Mentorship

    Literal
·       Click Here for Mentorship Log
·     Ana Marie, 1-805-813-7212
Roxanne Bickham, 909-917-6857
   

Interpretive
    I began mentorship with Roxanne Bickham who has been involved in the Relay for Life for 10 years. She started inviting me to team captain meetings to receive advice from them and to just get me started on developing my own team. I successfully put together my own team. My team name is "The Curesaders" named after the cluster of battles that took place in the medieval times. I named my team this because cancer survivors go through several battles themselves. She took me to a Relay for Life in Claremont and showed me how it was like and all the support that cancer survivors, families, and cancer patients receive. I learned the importance of promoting involvement in the cancer community by doing this myself. I advocated the Relay for Life to my parent’s co-workers, families, and friends using different methods. I also practiced different offsite fundraising techniques that Roxanne Bickham taught me in order to raise more money. 

Applied
Promoting involvement in the cancer community is my third and best answer because of what Roxanne Bickham has taught me. She opened my eyes to the importance of involvement and how much support survivors obtain from it. With "promoting involvement in the cancer community" being my best answer, my experiences with Roxanne and Relay for Life helped me to find my best answer and practice it at the same time. I called family and friends to join my team in order to involve them. I organized a fundraising lunch and dinner event at a local restaurant, Jojo's Pizza to raise more funds offsite in my community. I made Luminarias in honor of or in memory of those that I have known who have been affected by cancer. I put so much time and effort into the San Dimas Relay for Life and have learned so many methods in order to put my best answer into action as a team captain. Roxanne Bickham was my very first stepping stone in the process of learning more about my best answer and implementing it into my life.

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours Check

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
I did temporary mentorship over the winter break at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA since I still haven't gotten a position at City of Hope. I worked on the City of Hope Rose Parade float from 7:00AM-6:00PM for three days.

2.   Who is your contact?
Her name is Lorena Avila. She is a City of Hope employee. I was registered for my Rose Parade volunteer shifts through her.

3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?   
I have done 36 hours of mentorship.

4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.

•  Attended on the behalf of City of Hope and Donate Life
•  Painted glue on two arch shaped structures and layered pink strawflower on the front and back surface of it
• Prepared a bucket of flower petals by cutting petals off of flowers by hand
• Cleaned up the area around the float and also swept away excess material on the float 
•  Sifted a box of crushed rice by using tweezers to remove onion seeds from the batch
•  Glued down strawflower on the entire surface of the float centerpiece, which was a Boiling Flask that stood about 13 feet tall with flames beneath it.

Blog 1: Summer Mentorship Experience

 Hours and Description

•         I completed 5 hours at the United Cancer Advocacy Action Network on August 8th, 2012. On this day, my job was to help make ice cream in order to raise funds for this organization. I helped chop up a variety of vegetables and fruits such as mint, celery, apples, etc. I also boiled honey and water to sweeten the ice cream. Lastly, I placed everything in an ice cream maker along with ice cream salt.    The ice cream sells for $10 a tub and is made out of all organic ingredients.

•          I completed an additional 5 hours at the United Cancer Advocacy Action Network on August 21, 2012. On this day, my job was to clean up the office area and to make phone calls to various cancer organizations as well. I washed the dishes that had been used to make ice cream for the fundraising. I also organized the kitchen area as well as the front desk. Then, I was given a full binder filled with phone numbers as well as descriptions of different organizations that were based around cancer patients. Some offered financial aid to donors while some offered Disneyland trips or celebrity meet and greets to cancer patients. My job was to call as many organizations as I could and ask for applications or brochures in order to update the resource database for UCAAN.  
•        Contact Name & Number: Ms. Rachel Shur. (805) 479-103.
•        Email: Rachel@UCAAN.org
•        Office Address: 1459 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Suite E, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362.
•       Total Hours Completed: 10 hours.
•        Description of UCAAN: Rachel Shur is the owner of UCAAN. She is a cancer survivor who had Leukemia, which is cancer in the blood that originates right at the core of the bone marrow. Rachel was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2006. She created UCAAN because " I saw a need that needed to be met. That was . . . what happens to patients who don't have family or money?", said Rachel. UCAAN has been a 501-C3 or non-profit organization since December of 2010. Cancer survivors can drop by the office, which is located in Thousand Oaks, to take their mind off of cancer by doing art projects or to gain a positive perspective by talking to other cancer survivors. (For more information, visit www.UCAAN.org).

   Literal (Need to know)   

     What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of experience?  List them. 

• What is the most efficient way to fund raise money for cancer patients?
• What is the best comfort for a cancer patient?
• What happens to the cancer survivors who don't have families?
• In what way is life different after cancer?
• Do cancer survivors have to stick to a certain diet?
• Do cancer survivors have any specific restrictions to anything?
• Do all cancer survivors have some sort of treatment?
• Are survivors constantly afraid that their cancer will return? 

  Interpretive

     What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• The most important thing that I gained from the experience was seeing the options that cancer survivors are given. Those who do not have family there for them can go to UCAAN and sit down in a comfortable environment to talk with other cancer survivors. I think this is a great option because the cancer survivor can talk to someone who has been in their shoes and will most likely understand their current feelings and emotions more than someone who is not a cancer survivor. For those survivors who are younger, or have a creative side, art projects are available to them. This includes clay sculpting, jewelry making, and more. It is a great place for survivors to come to for a while just to take their mind off of cancer. 

     Applied

     How did what you did help you choose a topic?  Please explain.

• To be honest, I knew that I wanted to do cancer survivorship towards the end of June. However, being at UCAAN never made me second guess my topic decision. If anything, being at UCAAN enhanced my awareness and overall knowledge of the subject. Before I volunteered at UCAAN, I pictured cancer survivors as people who had overcame cancer. That was it. When I started volunteering at UCAAN, I came to realize that the families of cancer survivors are cancer survivors as well. They may not have dealt with the physical pain of going through treatment, but they sure did go through a lot of the emotional pain. I also was not aware of the struggles that cancer survivors go through even after their battle with cancer. It turns out that most of the survivors develop psychological disorders, social issues, and much more. They can never say their life is back to normal. After cancer, their life changes forever.