I don't know how this keeps happening...

I'm not sure how this keeps happening, but the weeks are just flashing by, and somehow -- it can only be by the grace of God -- I'm still hanging in there.

I keep trying to pin down what's so "hard" about school and I feel like its mostly emotion/stress and finding time to study everything enough times to feel comfortable with it. Nothing can be perfected because if you've learned something that well, you haven't spent enough time learning something else well enough. I've heard this 10,000 times but you really do have to find a balance. And you really have to study all the time. And you still can't study enough. Ugh, it's a viscous cycle.

I seem to be doing okay in school. Pathology is HARD. It's probably my least favorite class. Anatomy is also definitely very hard, but I enjoy it because I have pictures/diagrams and bodies to look at which help me map things out a little better. Pathology is just such a huge conglomeration of information. It's hard to learn it all and keep it all separate. Of all my classes, this is definitely my lowest grade. :(

The good news is, I have an amazing support system between my friends in the program and my family and friends outside the program. I know I couldn't make it through without all of them. They're the best!!

I realize I just said this in the last post, but it's really important for me to live it, breathe it and believe it. I can only take this program one day at a time. There's no point in me stressing out about what I have to do this time next week. I need only to do my best for today and eventually I'll get to next week. The other thing is God wouldn't give me more than I can handle. I'm here for a reason and this is God's perfect plan for me. No one said it would be easy. In fact everyone said it would be extremely difficult. And they weren't kidding. I don't think you can prepare yourself for how difficult it actually is. But I feel like I'm doing my best and I'm just going to keep moving forward. I mean ... what else can you do? At the end of all of this madness, I'm going to have an education and specific set of skills that will lead to an amazingly successful future career. No one can take that away from me!

That's all for now, friends. Pin It

Things that make me happy

Here are a few things I've done this past weekend that have made me happy:

1. Had spiked hot chocolate with my love (even though it's really not cold enough).
2. Got an eye exam, which of course comes with a new pair of cute glasses.
3. Had a pinterest party with some of my school mates and BFFs. Here are some pics of our creations!

Here is Mallory's wreath!

And Casey's!

And mine!

And Katie's!

Casey also painted these pumpkins on her own time after she left, but the inspiration came from the party. ;)

I think they look FABULOUS! I decorated one pumpkin as well, but I have another to do so I'll post pictures of those later.

Anyway, on with the list ...

1. Ordered my new iphone 5, which won't be here for a few weeks, unfortunately.
2. Went to a sushi party with fun people ... apparently I'm a rock star at rolling sushi ... who knew?!
3. Made a fun Halloween Oreo cheesecake. Yuuummm.

All of these things have of course meant that I haven't studied much this weekend, so I spent my Sunday catching up. I definitely let it slip away from me more than I should have. :( BUT, it'll all be ok because a) I can do this, b) God wouldn't give me more than I can handle, c) I've made it this far because I'm meant to be here, and d) I can only take it one day at a time. I've been telling myself these things for a while. Now to just believe them.

Wooooooosaaaahhhhh ...

Here are some things that I have to look forward to in the next few weeks:

1. Picking up my cute new glasses.
2. Grey's Anatomy season premiere!!!
3. Getting my Clarisonic Mia in the mail! Did I already blog about this? My mother-in-law bought me one for my birthday, but luck of the draw, mine was a lemon. Story of my life -- alas. So I'm waiting for my new one and it should be here very soon!
4. Getting my new phone.
5. Our white coat ceremony/PA ball.

These lists should keep my spirits up for a little while, at least. :) Later friends!

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Autumn is fallin'!

Thankfully, we Birminghamians have found ourselves in cooler weather over the last week or so. Believe me, we are very thankful! And with this cooler weather, and the commencement of football season, I believe it's fair to say that Autumn is falling! So in honor of this joyous season (which, with it comes so many fabulous holidays!) my mother and I decided to dec my apartment in autumn attire. Oh yeah ... my parents came into town this weekend!

Anyway, here are a few of the decorations we put up.

Geez, who am I kidding. These are all the decorations we put up, because this is pretty much all I've got. But these make a big difference!! I do actually have a few more things put out, they just don't photograph as well.

Anyway, this weekend, I'm thinking about having a pinterest party! I think it'd be so fun to make Halloween wreaths and other fun crafty things that have nothing to do with PA school. I'll update about that next weekend.

I suppose that's about it for now, friends! Until next time!

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Not to jinx myself, but I think I'm getting the hang of things ....

Alright! So, I'm officially three tests into PA school, and I feel ok so far! I think I'm beginning to see a correlation ... lots of studying and hard work = decent/good grades. I guess they're right when they say your hard work pays off. There is DEFINITELY no luck involved here ...

So, I've started my fifth week of PA school! Part of me wants to say, "SHUT UP. That's unreal!" and another part of me wants to say, "Five weeks, really, that's all?! Feels like five freaking years!!" ::Sigh:: But I guess it's good because I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of things ... kinda ... a little. Before school started, I heard multiple times that I would feel like I was drinking from a fire hose but eventually I would get the hang of things. I've definitely already had breakdowns, and good days .... and many bad days, but taking these few tests has helped me to see that I might just be ok if I work hard enough. I was petrified in the beginning because if we fail anything we have a remediation policy that says we must retake that test that we failed, and we're not allowed to let our GPA drop below a 3.0 or we go on academic probation. So I've been very, very worried. But again, I've seen that lots of studying and hard work = decent/good grades. And that's more than enough for me.

To reward myself for my success thus far, I've decided to take the night off ... and have a few glasses of wine. I am SO tired.

But that's enough about PA school .....

So, this weekend we had lots of friends visit us! It was so nice seeing everyone and spending the weekend with them. I especially enjoyed talking with our friend, Whitney. She's an RN in Atlanta working in a mother/baby unit (did I get that right, Whit?). It was so fun talking with her because I actually knew some of the things she was talking about! Of course, I was asking her about specific things I had already learned, so no doubt there's PLENTY more that she knows that I haven't learned about yet. Maybe in 26 months I'll know what you know, Whitney. :)

I have been thinking about how much I've learned in the last four weeks. It's so exciting! (Ok, back to PA schol I guess ...) It's pretty unbelievable, too. I mean ... I couldn't diagnose anybody or anything like that, but it's still fun to think about everything I've been learning.

Anyway, not too much new this week. I have a presentation in anatomy tomorrow and then a test this Friday. I'll update on that later. That's all for now! G'nite, folks.

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You know you're in PA school when ...

My classmates and I have our first anatomy lab practical and lecture exam coming up this week and we've been working our asses off preparing for it. I think it's pretty safe to say that all the horrible comments from our professors have scared us into thinking none of us will make above a C in the course. I'm sure we'll all do better than that, but I'll just say those little comments have definitely been my motivator.

So during our prepping for the exam, some of my classmates have made some pretty funny comments that I'd like to put together for you all here...

You know you're in PA school when... You have to rearrange your furniture to have enough space for all of your study materials.

You know you're in PA school when you leave the library at 600 Friday night.

You know you are in PA school when you google "human skeleton for sale". (Can you believe those things are $6,000?!?)

You know you're in PA school when you spend more time on a Friday night with a dead body than a live one.

If I would have looked at one more ulnar recurrent artery I would have put my head through my toshiba.

Hahaha .... they're all so true! And very funny to me. :)

Anyway, not much new this week. We dissected the forearm and hand in anatomy lab, which was pretty neat because there are tons of muscles/nerves/arteries that all coordinate together to make our hands work! God put a lot of thought into those intricate details.

Since the majority of this post is about anatomy, it's absolutely relavant to say that we've been given all the material that will be on the first test, which means I'm 1/4 of the way finished with the class. 

WHAT?! 

That BLOWS my mind. I'm only about to start my fourth week. Seriously, time is going by pretty quickly. I still have good days and bad days, although all together I'd have to say last week was not a good week for me. I felt like my studying wasn't as efficient as I have been previously, but I still feel like I know everything I need to know -- though I don't know it well.

We'll see how it goes. Until next time folks! Hopefully I'll have really great news ... oh, and we have friends coming into town next weekend! I'll post about that as well. 

Lastly, I forgot to add ... apparently the director of our program has lovingly dubbed me Brain Dead (instead of calling me Brain Head). #joysofpaschool

Adieu!

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My new life!

Studying. That's my new life. Poor Adam is suffering from multiple personality disorder because most of the time he encourages and reminds me to go study if I sit in front of the TV for longer than 15 minutes. But other times he tells me with his sweetest sad face that he misses me and he never sees me anymore. :(

So yeah, studying. We're in class for 4-6 hours a day, depending on the day, and I usually study for 7-8 hours a day outside of class. I get to school by 7:20am at the latest (because otherwise finding a parking spot is a hot mess!) and I study from then until 9am or 10am, depending on what time class starts, I study between classes, then I study a few hours when I get home after dinner and a workout. But I usually cut myself of at 9:30 or 10pm at the lastest, because - talk about a hot mess - well I am one without enough sleep.

While Adam was at work yesterday morning, I studied. I studied up until the very moment I jumped in the shower to get ready for Valerie's wedding in ATL, and then on the way to the wedding, I reviewed everything for about an hour, forward and backward, just to reinforce what I was studying! I'm still worried sick that I'm going to flunk out ... I guess I'll just have to wait till the first round of tests is over and then maybe I'll be more confident and feel better about my studying.

BUT, with all that studying, I have to say today I'm pretty sick of anatomy or any other subject I've been studying so I've decided to take the day off. That wasn't what I planned, and I haven't gotten everything done that I wanted to, but I just really feel like if I force myself to study, the material will NOT stick, which will result in me wasting my time. So, I'll just pick it back up tomorrow. I'm not sure I'll ever feel "caught up." Le sigh.

In other, more exciting news, my Littmann stethoscope came in!

I'm so excited to have it, and I can't wait to use it!

More exciting news ... as I mentioned earlier, Adam and I drove to Atlanta for Valerie and Stewart's wedding last night! It was so fun being there and seeing how all of her details had come together. She and I used to work together and during that time, I heard about all of her details as she was planning them so it was almost like being at my own wedding and seeing all of my plans come together. :) And of course, Valerie was so beautiful! Everything was perfect.

Hmmm, I guess that's about it! Not much else has gone on this week. Till next week, bloggers!

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Getting Ready for PA School, part 2!

I've been asked by another blogger to elaborate further on my preparations for PA school! First off, congratulations, Christie, for getting in! The career you've chosen is becoming more and more popular and the schools are, in turn, becoming more and more competitive. I would say getting in is half the battle, but I actually have no idea how bad the battle actually is ... I'm only starting week two. :)

So, Christie, since you're at the point where you're already in and you're preparing to start I'll say this. Enjoy the time you have now! You won't have much free time later, but I've been told over and over again that it's extremely important to continue your normal habits once you start school ... exercise (and if you don't already, then start!), continue going to church if that's something you enjoy, and find some time for yourself, whether it be a few nights during the week or maybe a full day on the weekend. If you don't do this, I'm told you'll literally go crazy. Again, I wouldn't know ... I'm not that far in yet.

As far as preparing for school, find out if there is any sort of entrance exam you take once school starts. This could be an anatomy exam or maybe a medical terminology test. Be prepared for this if there is one, but don't over do the studying. You'll be studying a whole lot plenty soon enough and you don't want to get burned out!

Every school's orientation packet will be different, but mine consisted mainly of multiple consent forms stating I had read their policies and procedures and the program handbook. I was also asked to get several immunizations and complete some tests, including a drug test and a background check. Your school will definitely explain all of their requirements, so don't worry about that! And if something on their checklist is unclear, call and ask!

So, that just about sums up my orientation! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Good luck to you, Christie, and all of my other fellow PA students! Class of 2014! :)

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