Autobiography.docx

Katie Martin Movement Autobiography By: Katie Martin Friday, 9:55 a.m. Lab In basketball and volleyball during high school, I was fondly referred to as the ?comic relief? of the team. Over the years, I?ve done so many awkward, clumsy, ridiculous things that it?s kind of a big joke between my team mates. I definitely am not offended at all by their jokes on my account because they?re true. Most of them happen in basketball. Where to begin?well my junior year, during a game, I had stolen the ball from the other team and was making a fast break to the other end of the court for an easy layup. Unfortunately either the lines painted on the floor or possibly my big feet got in the way, and I ended up tripping, with no one around me, losing the ball and falling in front of the entire crowd (structural, task); haven?t lived that one down yet. Another good example is last year at Parkview (a school in my conference). Their school was once a middle school or something so the ceilings are really low everywhere including the gym. This is usually more a problem for volleyball, but I made it a problem for basketball as well. My preferred style of shooting has a ridiculously high arch to it. At said game, I decided that I was going to attempt a three pointer (a bad idea to begin with because shooting in the paint wasn?t exactly my forte not even talking about outside of the three point line (functional and) but anyway, after the ball left my hands, it preceded to go to impressive heights and hit the ceiling. I hit the ceiling with a basketball?my team and coach had only joked about it at practice the day before, they didn?t think it would actually happen. I proceed to put my head down and walk to the other end of the court listening to the chuckles of my team and even my coach and the seeing the almost shocked faces of the other team. Let me tell you, my team mates still talk about both incidents whenever we get together or even on Facebook. So as you can see, I?m a bit of a klutz and end up doing a lot of embarrassing things because of it. I?m honestly shocked that I can even play sports without hurting people around me or hurting myself any time I attempt (though they both happen on occasion). This does color the activities I choose to do and the movements that I do them with. In front of a group of people whom I don?t know (who don?t know how clumsy I am), I tend to be more introverted whereas when with a group of people who know what to expect from me, I?m definitely more comfortable being me (aka clumsy) (socio/cultural and functional). I also have weak ankles that I used to roll a couple times every season no matter what sport I was playing. I honestly have nightmares of wearing heels and stepping wrong and breaking my ankle (structural, task). Then again, when I wear my ankle brace, I enjoy going all out during both volleyball and basketball (task, structural). Hitting, shooting, blocking, defending?whatever needs to be done (socio/cultural, functional, task). I?m not quite sure why I?m so clumsy. I should think that I?ve had enough time/practice doing all of the day-to-day tasks and I should be able to do them without running into things or dropping everything I?m holding (structural, task). I went skiing about a month ago for the first time since middle school?mistake. Things have changed since middle school when I was decent, but not great (structural, functional, task). I only went down the hill twice (that?s all I could handle). The hill had two different drop-off points; the first was easier but if you got off at the second (higher up) spot, it was the ?black diamond? hill. Because of a miscommunication, my friend and I ended up missing the first drop-off and getting off at the top of the hill. It was horrible; I was so scared and I fell about every five feet (task, structural, functional). I fell underneath a fence, into a ditch that I had to have a ski patrol guy help me out of; honestly I probably couldn?t have done any worse. Eventually I took the skis off and walked down to the easier part of the hill and once again tried to ski. That wasn?t quite as bad though I did fall a couple of times (the task changed and afforded more to my skill/ experience level). The second time I went down the hill, we got off at the easier hill and I rocked it all the way until the end where I face-planted into the snow?embarrassing but still fulfilling right up until that point (functional, task, socio/cultural). When I was two, my family and I moved from a single story house with a meager yard to a two story house with a couple acres of land, a big play fort and a pool. The additional land, fort and pool (physical environmental) interacted with my growing and maturing (individual structure) to produce a positive constraint. We lived on the outskirts of a small town where playing outside, as long as you weren?t close to the road, was safe and highly encouraged (physical environment acting with task). In my yard, there were a substantial number of trees that were choice for climbing, which my brothers and I took advantage of (physical environment with task). Luckily we never fell out of any of them (structural and task)! My pool also provided hours and hours of entertainment (physical and functional) and physical activity, and still does! Over the summers growing up, I spent more time in my pool some days than I did anywhere else. The play fort, which has since been transported to my cousin?s house for their kids to use, also was a great time (physical and functional individual)! It had a sand box, a fireman?s pole, a jungle gym (that gave you splinters because my dad made it out of wood) and a (then) wicked slide (body scaling) that no longer affords my brothers and me quite as much as it once did. Nevertheless, my brothers, our various friends and I had many good times on it. I?m the youngest of three and am the only girl. My brothers, Josh the oldest and Jake the middle child, and I played together a lot though there is a considerable age gap, about six and four years respectively between them and me. They took it upon themselves to teach me skills (socio/cultural and task). We have videos of them ?grading? me on my rollerblading abilities; I got an A+ of course. They also tried to teach me to ride my bike without training wheels, though I?m pretty sure they gave up on that one (functional and task). My mother is also very exercise-orientated (functional and task). She was always outside playing with us (functional and task) and whenever the weather permitted, we had to walk to church, which is about ¾ of a mile away, or any other destination that it was feasible to walk to (physical environment and socio/cultural). I called my mom, as was suggested in class, to find out all the milestone dates for my development. What I got was an immense amount of milestones that I didn?t even know existed, such as ?creeping??I had no idea what that even was before I did this research but I now know I started doing it at two months probably because of the interaction between structural, functional and task subsystems. I also laughed out loud at 3 months because of a combination of structural, functional, socio/cultural and physical subsystems. Around three months, I began to pick up and handle objects, such as Cheerios because of a combination of functional, structural and task. At four months I began blowing raspberries and laughing (structural, functional, task and socio/cultural). In addition at four months, I began reaching for objects that I wanted (structural, functional and task). I said ?Dada? at six months, but I didn?t say ?Mama? until around one year?around that time I also began saying ?dog? and ?more please? (socio/cultural, task, functional and structural), I thought it was funny when I heard that but my mom, not so much . Around eight months I began imitating sounds and motions (structural, functional, socio/cultural and task). At about eight and a half months I was able to hold my own cup and drink from it (structural, functional, socio/cultural and task). At 8 ? 9 months I was able to start playing ?patty cake? and ?so big? (structural, socio/cultural and task). At nine months I was able to help dress myself (functional, structural and task) and I started to be able to pull myself up, stand alone and walk from chair to chair (structural, socio/cultural and task). At 11 months I was able to climb stairs (structural, functional, task, socio/cultural) but I wasn?t able to descend them until about a month later (change in experience and attitude?functional?and I probably got bigger?structural?and the stairs then afforded me to be able to go down them). I began to be able to use simple words at 14 months (functional, structural, socio/cultural, task). At 18 months my mom was happy to say that I began to pick up my toys and put them away when done with them (structural, socio/cultural, task). She wants to know what changed (functional) . I began riding my bike with training wheels at four years (socio/cultural, structural, functional, task) and at about 6 years old I was able to lose the training wheels (change in functional, structural, socio/cultural and task). The first sport I remember playing is 4-H basketball. We were a small team and we had members from two or three other 4-H groups besides the one I was a member of and we still could barely get enough people to play in order to have a team. I was quite uncoordinated then (structural and task) but being one of the tallest on my team, an early maturer, I was a starter. I also wasn?t in the best of shape, I was kind of a chubster, and that hindered my endurance in the games (structural and task). The whole team/sport experience opened me to the beautiful game of basketball and helped me develop some skills to take into high school basketball. Also growing up, I participated in about 3 years of ballet and a couple of jazz. The usual consensus is that dancers are graceful. This may be true but I definitely was not (structural, socio/cultural and task) and maybe that?s why I quit (functional and task). I also wasn?t very good (functional, task). Looking back on video recordings of my recitals, I cringe because I seemed to be in my own little world, which would have been ok except for the fact that I obviously didn?t know the steps very well (functional, task, socio/cultural). I was the ?odd man out? if you know what I mean. I made up my own steps and added them right there on stage, too bad I was with a group of girls that were all doing the same thing when I wasn?t (socio/cultural, task). In regards to recess during 2nd -5th grade, what I remember most is tether ball and falling. Tetherball was and still is one of my favorite sports (if it even is one). I was the best one in my class probably because I was also one of the biggest (structural, functional and task). I spent pretty much all of my recesses from 4th to 5th grade playing it. Before tether ball became such a large part of my recesses, no matter what I did, if it involved running, I fell (structural and task). I got bloody knees daily and my wounds rarely had time to heal before I fell on cement or gravel again and would split them open. I honestly still have some of the scars. You would think that this would impact my activity choices, i.e. no more running, but I don?t really remember it changing my activities. I got so used to it happening that I?m pretty sure I came to believe it was inevitable (functional, structural and task). In fourth grade I was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter?s disease. This hindered my movements for a while because of the fact that for a month or so I had to wear a brace on my knee that prevented it from bending at all (task and structural). I don?t remember much about this except that I hated it when my pencils fell off the little pencil-holder indent in the desks because it took so much effort to retrieve them (task, structural). A couple days ago, I was excited because of the fact that I was able to go to bed momentarily, so I began skipping down the hallway in my dorm (functional, task). I also do a sort of skipping motion when I?m walking in the cold (physical, task) and as long as I?m not on ice (self organizing--physical and task). Also, last summer when I was at a graduation party, my friends and I were taking ?jumping? pictures--where a group of you jump and the photographer takes a picture when you?re all in the air. This is a favorite picture-style of ours because the pictures turn out so cool so we take them pretty much every time we get together (functional, socio/cultural and task). During puberty, I was like most kids in that stage?awkward and self conscious when I did anything (functional, structural, task). I had braces, was a little chubby, and a shy bookworm. I tried fitting in by playing volleyball, but it really didn?t help because no matter how I tried, I couldn?t find the confidence to make many new friends (functional, task). I was also picked on mercilessly, though I?m now friends with the people who had once made my life hell. During this time grew a bunch, as is the norm, and it took me a long time to find my preferred state for everyday movements (walking, running) that I now like to believe is quite stable, though at times I wonder (structural and task). At those times in question, seemingly whenever I go to Target especially, I feel like I?m still growing and am having to self organize constantly and I drop/run into/hit everything imaginable. A couple of months ago I went into Target and in a matter of maybe 20 minutes dropped my wallet, spilling change everywhere; spilled my drink all over my other food and ran into the door on the way out (structural and task). At the present time, the movement skill I?m best at is probably hitting in volleyball. My first time playing volleyball as a legit team was in middle school, where practically every girl in my grade went out for it (socio/cultural, functional and task) but no one was good (structural, functional and task). I played both 7th and 8th and continued to play my freshman year. Once again, skills are still developing freshman year so no one is very good nor do they really take it seriously (functional, structural and task). I didn?t play my sophomore year because I decided instead to manage the Varsity Football team because the guy I liked was on the team (functional, structural and task). Unfortunately I didn?t get the guy and I missed volleyball so much that my junior year I gave up managing for volleyball (functional and task). Because of the missed year and the experiences I missed, I was put on the Junior Varsity team as a junior when most of my other classmates were on Varsity (functional and task). This turned out for the best because I was one of the best, and tallest, girls on my team, thus I started every game and played a majority of the match (structural, functional and task). The playing time on JV helped me make a preferred hitting style and make it more attractive so that when I started on varsity my senior year, when people actually came to the games and were cheering or making noise in the stands, it didn?t faze me when I went to hit or block (functional, structural and task). The most challenging movement skill that I can remember being exposed to is high jump in high school Track and Field. I didn?t go out for track until my senior year, which was a big mistake on my part; I definitely should have gone out for it sooner. I was a thrower and I picked up on those skills, shot and discus, relatively quickly. Enough so that I almost went to state for discus, which was very exciting (functional, structural, task, socio/cultural)! But anyway, my coaches (socio/cultural) wanted me to try high jump (task) mostly because of my long legs (structural) and because I had picked up on shot and discus so quickly. BAD IDEA! I tried and tried but I couldn?t let myself go enough to arch my back or ?pop? at the right moment (functional and task). I did horribly and I only did it in two meets where I barely made opening height. I was amazed because this girl on my team was only a freshman but she could jump over 5 feet?.I was (and still am) in awe. A new movement skill that I have recently learned is maneuvering myself onto and off of my loft every night and morning. I had never slept on a loft until the beginning of this year and it was a challenge, especially the first couple of weeks (functional, task). Getting onto the loft isn?t so bad anymore, but getting down from it in the morning is a major task, particularly in the morning because I am very, very uncoordinated then and it can be pretty dangerous haha (physical, task, functional). It?s actually kind of crazy because for the first half of the first semester my roommates and I lived in overflow (three people in a double). We have since moved into a triple room,(which is AMAZING!), but my bed is on the opposite side of the room, as in I would have to get onto my bed with the left side away from the wall. I quickly realized that that wasn?t going to work for me because I couldn?t self organize myself to stabilize myself with my left hand instead of my right when getting up/off my bed and almost fell a couple of times (functional, structural, task). So to fix this rate limiter, I now get up from the other end of the bed and turn around while on top of my bed. It?s kind of crazy some times because I barely fit between my bed and the ceiling while on my knees, but I make it work (functional, structural, task). Another movement skill that I have recently learned is sleeping two feet from the ceiling. This can become a problem when I wake up in the middle of the night and want to roll over and scrape my knuckles on the rough ceiling and cut them up (task, functional, structural). Also, about a week ago, I was making my bed and I went to throw the sheet to the other end of my bed and I scraped my knuckles against the ceiling so hard I was bleeding hard core. I still have the cuts though they?re healing nicely but I keep telling people when the ask about them that I got in a fight with my roommate and I punched her in the face?the usually ask me what she?s made of (socio/cultural, functional). Doing all of this research has really helped me understand that constraints are made of at least two different factors. I had never really thought of maturing and why I move the way I do in terms of the different components of my triangle interacting (though I didn?t know about the triangle before this class, I knew about the basic ideas of the different sides).