I always wanted to donate blood. In CT, you had to be 18 or older to donate or 17 with parental consent. In TX, it's 17 or older or 16 with parental consent. The student counsel of my school was responsible for the blood drive a few years ago, but they did such a terrible job that our JROTC program took over.
I donated for two reasons. One is because I wanted to help people. Second is because I'm in AFJROTC (Air Force) and I wanted to show that I'm a good cadet.
So, if you're 16 you need to weigh 120 lbs and 17, 110 lbs. I weigh 120 lbs and am 17. Then the doctor who gave me my physical said that I was ineligible to donate from now on because at my height (5'5") I need to weight at least 150 lbs, and I am 120!!!
So when they were taking the blood out of me (one pint), I started getting dizzy, feeling a little nauseous, and my eyesight got blurry, so they reclined the chair, put ice on my neck, and put a fan on me. Later, I got extremely hot and started sweating a lot so they put ice on my stomach and put the fan back on me. Then I got extremely cold from the wind blowing on my sweat. It took me like a 2 normal people's times to finally get through the whole process. One guy took longer than me and it was because like they had to put his blood back in him, and then just take out red blood cells. He had an interesting blood type too - O-. I don't know what mine was. Either they did not tell me or they told me but I didn't hear.
I felt pretty week and my boyfriend said that I felt really cold. I'm better now. A little tired. My parents don't think I should donate again. A few years back, doctors took out only like a tube of blood and I was dizzy for the rest of the day. My body sure does not like blood being drawn from it. That sucks really. I wanted to be a regular donater, but I can't really anyway because I don't weigh enough anymore.
Donating blood is very important because you can help save a life. Other plus sides are the snacks you get, shirts they may give out, and other things.
Just look up "donate blood" on whatever search engine you use.
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