Q and A with Arianna:
You aspire to...
Become a doctor, specifically a neurosurgeon or trauma surgeon. I also hope to split my time as a medical researcher, and yes that’s possible because many of my personal doctors practice several days a week and conduct research on the other days.
Your biggest dreams/goals are:
My biggest goal is to cure a disease or condition! And I dream of winning a Nobel Peace Prize for advancements in medicine or work I aspire to do in a third world country some day.
If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why?
Everywhere! I want to see the world! Top places for me would be Greece, Ireland, and Thailand. I would also love to travel with "Doctors without Borders".
What/who are most important to you?
It seems like a cliché answer, but truly my family is most important to me. I have close relationships with every single one of them and imagining moving away from them to continue my education makes me sad. Its hard to imagine not seeing them every single day. My education is the next most important aspect in my life.
How can others get involved?
I suggest that if you are looking to get involved to just reach out to an organisation. Help is needed everywhere and organisations need more than just monetary assistance, they need volunteers too. Time. Treasure. Talent. Just give in anyway you can.
If you are a college student, visit your universities club registry, there are multiple organizations on campus to help you get involved. If you are an established adult, giving money is wonderful (and still do that) but the feeling you get from working one on one with those in need is a feeling you can't get by just writing it off on your taxes. Get out there and give your time and love to others and you'll be surprised by how addicting it can become.
Joy Prom Las Vegas is an extravagant, full-scale, free prom for teenagers and adult individuals with cognitive and physical impairments where every guest is celebrate and accepted. The biggest need for this event is for volunteers, especially those that act as a "hostess" or "host" which means you are paired with an attendee of the prom and accompany them throughout the nights events.
http://www.joypromlasvegas.com
Opportunity Village is another way to help our community locally by donating our time to help and serve men and women with intellectual disabilities. There are several ways to get involved with Opportunity Village, you can get help by working with these wonderful people or assisting in many events that raise money and awareness. My favourite event of the year is to volunteer is when the winter magical forest is open. The forest is run 100% by volunteers for nearly a month, so there is a great need for people to assist.
http://www.opportunityvillage.org
Volunteers often overlook the opportunities to do something out of the norm and truly amazing. Join a bone marrow donor registry and possibly save a life! Blood cancer is cured by the kindness of another human being and is one of the few cancers that is easily cured.
Sometimes bone marrow is not even required, a donor may just need to donate specialized blood cells from their blood. In addition, if it is required of you to travel to your recipient's state, all expenses are covered by the patient's insurance or the organisation. So why not save a life, it may hurt a little but not even close to the immense discomfort a survivor faces during their fight.
An organization I am hoping to join is "IS VOLUNTEERS". It is something you pay for but is also “out of the norm” and an opportunity of a lifetime. Basically you travel abroad for a month, the first two weeks you work on a volunteer project which could be building new schools or environmental conservation and the last two weeks you get leisure time explore that country. ISV is a great way to travel abroad and feel good about it. They have vast opportunities in locations and the type of work one could participate in and can even assign a pre-medical student to work in the area they are specialising in.
Also, if you are looking to just volunteer and travel for free CNN has a great article on their top ten picks to join. http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/12/travel/vounteer-free-travel/
You're an inspiration to countless people, what motivates you?
I believe as long as I can be thankful for the opportunities and individuals I have in my life I can be happy and with happiness nothing can get me down. I try not to sweat the small things and think outside the box to solve the significant obstacles in my way. Whenever I get frustrated or have a bad day I tell myself, “Okay Arianna, start counting the things you are grateful for!” and I find that I calm down and feel motivated to end my day on a positive note. When you are thankful you are happy and yes it is that easy is to be HAPPY!
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