Thalia Whitman Job Shadowing

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to this week of filling and thank you for
joining us in our mission to support people with developmental
disabilities for filling homes. I'm Tina Persons. Welcome back to
the program today. I'm talking with Failure. Yes Whitman right, Yes,
from Patrick Henry High School. Thank you for joining me.
So can you tell me a little.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Bit about yourself.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Well, I'm a junior in high school right now. This
is actually my first year of high school.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I was homeschooled for my entire life before this year.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Oh, I volunteer at the zoo as a zoo teen
the Toledo Zoo, and I learned so much and I
got to see so much and it opened so many doors.
And that's actually how I became interested in this field
because at the Zoo they have a program called the
Adapt Program where teens with disabilities can come volunteer at

(00:53):
the zoo the same as everybody else, but they have
a partner with them, which is a peer support partner.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
And that's what I was.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
So that's how I got introduced to this kind of field.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
So let's talk about your job shadowing day. How did
that come about?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
I talked to my guidance counselor, and I was seeking
out any opportunity that I could to work with people
with disabilities. And for a little while, I would go
down to the elementary school and there was a classroom
for disabled kids there and I would help out there
during my study halls.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
And then when I was.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
Talking to him about that, he was like, oh, you
would like to filling home. So that's how kind of
like came about. And my guidance counselor is like super
super like, he really wants me to work in this field.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
He's super supportive. He sees your passion. Yeah, it does.
And the day itself was just amazing. Yeah, walk us
through that.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
I know you job shattled with one of the first
shift supervisors, Taylor later and so what was your day? Like?

Speaker 2 (01:49):
It was?

Speaker 3 (01:50):
It was so fun and it was so like everybody
was so welcoming and just so nice. I started out
the day with I think she like showed me around
a little bit.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
I hung out in her.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
Office for a little bit while we talked and she
did some of her like supervisor stuff and I got
to see that and that was also really cool, getting
to see like the supervisor perspective of stuff.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
And she was just super super nice.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
We had a lot of things in common, and I
got to meet like all of the other staff, and actually,
one of the things that really motivated me was that
I saw a lot of different staff who looked like me,
and that was just like super super big for me
because I've always been told that like my piercings and
my dyet hair and stuff like that were unprofessional. So

(02:33):
getting to see people who look like me here was
just like amazing.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
I was like starstruck.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
I love that.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
It was just awesome.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
And then I got to like interact with some of
the residents. I got to get lunch with Taylor and
kind of interact with the residents who were working down there,
and just seeing what the DSPs and caretakers like did
day to day that I remember like seen before, and
it was just it was so cool.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
I love the residents, I love the people.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
I've kind of been thinking about, like if I was
going to go into this field, what I would want
to do in the future, because I was planning on
kind of starting as a DSP just to kind of
get my foot in the door.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
But then I was thinking they.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
Told me about the Soaring Arts place, I am a
really big artist myself, and I thought that if I
could be, like if I could work there one day,
that would be awesome, like kind of be like an
art therapist.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
You are at the perfect age, Thalia to come in,
and I think it's awesome how much you felt welcomed
here with the diversity that we have as far as staff,
and they're all amazing people. You said you enjoyed when
you were here being with the residents. Is there any
certain thing that kind of pops in your mind that
you remember.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
I remember eating lunch with one of the residents. I
really liked her because she was listening to rock music
while she ate, and she was like rocking out and
like dancing while she ate, and like you could tell
which of the songs she really liked and which of
the songs she was kind of like lessed passionate about.
But that was super super cool. I really liked seeing

(04:12):
her kind of communicate their music, and it was also
the same kind of music that I.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Liked, so seeing that was really cool too.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
That was a big part of it that kind of
motivated me that like this might be where I've lost.
They have been some of the most kindest understanding people,
non judgmental people I have ever.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
Met, the residents, the clients at Filling Homes, and the staff.
It's it's definitely a diverse community and that's one of
the things that.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
I love about it too.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yes, well we can wrap up for now. I want
to thank you so much for coming in and talking
to me. Good luck with the rest of your high
school career, and I would love to see your face
throughout the halls here at the Filling Home. Thank you
for listening to this week at Filling and tune in
next week.