Back to the Books!

The summer has almost passed with only one short week left for me. I am very excited to be starting my new program and to be off on my own once again! The hardest part is leaving the people so close to me (even though I know it's not for long).

Just thinking about the new things I will learn and all the people I will meet excites me to no end! I know for certain this will be one of the busiest semesters of my school career. With my new Residence Student Council (RSC) position, SJA, and all my school work, time for myself will be a great blessing!

St.John Ambulance

St.John Ambulance is a charitable organization that provides the public with first aid services through courses, volunteers, and many medical products. I became a volunteer for the 125 Barrie division in October of 2009. It is one of Ontario's biggest divisions with over 50 volunteers in the Medical First Response (MFR) services alone. There are 4 different services: MFR services, Therapy Dog services, Youth services, and an Emergency Preparedness program.

In the MFR service program, we attend events everywhere within the Barrie, Simcoe and Muskoka area. Some events I have attended are the Ontario Hockey League games with the Barrie Colts, the Kempenfest fair, and many "casualty simulations" set up for volunteers to train. We set up first aid posts at these events in case of any emergencies and also for minor things such as providing areas for people to rest.

Joining SJA has been a helpful and fun experience for me and I plan to continue to volunteer for as long as possible. The training has proved to be very educating and useful to me!