I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here

It was a couple weeks ago where Facebook's time hop popped up... a year ago (and 2 weeks) ago, I found out I got into PA school! Talk about a trip down memory lane. Goodness, I think I'm getting heart arrhythmia just from thinking about it! I remember it all tooooooo well.

It was a Thursday. I was closing at the gross room and in the afternoon, some 909 number called and left a message. 909?! That's Loma Linda's area code! I thought I read somewhere possibly on the application website or maybe faculty told me after the interview that I would hear by the 12th. But it's only July 7th?! Because I was at work, I was not available to pick up my phone right away. So I listened to the voicemail. I was told to call back and I remember shaking and hearing the official words, "Will you accept a position in our program?" I remember jumping up and down gasping for air and my colleagues looking at me waiting for the official "yes." I also missed the last bus home that night but I didn't care. My parents had come to pick me up and we went out to dinner to celebrate.

Hands down, best thing that's ever happened to me. And if I could do it over again, I definitely would. Ha, PA school is that fun, huh? Ha. Not exactly.. it's a roller coaster for sure. I have felt it all, I have cried, I have stayed up all night and lost countless numbers of sleep full of anxiety, I have jumped up and down feeling ecstatic. I have (what's that millennial abbreviation...) PTF'ed (that's palm to forehead for the older... I mean... more traditional people like myself) myself so many times for missing a stupid answer. I have also praised and given enormous sighs of relief when my short essay answers were given full credit. I have asked for help and I have given help to others. And the funny thing is, I'm not even halfway done yet.

I have learned so much about myself in the 43 weeks I have been here. I also learned that the best way to keep on staying motivated and upbeat and mentally strong while in grad school is to not to forget to have fun! Personally, third quarter was the hardest for me. Maybe it was because of the hype from the second year's about how brutal it would be, or the number of credits it was, but I knew I was going to be so consumed and overwhelmed with classes, I put off time for myself. Boy, was I wrong.

I won't even hide it, I gained a hefty 15 pounds during grad school! For those of that know me, you'll know that 15 pounds is relatively a bit for little ol' five foot me. I stopped working out because I felt like I needed to study every minute of the day. I resorted a lot more to fast food restaurants, because I felt like cooking took up too much time when I could be re-reading that chapter for Disease Mechanisms. NO! That was abslotutely one of the worst decisions in my life! And trust me, I have made some bad decisions... ummm okay, that's another story.

It's been a month into my fourth and final quarter of didactics, with the support of the wonderful people in this program and by that, I mean my classmates, my teachers, and Janine (ha, how could I not mention Janine), I've been able to stay mentally strong if not stronger than I ever felt. I lost all my "stress gains" and turned that into some real gainzzzz 💪 When I have hit my goal of going over a chapter in Robbins, I reward myself by cooking/meal prepping a healthy meal as a way of rewarding myself. I've even picked up a new hobby! Calligraphy! When studying over and over feels too repetitive for me, I start writing. I guess you can say it's my creative outlet.

Time After Time

Has it seriously already been 36 weeks since I started school? I know this because I haven't backed up my iPad that the school has given me and Apple keeps notifying me that it's been X weeks since my last back up. (That's right, keep judging techies... and guess what? My classmates can also vouch for me --- I have over 50,000 ---that's right, five zero COMMA zero zero zero unread emails.)

I think from that alone can already tell you what I've been up to.  B-U-S-Y. The only e-mail I even have on notifications is my school e-mail. Suddenly, all those sales that Express or Banana Republic e-mailed me about have long ended by the time I get to them. Even on my one designated "day" off that I allow myself after a week of hard work, I am too busy enjoying my day of rest! I have learned that in order to be successful in PA school, it takes a good balance.

Who really wakes up every day saying "Golly, I sure LOVE grad school! I love being broke and I love having to take at least one exam every week and go through hours of class everyday just to go home and study it all over again!" But with a combination of thinking ahead and reflecting back, I'm learning to really appreciate and take it all in.

This is it. This is the last time I'll get to sit in a room with 15 of my other classmates, no more like brothers and sisters and learn new things everyday. This is the last time really when I want a study break, I can easily hit up someone to get froyo. This is the last time where I'll get close to instant gratification (depending on how long it takes Mike to grade our exams - HA, kidding) after busting my gluteus maximus to study.

Lucky Number Seven

Quarter 3, so close, and yet so far

Quarter 2 stuff

Post 2

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