I know Jackie Burrell mentioned in her article the five most recent deaths around the East Bay… but please don’t forget the sixth already. It was only a little over a month ago that Dani Williams, a senior at Cal High in San Ramon also tragically passed away from a car accident.
The tears have subsided at my school, and the memorials and services are already done, but she is still remembered. There is a Facebook group in remembrance of her, and there are still a few scattered pictures of Dani and poems for her posted around the school walls … but every time my friends and I scroll past her name on our email and phone contact lists, that’s when it hits the most - again and again.
Like many of these other recent tragedies, news of Dani’s death first circulated around MySpace and AIM. However, I wasn’t able to believe and accept those typed words until I heard them through a human voice.
A friend of mine who was close to Dani through choir IM’d me the evening of the accident, yet through the whole conversation of facts and details, I still refused to accept the situation. It wasn’t until I heard his voice and sobs on the phone that I understood the finality of the situation.
Technology can bring news fast, but sincere emotions just simply cannot be communicated through typed letters and emoticons. For the teens who are mourning around the Bay, I send to you the deepest sympathies.
Talk to your friends, talk to your families, and support each other. Dani always said before her accident to celebrate life when death comes; celebrate their lives because they would still love to see your smiles.
-Lynn Xia

I will admit that the thought of blood and shots has always made me feel queasy. I dread visits to the hospital, avoid any glimpse of the sharp needles, and walk away glad to have survived another shot. A job in the medical profession is the first career I set my mind not pursue as a little girl, and any television show or movie involving injuries or blood is immediately crossed off my “to watch” list (Yes, that’s right; it eliminates just about every top-rated television series). However, that has all changed!

I have been volunteering with the Stanford Asian Liver Center since last September to help raise awareness to the general public about the hepatitis B virus (HBV). On Saturday, we held a free blood screening event in Santa Clara where my assigned task was to assist the phlebotomist, or in other words, help draw blood. Endless thoughts about the dreaded task plagued my mind for this past week… “How big will the needles be? What if I accidently put the wrong name with the blood sample? Will the blood vial be warm since the blood is freshly drawn?” My mind was still swimming with those thoughts even as the first patient sat down. Trish, the phlebotomist I was aiding, prepared the needle, made
a smooth insertion, and before I knew it, there was a steady flow of blood trickling into the vial. That wasn’t so bad at all…the needle was no bigger than the sewing needles at home, and the patient even commented that it barely hurt.

Four hours and 73 patients later, Trish and I finally finished. Among the three phlebotomists present, we tested 219 people, ranging from elementary kids to 90-year old seniors. There were many anxious faces in the waiting line, but I
realized that like me, their fear was all in anticipation of the event, and not from the actual process. There is the satisfaction from knowing that I helped someone’s
life, and on a personal level, there is a greater satisfaction from also overcoming
one of my life-long fears.

Maybe I should head out the SF Zoo next weekend and have a volunteer day at the Insect Zoo to cure my arachniphobia… but meanwhile, I better conquer those fearful finals next week.

By the way for the curious ones out there, vials of freshly-drawn blood is warm as expected… which is really not too bad for such a cold day like Saturday. All right, now maybe I’m just crossing the line.

-Lynn Xia