Life.

Life is not exciting.

I have accomplished so far...

• 1 Anatomy Test
• 1 Anatomy Quiz
• 1 Physiology Test
• 1 Lab Practical 
• 3 Physical Diagnosis Quizzes
• and HOURS AND HOURS of classes...

That may not seem like much, but I feel like I never leave the school, and when I do, all I do is study.
I have lost all concept of what day it is and what day of the week it is and mental breakdowns are daily for most of the class, and I am no exception.

PA is school is hard and exhausting, but more importantly, it is rewarding.
All the time I spend upset and confused and unmotivated is completely wiped away the minute I use and opthalmascope and can actually see what I'm supposed to see, or the moment I do good on a quiz or understand a difficult concept and definitely in the moment that I can actually picture myself doing this one day.

I CAN do this. I just need to remind myself of that daily.

And for your viewing please, here are some pics of my daily reality..

Sometimes

Sometimes you just don't do as well as you want, and sometimes you do better than you expect....

I guess you just gotta roll with the punches, do better the next time, and be proud of your successes.

...a lesson I am learning daily.

Today in Cartoons.

Before the test...

During the test...

After the test... 

 (I passed!!!!!!!) 

Starting classes...

Later today... 

Tonight...

And tomorrow morning...

That's my life today. Exciting. LoL.

On a really fantastic note, I got a 90 on my first test.

:)

Jello

From the very first day, our professors told us that the schedule was set in jello. It would change constantly, and you had to continue to look at the schedule daily, because we were responsible for knowing the schedule changes, they would not alert us. 

Let me just say, they were definitely not kidding.

Alot of people in my class LOVE schedule.. they live by their planner. For them, this is a huge change and it's something they have to adjust to. For others, like me, you just show up and if there's a change.. just go with it, you were there anyways..

Today, we got another change, and a bit of a shock.  We were supposed to have our Cultural Diversity class on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  We show up Monday and we were told that our CD class was cancelled, and so was Tuesday. We kinda just went with it, nothing really knowing what was happening. Today, during our class (which on the schedule now showed a professor change..) we had the original professor come in to make an announcement.  She briefly told us that she had an abnormal mammogram and it was biopsied, which showed her to have breast cancer. We all kinda just sat there with our mouths wide open (figuratively, not literally).  Fortunately, it was caught early and after the mastectomy, she won't need chemo or radiation! So, she'll be back in 6 weeks :)

She went on to say how in her 20+ years of being a doctor, she had told countless people that they had cancer, but now she was on the receiving end. I had honestly never thought about how one day I would have to tell people they have cancer! I mean, I've just been so excited about becoming a PA, that I forgot about the not-so-glamorous stuff that comes with the job.

I'm definitely learning something new and realizing things about the PA profession and about life every day.

Study, Study, Study.... and Study some more.

That's what I've been doing.

Seriously.

Nothing else to report. Except that PA school is hard. Like, unbelievably hard. If anyone tells you otherwise, they're either a genius (which we do have some in our class...), they're LYING, or they could be failing. 

Right now I'm enrolled in seven classes:
Anatomy
Physiology
History Taking and Communication Skills
Introduction to the PA profession
Physical Diagnosis 1
Fundamentals of Medical Imaging
Cultural Issues

We haven't started them all - in fact, we don't start Medical Imaging until about half way through the semester. And History Taking and Communication Skills is only once a week, and Cultural Issues and Intro to PA profession is really whenever they can fit it in.
Unfortunately we have Physiology THREE times a week and Anatomy THREE times a week regularly. Physical Diagnosis 1 has about two lectures a week and a Lab every week. We have our first lab tomorrow! We are learning the General Survey and Vital Signs (which seems so obvious, and yet more than half of us have never actually done them!)


I got my student ID yesterday, which was pretty cool. It has a giant, mean looking shark on it that looks like it's about to eat my head. Here's a picture:

Well, that's enough for today... I tend to do my best studying at night (I think that it has something to do with knowing that the day is about to end and I'll never get back those hours I just wasted so it's time to hit the books and feel useful. LoL.) But, nonetheless, PA school requires me to study day AND night. So, needless to say, I'm off to study :)

On a Saturday Afternoon...

I thought I could study. Ha.Ha.

I had great, grand, wonderful plans to study and "catch up" all day today. What a joke. Seriously. I slept in, which was great, I watched an episode of Covert Affairs, I had some lunch, I made a weekly meal plan, and I have BARELY studied.

Yes, I did attempt to get SOME studying done, but it's already 2:35pm and I've gone through like 5 slides...Out of ~70 left I need to get to...

I decided that I just get super bored and distracted with nothing to listen to trying to solely focus on the cell membrane. B-O-R-I-N-G! So, I've taking a lesson from my BFF, who LOVES classical music, and put it on. Apparently it's supposed to help open your mind or something. I'm just hoping it works! We'll see what happens...maybe tomorrow will be better...Or maybe classical music will be the cure for distracting Saturdays.

Yesterday was good though. We only had one class (we got there at 10am and left at 11:50am... AWESOME!) Around 3ish, I went to the NSU BBQ they were having. My second year buddy didn't end up coming, or I missed her or something, but it was still relatively pleasant. I went for a walk on the beach and I saw a dolphin. I am not really making any new friends that I do stuff with. But fortunately, I have my best friend to continue to Skype with - and it makes my whole day.

Here's a picture of the BEAUTIFUL beach the BBQ was at and a couple of my classmates :)

I've got some classical music on now, so here's hoping I can get some studying done...

I have my first quiz on Monday, and my first test a week from Monday. Wish me some luck!

Almost...

Tomorrow, I will have finished WEEK 2 of PA SCHOOL!!!!!!! This is crazy. Just crazy. Mind-boggling. Almost as mind boggling as physiology. Almost.

This week as been pretty easy, schedule wise. Next week will NOT be as easy, although we have some late morning/early days. We are finishing week 2 tomorrow and we start having tests on week 4. Eep. I took some still shots of the schedule to show what it's like. These are "set in jello" as they like to call is, as it can and most likely will change.

 Here is week 3 (next week)

And here is week 4 - the week that we begin have MULTIPLE tests per week. Yes, that awful red color indicates test... Talk about scary looking!

 

Fun, yeah?? LoL.  Today was pretty good. I got to go in at about 9:10am and we started off with the Intro to PA "roundtable." It was pretty interesting. Some of our professors came in and told us about their journey throughout PA school and their life story. They definitely have some good stories and I can't wait to hear more.  Then we had a 2 hour physiology class. Ugh. This is gonna be my most difficult class, no doubt.  I tried (for like 2 days) a different method of studying, but I need to go back to my old way, cuz I just feel like I'm not learning it enough.  We then had lunch and had to stay for our public service announcement group project skit. We basically just had to do a PSA about what a PA is. They were pretty funny. Then we got out at 1:40pm. I came home,  relaxed a bit and then went to Target. 

Tomorrow I get to go in at 10am and leave at noon, with our only class as Anatomy. AWESOME. Tomorrow afternoon/evening there is a NSU BBQ. Both my class and the class before me are going to be there. Here's hoping the rain holds out. 

On a last note, I now have ALLLLLLL my supplies and finally got my scrubs!! Thanks mostly to my wonderful daddy. Here are some pictures of my scrubs and my supplies :) (I am like a little kid, I can't wait to learn how to actually use it all!!!) Alright.. I'm off to study... again.

Yes, I took a picture of myself. This is our color, we have to wear Caribbean blue :) 

My pretty bag and my stethoscope!!

 

 

 

ALL my supplies!!

Whew.

Well, I made it through my first two days of PA school, as well as GRADUATION!!!! Yay :)

So, the first day was a mixture of easy and overwhelming. Crazy, right. I got there at 7:30am (when the building opened, to make sure I got my good seat!), for an 8:10 class. It was good to get there early. I got my lunch in the fridge before everyone else, and I got my stuff in my locker, set up my computer at my seat and made sure everything was working good.  We had Physical Diagnosis 1 (PD1) for 2 hours, and it was pretty easy.
Then came anatomy.... My prof. doesn't believe in powerpoint, so he has like his own website that we have to download this stuff from. It is possible to make it into a powerpoint (which I did) but it took about 2 hours for him to introduce it to the class and then make sure it worked. It was so overwhelming and exhausting. 
As if it wasn't overwhelming enough, he then started physiology. I was SO lost. I was trying to type all the important stuff he was saying into the PPT, but by the time I did that, I had either forgot what I was writing or he had moved on to the next important thing he was saying. It was awful.
Since we got out at like 3:30ish, I took a short break and went to run some errands. I came back and studied from about 6-8pm and then went to run on the treadmill. (Everyone tells me I need to exercise to stay sane... and I am!) About 9, I started studying again. I was SOOOO exhausted. I don't remember the last time I was that tired. I couldn't keep my eyes open. So, I read the chapter again and then went to bed.

That was Monday.

Today, we didn't have to be in until 10 and stayed until 4:30ish.  We started off with physiology, which I was better prepared for today after reading the chapter.  We went to lunch and I had some good conversation with ppl I hadnt had the chance to talk to yet.  We then met for our cultural diversity class. Then our Intro to PA class...
The good news: We don't have any tests for either class!!!!
The bad news: We have group projects for both classes....
I thought it would be easy to have a group project. I was wrong.  There are just so many opinions and preferences on how to do things that it gets absolutely crazy. I am a planner and I like to have a plan from start to finish, and that will just NOT happen with this class. I will have to be okay with just getting from A to B, then B to C and so on.  I just wish it could be simple. I am the captain for both groups, but that really isn't saying much. I just hope we can get this done nice and easy.

I wish I had the nerve to say this!!!!

 

Anyways. Tomorrow we go in at 8 and are finished at noon, but then have to stay for our group to meet. 

Going to study... and feeling 

Have a good day :)

I survived!!

I survived my first week as a PA-S1.

Today was by FAR the easiest. We got to school at 9:10ish and set up our computers for about 40 minutes. Then we went into the lecture room and we going over WebCT when suddenly the power goes off. After about 20 minutes of small talk, the announcer comes on saying it'll be about an hour minimum until the power comes back on. So, they let us leave... at 10:30. We then get told while we were all at lunch that we don't have to come back for the rest of the day! It was great.

We really just got all the information about PA school and such and will finally begin on Monday. Hard Core! I can't wait to begin, get into the swing of things.

I've met some reallly great people. I haven't met everyone yet, but I'm working on it. Most people have moved towards the people they are most like and formed little groups. The whole class is very friendly, some just get along better. I love the people I interact with the most. They are some truly awesome people, and I'm very thankful. It's nice to have something to do on a Friday night in Ft. Myers.

I graduate this weekend!!!!!!!!!!! My family will be coming down and I'm super excited. I also have a school picnic to go to tomorrow before they come. That'll be fun too. Can't wait.

COLLEGE DEGREE, HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!

Day 2!

So today was pretty relaxed. Apparently they want to ease us into it. We don't even have to be until 9:30 tomorrow! Very nice.

But, back to today. We had to take "standardized testing" as they called it. But it was really just a personality test. Want to freak me out?? Just tell me I have a test the second day of school. But really, it was nothing. We also got to try out some white coats to order and we bought our physical lab clothes. We also did a team building exercise - my team won! But absolutely NO thanks to me. I can honestly say that I would not survive in the mountains in Colorado during the winter. But that's okay :) We got out early, at 3:45ish. I then registered my car, got my decal, and checked out my financial aid stuff (it's all good!)

We got some FREE STUFF!!!!!

 

And some DEFINITELY NOT free stuff!! (Who knew gym clothes could be so expensive?!)

That's all for today. Easy so far - but not for long!!