.

This is the owners daughter. She loves working with the horses and loves helping out with the kids.

APPLIED
This independent component helped me answer my Essential Question, because by working with my mentor, Cassie, I was able to obtain a lot of information. Cassie answered any and all questions that came up or that I had. Through my independent component two, I came up with two of my answers to my EQ. While working close with my mentor, the patient, and the horse, I was able to see how they all work so closely together. And I saw the connection to each. Without one of those three, hippotherapy would not be the same, and it would not be effective.

Updated Mentorship Log

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8EoEBm8As4OQ1RlRGR6dnlqb1E/edit?usp=drive_web