Temple University - Templar Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 22 text:

Temple Nursing Volunteer s at Special Olympics Temple nursing students traveled to Villanova to volunteer a the Special Olympics by completing health screenings. On Nov. 11, 2017, Temple University’s nursing students of all grade levels traveled to Villanova University to volunteer at the Special Olympics Fall Festival. This is the largest university student-run Special Olympics event in the world with more than 6,000 volunteers from Villanova and the surrounding area. Over 1,000 athletes and 400 coaches participated in six Olympic type sports including long distance running, power lifting, roller skating, soccer, volleyball and bocce. The theme of this year’s Fall Festival was “Adventure through l ime” showing the Special Olympics victories over the years all throughout the campus. The Temple nursing students grabbed their stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and healthy lifestyle teaching materials and went to work. The health promotion room quickly filled up with athletes looking to receive the gold star of completion to be entered in a drawing to win a Fitbit and to learn about how to live a healthy life. Olivia Miller, a sophomore nursing student, was a first-time volunteer at this event. “It was really awesome to see how enthusiastic all the participants were. They were so eager to learn and participate in the health related activities and teaching that we were there to help them with, and their energy made the whole day so worthwhile,” said Miller. With smiles and sweat on their faces, the athletes came around to each table to learn about maintaining a healthy blood pressure, hygiene, physical activity, nutrition, bone health, and avoiding unhealthy habits like smoking. The athletes were able to learn about maintaining their health and making lifestyle changes, but also gave the nursing students vital opportunities to teach and utilize skills the have learned in the classroom. The athletes were not the only ones who were learning that day. The students were able to take the blood pressure, pulx and BMIs of hundreds of athletes to perfect their skills. Jenna Venafra, a sophomore nursing student, spoke about how beneficial the experience was to her and her fellow classmates. “It was an awesome opportunity to practice all the health promotion skills that we’ve been learning in the classroom! Spending the day with all the athletes was also extremely exciting and an overall great experience!” said Venafra. The teams were made up of kids from all over the country; mostly coached by their parents or someone involved in tl« special needs community. It was very humbling to see so many people come together1 support a community of kids that arc often overlooked. Th athletes were all gracious and kind, and they all came in vi smiles on their faces and were eager to learn. The day came to an end after seeing hundreds of smiling faces and sharing many laughs. It was a great day to share time and talent with those who needed it. leaving with a 1 great feeling of gratitude, the future nurses headed back to Temple ready to share their newly improved skills with patients. WRITTEN BY ELLEN ANDES PHOTOGRAPHED BY BRYAN KELL

Page 24 text:

Temple Made, Philly Made Temple students get the best of both worlds while studying here It can be easily said that one of the perks of studying at Temple is being able to take the subway and explore Philadelphia. any moment. From (.enter (.’ity to South Philadelphia, there is endless amounts of places to visit and Temple students are mere minutes away from all of that. While other schools in Pennsylvania have their own advantages, there’s nothing greater than living near one of the best citi-in the world. How great is our city? According to the US. News World Report, Philadelphia is ranked as the number two place to visit in the United States in 2017. This is nothing new to Temple students since we have already been taking full adv antage o this city. By having Philadelphia nearby, students have used the city to demonstrate their creativity via photography and a way to escape from their everyday troubles. Mina Kwong, a senior marketing major at Temple, uses her spare time to explore the city while also doing her favorite hobby—photography. “ Phis city is filled with lively, genuine people and vibrant lights that tell Temple students and Philadelphians that anythii i-possible.” Kwong said. “It's a place for me to express my creativity through my camera lens and my eyes.” Another avid student photographer, Shefa Ahsan, a junior film and media arts major uses Philadelphia as the vessel of h r photography. “Philadelphia couldn't be a better place for me to satisfy my quench for adventure,” Ahsan said. “The city is both nosti gi and exhilarating, and 1 love going there to shoot because there’s always something to capture from people dancing, a cot 1 walking, a boy playing his instrument on the street, people in a rush, people taking a pause, and Phillv’s beautiful architecture - there’s just so much to see and explore and 1 love being able to photograph it all.”