Today begins the dreaded week of "professional issues" class. As much as I do mean "dreaded," I'll be honest and say that I might just try to enjoy class a little bit more. As much as I can't wait to get out and work as a real PT, this past clinical has made me realize just how much I should try to enjoy my last few months as a student.

First of all, you don't not have to dress up for class (a majority of the time). We do have to be dressed up for a "professional issues forum" tomorrow night, but most of the time, sweatpants and a t-shirt are just fine. I officially put all of my khakis in the very back of my closet to not look at again until the end of October.

When you are in class, you do not have to worry about dropping a patient, pulling their IV line out, or forgetting to give them their call light and getting yelled at. There are no responsibilities beyond participating in discussions/labs, studying, and doing your busy-work homework.

Class never starts before 8am. Today it starts at 1pm, and the rest of the week it starts at 10am. Hello sleep. I missed you.

In class, you (are supposed to) get 10 minute breaks every hour. This does not happen in the clinic. Therefore, you are able to use the bathroom before feeling like your bladder is going to explode.

In class, you are also free to eat a granola bar and take a drink of water WHENEVER you want. This is not so in the working world.

Class generally gets out on time. Even if it is supposed to end 10 minutes before the hour, we are usually done by the hour. In the clinic, you are always staying late to get work done. I'd rather be paying to stay late in class than paying to stay late to work.

Now, there are a few downsides to class...don't get me wrong:

1. You get no exercise what-so-ever because you are sitting on your @ss all day

2. You aren't learning near as much as you would be in the clinic actually doing the real thing

3. You run the risk of a $30 parking ticket because summer parking passes were never mailed out

4. You are paying to be there, just like you are paying to work in the clinic

5. The room temperature is never right...it's either too hot or freezing, therefore you never know if you should wear sweats and a hoodie or sport shorts and a t-shirt

6. Turnpike tolls get pretty expensive after a while

7. Busy work gets old after a while (however, there is busy-work assigned for clinicals too, so there's pretty much no difference)

So, what can I say? Life's not perfect. But I really can't complain about just 4 days of class. It may be a long 4 days, but I'm sure I'll survive.