My experience with research

My introduction to research was sort of horrific as a young child. My mom and aunt worked for a hospital that did research on animals, dogs in particular once they were successful on smaller lab animals (like rats). I remember how upset I was when I would see the care takers bringing the dogs outside and they would have issues walking or couldn't use the bathroom properly. I would ask my mom what was wrong with them, and my mom would tell me that they made the dogs sick so that they could practice making them better. If they were able to make them better then we would help little boys and girls get better too. At the time all my mind was capable of thinking about was, those poor puppies, and how I wanted their testing to STOP so they could go home and play with their toys and eat their bones. I carried this feeling with me of animal testing until I was about 23 years old when a very close friend's child was diagnosed with cancer. All I could think about was, why did this poor little girl have to get sick, and how much I hoped that she would beat this horrible disease. After 2 very long years of fighting Kaitlyn was cancer free, and it was all due in part to the research that was going on at my mom's old work. They had developed the treatment that helped to kick her cancers butt, and I was never more grateful for those dogs than I was when I got the news. I have since learned that sometimes the risks really are worth the benefits that can come from research! I have attached a picture of my best friend and her cousin who kicked cancer's butt, she is my inspiration and my reminder that without research she wouldn't be here today. (ps she just graduated collage this past weekend!!!)

Simulation Reflection

For my simulation I decided to take a look at how children use play to learn. I wanted to learn about not just why we play with our students and have them play in order to learn but also how it effects all areas of their development. I have found that the most helpful things so far have been the charts in helping me to organize the information that I am looking for, but also to organize my thoughts and keep me on track. It can be so easy to get side tracked reading different articles, even if it has nothing to do with my topic. I seem to get sucked in. So keeping my research goals in front of me it really seems to help. I also find that it takes me a LONG time to read through any articles that I am looking at. I think that much like everything else; practice makes perfect, and I will get better at getting through the information the more I do it. However, it still can seem to be a tedious process for me at this point.