50% Doctor?

I am officially 50% done with my doctorate! It's crazy to think that I started school just 15 months ago and we're already half way done. This term term absolutely flown by and it's crazy to think that we only have two more terms of academics to go followed by three more terms of clinicals which I hope to do back home in Maryland.

God has blessed me SO much these past 15 months and it's safe to say it has been the most challenging and rewarding time in my life. PT school has pushed me so far past my comfort zone and pushed me to do things I didn't think I was capable of. I am blessed and thankful to have all my friends and family back home supporting me and of course my friends and classmates here as well.
Academically this past term has actually been my best one yet, I never really talk about my grades (because there's never really much to say) but I'm happy that i got 4 As and a B+. I doubt I'll repeat that this coming up term but it was just satisfying to know that I did well here. The first year was a huge struggle for me just getting acclimated to how difficult school was. I still have plenty of room for growth and I hope to continue to do so.

I'm excited to be going home on Friday and seeing everyone back home. There are plenty of things I want to do when I'm home, most if not all involve family, friends and food.

Please Don't Judge Me

A little while ago I wrote a post on random things I do which got me thinking about other random things I do. I've come up with a few more things which are more likely than not considered obscure but let's be honest, you probably have weird tendencies too.

Previous list:
1. I find it relaxing to go to the grocery store by myself listen to music and taking my time walking through the isles.
2. I still have CDs in my car from when I was in 10th grade which I've recently been listening to again.
3. I like saving cards people give me, I may not have them all but I think I still have a good amount.
4. I sleep with socks on in the winter, I thought this was normal til a few people told me it was weird
5. Adding on to the last one, I sometimes will remove some clothes when I sleep especially ONE sock (typically the left one) and on occasion I've removed my shirt in my sleep.

New:
1. I have a published article on yahoo, I wrote it last year about my favorite NBA team, the L.A. Clippers. It's probably not that difficult to get it published but I thought it was cool, I got paid $3.00 for it!

Here's the link for those who have interest in reading, http://voices.yahoo.com/the-los-angeles-clippers-return-relevance-fans-11204336.html?cat=14

2. Up until maybe high school I thought wearing long sleeves with shorts was only for girls, I'm not particularly sure what led me to this conclusion, but for the longest time I would only wear pants and short sleeves.

3. In addition to enjoying grocery shopping, every time I grab a cart, I always hope for a perfect cart, it's rather annoying having to constantly fight a cart that deviates to the left or right, or one that squeaks the whole time.

4. My mom used to make me drink milk when I was young. In order to trick her into thinking I drank it, I would pour a little bit of milk into the glass, tilt the glass so the milk gets close to the top and then turn the glass. This would create a temporary ring at the top of the glass which I quickly showed my mom that I had "finished" all the milk, sorry mom.

5. When I was young,  I was an extreme roller and kicker in bed. For example, I used to sleep with those.. blocker things? that you slide under the mattress preventing you from rolling off the bed. I was sleeping at my grandparents place where my bed was just a mattress on the floor and during the night, I managed to kick the blocker off and roll safely under the bed that was in the room. My grandma thought I was kidnapped and nearly called the police until they heard some noise coming from under the bed and there I was.

6. This one may be the weirdest... I used to have a bird which passed away. I attempted to replace my bird by setting up a trap in the backyard. I took the birdcage and placed it in the middle of the backyard, I propped the door open with a stick and attached a string to it which lead inside the house. I also placed a wooden board leading to the cage door. I placed bird food all around the cage, on the wooden board and inside the cage. My thought process was, first, the bird would see the food and start eating it. Then, the bird would climb onto the board and see all the food inside the cage. Once the bird got inside the cage I would pull the string causing the door to shut and VIOLA, I have a new pet bird. Sadly, my plan did not workout well, only a couple birds actually went onto the board while the others were smart enough to just eat the food outside the cage. One time a bird did get right up to the cage doorway and I got way too excited and pulled the string too soon... this was devastating and I gave up soon after. Here is a rough sketch so you can visualize my amazing plan.

Please don't judge me... 

Today I Became A Man

What a morning... I woke up at 8 AM, did my devotion and decided that I would mow the lawn which I anticipated would take me about 30-45 minutes. After finishing the front lawn, I proceeded to do the backyard. I got finished maybe 40% of the backyard and the lawn mower dies so I figured it was out of gas. I proceeded to walk to our shed to get some gas to fill up the tank. So after filling it up some, I stopped and plugged the tank back up and attempted to start the mower back up. To my surprise, after three tries, the lawn mower didn't start back up. I looked down and I realized I had put the gas into the oil tank... you would think I would've checked twice before filling but in my defense, the oil symbol is way too similar to a gas symbol in my opinion.

I panicked and immediately thought I broke the mower. I texted my roommate Caleb because he's a handy person and enjoys figuring out to fix things/figuring things out (see our conversation below). He was in Boston with his girlfriend Lauren whale watching this weekend so I was on my own on this one. I pulled out my phone to use the ever trusty Google to look to see if others have made the same mistake as I have. It seems like this is actually a fairly common mistake, of course the first posting I read was from a high school kid who was scared his dad was going to ground him but that's besides the point. So I figured out what I needed to do, empty out the oil tank and refill it with new oil, simple enough right? My initial thought for some reason was Home Depot so I got in my car and off I went. Let me tell you something, Home Depot is a very intimidating place, there are far too many things to look at so I came up with a plan B and went to Wal Mart. Good old Wal Mart would surely not disappoint, low prices and had everything I needed.

Just in case you wanted to know I also stopped by 5 and below to buy candy to reward myself for this adventure.

I got home and emptied out all the oil/gas combo into the pan. I then poured in new oil (yes into the correct tank) and used the stick to measure how much I needed to pour. I put down the oil and went into the house to grab a paper towel. When I came back the oil spilled... are you kidding me? So out of frustration I was like whatever this must be enough. I then filled the gasoline in the CORRECT tank and was excited to see if the lawn mower would turn on. I tried three times and nothing... defeated I dragged the lawn mower back to the shed. Determined that I did everything right, I tried it one more time before placing it back in the shed and IT WORKED!

So I pushed the renewed lawn mower to the backyard and finished the job I set out to do nearly two and a half hours earlier. I had a few thoughts running through my head the whole time, 1) how stupid do you have to be to put gas into an oil tank, 2) I wonder how much this will cost me if I do end up breaking the lawn mower and 3) I hope this all works out and that I make Caleb proud!

I hope this was as exciting for you to read as it was for me to have experienced. I'm hungry and I need a nap now.

Here is the conversation between Caleb and I.

ATTA BOY!

What an awesome 50th post on my blog.

Life of A Second Year PT Student

              We just finished our first week of PT school and it is so different than my experience last year. I cried my last day in Maryland last year, there was so much uncertainty ahead and I was fearful of what was to come. Comparatively, this year I was ok leaving home because I knew exactly what to expect and what needed to be done. God has already blessed me with so much as I miraculously made it through the first year, my first clinical rotation and I felt somewhat prepared to go back to school. I knew I had 9 more months of in class studies followed by 9 months of clinicals and I was ready to be one step closer to that goal of becoming a PT.

            Moving back to NH was a fairly smooth process, it took my roommates and I a while to lock down a place but I'm happy it did take so long because our house is amazing (i'll post pictures next time). Luckily Nick helped me move in which helped a lot and he got a short vacation before he started school which was him basically eating everything in sight. My school actually moved to a new facility in a new city (weird I know) but they did it to provide a better learning environment. The program last year was in Concord, NH and was on the top floor of an office building and honestly there was not much to look at. This year we moved to Manchester, NH and we are on the 3rd floor of the old mill buildings and the new school space is awesome. It feels like a REAL school and overall just a better atmosphere except theres no water fountain... The lab spaces are way bigger and we can fit our entire class of 38 into the lab rooms. The incoming class has 50 students because the school can now accommodate that many students.

           It was interesting talking to the first years at the welcoming party because I was just in their shoes a short year ago. Many of them felt the same way I did last year and had many questions about what to expect about the program. It really is amazing to me that I am here today as a second year because that first year of school went by in the blink of an eye and I couldn't even begin to express how difficult it was for me. There were certain times I wanted to give up and go home but my classmates kept pushing me along and I'm extremely thankful for that.

         I've been looking for a new church in Manchester and have tried a couple so far and both have been good. I'm excited and eager to find a new home church here and hope that I can be more involved than I have in the past. I'm hopeful that whichever church I end up selecting I'll be able to connect with the not only the services but also the people.

         The first week of second year is so different than the first year as we really havn't gone to in depth into any new material yet. One of our teachers also isn't in right now because he had surgery a few weeks ago so the work load will pick up soon enough. I'm excited to get this term started because that means I am inching towards that finish line. I will be 50% done with PT school after this term!

A REAL PT?

It's been 8.5 weeks since I started my first clinical experience and it has not been nothing short of a blessing. Although the long 12 hour days and waking up at 6 AM everyday was not ideal but overall I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences. It was nice not to be stuck in the classroom but being able to work and interact with real patients. I've been privileged in meeting and working with a variety of people from all different backgrounds and ages.

I have no doubt that my clinical experience was different from most of my classmates. I got to experience working at two different clinics, one being one that had only been open for about a month and the other a very well established one in DC. It was interesting to see 2 extremes as far as patient load, the DC clinic had a full patient load with continuous patients throughout the day. When I first started, the Chevy Chase clinic had only been about a month or so old and for the first couple weeks I would probably only see about 8-10 in a 10-12 hour day. When I left a few days ago, we were seeing about 22 patients in a full day. It was a privilege to be a part of two different clinics and being able to see a new clinic grow in such a short period of time.

I enjoyed my time working in the clinic, for the first time since I started school it allowed me to feel like a "real" physical therapist. Chris, my clinical instructor (CI), was the only therapist at Chevy Chase and at the DC clinic there were 5-6 other therapists who were all very helpful and my transition into the busy clinic went smoothly. Being at a newer clinic 3 days a week, particularly early on, allowed Chris and I to have 1 on 1 time which was really helpful in reviewing and learning new things. I honestly could not have asked for a better CI and now have a far better understanding of how a physical therapist should treat. Every patient was treated as an individual with specific exercises and plans catered to their specific goals rather than "generic" exercises. Furthermore, he made sure to spend a minimum of 15-20 minutes working manually on patients. I never felt scared to ask questions and never felt stupid when I didn't know the answer to things. Furthermore, customers seemed to enjoy working with us and a few even driving a longer distance just to come to this clinic.

The experience was nothing short of challenging and I learned something new everyday. I could to interact with several therapists and patients who all made me feel comfortable and welcomed. I was blessed to meet and work with everyone and would not have traded my experience for anything. I enjoyed my time there and could definitely see myself working there in the future. Furthermore, this experience reassured me that I made the right decision in pursuing PT which I had questioned at times this past year. Patients showed a genuine appreciation working with me and typically called me the "nice one" since I didn't press as hard when performing manual techniques. I had a patient write an e-mail to a teacher at school expressing his appreciation with working with me. Words could not have expressed how thankful I was for his appreciation and how thankful I was for him along with all my patients for their willingness to work with a student. While I am not overly excited about moving back to NH in a couple weeks, I am excited about being one step closer to my goal and becoming a physical therapist.

Life of A Completed First Year PT Student

So my first year of PT has come and gone in what seems like a blink of an eye and an eternity at the same time. I can without a doubt say that this has been the most stressful 9 months of my life with these last three being the absolute worst.  Many times throughout the term I wanted to give up and go home. I've never been so stressed and tired on a consistent basis and I just began to question if I was smart enough to be a PT.  It's hard to put into words exactly how I felt these three months but I'm blessed and thankful to have gotten through what should be our most difficult term.

There's no pamphlet on long distance relationships and the only thing you can really do is to learn from your experiences. I've asked friends who have been in long distance relationships and there's only so much someone can tell you. Actually, being in a long distance relationship is where you really learn how difficult it can be. Ashley and I had our share of disputes but these past few months have taught us about the importance of communication. When you're constantly seeing each other it's easier to relay feelings but when distance enters the equation you have to rely on phone, Skype and gchat communication. We've also learned about the importance of effort and sacrifice. It's easy for us to get caught up with our own lives and not think too much about the other person and what they're doing.

While these past three months have been extremely emotionally and physically stressful I've learned and grown from the experience. I'm thankful to have gone through everything because I believe I am a better person because of it. I've learned a lot about the steps I need to take to improve in being a student and I hope to continue to grow and improve. I'm thankful for my classmates, friends, family and God for helping me through this time.

For now, I'm extremely happy to be home and start my clinicals next week. I'm excited, nervous and anxious to be getting real hands-on experience. I'm also happy to be able to spend more time with my family and friends back home. I'm also happy to be able to eat some real Chinese food (yes I missed it A LOT when I was in NH.) For now I'm going to enjoy my time in Chicago with Ashley (I'm actually writing this while she's driving, we're on our way there now) and look forward to clinicals next week!

A Random Update

I've been wanting to write on here for a while but just couldn't figure out anything to write about specifically. My past few posts have all been about school and this one (for the first half or so) won't be any different. This term has flown by, there's only 5 weeks left and finals are slowly creeping up. I've been doing better this term but still need to continue to push myself to focus more and strive to be better. The pressure is building and it's hard to not always be thinking about it when I'm surrounded by school but I'm doing my best to lift it ALL up to God. It's easy to get caught up in all that I'm doing but I try to remind myself I can't do this by myself. I'll likely be more MIA these next 5 weeks just trying to lock down and finish the term strong. I've learned a lot about what it takes to be good student and hope to continue to improve my study habits.

I read a friend's blog a while back and she listed off some random things she enjoys doing, habits and whatever else she could think of and it got me thinking about random things that I do which seem more or less normal to me. Here is a list of what I could come up with off the top of my head:
1. I find it relaxing to go to the grocery store by myself listen to music and taking my time walking through the isles.
2. I still have CDs in my car from when I was in 10th grade which I've recently been listening to again.
3. I like saving cards people give me, I may not have them all but I think I still have a good amount.
4. I sleep with socks on in the winter, I thought this was normal til a few people told me it was weird
5. Adding on to the last one, I sometimes will remove some clothes when I sleep especially ONE sock (typically the left one) and on occasion I've removed my shirt in my sleep.


There's probably more but I couldn't think of any so that's all for now. Boring post... oh well

Life of a PT Student Part 3

It's a weird feeling that I'm 3 weeks away from being 20% done with PT school. Time seems to fly by here (except on Tuesdays and Fridays when I'm in class for 8 hours) but I'm doing better this term than I did last term. However, I still have a lot of improving to do. I've come to the realization that my class is extremely smart with most of our exam averages being in the upper 80s and I'm typically not that that high. I consistently place pressure on myself and am stressed on a regular basis even though I try not to be. The majority (if not all) of my classmates consistently do well and my grades are just not on par with them making it hard for me not to be stressed. I'm fortunate that my classmates are extremely supportive and encourage me regularly. I have no trouble admitting that I'm not as smart as a lot of my classmates but I know that just means I need to work that much harder. I also know I have a lot of improving to do with regards to my study habits, my confidence and feeling the need to compare myself to others. Regardless of what I think, God's placed me here for a reason and who am I to question His plan? It's in my nature to worry/stress and I know that will probably never go away until I finish school/boards but all I can do now is continue pushing through.

Here's to striving to be better and stronger in 2013.

P.S. I know this post may sound like the others I've posted about PT school but my life is PT school right now.