Meet Marcus
Updated: Apr 19, 2019
A true story of how quality health & wellness programs make a difference.
Marcus is a teen who needs assistance walking, and has for most of his life. He first started as an intern in the writing center for the Franklin County 4H Therapeutic Riding Center during his senior year of high school. Marcus would go to the barn three days a week and work on different things from fundraising to tack cleaning to lesson planning to training horses.
"Marcus grew from nervous and unsure of himself in the first riding sessions to self-assured and more confident as his experience and abilities improved.”
The Therapeutic Riding Center serves individuals with special needs ranging from age 4 to over 65 with diagnoses from autism to birth defects to neuro-muscular problems. The program is designed to provide riders an active outlet for improving their physical development and mental health.
When Marcus graduated high school, he continued volunteering with the Center. One of his favorite things to do was work with one of the newer horses, Mallo. The horse was extremely anxious most of the time and could be difficult to handle. Marcus worked with Mallo, starting simple and working toward more difficult tasks. Later that summer, he began taking riding lessons on Mallo. "He challenged me and kept me thinking. All he needed was time, patience, and a clear understanding of what was being asked of him," said Marcus. "Now Mallo is a calm and reliable program horse who can be trusted to give pony rides and is teaching a beginning rider."
Through horseback riding and grooming lessons, riders like Marcus at the Therapeutic Riding Center benefit from increased core body strength and flexibility, more emotional control for interactions with others, and building of self-confidence for accomplishing tasks that were once unattainable.
“Similar to many of our clients, Marcus grew from nervous and unsure of himself in the first riding sessions to self-assured and more confident as his experience and abilities improved,” said Susan Rotz, director of the center.
Marcus grew to love horseback riding so much that he continues to be an active volunteer at the Therapeutic Riding Center, and was just asked to join the program council. He has also realized a new dream of horse ownership. His horse is now an addition to the program, at no lease to the organization, which enables the Center to serve more special needs clients.
"The barn has given me a lot over these last couple of years and I look forward to being able to do more to give back. Not to mention continue to learn and to grow," said Marcus.
The subject of supporting independent study in secondary school feels more interesting when there is room for a reader to stop and ask their own questions. A clear plan for reviewing work can make revision more deliberate. That connection helps me see why secondary independent study can be worth a closer look. I would be interested in a simple example, because it is often the ordinary details that make an idea memorable. How can a learner identify what to practise instead of simply rereading everything?
I find building confidence in continuing education easier to think about when there is a concrete question to start from. A manageable first assignment can help learners understand the pace and expectations of a course. This is why I would approach continuing education skills with a specific question rather than a fixed expectation. The part I would like to explore further is what happens when the idea meets a real situation with its own limitations. What kind of introduction would make a new learning environment easier to approach?
Considering discovering Slavic languages and cultural connections, I keep coming back to the difference between knowing about an idea and putting it into practice. Comparing familiar-looking words can reveal both connections and differences between languages. For me, that is a useful way into the broader subject of Slavic language learning. I would be interested in a simple example, because it is often the ordinary details that make an idea memorable. How would you help learners avoid assuming that similar words always mean the same thing?
A conversation about making music practice meaningful in Legnica seems most useful to me when it leaves space for uncertainty and further questions. A short phrase practised attentively can be more useful than playing an entire piece without a focus. It also gives the phrase Legnica music education a clearer meaning than a label on its own. A short discussion of an everyday example would make this easier for me to connect with, especially as someone still learning about the subject. How do learners decide which part of a piece needs their attention first?
I can see why introducing electrical and mechanical learning would invite discussion, since different people will bring different experiences to the same question. Seeing how one component affects another can make a system easier to understand. I would use that point as a starting question when considering electromechanical education. I would be interested in a simple example, because it is often the ordinary details that make an idea memorable. Which small demonstrations help beginners connect a diagram with an actual mechanism?