Editor's Note: Every holiday season, the ladies from Journey into Womanhood participate in a volunteer project with Mayor Peyton's Senior Citizen Holiday Festival. Deryn Dabney, an 8th grade student in the JIW program shares her thoughts about the holiday giving program.
I had a great time at the Mayors Holiday Festival! Entering the convention center on Saturday, December 4, 2010 and seeing all the senior citizens in their Sunday best and some even in their costumes put a smile on my face. One of the good things about meeting the senior citizens is that everyone is happy and cheerful. No one was ever grouchy or unpleasant towards any of us. Serving the iced tea was hard work, but it actually turned out to be a fun experience! Next, we served the food and that was even more fun. Each and every person that I served food to was very nice and pleasant. Some of the seniors even exchanged small talk with me and my other JIW sisters. After we worked, we had a chance to eat too. I personally really enjoyed the food and hanging out with my friends. One of the good things about the Mayor’s Holiday Festival is seeing everyone interact with each other. It really lifts your Christmas spirit! The Mayors Holiday Festival is really a time to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere and interact with the senior citizens and just have a good time. I myself had a wonderful time as always and cannot wait until next year!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Fidelity Job Shadow
Saturday, October 9, 2010, the JIW girls took a trip to Fidelity for a job shadow. We arrived bright and early at the Fidelity building where we split up into groups and took a tour of the facilities. The four floors were filled with desks, computers, and conference rooms as should be expected from a large business. I've never seen all the insides of one before and it was really interesting. Like with everything I do, I related each thing I saw with some memory mini play in my mind. The conference rooms reminded me of the ones in Nemours where I attended a support group for parents who have children with epilepsy. One look around the room and I can imagine leading a workshop in such a room. The screen would display a powerpoint of my own design. The people sitting around the table would watch me attentively. Okay, maybe some would be dosing off but it would not be a result of my oratory skills. There's always a few of those. But I would be doing an amazing job if I may say so myself. On those computers, I could see myself typing out a new advertising idea or a news story. I would only be doing that until the book I'm working on at the moment gets big, of course. The point is, such a big company brought to my mind a future of successful ventures. It's an exciting feeling and it only got more so as the day went on.
After the tour, we broke up into smaller groups and were put into different rooms as certain employees talked about different topics with us. First, Miss Elizabeth talked to my group about getting ready for college and handling one's money the right way. I am a senior and already applying to colleges (at this moment, I've already applied to four) but there were still some things I learned from her. She took us through her average day for her as an employee at Fidelity and I had a nice time listening to her speak. When she was done, two other people came in and talked to us about owning a business. We started with a game where we pretended we were selling lemonade. It was not unlike an old cell phone game called lemonade stand that I used to play on my aunt's phone. We had to make the right business decisions throughout the game so that we came out with a profit instead of in debt. It was very enjoyable.
The groups converged for lunch where different employees sat with the groups and we got to ask them questions about their jobs and experiences. The person who sat closest to me was Miss Nininger. I already liked her when I saw her name on her nametag as I'm always a fan of interesting names. I spent a few seconds perfecting it after she told me how to say it. Nye-ning-grr. She was a delightful, hilarious and insightful woman. She told me about her history in college and the military and how she came to be an employee at Fidelity. Of everyone I had listened to that day, I loved her the most. The entire day was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and everyone was excellent. I think hearing from people in a business really helped the younger girls who wouldn't usually get to do something like this. That's the great thing about Journey Into Womanhood. It's a program that exposes us to vaulable experiences such as this. I'm always so grateful for them.
After the tour, we broke up into smaller groups and were put into different rooms as certain employees talked about different topics with us. First, Miss Elizabeth talked to my group about getting ready for college and handling one's money the right way. I am a senior and already applying to colleges (at this moment, I've already applied to four) but there were still some things I learned from her. She took us through her average day for her as an employee at Fidelity and I had a nice time listening to her speak. When she was done, two other people came in and talked to us about owning a business. We started with a game where we pretended we were selling lemonade. It was not unlike an old cell phone game called lemonade stand that I used to play on my aunt's phone. We had to make the right business decisions throughout the game so that we came out with a profit instead of in debt. It was very enjoyable.
The groups converged for lunch where different employees sat with the groups and we got to ask them questions about their jobs and experiences. The person who sat closest to me was Miss Nininger. I already liked her when I saw her name on her nametag as I'm always a fan of interesting names. I spent a few seconds perfecting it after she told me how to say it. Nye-ning-grr. She was a delightful, hilarious and insightful woman. She told me about her history in college and the military and how she came to be an employee at Fidelity. Of everyone I had listened to that day, I loved her the most. The entire day was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and everyone was excellent. I think hearing from people in a business really helped the younger girls who wouldn't usually get to do something like this. That's the great thing about Journey Into Womanhood. It's a program that exposes us to vaulable experiences such as this. I'm always so grateful for them.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
My best friend HANNAH BROMMER
Editor Note: Each June, the Journey into Womanhood program hosts a celebration where all the girls showcase thier talents in public speaking, dancing, singing, creative writing etc... This year Gabby a 7th grade student touched the audience with a moving story about her best friend Hannah and her battle with cancer. The entire JIW family came to know Hannah through Gabby's story at the banquet. On Saturday, October 9, Hannah Broomer lost her battle with cancer. We dedicate this blog post, to the memory of a brave little girl who showed us all the importance of persaverance, tenacity, humor and brought such joy to the Journey into Womanhood family. Below is a transcript of Gabby's speech at the 6th Annual Journey Into Womanhood Banquet.
When my friend Ashton and I called at 4:10 February 19th Hannah’s grandmother answered, we asked to speak to Hannah because she wasn’t at school Mrs. Nona (her grandma) said Hannah is having an operation!!!!!!!!!!! Once I heard that I cried to death, I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t breathe, I was that hurt I felt like a belly button cord ripped out of my stomach. Hannah is the first friend I ever had that cares and helps me with a lot of things. That day we found out that she was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma cancer. That type of cancer is the most common soft tissue tumor in children. Hannah is a STRAIGHT A student and well behaves, that doesn’t deserve this but good thing that it is a treatable cancer. But I hate the side effects. The Tumor is located behind her nose by her eye, she losing weight; she has a black eye because of her medicine that’s making her healthy again. One day on Sunday, March 21, 2010 9:38 PM,
It got very very emotional for Hannah. When Mrs. Brommer (her momma) brushed her hair after Hannah’s shower a lot of her hair started to come out. She was very distraught so Shelby (her sis), Jeff (her dad) and her momma just held her while she cried. When her mom tried brushing her hair before church they noticed it had matted into a tangled knot so her mom put it into a ponytail the best she could. Their hairdresser, Jerri, offered to cut it for her but Hannah just wasn't ready. Now Hannah had no other choice. No amount of conditioner would untangle the hair. So that afternoon, after a lot tears, Hannah let her momma cut it. Her sister and daddy held her hands while she did the best job a dental hygienist can do at cutting hair. She actually kind of liked it short and is thinking about getting a short wig now, although I hope Hannah won't worry about that...because we love her just the way she is.
Now if you have any questions about dealing with a friend or family members dealing with cancer, just ask me because now I know what it feels like to have someone very close to you that you love going through this nasty pain.
ALWAYS SAY SOMETHING FROM THE MY HEART. my best friend Hannah is a survivor, and she is here today to show her love and support for me and I would like to acknowledge her at this time.
When my friend Ashton and I called at 4:10 February 19th Hannah’s grandmother answered, we asked to speak to Hannah because she wasn’t at school Mrs. Nona (her grandma) said Hannah is having an operation!!!!!!!!!!! Once I heard that I cried to death, I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t breathe, I was that hurt I felt like a belly button cord ripped out of my stomach. Hannah is the first friend I ever had that cares and helps me with a lot of things. That day we found out that she was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma cancer. That type of cancer is the most common soft tissue tumor in children. Hannah is a STRAIGHT A student and well behaves, that doesn’t deserve this but good thing that it is a treatable cancer. But I hate the side effects. The Tumor is located behind her nose by her eye, she losing weight; she has a black eye because of her medicine that’s making her healthy again. One day on Sunday, March 21, 2010 9:38 PM,
It got very very emotional for Hannah. When Mrs. Brommer (her momma) brushed her hair after Hannah’s shower a lot of her hair started to come out. She was very distraught so Shelby (her sis), Jeff (her dad) and her momma just held her while she cried. When her mom tried brushing her hair before church they noticed it had matted into a tangled knot so her mom put it into a ponytail the best she could. Their hairdresser, Jerri, offered to cut it for her but Hannah just wasn't ready. Now Hannah had no other choice. No amount of conditioner would untangle the hair. So that afternoon, after a lot tears, Hannah let her momma cut it. Her sister and daddy held her hands while she did the best job a dental hygienist can do at cutting hair. She actually kind of liked it short and is thinking about getting a short wig now, although I hope Hannah won't worry about that...because we love her just the way she is.
Now if you have any questions about dealing with a friend or family members dealing with cancer, just ask me because now I know what it feels like to have someone very close to you that you love going through this nasty pain.
ALWAYS SAY SOMETHING FROM THE MY HEART. my best friend Hannah is a survivor, and she is here today to show her love and support for me and I would like to acknowledge her at this time.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
What Are You Staring At? - Epilepsy For The Dramatic
You hear all the time the stories of how someone so surprisingly found out about some condition that they have. They spent what felt like forever in the hospital, went through too much emotional trauma, and had to really push themselves through the experience. They learned to live with their condition/disease and from then on have been living a normal life. Those stories are always so inspirational. I can relate though my story is not quite the usual.
Someone told me the other day, “Man, you’ve been keeping yourself busy!” I realized at that exact moment, “Wow. Yeah, I guess I have.” In the past eight months, I started a club, became a H.O.P.E mentor, spoken at a high school for five different periods in one day about my own story, participated in a walk, started a teen support group, and changed my own perspective on the possibilities that I can open up. I look back and marvel and my own actions. “Have I really been doing that much since I found out?”
In late 2008, I started to feel funny. Sounds, odd but that’s how I described it at first. I kept getting these weird feelings about once a day that I found extremely difficult to explain because I forgot what happened as soon as they were over. The best description I could give my mother was, “there was this tingling or something.” They happened every day, once a day, at no specific time. I could only wait for it to come and hope it would not. But it would. It reached its worst when it happened during a birthday party. Not mine, thank goodness but it was still extremely embarrassing. I remember it so vividly (as cliché as that sounds). The party was for the baby of someone who used to be our neighbor. They now have a house down at the beach. It took place there. I was walking to the kitchen for desert when suddenly; my legs could no longer hold me up. I collapsed right in the entrance of the kitchen. Thank goodness my mother was right behind me. Like the beast she is, she dove for me. Her hands were right under my head, cradling it as I fell and lay between the kitchen and dining room. Like always, the spell only lasted a few seconds and I was back and feeling like crap. I immediately got up, looked around at the people staring at me wondering what the hell just happened then ran to the restroom to cry my eyes out. My mother stood outside, waiting on me and trying to comfort me through the door. I hated that, being comforted I mean. I hate when people try to comfort me. That is just how I am. I personally would rather do it myself than feel worse while they try to make me feel better.
That was the first time in public and the first time my mother got to witness it first hand. After that, it was doctor time. We could no longer try to figure it out ourselves. This thing was getting out of hand. We went to the emergency room and told them what was happening. Like before with my mother, I tried my best to explain how the “moments,” as my mother started to call them, felt. My memory of them became fuzzier the further from the last episode I was. We spent hours in the emergency room as they took blood and did a few tests I still am not sure about. It was the next day before they finally came in and told me what they thought it was and I could not believe it. I had epilepsy.
‘SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!’
My thoughts were something along those lines. What else was I supposed to be thinking? Just the other day, I figured it was just some random thing happening to me that would just go away. Now I had epilepsy? Did they have to put a frickin name to it? Wait a minute, would I be convulsing the next day? What I’ve been having aren’t seizures, were they? I just stared off into space and if I was standing, I fell. Is that epilepsy?
I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t concentrate. I could not believe what was happening to me. To my surprise, my mother looked more freaked out than I did. Then again, she was always the more expressive one. I just sat on the hospital bed, staring ahead in shock. Holy crapzits.
I don’t remember much after that. They gave me the most generic brand of epilepsy medicine, told me to see how it worked and check back if it did nothing then sent us on our way. My mother kind of forced me to stay with her at night so she could watch me. Apparently, I seize more in my sleep than that one time during the day. We waited a few days and watched. Nothing changed. The Keppra (Levetiracetam) did not seem to do anything to stop the “seizures.” It felt terrible to call them that! They actually increased in frequency which was extremely aggravating.
A few days after I left that emergency room, a guy at my school was having a birthday party, a really nice birthday party at a hotel with a cool runway and a photographer and a dance floor and the works. I had not talked to this guy since middle school (I’m in high school now) so imagine my surprise when I got an invitation. I almost did not go. Ironically, having epilepsy might have been my only reason for going. I wanted to prove to myself that this would not rule my life. I wanted to be able to go to a nice party, have fun and just forget about the epilepsy for the night. So here comes the party. I walk in looking like a boss. My mom just has to stop and tell the birthday boy’s mother that I had epilepsy and might have a “moment” but it would go away in a few seconds and I would be fine. It aggravated me because I wanted that to remain unknown but whatever, I would ignore that and just go in and have a good time. I walked in, putting on my most confident face. There was a photographer at the door, taking pics of people as they walked down the fake runway that ran from the door to the wall opposite it. I strutted a moment then took a seat close to the door (just in case). Things were fun. There was a slideshow of the birthday boy’s childhood which was absolutely adorable and hilarious that played for a little at the beginning.
Read on to learn more about the program:
http://www.allvoices.com/users/truquesttojordan
Someone told me the other day, “Man, you’ve been keeping yourself busy!” I realized at that exact moment, “Wow. Yeah, I guess I have.” In the past eight months, I started a club, became a H.O.P.E mentor, spoken at a high school for five different periods in one day about my own story, participated in a walk, started a teen support group, and changed my own perspective on the possibilities that I can open up. I look back and marvel and my own actions. “Have I really been doing that much since I found out?”
In late 2008, I started to feel funny. Sounds, odd but that’s how I described it at first. I kept getting these weird feelings about once a day that I found extremely difficult to explain because I forgot what happened as soon as they were over. The best description I could give my mother was, “there was this tingling or something.” They happened every day, once a day, at no specific time. I could only wait for it to come and hope it would not. But it would. It reached its worst when it happened during a birthday party. Not mine, thank goodness but it was still extremely embarrassing. I remember it so vividly (as cliché as that sounds). The party was for the baby of someone who used to be our neighbor. They now have a house down at the beach. It took place there. I was walking to the kitchen for desert when suddenly; my legs could no longer hold me up. I collapsed right in the entrance of the kitchen. Thank goodness my mother was right behind me. Like the beast she is, she dove for me. Her hands were right under my head, cradling it as I fell and lay between the kitchen and dining room. Like always, the spell only lasted a few seconds and I was back and feeling like crap. I immediately got up, looked around at the people staring at me wondering what the hell just happened then ran to the restroom to cry my eyes out. My mother stood outside, waiting on me and trying to comfort me through the door. I hated that, being comforted I mean. I hate when people try to comfort me. That is just how I am. I personally would rather do it myself than feel worse while they try to make me feel better.
That was the first time in public and the first time my mother got to witness it first hand. After that, it was doctor time. We could no longer try to figure it out ourselves. This thing was getting out of hand. We went to the emergency room and told them what was happening. Like before with my mother, I tried my best to explain how the “moments,” as my mother started to call them, felt. My memory of them became fuzzier the further from the last episode I was. We spent hours in the emergency room as they took blood and did a few tests I still am not sure about. It was the next day before they finally came in and told me what they thought it was and I could not believe it. I had epilepsy.
‘SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!’
My thoughts were something along those lines. What else was I supposed to be thinking? Just the other day, I figured it was just some random thing happening to me that would just go away. Now I had epilepsy? Did they have to put a frickin name to it? Wait a minute, would I be convulsing the next day? What I’ve been having aren’t seizures, were they? I just stared off into space and if I was standing, I fell. Is that epilepsy?
I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t concentrate. I could not believe what was happening to me. To my surprise, my mother looked more freaked out than I did. Then again, she was always the more expressive one. I just sat on the hospital bed, staring ahead in shock. Holy crapzits.
I don’t remember much after that. They gave me the most generic brand of epilepsy medicine, told me to see how it worked and check back if it did nothing then sent us on our way. My mother kind of forced me to stay with her at night so she could watch me. Apparently, I seize more in my sleep than that one time during the day. We waited a few days and watched. Nothing changed. The Keppra (Levetiracetam) did not seem to do anything to stop the “seizures.” It felt terrible to call them that! They actually increased in frequency which was extremely aggravating.
A few days after I left that emergency room, a guy at my school was having a birthday party, a really nice birthday party at a hotel with a cool runway and a photographer and a dance floor and the works. I had not talked to this guy since middle school (I’m in high school now) so imagine my surprise when I got an invitation. I almost did not go. Ironically, having epilepsy might have been my only reason for going. I wanted to prove to myself that this would not rule my life. I wanted to be able to go to a nice party, have fun and just forget about the epilepsy for the night. So here comes the party. I walk in looking like a boss. My mom just has to stop and tell the birthday boy’s mother that I had epilepsy and might have a “moment” but it would go away in a few seconds and I would be fine. It aggravated me because I wanted that to remain unknown but whatever, I would ignore that and just go in and have a good time. I walked in, putting on my most confident face. There was a photographer at the door, taking pics of people as they walked down the fake runway that ran from the door to the wall opposite it. I strutted a moment then took a seat close to the door (just in case). Things were fun. There was a slideshow of the birthday boy’s childhood which was absolutely adorable and hilarious that played for a little at the beginning.
Read on to learn more about the program:
http://www.allvoices.com/users/truquesttojordan
A look back at the JIW Banquet
I am in a program called JIW (Journey Into Womanhood). It is a program for girls ages 9-17. It starts in the fall around the start of school and ends in the beginning of the summer every year. The sessions are every other Saturday from 10am-2pm not including our few field trips and community service ventures (including the Honor Rows Jaguars game, college tours, and serving for the Mayor’s Holiday Ball). During each session, we do workshops and lectures are given on the core topics. These include drug and alcohol prevention, abstinence, STD prevention, self worth, the concepts of beauty, savings/investment skills, health and fitness, relationship skills, food and nutrition, employment and career skills, the important of giving back to the community, etc. These lectures are very helpful towards the girls of JIW and we take so much from our time with the volunteers.
This program brings so many wonderful opportunities to the participants. Mrs. Elexia, our leader, lovely organizer and mother away from home, works hard to find as many prospects as possible for us in the community. When any of the volunteers find out about any new program or community service opportunity for teenagers, guess who they tell first. Us JIW’s. I am in a few programs, most of which I found out about through JIW. For example, I volunteer at the court house every Monday in a program called Teen Court. I act as an attorney (either prosecution or defense) for teenagers in my county who have gotten in trouble. I found out about this program and others through JIW. Not only does JIW teach the girls about the essentials in life, it also gets us involved in the community.
Every year at the end of the program, JIW holds a banquet to celebrate the girls and their growth throughout the year. The banquet consists of lunch, two speeches, a talent section and an awards portion. Our mistress of ceremonies this year was Angela Spears. Miss Spears spent eleven years as an anchor/reporter for First Coast News NBC 12/ ABC 25. She is now the Public Information Officer for the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office. Our two speakers were Eboni Baugh, Ph.D and William CJ Charlton. Miss Baugh is an assistant Professor of Family Life in the Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences at the University of Florida. She was an inspirational speaker and I loved hearing from her. Mister Charlton is a first officer in the Boeing 757/767 fleet for Continental Airlines. He is also the National Director of the OBAP Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academies as well as the Director of the Jacksonville ACE Academy. His speech was one of the funniest, inspirational and wonderful speeches I have ever listened to. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Read on to learn more about the Empowerment Resources Banquet: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6080356-jiw-journey-into-womanhoo
Written By: Ashley I.
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