A Different Kind of P.A.R.T.Y.

The P.A.R.T.Y. program that I attended with some of my classmates was a very impactful experience. To start, the purpose of this program is to Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth, hence the acronym P.A.R.T.Y. This is done by educating students like me on safety in all aspects of their lives, with stronger emphasis on preventing things like impaired driving and alcohol and drug use.

We heard tons of presentations from people like police officers, paramedics, nurses and injury survivors. The main message of the program is to get the students to pay attention to their surrounding and all the bad things that do happen, but more importantly to teach students how to prevent these things from happening to youth in general. An example of this would be teaching us how to properly roll a person onto their side if they are unconscious.

For me,the most memorable thing about the whole experience was the injury victims that spoke to us, especially a man named Steve who got in a car crash because he was texting on his phone and broke his femur and messed up his brain in the process. He was a normal guy who was just going for dinner, and he made one small mistake that changed his life forever. His recovery story was also inspiring. He talked about all the people that helped him to get to where he is today and how he has moved on and is making the most of his life.

Overall, the P.A.R.T.Y. program impacted me in a great way. It allowed me to learn many new things from tons of different people who all had something different and educational to say. Along with that, it was really cool to see how the hospital works, especially the trauma room, and how so many people and resources are required to help a single patient. So in conclusion, I really enjoyed the program. I believe that it is really important that more Greenwood students take part in it because there is so much important knowledge that can be taken away from it.