Looking Back: 2009

I know it's been awhile since I wrote, but school has been really demanding, in a good way.

Here we are another year... Life goes by so fast, I swear.

January: In January I applied to grad school for Exercise Science because I was honestly too scared to do anything else. I also went to a preschool interview and the lady wanted me to start the next day, but it didn't pay well. I was also pretty pumped that Barack Obama became president! Woot!

February: I got all my friends addicted to Spinning, which was totally awesome. Found out I was accepted to grad school for Exercise Science and started reading books about health so I would have a semi-clue what was going on. I pulled my ribcage muscles- which sucked, a lot. And I got my cartilage pierced while Michelle held my hand. Haha.

March: I got my job at the YMCA as an instructor and started to feel like things were finally falling in place with where I wanted to go in life. I celebrated my 24th birthday with all my friends and then got the stomach flu on my actual birthday. But my parents bought me a brand new bicycle. Yayyyy! And within like 4 days I read the entire Twilight series. Haha.

April: In April I found out I didn't get an assistantship to go to grad school, so I had to turn down the offer to go. It was really disappointing, but I started looking into other options. I felt really discouraged because everything was going so well and then something wrenched in my plans again, but now that I look back I think God was trying to show me I had more to offer to the world. I quickly decided I would get an associate degree as a Physical Therapist assistant. And then the PT that I shadowed really got me thinking as to I should go for full PT. And I really took a long time to think about it and decided that PTA would be selling myself short and I was going to pursue my original idea of being a physical therapist no matter how scary!

May: The very last episode (in my opinion because the new "spin-off" sucks) of Scrubs aired... I bawled my eyes out. Seriously, the best show ever. Shell and I went to NYC at the end of the month and had the time of our lives. Seriously, it was so much fun to be with your best friend in a huge city. Now, I need to go with Steph! :) I also got attached to a kitty at Erica's Aunt Diane's house.

June: I couldn't get into any classes at the local college for summer school, so I signed up for two online classes through two community colleges nearby. Developmental Psych and Prob and Stats. Erica's bridal shower also happened, which was very nice. A beautiful day. Still obsessed with the kitties at Aunt Diane's house, begging Jon and his mom to let me have one.

July: On July 4th I got to take Andi home with me and then to Jon's house. Yay for my kitty! Meeeooow! :) And I also got to go to Myrtle Beach with all the girls. It was sooooooo much fun to go on a vacation just us. It was great :) And I finished both of my online summer classes before I went! Thumbs up! :)

August: Erica and Evan got married on the 8th (which is also Steph's birthday!) and it was a really nice, cute wedding. Very much like them. Can't believe one of my besties is a Farmery now! Yay! Steph had her bridal shower and it was flipping awesome. I am not even lying. I am the best planner EVER! Haha. And at the end of the month I started back at school. Going for physical therapy was becoming a reality instead of just a dream. I was taking Biology 111, Chemistry 111 and Anatomy. And I got my old student worker job back! :)

September: We found out my dad was losing his job after 30+ years of having it. The building where he worked was being sold to be turned into college apartments. Panic mode started as my Dad searched for a job, but nothing was available. He went to a few interviews, but nothing worthwhile came from them. I started my battle of continuously feeling extremely guilty for having my parents take out a loan for me to go back to school. But, Adelle had her bridal shower, so that was nice.

October: Steph and Josh got married on the 10th and it was the best wedding ever. We had a blast, seriously. NASA blew up the moon and everyone thought it was going to be this huge awesome thing, and it wasn't. I was disappointed. And I had school work coming out of my NOSE.

November: Adelle and Tim got married on the 14th (Michelle's birthday) and it was nice. Jon and I got in a couple huge fights and I thought we might break up. But, I realized that I was wrong and we worked things out. Jon and I went to NYC for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun. We had such a nice time and it couldn't have come at a better time since we were having issues. We got to eat dinner with Emma on Thanksgiving and that was lots of fun. :)


December: I finished my first semester. A in anatomy, A in Chem 111 and a B (almost an A) in Bio 111. I was really proud of myself and felt super smart for the first time in my life. My dad transferred his work to a new garage and the transition is ok. He's making the same amount of money, but we have no benefits. My dad is without them completely, my mom is paying mine and we're trying to figure out how to afford hers. It's really stressful and makes things not happy around the household. Christmas was very small this year, but it was nice.

Overall, this year was a big year of change. I took a lot of steps to get headed in the right direction and I'm proud of myself. Hopefully 2010 proves to be a good year! Cheers!

Mmm... brains.

I am doing school work until it comes out my stinking nose. Chemistry is a lot of fun, Anatomy is a lot of fun, and Biology is stupid. haha. Well my prof makes it stupid.

Sometimes I still can't believe that I had the balls to go back to school and change my "major".

Anytime I get discouraged with classes I really just think about how lucky I am to have this opportunity.

Plus- it's really nice to actually USE my brain. Struggling is kind of nice. I feel so much smarter than I ever have before. :)


So, yeah! I don't really have much to say. School, school, school. That's my life!

Classes.

I'm just sitting in human resources waiting for the last 15 minutes of work to end and this is about the only 2 seconds I have to myself, so I thought I'd let everyone know I'm still alive.

It's totally different being "older" and taking freshman level classes with freshman. The kids that are 18 seem so much younger and immature than I am. I guess it's because I have a plan and I'm only taking the courses that I need and I want to do well so that I can get into grad school.

Speaking of classes, my classes are going really well, but they are sooo time consuming. I'm about to go study for my first anatomy test after i get out of work... can't believe it's on TEN chapters. aiy.

The cadaver doesn't bother me at all, I thought it would, but it's actually totally awesome. I am always grossing everyone out when I tell them about looking at this or that and whatnot. It's so cool to actually really see something REAL instead of a plastic model or photo. Nothing touches the real thing. People think I'm nuts, but all my classmates agree. ;)

Anyway. I'm going to start on my anatomy flash cards and then I'll head over to the library wooooo.

Hope everyone's been doing well! :)

In the groove!

The first day of class went well. I just had biology and bio lab. And I got my student worker job back from undergrad. It was kind of like being in the twilight zone... Back at my old job (although they are in a new office!) with most of the same people. It makes this new experience a little less scary! :) All my stuff at work? Literally where I left it 2 years ago. The first thing I saw when I walked into the student room was "My Book of Instructions" - too funny.

Tomorrow I have chemistry, then I have to go to the Y to teach pilates, then back to campus to teach spinning, then a break and then anatomy... a hair cut and hopefully yoga! Tuesdays and Wednesdays will be my most difficult days just because those are the days I have to go to class, go to the Y and teach spinning. I need to pack a bag for tomorrow... back to showering at gyms! *thumbs up* showering in gyms is just so totally awesome, let me tell you! haha. But, there's just no way I'm teaching spinning for an hour and then going to sit in class. Gross. Anyway-- basically I'm trying to procrastinate packing a bag with shower items.

I'm actually kind of tuckered out. I should go to sleep soon. (I don't care if I'm like a grandma or not! :p)

New beginnings.

Monday I am officially starting my new beginning. I spent this past week cleaning my room and getting rid of a LOT of my teaching things I had acquired. Some got thrown away, some were given to friends that are teachers, and some were donated. I am jumping into this new dream fullheartedly with determination. I will succeed. I will follow my newfound passion. I will not let others make me feel stupid, silly or irrational for going after this. Classes at the local uni will lead me to be able to apply to my "dream school" to make this happen. So, I found a lot of quotes that really hit how I feel, so I thought I'd share them with you. In case you are starting a new beginning too. :)

“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...not going all the way, and not starting.”

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

“So many fail because they don't get started - they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin.”

“From small beginnings come great things.”

“Beginning is easy - continuing hard”

“Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.”

“The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.”

Don't let your past decide your future.

‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Once I started seeing through the eyes of my heart, instead of a socially conditioned lens, things started to transform dramatically.

No yesterdays are ever wasted for those who give themselves to today.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

It is no disgrace to start all over. It is usually an opportunity.

“Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos. Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish in the crowd.”

“All personal breakthroughs begin with a change in beliefs.”

“People have to really suffer before they can risk doing what they love.”

Refreshed!!

I finished both of my online classes with As. :) And I also got into BIOL 111 and CHEM 111 for the fall at the local uni. I'm #2 on the waiting list for anatomy, so we'll see if I get into that or not.

Now I need to get my loan in order, and then I will be set. Things are falling into place for PT, and I'm glad. I can do this.

The beach was great. I've never been to Myrtle Beach before, but I absolutely LOVED it there. Waaaay better than VA Beach. It was so much fun being with the girls, although I missed Jon. Haha. We have lots of great stories, laughs and pictures (I put them up on facebook!) I guess I can chill a bit and just take it easy til school starts on August 31. Woohoo.

Progress...

Here are my announcements because my brain is tired and doesn't want to think in full sentences. :p

1. Going to the beach in 14 days.

2. Finishing first online class in 13 days. (So I can breathe a little before the beach.)

3. Trying to cram for my psych class to get it done in 13 days as well.

4. I know what classes I need for the fall, I just need to fight to get the overrides.

5. Andi (my kitty) will officially go to Jon's house (her home) this weekend.

6. I love the show, Cake Boss on TLC.

7. Still teaching pilates 2x a week.

8. Miss Spinning way too much.

9. Wish I had a real biking buddy to ride outside with.

10. I think that is all I can think of right now.

Ghandi rules...

i have a new motto:

be the change you wish you see in the world.
I'm trying to let go of my stress. I've been having a rough couple of weeks but I think I'm on the other side of it now.

First two pre-reqs...

I got home from NYC on Sunday evening, but I have definitely been having the week from hell this week. Ugh. New York was amazing, as if I expected it would be anything less. It's so hard to leave there. The only thing I look forward to when I come back is seeing my parents and whoever I left behind. (Usually my friends, but this time it was Johnny Ty!)

I'm taking two online classes. Developmental Psych and Prob & Stats. I just did Stats for 4 hours straight tonight. I have everything done for the week, except I need to finish reading the chapter and take the second quiz. But I definitely already read the other chapter, took the quiz, did my discussion board assignments and my excel homework assignments. (Not all tonight... Tonight I did the second chapter and the homework assignments on Excel.) So, just a little bit more and then I'm done. The Psych class isn't demanding at all, which is nice, but I do need to pick up the book and read the next couple chapters.

K, I'm going to bed so I can get up at a reasonable time to do more school work. YES! Can't wait. Ewwww.

How to do it...

PT school figuring out is going. I'm not going to be able to fit all the credits I need into one year... Too many sciences, but I am tempted to try to do it anyway. I'm so impatient. Might be around home for 2 more years before I head to the city for 3 years of schooling.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to get a class or two this summer, although I already have a trip to NYC and a beach trip, so that's probably going to mess with what summer sessions I can attend...

Gotta get a good number of volunteer/shadowing hours in. It would be pretty sweet if I could get a job at a PT place so I could make money and get hours in at the same time.

Sometimes this adventure is so exciting I can't wait to begin it and other times I am so scared! But, I can't let fear stop me. This is my life and I've got to live it!

So... Hi

My week from h-e-l-l is over. Actually, that's a lie. I had a really good week, it was just really, really, really busy.

It's been awhile since I've written and I've been doing a lot of soul-searching. One of the reasons I wanted to go into exercise science was because all along I've been thinking about pursuing physical therapy. I thought I could use an exercise science degree to bridge myself into the health field. But, since that didn't happen, I have been thinking about other things.

I was looking at physical therapy school and it's expensive, really expensive. So, I thought maybe I would like to do a PTA program. I went up to a community college about an hour or so from my house and visited with the program head to talk about my desires to become a part of the PT world. After talking with him I felt a little more confident, maybe I can do this! So, I decided to call up a family friend, who is a physical therapist and do some shadowing with her. After spending 3 full (12 hour days) with her, I have pretty much come to a new conclusion. PTA is selling myself short.

I am a smart girl, and I've never really overly-challenged myself. I have had... oh, I don't know 3 people tell me to go for full PT and not to just do the Assistant.

2 of the 3 people told me that I'm a natural leader and should do PT, because I lead well. (I actually like to follow in some instances, but I suppose I can lead too. I like both sides.)

All of the people told me that I'm too smart for PT Assistant. Which, I guess is nice.


So...great! Right? Well, there is a big downfall... I am missing quite a number of core classes required for Physical Therapy school. I have to take about a year's worth of science courses before I could apply to PT school... This is going to be hard. PTA is less debt, less time but won't pay as well... I see pros and cons in both the positions, and I want to make the best choice for me.

The one really cool thing about physical therapy school is that it is now a doctorate degree. So, I would graduate with a clinicial doctorate and become a DPT.

Oh, and just in case anyone suggests it- there are only 3 programs in the entire USA that you can bridge from a PTA degree to a full PT... and I have been told by everyone that it is not a good idea to do.


So I have to decide one or the other. But, the more I think about it, the more I think I really want to push myself to do PT.

But, it's also going to cost me a shit-ton of money, which is deathly frightening to me. =/

Ok... Time to go lay down! I've been super lazy today and it has been fantastic!

New path... again

I think I've got it this time. Really, I do. Haha.

So- I am in the midst of getting into Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) school. Butler County Community College has a 2 year degree and they only accept 30 students. Last year there was a waiting list.


I've been emailing the program director back and forth all week long, he seems really nice. I'm going to go meet him in person on April 21st.

Before I apply I have to have 20 hours of volunteer/work experience under a licensed PT or PTA. Luckily, I know a lady pretty well that does this for a living; and has her own business.

So far I've gotten 3 hours in, and this coming week I should at least get 10+.

I'm getting it done as quickly as possible so that I can get that application turned in and get accepted.

The best part is for the first time since I've tried to change my career SOME OF MY CLASSES FROM IUP COUNT!!!! Woooohooooo! All my science, math and english courses count, plus my liberal studies (Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology...) So the only non-PTA classes I will take will be Anatomy & Physiology I and II.


So, keep your fingers crossed that I can get my hours super quick and get my application turned in, so I can hopefully get accepted!! (Also, Penn State DuBois has a program so I can try to get accepted there as well.)

The 3 hours I spent with the PTA and PT on Wednesday was awesome. It was EXACTLY how I thought it would be, which made me super, super excited! :)

So, yeah. New life plan #230498234098234. It's all good. I think this time I'm done. (I think... I hope. I can't take this too much longer.)

Back to stress & frustration.

After my last post, it seemed like I was on top of the world... I just got sent back to the bottom of the barrel, probably for gloating too much.

The long and short of it is I'm not going to grad school anymore. I got rejected for an assistantship; so I have no way of paying for my education.

The bigger issue is this- exercise science is not a booming field... therefore, it is extremely possible for me to get my master's degree and not be able to get a job. When I was thinking about having an assistantship this took away some stress. My tuition would be paid for, and if I didn't find a job right away at least I didn't have to worry about student loans.

Well, with no assistantship student loans and a lack of finding a job is a situation I'm not putting myself in. It's the reason why I decided to give up on education. I already have one degree where there is difficulty in getting a job, so I don't want to put myself on the same path again. So, I made the regretful decision that I'm not going to be able to pursue this.


It's back to the drawing board. I'm checking into some various associate's degrees. I think I'm giving up on finding a job that I love... A job doesn't define me as a person; it's just a means to get the money I need/want for life. Plenty of people hate their job, so maybe I will too.

But, really, it's been a huge disappointment. I'm really tired of wrenches getting thrown into my plans and it not working out. I have to fight so hard for everything and other people just get things handed to them. I know, life isn't fair, but geeze... could I catch a break just ONCE?!

Argh. Back to the drawing board. Back to stress & frustration.

It's ok to follow your passion

I've been going through a really large life struggle for quite some time... around 2.5 years to be exact. Only recently I have decided that it's time to face my "fears" and do what will make me happy.

More recently over the past few months I've been undergoing a huge life change with deciding to no longer pursue a career within education, my first degree.

It started out small, but I gained enough courage and now I'm getting somewhere. I wanted to write, because, I feel like everyone needs a reminder now and again that it's ok to change your mind and follow your dreams.

When one door closes, another one opens.

Everything with teaching for me was so hard. Nothing came easy. No long-term sub positions, no jobs, no interviews, etc. Ever since I decided that I wanted to follow my passion of fitness and go back to school for Exercise Science... things have been happening. Right now they are small, but to me... they are so significant. That maybe God does have His hand on my life afterall, and maybe there is a reason I've gone through everything I have to get to this point.

So here's a couple small, but important things that have happened thus far:

1. I got my Spinning certification.
- This may seem unimportant but the truth is, I had been wanting to get certified for over 2 years and NO certification workshops have come closer than a 4 hour drive, that is until March 2008. I was blessed with the opportunity to get certified and the workshop was only 15 minutes from my house! After all I've seen since then, I truly believe that this class happened for a reason. I was meant to be there.

2. I applied for, and got accepted to graduate school to pursue my Master's in Exercise Science.
- Again, you may be thinking, yeah woo, everyone goes to grad school... BUT, I have no official schooling in Exercise Science, so the fact that they believed I can do it, is a big deal. I'm excited.

3. I've been self-teaching myself exercise physiology and retaining about 60-70% of what I read.
- This may seem like a "bad grade" when you think percentage wise, but you know what? I am reading a text book, and taking notes. That is it. No lectures, no real world examples, nada. Just myself and a book. And for that, 60-70% is pretty damn good.

4. I got my own Spinning classes. (Yes plural!)
- The local university has a spinning studio (that's where I first fell in love) and they hire certified students to teach. Since I'm no longer a student I shouldn't be able to teach-- but I am. I am teaching 4 classes a week and I absolutely wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I am so lucky to be able to do something I love and get paid for it.

5. Lastly, my big news is the YMCA.
- Very soon I will be also teaching some classes at the YMCA. I am so excited. When you teach 2 classes a week you get a free membership, woohoo! I will have a lot of opportunities for work this summer with summer camps, boot camps, "The Y Way" (Weightloss program like Biggest Loser only it's safe and effective. I HATE the BL, but that's another rant on it's on.) and other things.

I am so excited. The best part is this. After 6 months of employment the YMCA will pay for me to get ANY certification I want. (They will pay for half of a personal trainer cert) That means I can go to any Y Certification program (or really anything!!) and they will pay for it. They will pay for me to be a yoga teacher, a pilates teacher, resistence bands, cardio, step, etc, Silver Sneakers, etc, etc, etc. This is amazing. This is... this is exactly what I needed.

I closed one door, and so many small and great things are happening so far.

I am really glad I decided to follow my heart.

Welcome!

Welcome to From the Classroom to the Clinic! This blog has been a thought in process for quite some time, and I am finally bringing it to reality.

When I decided that I wanted to change my entire life and become a physical therapist it was a really scary, although exciting, thing. I spent hours on the internet looking up all the information I could about physical therapy and the schooling that you go through. Although I found some great information sources (I personally recommend the forums over at www.studentdoctor.net - they are great!) I was surprised that there wasn't really that much out there.

So, with that in mind I decided that I wanted to document my entire experience of physical therapy schooling from the moment I decided I was going to change my life (before I knew PT was the answer) all the way through to my graduation day (I hope!)

I only hope to shed some light on the wonderful world of physical therapy through this and document my own struggles and victories as I go through this amazing learning experience.

Come, join me!