The Meaning of Life
Gary Laderman once said, “People are always looking for explanations and a better understanding of what is really real, what really counts in people’s lives, what really matters.” My community service ventures have proven to me just that.
Since I was a young girl I have always known that I will one day work in the medical field. Much to my sister’s chagrin, I would recruit her to be my patient. Afternoons of “sticking” her with plastic shots and listening to her heart with a child’s stethoscope, I became determined that I would be a doctor or nurse.
This in mind, when I started my freshman year of high school, I wanted to find community service opportunities that would appeal to my passion for medicine and for helping people. I was drawn to Family Comfort Hospice, an organization which gives personalized patient care to the home-bound and dying. I went through an extensive orientation and training session, and was given my first assignment. I was to become the Teen Volunteer which focused on “Life Stories.”
My passion for writing and for the needs of others is blended in an incredibly unique way. I go into the homes of dying patients and record their memoirs, through a series of questions that help to guide the patient’s thought process as they tell me about various important events in their life. Questions include the basics, like the patient’s age and genealogy, but what makes these autobiographies truly special are questions that delve more deeply into the patient’s childhood and other cultural events that happened during their lifetime. Personally, my favorite questions are the ones near the end of my interview that ask about what legacy the patient would like to leave, and what general advice about life the patient would like to impart to their loved ones.
I have written a total of four “Life Stories,” and each is more rewarding than the next. I am truly able to build relationships with the people I interview, and even after their deaths, when I am able to give my finished Life Story to the grieving family. Working for Family Comfort Hospice has been a truly life-changing experience, which helps me to serve others in their most vulnerable time.
A fellow volunteer and I were featured in a local publication for our outstanding community service, which was both very honoring and very humbling as well. Not only have I learned about the lives of others, I have learned about myself. Through the stories of my patients I learn about the real meaning of life, and am given examples of upright and virtuous living. These four patients have become real heroes for me- they might not wear red capes and spandex, but their lives and stories are worthy of praise.
While I was working on my Life Stories, I realized that I had time to participate in another community service opportunity. A friend of mine told me that Shelby Baptist, a local hospital, was accepting applications for their summer volunteer program. After an 8-hour orientation, I was ready for what the summer held.
I worked last summer at Shelby Baptist Medical Center for a total of 97 hours. I volunteered in the Wound Care Clinic with the receptionist for a few days, learning about patient insurance and helping to enter information into the computer.
I was then transferred to the Intermediary Care Unit (IMC) for the rest of the summer. The time I spent with the Unit Secretary and the nurses in the hospital setting cemented in my mind that I was meant to pursue the health sciences as a career. Everyone I came into contact with was more than willing to let me help with various tasks, and even gave advice about picking a college with a good nursing school.
My day started around 8 in the morning, when I arrived at the IMC and began morning rounds. I would take up the patients’ breakfast trays, in the process making sure they had enough blankets and water. The time in the mornings with the patients and their families was really special because I felt like I was truly making a difference in their life just by being someone who cared about how they were feeling.
My next tasks were to refill the glove boxes for the nurses, make a fresh pot of coffee, and organize the patient refrigerator. After those jobs were completed, I would sit with the Unit Secretary and help her work the call button, break down charts, and enter doctor’s orders into the computer system. At different times during the afternoon I would make my way into the patients’ rooms again, chatting and making sure their ice buckets and water were kept full.
I came to care very much for the nurses and patients I worked with, and reveled in the amount of responsibility I was given. Gaining the trust of everyone who worked in the IMC took time, but I reaped the rewards of hard, perseverant work. I was able to watch and learn firsthand about the patient care process, and receive personal attention and advice from the nurses. Even more so, however, working at Shelby allowed me to care for people in my community by meeting their physical needs – whether it be a warm blanket, a hot cup of coffee, or even a popsicle when their room got stuffy.
I was so thrilled and moved by my experiences working at Shelby over the summer that I have continued to volunteer in the Employee Health Department two days a week after school. There, I have received a view of a different part of the hospital, when I work with the Employee Health Nurse. I do a lot of filing, help with special projects, and edit a newsletter the Employee Health Nurse sends out every few months. I look forward to the time I get to spend aiding Shelby in any way I can- whether it be through direct patient care or just filing charts.
Both service opportunities have given me unique, eye-opening views into the health services career path, but more so have taught me an extensive amount about the true meaning and value in a life well led and in service of others.
