Month: November 2020

Camp Joy Fostering Success

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Foster Care is a system in place to take care of children while their biological parents are unable to care for them.  Once a child enters the foster care system, they are placed into custody of licensed foster parents. The ultimate goal of foster care is reunification of the biological family however in some cases that possibility is relinquished. The unfortunate reality for most teenagers in the system is no longer adoption but hopes for extended foster care.

Fostering success is a program designed to help kids who are unlikely to be adopted. They spend one week in the summer and one weekend a month at camp. Each time our campers come we work on a different skill. In one month, we worked on emotional intelligence, another we worked through uplifting others, and in December we take a field trip to an educational center in Cincinnati. Our goal is to empower them to be successful after foster care.

Leadership Development

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Freshman year: I am involved in an off-campus program, Fostering Success. It is a program for youth in the foster care system that are not likely to be adopted from the foster care system. I work with foster care kids as a counselor. I lead my kids through a variety of different games and activities, teach educational sessions where they learn life skills, and work through the difficult experiences they have faced while in foster care.

Special Olympics Swim

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Special Olympics is an organization dedicated to individuals with intellectual disabilities. They provide year-round athletics to allow athletes to challenge themselves in a variety of sports. In my senior year of high school, the Special Olympics swim team I coach went to states for the third time in my coaching career. We spent the weekend at Bowling Green State University with the cheer and basketball teams. It is an amazing weekend full of competition and celebration.

Coaching Special Olympics has taught me many life skills I will use in my career one day. I have learned to be patient with everyone. Many athletes on the swim team start scared of the water so our first challenge is getting them in the water. Once they conquer that fear the next challenge is getting them to be confident in their swimming abilities. Learning to be a coach has been one of the hardest skills I’ve learned. All of my athletes understand swimming in different ways and catering to each of those needs was difficult at first but now is second nature. Finally, I truly understand empathy now, all of our athletes have had to overcome someone telling them they wouldn’t be able to do certain things in life. In true Special Olympics spirit they have been “brave in the attempt.”

About Me

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Hello, my name is Hannah Guise! I am from a small city north of Cincinnati. In May of 2020 I graduated from Lakota West High School in the top 25 of my class. I also graduated from the exercise science program at Butler Tech, a school designed for students ready to start their careers. Studying at Butler Tech allowed me to take 44 college credit hours and become a certified physical therapy aide.

At The Ohio State University I am pursuing a degree in Health Science on the pre-physical therapy track. I am also minoring in American Sign Language to become a certified interpreter. In my doctorate program I will specialize in pediatric practice and aquatic modalities of therapy. As a physical therapist I want to work with kids who have disorders like cerebral palsy, brachial plexus injuries, and neuromuscular diseases.

In 2017 I began volunteering with the Special Olympics swim team in Butler County. I am a coach to individuals with mental handicaps.  During the summer of 2017 I found Joe Nuxhall Miracle League, an adaptive baseball league for youth with physical and mental disabilities. In September of 2019 I started working with youth in the foster care system at Camp Joy, Ohio. We work to overcome the hardships that they have faced and prepare them for the world after foster care.

Year in Review

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[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Service Engagement

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In my community I am involved in service in many different aspects. At my local blood bank, I donate blood every eight weeks as a way to help the hospitals around me. Once a year my family and I serve a meal at the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati. The Ronald McDonald House provides a free place for families to stay long term while their children are being treated at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

 

Special Olympics is an organization I have volunteered for four years as a swim coach. As their coach I work to improve my athlete’s swimming abilities, help them overcome fears of the water and most importantly have fun. In my 3 years of coaching my team has attended the State Winter Olympic Games every year. The past two years me and my co coach have taken first in the unified relay swimming with two of our athletes. I also play for an adaptive baseball league for kids who have cognitive and physical disabilities, Joe Nuxhall Miracle League. Every athlete is paired with a volunteer buddy who helps them through the game. In the three years I have played I’ve had the same athlete, Annie. She has cerebral palsy which challenges her ability to walk and swing the bat. As her buddy I bat hand over hand with her, we dance down the first baseline after hitting the ball all the way to the fence and work on independent walking from third base to home plate. Both of these experiences have influenced my career into wanting to work with special needs youth.

 

Career

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[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]