Members of the NOVA Relay for Life Board meet to discuss the upcoming event at the Annandale campus.

“Relay never stops because cancer never stops” is the slogan and theme of the Relay for Life, the flagship fundraiser of the American CancerSociety. The event, which started at NOVA in 2002, allows students to channel the passion of those words and continue to make an impact in the war against cancer. For two nights, on April 17 and 18, over 170 registered students making up 26 teams will honor the lives of those with cancer through joining in the planned activities.

Phi Theta Kappa starts planning the event near the start of the fall semester. However, students can join the race anytime they wish until the event begins at 7 p.m. the evening of April 17. They can run, walk, and volunteer the evening of the event, and participate in a silent auction or the Mr. Relay Beauty pageant.

If they can’t make the Relay for Life event itself, they can attend an annual Fashion Show the first week in April or help paint the Annandale campus purple – the official ribbon color representing all cancers –during the second week in April.

The Relay for Life began in 1985 in Tacoma, Wash. when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon, walked for 24 hours around a track to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

The event started when Phi Theta Kappa chose the Cancer Society as the national charity their group would support. PTK’s president at the time, Margaret Reed, decided that NOVA’s Annandale PTK would host the first Relay for Life held at any college in the metro Washington, DC area. She has led the event every year since and is still very proud to be chairperson of the event. She is now an adjunct professor of history at Annandale and a breast cancer survivor.

When the event first started 10 teams totaling 110 people raised $10,000 for the American Cancer Society. This year, 170 people have registered as of March 31.

Students will have an opportunity, not only to walk or run around the track at the Annandale campus, but also to participate in a silent auction, the luminaria event (lighting candles for cancer patients and survivors) and the Mr. Relay pageant contest, where one man is able to dress up in ‘evening gown’ apparel, perform a special talent and collect donations. The man who collects the most money from folks watching the pageant to donate to the American Cancer Society wins the coveted crown and title of Mr. Relay.

Events for the Relay begin at 5:30 p.m. on April 17 with a special reception to honor cancer survivors. The silent auction will take place from 8 to 9 p.m. One can still register to participate in the Relay for Life online or by making a donation. There is a $10 registration fee and a fundraising minimum of $100 is suggested. Cancer Survivors wishing to participate have the option to receive a purple T-shirt when they register.
More information on the NOVA Relay for Life Event is at acsevents.com.

At 5:30 a.m. on March 12 the line to get into the Dental Clinic stretched out of the  first-floor entrance of the Medical Education Building. The clinic check-in was nothing short of ordered chaos.  Languages spoken casually included those that seemed familiar – Spanish, French and English – and those that seemed not as commonplace, such as Hindi, Farsi and Vietnamese. There were translators for many and several of the dentists spoke one or more of these languages fluently.

Dr. Howard Kelley, director of the Dental Clinic, said most people are at MOM because they can’t afford care anywhere else.  The people who come to MOM are recipients of social services in and around Northern Virginia.

The Northern Virginia Dental Association is responsible for contacting each agency that will participate and asking the group to send 50 beneficiaries of their usual services to MOM.  The Northern Virginia Dental Society also invites member dentists to participate at the event and donates, delivers, unloads and stocks the supplies that are used during MOM.

“Students always look forward to seeing the preschoolers,” Kelley said. However, there were no children at the event.  The ‘Give Kids a Smile’ event will take place later in the year in addition to a clinic day for those in the community with special needs.

On Friday alone, over 200 people signed up to work at the MEC Dental Clinic as receptionists, dental staff, translators and triage volunteers.  Each dentist brought his or her own staff and accepted referrals for future services.

One woman, Myra Caceres, reported that she had lost her dentures two years ago and that here she “found help and got a gift from God.” Although her procedures could not be performed on site at the clinic, the dentists in the area will not turn away people in need of more detailed procedures.

The first 100 people who show up get in according to Kelley. He emphasized that around 800 people show up in addition to those receiving social services just to get in the door of the Dental Clinic as walk-ins.  Many cannot be seen at the event.

The dental clinic has 32 fully equipped dental stations.  NOVA has the largest dental clinic of any community college in the country.  Volunteer Kenneth Bernstein blogged that over 400 people signed-in for treatment on March 12. Many probably needed multiple services, but each attendee was allowed only one treatment.

There have been 44 MOM events held by the Virginia Dental Association since 2000.  The Medical Education campus has hosted a MOM event every year since opening in 2004.  Before that, NOVA hosted the event at the school’s Annandale campus.  To date, throughout the state, 34,398 patients have been provided with over $17.4 million of free dental services ranging from basic cleanings to root canal surgeries.

To find out how this event materialized, one must look to Ben Ayed. She alone approached student services to resurrect the International Club last year. In an interview with NOVA Fortnightly staff, she described herself as someone driven to empower and support others in developing potential.

Starting a club with the vision to unite people from the entirety of the diverse cultures found throughout all five campuses fits her passion completely. Born in Tunisia, Ben Ayed benefited from a system of private schools where French was the primary language. She studied in France for a few years before she came to the United States, drawn to our country’s unique ethic of volunteerism.

Although she came to NOVA to major in business administration, Ben Ayed developed a focus on international education and training. A large part of this redirection was made as a result of organizing the International Club and taking an international communications class along with an American culture class. After forming the International Club and developing relationships that allowed the organization to get up and running Ben Ayed started planning the festival. All she knew when she got the go-ahead to revive the International Club was that she wanted be involved with something much bigger than herself; something that inspired her to action.

The International Club really came about when she met and recruited two students during club orientation week who were willing to make the commitment to spread information about the vision of an all-inclusive student club during NOVA Day. Ben Ayed insisted that NOVA Day, the appointed eighthours when student club members and leaders set up tables and share printed literature, images and personal conversation with fellow students, was the best time to spread information about the International Club.

Ben Ayed’s development of the organization and any events hinged on her seeing the organization as a people-centered group of individuals with their own ideas. She determined that all members needed to work together for a common purpose, to be active participants in the activities of the group and to take ownership of the activities themselves.

The International Club is first and foremost a group of people who value individuality. No individual is more important than any other in terms of navigating activities or events. No one person is the center of attention at any meeting or get-together.

Ben Ayed wouldn’t have had the process of developing the International Club any other way. She brought her ideas of building bridges between students together when they first sat down to draw a mission statement and, later, when they planned the Spring Festival. These two strategic processes taught her a great deal as well as prepared her to teach others how to form and run a group of empowered individuals.

Her strategy involved translating her idea of empowering people, into the open forums that made the International Club a successful entity. Through open discussions, each individual’s vision for the organization and expectations for the group were brought to light. No one that showed up for special planning sessions was left unheard. Everyone had something to contribute that led to forming an inclusive mission. Events, such as gatherings to watch Star Trek episodes, were planned around the mission and stayed true to the main course charted out by each individual member when they voted to approve the mission statement.

Ben Ayed said she learned that people never lack great ideas. It is the process of coming to consensus that leads to action. Until an idea can gain group support, it is merely as powerful as a wish. The key to forming a strategy for a club is developing group momentum behind the ideas supported by the majority of participants.

The best ideas are combined and expanded upon so that, hopefully, everyone not only feels like they were able to share their dreams, but also feels respected and moved to support the group’s course of action. The all-important key to success is finding oneself in a group of individuals who have cultivated team spirit and a team mentality that satisfies each individual’s needs and goals for participating in the club.

The whole process of creating a mission and strategic plan for the organization has taught Ben Ayed that she is a bridge-builder: she truly loves bringing people together. Organizations flourish because of their members, not just any one person. When each member is happy to participate and take responsibility for the success of a group, then more is possible. That lesson helped club members make Spring Festival a success. It also brought Ben Ayed personal success in her own life.

Ben Ayed has led the International Club since fall 2008 and is coaching the new president. When asked about what life lessons she’ll take with her after graduation from NOVA, Ben Ayed responded that she takes away the notion that synergy works miracles.

Synergy is not a word that you hear very often in daily life, but it is perhaps the most important characteristic of any relationship. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines synergy as a mutually advantageous conjunction or compatibility of distinct business participants or elements. Thus, it is safe to say that Ben Ayed has learned how people can connect to gain advantages for themselves and for others at the same time.

Looking back on an event that was much more successful than she dreamed, Ben Ayed felt that what made the event so wonderful was finding synergy between disparate groups of people. Respecting individual differences and recognizing personal similarities led to a creative interpersonal communications between faculty, the International Committee, and students. Brainstorming ideas for events was much easier when people felt they could be responsive and protective of each member of the group.

Promoting events was a breeze when faculty, students and staff spread the word about the event to others. Ben Ayed said she was impressed that handing out flyers in the cafeteria and having International Club members speak to other students was so effective. Faculty also encouraged students in their classes to attend the event, and they seemed excited to attend it themselves. Ben Ayed pondered: “This much enthusiasm for a cause, can lead only to good outcomes.”

The final lesson Ben Ayed spoke of learning through her experience was that NOVA is an amazing learning platform where people can get invaluable leadership training and support. She calls student organizations mini-labs for life. Students are free to try out things like leadership, teamwork and project management.

Perhaps the biggest piece of evidence that Ben Ayed’s achievement with the International Club and Spring Festival came from the synergy of the group and can be seen in the work she does now. She now holds a part-time position with the Student Activities office at Alexandria campus. Pat Gordon hired her to work to develop a one-day training course for incoming student leaders. Ben Ayed has also helped to develop a toolkit for leaders consisting of forms to help groups elect officers, organize events, and plan meetings. She is also working with Gordon to develop a new SDV class on leadership to be offered in the spring 2010 semester.

Ben Ayed’s success stems from her desire to nurture other people’s talents. By developing skills that build unity and cooperation among community groups at the Alexandria campus, she has fostered a new dimension of understanding and collectivism at the Northern Virginia Community College campuses.

Emily Pfister demonstrates Reiki on a patient.

I regularly volunteer to lay hands on or over people lying on a massage table to help them relieve stress, deal with cancer treatments or handle other issues in their lives. This NOVA student has made Reiki her favorite hobby. Believe it or not, there is nothing more involved in the treatment beyond focusing your attention on someone. I use symbols and mantras to focus and channel energy to them so they can heal from just about anything. Like Japanese food, learning about Reiki just doesn’t appeal to everyone or and may not be something that just anyone finds easy to swallow.

Reiki, (pronounced ray-key) a system of spiritual and physical healing, was created in Japan in the time between 1910 and 1920 by Mikao Usui. Usui was a Tendai Buddhist. According to Browen and Frans Steine, he came from a Samurai family and was dedicated to religious service at birth. Moribei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido martial arts, was said to be a close acquaintance of Usui.

There is something romantic about these men. They were both noblemen from Samurai families and devoted to improving the bodies and minds of men through developing rituals that elevate their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. In their book, Reiki Fire, Frank Arjava Pettzer and Chettna M. Kohashi translated part of an inscription on the memorial stone at Usui’s Tokyo grave to say: “If Reiki can be spread throughout the world it will touch the human heart and the morals of society. It will be helpful for many people, and will not only heal disease, but the Earth as a whole.”

I guess it would be great if I could say that this rich history of the rituals drew me to Reiki, but I didn’t learn any of that until I had received many, many treatments. I didn’t even know what the word meant. I guess what got me interested in working with cancer patients in the hospital and with a Reiki Center was my own forays experimenting with different therapies to relieve stress and cure a toothache that wouldn’t go away. My narrative isn’t as romantic or impressive as the Tale of the Discovery of Reiki. Usui supposedly fasted on a mountain for 21 days before a great sphere of light appeared to him and gave him the ability to heal with his hands, eyes and mind. I just had a toothache!

Reiki is actually a combination of two Japanese words. Rei means spirit or spiritual and Ki is translated to mean energy of life in Japanese. The true meaning of this ‘spiritual energy’ system was always meant to be revealed over time to the practitioners by seasoned practitioners called Reiki Masters. Today, Reiki students understand that the system is passed down through direct apprenticeship to a Reiki Master and that they become part of a ‘lineage’ or a spiritual line of practitioners that can be directly traced to Usui. Lineage charts can be found in all Reiki training centers, and students understand that they must go to a Reiki Master or trainer to receive a special series of attunements or reiju. The Steine’s explain that Usui based his reiju on a Buddhist ceremony called (in English) Dharma for protecting the body.

To be a Reiki practitioner, you have to go through a series of reiju and learn different techniques to sense the energy field that naturally surrounds people. There are three attunements set up to instruct people in the art of Mastership of Reiki. I had to go through rituals which caused me to see colors, people, places and aspects of my own psyche. The details surrounding the reiju are only made available to students of Reiki. Laying on of hands in stationary positions over my torso was involved. As soon as I underwent my first attunement, I would touch my head and feel what I can only describe as liquid heat come out of my hands to comfort me. One time I treated a drunken friend, who later told me that the treatment was a total buzz kill!

Amy Rowland, an American author who was attuned by professional psychic Reverend Beth Grey, says in her book Intuitive Reiki for our Times that “Reiki enhances intuition just as it enhances the natural ability that we all have to bring healing through touch.” Whether it is sobering up drunk people, experiencing comforting ‘heat’ or just visualizing the answers to tough problems, Reiki enhances our natural ability to be healthy and complete people. A person can get addicted working with Reiki, though. What would be better than volunteering to hold your hands over people and feel comforting sensations that make you feel good about yourself? I have seen people recover from headaches, joint pain and the negative effects of cancer treatment. It’s a rush. As far as hobbies go, this is one of my all-time favorites. And I definitely love working with students, especially when mid-terms and finals come around.

According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, 1.2 million American adults had used Reiki or another alternative energy healing therapy. There is no professional license for Reiki practitioners as of yet, and it is not covered by insurance. The reason I practice Reiki is because it makes me feel that I am really tapping into a spiritual force to help people heal. More and more hospitals are incorporating Reiki therapy into cancer and AIDS treatment programs. And, one day, working as a massage therapist, a nurse or a doctor, I will get to live my dream and incorporate my Reiki skills into my work at a hospital or clinic.