Anja Mayr
Professor Pisano
Lang 120
31 January 2014
“I
feel…because…I would like for you to…” this phrase pops into my head every time
I am frustrated with someone. It’s a
simple phrase that can make all of the difference on how you approach someone
when you are frustrated with him or her.
In third grade I started Girls on The Run. I was not into many sports as a child. I loved skiing and swimming, but that was
about it. My mom wanted me to do
something in a team setting and she had heard about Girls On The Run, so she
signed me up. I was a fairly she third
grader especially in larger groups, so I was very nervous about starting this
new activity with a lot of new faces. I
had a few friends who were going to do it as well, but just the idea of a big
group setting made me feel butterflies in my stomach. It turns out Girls On The Run was one of the
things that shaped me into who I am today and pushed me to explore new things,
for instance child development, and health and wellness; which has now led me
back to Girls On The Run,.
Girls On The Run is an afterschool
program that teaches girls not only how to run and exercise, but how to deal
with bullies, how to eat right, the harms of gossiping, and many other life
lessons girls need in 3rd- 5th grade. I don’t remember all of the lessons, but the
overall themes of the lessons have stuck with me throughout middle school, high
school, and now college. In Girls On The
Run one of the lessons we learned was how to talk to someone when you are
frustrated with them. What we learned to
say was the quote from above, “I feel…because…I would like for you to…” This
simple phrase helped me through countless encounters with my friends, my
brother, my parents, and even now my roommate.
When you have these guidelines for how to confront someone about how you
are feeling it makes the actual confrontation much less intimidating and much
more pleasant.
I have talked about how Girls On The Run is
important to me and this is of course part of the reason I wanted to volunteer
with Girls On The Run, but being an alumnus of GOTR is only a small part of the
reason I want to volunteer with them.
Girls On The Run and my Elementary school years were a very important
time in my life. During this time I
found that I love to work with kids, even though at the time I was a child my
self, I found my passion for working with kids through helping the younger
students and seeing them succeed. I
always knew I wanted to do something in the service of others, so I landed on
the pediatric medical field. I went back and forth between many
professions in the pediatric medical field and teaching, but I landed on
Pediatric physical therapy and am almost positive this is the path I am going
to take.
I
started to think about physical therapy my freshman year of high school. I was looking for a volunteer opportunity and
had recently started riding horses. My
grandmother was reading an article about a therapeutic horse back riding center
and like many grandparents do, she cut out the article and gave it to me. Horses are a big part of my life and have
been since I started riding in 8th grade. Riding gave me a hobby, an interest, a sport,
an outlet, and a community. With out
horse back riding I would basically be lost.
When I read about Life Span Therapeutic Horseback Riding Farm I knew it
was meant to be. I began the training on
a crisp October morning in 2009. Therapeutic horseback riding is a form of
therapy that helps people with mental and physical disabilities. Therapeutic horseback riding helps with physical,
emotional, social, cognitive, behavioral and educational skills for people
young and old. I volunteered as a side
walker. Side walkers walk beside the
rider when they are on the horse to make sure they are safely secure on the
horse and if for someone reason they fall you are there to catch them. I worked with one rider named Ben he was a
jumper. He loved to just fall off
because he knew I was there to catch him and he had so much fun doing it. But
over the weeks he learned to also love riding the horse and felt confident
playing games while riding. After about
a month he stopped wanting to “fall” off.
It was a difficult job, but it was also a lot of fun! I worked with kids on a weekly basis and got
to see them progress as the weeks went by.
I found it very interesting how riding on a horse showed kids (who have
never been able to walk before) the motion and pace they needed to be able to
walk and it really worked. With the help
of a physical therapist and trained therapeutic riding instructor they were
able to help kids who were never able to walk before take a few steps with
assistance because they were able to feel the motion on the horse. This is when I started to think about
Physical Therapy as a career path. Girls
On The Run pushed me to see the importance in helping others and how to
interact with people who have had different experiences and abilities then
myself. I was also able to work as a
team with other side walkers and leaders, which aloud a safe riding environment
for both the volunteers and the riders.
My
experiences in Girls On The Run and the lessons I learned through Girls On The
Run brought me back to GOTR as a college student interested in working with
kids and helping them maintain healthy, active, and fun lifestyles. I hope to gain experiences learning about
young girls development both physically and mentally. Though GOTR does not directly relate to
Physical Therapy the experiences I will gain and the general knowledge about
exercise and youth at this age, I believe will be very beneficial in the long
run. I can not wait to start working with the girls and see them learn and grow
from Girls On The Run, just as I did when I was their age.
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