"Dream. Try. Do Good." by Samantha

"Dream. Try. Do Good." by Samantha - November 2018 Scholarship Essay

My senior yearbook quote would be the wise words of Mr. Feeny when he says, “Dream. Try. Do good,” in Boy Meets World.

I was a month into my junior year of high school when, one morning, I woke up unable to move. I was rushed to the hospital and discharged just a few days later with no diagnosis, a wheelchair, and physical therapy appointments. Though I was walking again in a little over a month, I was still very weak and unable to participate in any of the activities that had once filled my schedule including softball, dance, and tennis. As the world I knew seemed to be changing for the worse, I realized that everything happens for a reason. Prior to this hospitalization, I did not know what I wanted to do after high school. As a result of this hospitalization, I know had an answer. I wanted to become a Child Life Specialist, the person whom I had trusted to help me understand medical terminology, and made sure to keep me smiling while I was hospitalized.

The Association of Child Life Professionals defines Child Life Specialists as those who provide evidence-based, developmentally and psychologically appropriate interventions for infants, children, and youth and families to help them cope with the stress and uncertainty of acute and chronic illness, injury, trauma, disability, loss and bereavement, and more. Some of these evidence-based, developmentally and psychologically appropriate interventions including therapeutic play, preparation for procedures, and education in order to reduce fear, anxiety, and pain. It is important to help children through these stressful and potentially traumatic events due to the event’s ability to negatively impact a child’s ability to cope, inhibit their development, and have negative effects on their physical and emotional well-being. Overall, Child Life Specialists help to create a sense of normalcy for children in health care settings and other challenging environments.
While I know I want to become a Child Life Specialist, I also know I want to work specifically with children traumatized by natural disasters. With this in mind, it is no surprise that the leaders I would want to walk in the shoes of are the Certified Child Life Specialists that created an organization called Child Life Disaster Relief, Katie Ness and Lindsey Murphy. This is an organization that provides children in disasters and crisis with the tools and supports needed to promote positive coping and resilience by sending Child Life Specialists to their area after a disaster.
Child Life Disaster Relief has the vision of, “developing a coordinate and global network to endure that children in disasters and crises have the tools and support needed to promote positive coping and resilience.” Overall, they serve children who have been through disasters, sudden events that has seriously disrupted their communities functioning, by integrating Chile Life Specialists into disaster relief efforts. I am hoping to one day volunteer with Child Life Disaster Relief, and will continue to pursue this goal. Who knows, maybe one day I will be walking in the shoes of Katie and Lindsey, and this is exactly what Mr.Feeny would say is doing good.