Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Do work

Today I received a job offer (insert huge smile). I am so ecstatic and happy. I have an interview with a different location on Thursday and after that interview, I will decide between the two! I'm not saying that the 2nd location will for sure make me an offer, but I should at least know enough about the job that I will be able to make my decision as to which location I want. The job offer I just received pretty much came as a huge surprise today. It was at the location where I am currently doing my clinical. I knew the rehab director said she wanted to talk to me sometime this week about the possibility of scheduling an interview, because I had mentioned to her that I would love to put my application in there. She asked me this morning if I could talk to her at the end of the day and I said sure. I went into her office wearing my scrubs with my hair tied back and we did a quick interview and she offered the position. I was in so much shock, I about fell off my chair, but I am definitely interested in this job!

Benefits to this job:
  • I will already be oriented and know how the system works. I won't have to do any orientation or anything before my first day.
  • The people are so nice and fun to work with. I know that if I took this job, they would be so helpful and easy to work with.
  • It's so close to home. I love the 20 minute commute!
  • It pays well.
  • I can wear scrubs every single day.
  • The hours are nice. Monday thru Friday from 8-4:30 with Saturdays 1-2x/month and a day off during the week to make up for the Saturday.
  • Health insurance is inexpensive.
  • They cover the cost of liability insurance.
  • I do not have to clock in.
  • The food in the cafeteria is good and inexpensive. I eat lunch on $2-3 per day!
  • Patients are seen on a 1:1 basis. One PT to one patient for 45 minutes at a time. The patients get so much better quality of care this way.
Cons of this job:
  • I don't doctor there, so it's a whole new group of people to get to know. Although I am already getting to know them.
  • I will have to pick up a few holidays. Christmas and Thanksgiving are automatic holidays off (and Easter since it's always on a Sunday), but the other holidays are work days and the PTs rotate around as to who gets which ones.
  • It is hot at the nurse's station where we do all our paperwork. I am always roasting until somebody opens a window.

So that's that. My upcoming interview on Thursday will pretty much make my decision for me. Both locations are equal distances away from where I live. I am just so surprised that things are actually working out for me right now. I never would have guessed that I would be where I am at today and these opportunities would just be falling into my lap. I guess it's just a sign that hard work really does pay off. I have had faith the entire time that whatever is meant to be will be and it looks like it really is turning out that way. My dream of making a living by helping other people really is starting to come true. It all feels so surreal, like today has just been a dream and I am going to wake up at any minute. Wow...

I really hate to toot my own horn, but beep beep! hooray!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Autopilot

I am pretty much running on auto-pilot at this point. My life consists of working 8 hours / day, coming home to check my phone messages and email, grab a quick bite to eat, feed the cat, study for the NPTE, and stress over my upcoming job interviews and worrying about what kinds of questions I am going to be asked and what kinds of questions will be appropriate for me to ask. I really don't know what I am going to do with myself when things calm down and all I have to worry about is just working 8 hours per day.

I think I am losing my mind when it comes to studying for the NPTE. I am pretty much trying to teach myself everything I need to know to become a physical therapist in approximately 6 weeks. I'm currently on chapter 3 of the book and I already have a stack of notecards that is about 6 inches tall. I'm freaking out that I am going to forget things that I have already reviewed. It wouldn't be such a big deal if I wasn't interviewing for a job that (if I were to get the job) would want me to start ASAP after graduation. That pretty much means that if I get this job offer, I have to pass the NPTE on the first try. I'm doing everything in my power to make sure that happens. I'm studying for at least 3 hours per day and taking the $300 review course on May 10-11. Thank goodness I bought the review book ahead of time. I would be losing my mind for sure if I didn't have any guidance on what to study. I'm already stressed out enough over the sheer volume of material that there is to learn.

Keep your fingers crossed that something works out with one of these upcoming interviews. It will be so much less stressful to have a job lined up. Even if it means I have to work harder to pass the NPTE on the first try ASAP after graduation, it would still be comforting to know that I have a job waiting for me and not have to worry about how I am going to pay my rent.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Count your blessings

I'm not trying to brag, because I feel that it is far too soon to do so...but I have two interviews next week, instead of just one. I have my interview in Wauseon and I also have an interview at Montpelier. I'm so excited. On top of that, I just received an email about doing a phone interview in the near future with Winter Haven hospital in Florida. Three interviews in the same week! I feel so blessed just to have the opportunity. There are so many people out there who are struggling to find a job. I just have to be on my A-game so that one of these places will offer me a job. The pressure is officially on.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The big day is near

The big job interview is one week from tomorrow, April Fool's Day of all days. The woman I've been speaking with about the job assured me that having the interview on April Fool's Day would not "jinx" me in any way. I'm still "knocking on wood." When I spoke with her yesterday, she made it sound like it wouldn't be a big deal if I couldn't do the interview for another few weeks, but when I called her today and said that it could be scheduled for pretty much any day (since I am picking up a Saturday at Montpelier), she said that she wanted me to come in next week. I'm not sure if that is a positive, negative, or indifferent sign, but I am going to Wauseon on April 1 at 3:30 to interview for this job. I am studying and working my butt off to do everything in my power to help me get this job.

I am pretty much going to have to be Superwoman for the next 6 weeks. If I don't get this job, I am going to be heartbroken and have to find some way to pick up the pieces and move on and apply for other jobs. If I do get the job, I am going to have to bust my butt to pass the NPTE on the FIRST try. Let's just say that I would very much prefer the second option.

Back to studying....

"As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." - Ephesians 4:1

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Time to put on the big girl panties

Well, not to sound completely selfish and self-centered, but everyone please keep their fingers crossed! I got a phone call today that they want me to come for an interview at one of my "dream jobs" in Wauseon. I wasn't able to set up a for sure date and time yet though, because I didn't get the phone call until after I left my clinical today, but I did call back and said that I would try to pick up a Saturday in the next few weeks so that I can get a date set for sure for the interview. The woman that I have been talking to about it sounded very optimistic, but she also mentioned that they would like to do the "interviews" in the late afternoons, meaning that they are obviously interviewing more than one person for this position, so I am trying not to get my sights set on it just yet, but you never know! If this would work out it would mean, NO MORE HOUR LONG COMMUTE one way. I would be close enough to home that I wouldn't have to worry so much about bad weather days and I am fairly sure that the hours are similar to the hours that I have now at Montpelier (which I love love love more than 10 hour days). I am supposed to call this woman back tomorrow evening on her cell phone to get a day and time set up that would work for both of us and then I will be doing my first big-girl PT interview! I know I will have a lot of practicing to do ahead of time, but let's all keep our fingers crossed that it goes amazingly well.

In other news, please keep praying for my cousin and her family. She came home from the hospital yesterday, but it sounds like she's pretty exhausted from the whole ordeal (as anyone would be). It's no fun for an 11 year old to have to go to the hospital, so please just keep her in your prayers.

As for me, I am going to be hitting the books pretty hard this week, both to study for the NPTE and to study for the interview. I'm so nervous about the whole thing because I really really really want to make a good impression!

Monday, March 22, 2010

VRE is no fun for ME

I'm currently taking a much-needed study break to update on the goings-on in my life. This weekend wasn't the greatest weekend ever. My little cousin was taken to the hospital and really needs some prayers. She is alright, but she has been through a lot in her lifetime and she's only 11 years old. This is just one more thing that she is going to have to get used to in life and it's never easy when you're just about to become a teenager and something happens to slow you down. Just keep her in your prayers.

Montpelier is still treating me well, although apparently I gave the impression that I was really intimidated last Friday. I thought it went well, so I don't know where anyone got that, but my CI felt really bad today. I told him that it was no big deal and I thought it went great. We had a bit of a stressful day today (the kind of day where I am thankful that I am the student and not the licensed PT), but I'm sure I will have those days here in a couple of months on my own, so I might as well get used to them.

I'm beginning to wonder what's really going on with the whole job hunting situation. I kind of have my sights set on this one job that I've been talking about, but one of the places I applied before that (in Adrian) is wanting me to come for an interview ASAP. I'm not sure if I should email them back and decline or email them back and try to arrange a time. The day they want me to come is a day that I have to be at Montpelier, and I'm sure they don't do Saturday interviews, so I'm not really sure how the whole thing is going to work out. This is so stressful. I wish I just had a job lined up already so I didn't have to worry about it. That on top of figuring out what all I need to arrange for graduation plus what I need to do to register for the NPTE is kicking my butt. I'm sure I'll get it all figured out eventually, but the process of getting there is driving me nuts.

Speaking of things that are driving me crazy, I better get back to studying. Yipee.

Friday, March 19, 2010

All by myself.

Today I was "on my own" so to speak at my clinical. My CI was off today, and since the clinic has been pretty short-staffed anyway, I was asked to take on my own full caseload. That may not seem like a very big accomplishment to anyone else, but to me, it is. This is my first week of the clinical and I am already taking on a full caseload of my own. I love it.

I was a tiny bit nervous about taking on patients of my own, but overall I think it went very well. There were no serious issues and I felt that I contributed a lot to the clinic by working with patients on my own today. I may not know everything that there is to know, but I think I am getting the hang of it. They do a much better job of documentation than any other clinic I have ever been to (which is a good thing), so I am still getting used to that part. I'm also still trying to get used to the weekly meetings and what those are all about, but overall I think it's pretty safe to say that if they came to me on Monday and said that they wanted to hire me, I would be more than willing to sign on. Unfortunately, I think that they are looking for a PTA, not a PT. Oh well. Maybe I can convince them to change their minds.

Nothing else is new with me. I've really been enjoying this nice weather, but it sounds like today was the last day of that. I love love love being home around 5pm every day to actually get outside and enjoy the sun for a while. I also love the fact that we have more daylight at the end of the day, because I have been doing a much better job of studying for the NPTE. I'm taking tonight off of studying, but tomorrow it's back to business. The whole "getting hired at a job" deal is motivating me to study my little heart out. I have so much work to do and so little time to do it. One night off per week is about the maximum I am going to allow myself from now until the test day.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The job hunt

Well, keep your fingers crossed...The job fair went well. I got to meet with the person I have been emailing about one of the potential "dream jobs" that I've been talking about. She was there with another person from the same company, but this other woman is not from the place that I want to work, she was from an affiliated facility in Sylvania. The woman that I emailed my resume and cover letter to was super nice. She seemed genuinely interested in meeting with me and explained to me that the job might become available soon, but it all depends on if the person who has the job now decides to relocate or not. They are thinking that she (the person who has the job) will probably relocate, but don't have any definite answers yet for sure. I had originally thought that the job was in the outpatient clinic, but it turns out it is at the skilled nursing unit and the hospital, so more acute care and inpatient rehab based. That's fine with me. As I've stated before, I might be leaning more toward that area anyway after dealing with certain athletes and their parents. The other woman at the job fair booth (from Sylvania) was a little snotty at first and not that friendly. She kept stating that if my specialty clinical experience was in ortho, that this position was definitely not in outpatient ortho and how it wouldn't be the right fit for my specialty and blah blah blah. She then told me that they were going to have a home health position available and that I could consider that, except there is some sort of stipulation that new grads can't work in home health. So then another woman (an OT) walks by and says "no there are no stipulations like that. New grads can work in home health." So the other woman kind of changed her tune. Although she did mention that they would be "sad to see the current PT leave" (the one that holds the position that I am interested in). Oh well.

I turned back to the woman I've been emailing and talked to her more and had a good conversation about the job and she made it sound really optimistic for me. I have the other woman a copy of my resume and also my letter of recommendation and a list of my references to "butter her up" a little bit. As I was leaving their booth, the woman I've been emailing said something along the lines of, "I'm so glad you came here first. Don't stop at any other booths or get too serious about any other jobs." So that was positive! And then later in the morning, she saw me standing around talking to people from my class and she came by and jokingly said, "none of the other recruiters are being too nice to you, are they?" So that was good too.

We'll see what happens in the future, but she said that she would be keeping in touch with me and would let me know what happens with the current position. The other lady also gave me her card and wrote down her email address and cell phone number for me. I should have a better idea of what's going on in the next few weeks or so, but everyone keep your fingers crossed and say a few prayers! I have been dreaming of this since the beginning of PT school. It would be so amazing if it actually worked out.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Last First Day of clinicals

My first day at Montpelier went well. I felt like it went by super fast, since it's just an 8 hour day. I about don't know what to do now that I am getting home before 5pm. I feel like everyone over at Montpelier is so nice. No one was rude or made me feel stupid in any way. Even though we truly were busy, I found it interesting that they kept stating how "busy" they were and we had 4 patients this morning and 4 this afternoon. Yes, it was busy and we didn't sit down at all and do nothing, but I will take 8-10 patients a day over 30. I felt like the patients got so much better quality of care because they were seen 1 on 1 and we got to actually spend time with each one.

Another good thing about this clinical, when people ask me where I'm from and I say "Fayette," they don't respond with "huh?" or "where's that?" They all know exactly where I'm talking about and 75-80% of them ask "oh yeah, do you know so-and-so" that they know from Fayette, and 99% of the time I know exactly who they are talking about.

My CI is super nice and very understanding of what it's like to be a student. He didn't throw me into any evals or crazy stuff on the first day. He also didn't make me learn the entire documentation system on my own on the first day, which was a huge plus. It doesn't hurt that it's somewhat the same paperwork as I used at Bryan on my first clinical, but I'm not going to go around bragging about that, because it's nice to have a little refresher.

My entire lunch cost $2 today. Meals are half-priced for students and they are already pretty cheap in the first place. I had a fish sandwich, scalloped potatoes, and a drink for $2. Guess who isn't going to bother packing a lunch at all for the next 8 weeks? I didn't get a salad today, but I am pretty sure that I could live on the salad bar alone as my lunch every single day and it is probably a whole $1.

Another plus: the paperwork they sent me in the mail a couple of weeks ago said that I could wear scrubs or khakis to the clinic. I chose khakis today because I assumed that my CI would wear khakis as well. Well, today he wore scrubs...so guess who's wearing scrubs as much as possible? Yay for comfort.

On the not so plus side, I have A LOT to review about neuro and inpatient rehab. My CI was talking about some diagnoses that I had heard of today, but couldn't remember exactly what they were, so I need to review all of those and also review the FIM, because they apparently use it for every single patient for every single activity. Lucky for me, I finished up reviewing the musculoskeletal chapter of the NPTE review book and I am now on to Neuro, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can study for both at the same time.

On another note, I did receive an email back from one of the "dream jobs" that I applied for. She didn't say that they were for sure hiring, but she thanked me for my information and said that she was going to be at the job fair on Wednesday (which we are excused from the clinic to go to) and was hoping to see me there and looks forward to meeting with me in person. Even though this is not a job interview by any means, I am still planning on making a very good impression, and please please please say some prayers that I get this job. It would be like a dream come true for me. I also found out that the other girl from my PT class who works for a company that's affiliated with this one has a job lined up elsewhere, so she will not be competing with me for a job here (if there is one). So, like I said, keep your fingers crossed and say some prayers...I'll update after the job fair on Wednesday with any news.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

So long spring break and laziness...

Well it's about that time to re-join the real world, and wouldn't you know that tonight is when we "spring forward" to change our clocks. As much as I do not want to miss an hour of sleep this weekend, I can't help but be excited about the fact that, not only will I be home around 5pm every day, but it will be light outside for another 2-3 hours after that.

I am going to need those hours of daylight to study for boards (which I suppose from now on, I should call the NPTE, since that's the actual name of the test). I have been pretty dedicated to studying this week, but I have only made it through the first chapter so far. Granted, the first chapter is the longest, but still...I wanted to be so much further along at this point in time. I know I have a couple of months yet, but it still makes me nervous.

What makes me even more nervous is that I applied for 2 of my dream jobs this week. I'm not even going to give details, because I don't want to "jinx" myself in any way. Let's just say that I have been praying pretty much non-stop that I will get one of them because I just so happened to come across a little advertisement online (through a staffing company) that this location might be hiring. I'm trying not to get overly excited about it by any means, because a) that advertisement could be wrong since it wasn't with the actual company itself and b) there is another girl in my class who would for sure get that position over me if she applies for it because she already works for a company that is affiliated with this one. So don't get too excited, but when I saw that little ad, my heart skipped a tiny beat. So I called over to the company and asked to speak with the lady that's in charge (because I have a slight "in" through someone else I know) and she wasn't there, but I explained that I was inquiring about the possibility of emailing my resume and cover letter to her and the receptionist lady put me on hold to "do some checking" and came back on the phone and told me to "go ahead and email it to her." This may mean nothing at all, but at least she didn't come back on the line and say, "why bother? we're not hiring." or "that position has been filled so forget about it." So let's all keep our fingers and toes crossed that maybe (just maybe) I will hear from them.

The other place I applied is not hiring at this time, or at least I'm pretty sure they're not. It was a shot in the dark, but I sent my resume and cover letter though the regular mail to the office manager over there and we'll see what happens, if anything. I'm not expecting to hear anything from them, but you can bet that if I do, I will be jumping up and down and screaming (literally) for joy, even just to get an interview would be amazing. But...like I said, I doubt anything will happen there.

I have applied for a couple of other jobs, but haven't heard back from them. Well, one place called back while I was in the shower yesterday, but they didn't leave a message, so who knows...I suppose you can't win 'em all. Or maybe I should stop expecting places to call me back within 24 hours.

So with all the applying for jobs and praying for interviews, I've gotten more motivated to study. I'm obviously not going to be able to work anywhere until I pass that NPTE, so I better stop being a slacker and put some serious effort in. I've talked a big game for a while now, but it's seriously time to study my little heart out and sacrifice some sleep to take care of business. But..let's not forget that I have another clinical to focus on as well. I am actually looking forward to this one. I am so excited to have a clinical close to home and with reasonable hours. I think I am really going to like it, but I don't want to speak too soon. I just have a really good feeling about it.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Kindness and Simplicity

Spring break is almost over :( It makes me sad. I feel like the week just flew right by. Go figure. One the plus side, my resume is done (officially this time) and I have a cover letter ready to go out to one of the place I am applying to. The first cover letter is the most difficult to write. I am sending it out today! Now I have to keep track of all the places I am applying and remember to make follow-up phone calls to them.

This week has also got me thinking about things other than school. I always talk about wanting to improve myself, but I mean it every time and I do try, even if I don't always accomplish it. My current efforts are going to be in an attempt to be nicer to everyone, and I do mean everyone, not just the people I am already nice to. I have decided to be more sociable and nice and polite to everyone, even those who have wronged me in the past or do not currently like me (I know it's hard to believe that there are people like that out there, but there are). As a professional, I really can't afford to have people out there who think I am rude or stuck-up. Therefore, I have decided to make the change and be more outgoing and friendly to everyone. I'll keep you updated on how it goes, because this is not going to be very easy.

Another change I am making is to embrace simplicity. It probably sounds pretty ridiculous, but I've downgraded a lot of the extravagant things that I thought I needed. I downgraded my cell phone plan that I had with Verizon (and being nice to the people at the store helped me convince them to give me the full price of my phone when I returned it). I now have a very basic, pay as you go, doesn't do much extra cell phone and plan. It's good enough for me and I'm saving $65 per month and still have unlimited text and calling. I've decided that all of the things I want, I have to work hard for and not just throw them on the credit card in order to have them. Of course there are things I dream about having: a house in the country with a front porch, finished basement, and 2 car garage, a brand new Ford Fusion hybrid, a couch that has reclining seats, etc. All these things are just wants and I'm not going to have them until I can afford them, and if I never can afford them, then so be it. Life isn't all about the things you have. Sometimes people respect you more when you have the self-control to live within your means. Remind me of this when I get my first paycheck as a licensed PT.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Someone hold my head in place

Ugh, so today I don't feel very good. I don't have the flu or anything, but I have a headache and feel dizzy. I don't think it's anything to be too concerned about, because I've had these motion sickness / dizzy feelings off and on for years, but it's no fun when it happens over spring break. Today would have been the perfect day to go out for a run. The weather is amazing, even if it is not sunny. I just walked to the grocery store for some orange juice and Excedrin and was amazed at how warm it feels outside. I even have a window open.

On the not-so-good side, this headache is making it pretty much impossible to study my review book for boards. I can only study little bits at a time before my head starts spinning, but I'm still plugging away at it. One of my former CIs emailed me his letter of recommendation for me today. I read it and printed off a copy. It was a really nice letter. So even though I feel like crap today, maybe the letter will give me an edge next week at the job fair.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Money saving tips

Ok I am ready for spring break to start being awesome. So far, it has been nothing but stressful. Thanks to Verizon Wireless, I am now out $330 to have decent cell phone service at home. Could I have suffered through another few months with no service? Sure. But do I want to have no cell phone service when I am putting my cell phone number on my resumes? No. So in order to be able to answer any potential calls from potential employers, I am currently spending $330. Boo that. I am also still in the process of perfecting the most amazing resume and cover letters ever written, because being the perfectionist that I am, I refuse to send out anything less than the best. So let's all keep our fingers crossed that this pays off in the end and I can convince anywhere within a 30 mile radius to create a job for a physical therapist, even if they weren't planning on hiring one. This is absolutely vital because I am a) poor and need the money to continue to LIVE and b) unwilling to relocate unless absolutely necessary.

With that being said, any money saving tips would be very much appreciated. Here are few of the ones I have come up with so far...
  • Drop Verizon wireless because they are outrageously expensive and Straight Talk provides 10x better service for half the price - DONE.
  • Stop buying groceries at Walmart. This would save the normal individual money, but it does not save me money at all, because I always end up spending over $100 in Walmart, even if I go in there to buy one $15 item. I will spend $100+ every single time I step foot in Walmart. Therefore, my new goal is to never ever ever step foot in Walmart again....or until I need to purchase an item that can not be purchased anywhere else in town. This will only be an issue until we get our Dollar General. Then, I am never leaving Fayette to shop for anything other than clothes.
  • Recycle, Recycle, Recycle. I am not a big fan of saving stuff for recycling, because it is a huge pain in the butt that we do not have curb-side recycling here in Fayette....However, if I would just recycle my plastic bottles and cardboard, I guarantee I would save a bunch of money on garbage tags. I already recycle my pop cans. It wouldn't take that much more effort to set aside other containers for plastic and cardboard. And since I have a garbage disposal, there is really no reason for me to even throw anything away at all. Who knew saving the environment could actually save money...
  • Stop going out on weekends. I've pretty much given up on going out to the bars on the weekends, because it is a) 99% of the time boring and b) a waste of money...well I have decided that going out is too expensive. I went out last Friday night to celebrate the end of my clinical and ended up spending $40. That is ridiculous. Maybe it's because I haven't gone out in a long time anyway, but $40 in one night is outrageous. I have decided that there has got to be much cheaper ways to go out and have a good time and I refuse to spend $40/night going out to bars in Fayette anymore.
  • Bust some butt. Hard work has to pay off at some point. My goal is to work as hard as I can to find a job close to home so that I can start making money as soon as possible without having to drive very far. I need to get these student loans paid off ASAP. That means, I need to study for boards pretty much non-stop, get that resume perfected, and do whatever I can to kick some butt on interviews and get a job lined up. I'm willing to give up spring break to do that. I'm willing to give up my nights and weekends for the next 8 weeks to make sure that happens as well. Wish me luck.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Spending money to make money

After two days of being entirely lazy, I have decided to get off my butt and accomplish some things today. I went shopping this morning for some new clinical clothes and an outfit for interviews (this is assuming that I will get asked on interviews - which I better). My shopping trip was pretty much a dud. I was having bad luck everywhere. I decided to stop at Target first, because they supposedly were going to have all kinds of swimsuits on sale for $14. Well, all their swimsuits sucked, and then I realized that I shouldn't even buy one until I find out if I am going to get a job where I'll need to do aquatic therapy, because in that case, I'll need a one-piece anyway.

From Target, I went to Old Navy, where every single shirt was v-necked and flimsy...not the kind of shirt I can wear for a clinical and clip a name badge to. At the mall, every store was the same way and the dress shoes at Payless sucked. I ended up having to pay $20 for a pair of dress shoes for clinical and to me, that is not paying LESS, so the store shouldn't even be called that.

From there, I stopped at the food court for lunch and ordered from Magic Wok. I sit down to eat and realize that my chicken is barely even cooked through. It was cooked, but BARELY, so it tasted nasty and I had to throw most of it away.

I went to the Verizon store to cancel my plan because they suck and the manager tells me that it's going to cost $330. Um NO. I shouldn't have to pay that much at all. The paperwork I signed said $175 and I shouldn't even have to pay that after what I've been through with their crappy company. He finally told me that if I take all my equipment back to the store in Wauseon where I got it, I might be able to get a better deal. So now tomorrow I have to do that.

I ended up finally finding some decent dress clothes at Express, so go figure. The only clothes that looked decent were at one of the most expensive stores in the mall. So I ended up spending $150 on two outfits for interviews. I hate that, because it is so nerve-racking to spend so much money on clothes for interviews when you need the JOB to PAY for the clothes for interviews. Ugh.

I get home and start looking at my resume and realize that, although one of my instructors at school reviewed it and said it was good, it actually looks like crap when I print it out. So I called my uncle and asked him if he would look over it. I had him take a look at it, and luckily he had some really good suggestions for making it look better, so now I am spending the remainder of my afternoon fixing the resume that I thought I had done. At least I got a second opinion on it before sending it out, because I am pretty sure that I would have gotten ZERO job interviews with the one I had. I think it will look much better once I get the changes made that he suggested. After that, I'm preparing my cover letters. Should be a really exciting evening!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

8 more weeks!

Well I survived and passed my most challenging clinical so far. I feel pretty great about that. My CI gave me really good reviews on the CPI and basically rated me at entry-level or above for everything, which pretty much means that he feels I am ready to enter the field and work as a PT on my own. That's a great feeling to know that he felt I was capable of handling that setting on my own. He also said that he would be a reference for my resume, which means I can officially start sending those out this week. I'm excited.

So this week is my last spring break ever. I'm not going anywhere fun, just staying home to tie up all the loose ends that got thrown to the back burner during this past clinical. I need to get organized for graduation and get my butt in gear. As fast as clinicals go by, I know that the next 8 weeks are going to be like a whirlwind.

In other news, despite the fact that I have tried so hard to improve my life in many ways, there is still one thing I need to work on - forgiveness. I have a really difficult time with that. I have forgiven many people in my lifetime, but there are still some people who I have a hard time forgiving. I've ignored a situation for a long time in the hopes that it would just go away, but it won't. I have to tell myself that it is not my place to punish people for what they have done to me. It's my place to forgive them and move on. It isn't easy, but letting go and moving forward is better than spending my life angry at someone who doesn't even deserve my time. So, in addition to my current projects, I am currently working on forgiveness.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

I don't recommend taking Precor

One more day...time really flies, even when you are counting down the days. This week has gone by pretty fast, but I won't complain by any means. I am going to thoroughly enjoy my day off today. I finished all of my assignments for this clinical last night and turned them in and today I just have to fill out the CPI (clinical performance instrument) for myself, which is never fun, but can be done in a half hour, and get the rest of my paperwork ready to mail in. It's getting hard to believe that just one clinical stands between me and graduation. I better not take it too easy during this next week that I have off. I really need to get my resume perfected, write up some cover letters, and start sending those out. I've also been pretty lazy for the past 2 weeks about studying for boards, and as much as I don't want to, I had really better start reviewing.

Tomorrow a bunch of us are going out for lunch to CiCi's for Sara's and my last day. It should be a good time. I know we are so busy tomorrow though with patients, I find it pretty hard to believe that we are going to have enough time to even take much of a lunch, but we'll see. I also have to go over the CPI with my CI tomorrow, so wish me luck that I actually pass it and do a decent job.

So basically the next time I post, I will be done with the most challenging clinical I have had so far. I will have survived 11 hour days and not seeing daylight for 8 weeks. In the spirit of that, I will leave you with 2 great experiences that I had yesterday. I think God was playing some kind of practical jokes on me since I am getting close to the end of my clinical.
  • I was evaluating a patient who had both back pain and knee pain. She said that she first started noticing her knee pain when she "started with the Precor." I thought this was so odd, and basically thought she was crazy, because what kind of medicine causes knee pain? So I let her get through her description of her pain and what makes it better and worse and she tells me that she has "stopped the Precor." So I say, "so since you stopped taking the Precor, you're knee pain has gotten better?" and she just looks at me like I'm an idiot. My CI was sitting in the doorway observing the eval and says "Precor is the namebrand of an Elliptical." haha oh wow, did I feel dumb....but at least we all got a good laugh out of it after the patient left. That's by far my biggest "blonde moment" of any of my clinicals.
  • I was calling a young patient and his dad back from the waiting room for the son's initial evaluation. When I bring people back for an initial eval, I always introduce myself to them and explain that I am a student physical therapist working with a physical therapist. So I say, "Hi, I'm Maren. I'm a student physical therapist...blah blah blah." The son doesn't even really care and just walks right by me, but the dad looks at me with a creeped out look on his face and says, "Maren? That's kind of scary! Like the priest in the Exorcist! Oh my gosh!" So, being as how no one has ever associated me with the exorcist before, I just looked at him, smiled, and said, "Yep!" I wanted to be like, "and I have a sister named Reagan" or some sarcastic comment back. So then the dad was acting like he was scared of me the entire time. It made me want to be like, "now at this point in the evaluation is where I usually perform the exorcism" or something. Some people are crazy....But now I am forever going to associate myself with a horror film. Awesome.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Home Stretch

2 more working days. I am starting to get a bit sad about leaving the people I've been working with, even though I will not be sad at all to leave these long hours and not getting home until 7:30pm. As much as I have enjoyed my Thursdays off, I will gladly go back to working 5 days a week just to be able to enjoy some daylight. And this week, I'll be spending the majority of my Thursday off finishing up my assignments and submitting them for the clinical, so that's no fun.

I'm also not too thrilled with the email I received this evening from our clinical coordinator. She wasn't demanding anything of us, but just states that she is "taken aback" by the fact that we have not all contacted our upcoming clinical sites and spoke with them about the clinical that we are starting in 2 weeks. First of all 1) we are all working full time and this week is especially crazy given the fact that we have all of these ridiculous assignments to turn in during the last week. 2) SOME of us are working 12 hour days and our clinics are closed by the time we get out of work and have a chance to call. 3) That clinical doesn't even start for another 2 weeks, not 2 days. 4) If you wanted us to contact our clinical sites so far in advance, you probably should have sent out an email saying so, because I don't remember ever being told that I was supposed to contact them a MONTH ahead of time. 5) Some of us received information from our clinical sites saying not to contact them until ONE WEEK before the clinical begins, so this is pretty contradictory in my opinion.....So I am a little "taken aback" by the fact that I was scolded via email tonight. But I guess that's just how some people are. I guess if it was my JOB to be the clinical coordinator and I was getting paid to coordinate these clinicals, I would have sent out an email to my students reminding them to contact their clinical sites, but whatever...

My week also isn't going the most spectacular because of the fact that I've got one of the worst back aches of my life and it absolutely HAS GOT to be taken care of by the time I start my next clinical. I stupidly decided to rearrange my living room furniture by myself on Sunday and, although it looks very nice, my back is now paying the price. Luckily, I've been taking my Bayer back and body faithfully and that's making my days tolerable. I think it's safe to say that my living room is going to be arranged this way for quite some time unless someone comes over to help me change it around next time.

On the plus side, the past couple of days at work have gone by super fast. Most of the time, I would not like to be so busy, but being busy has made the days just fly right by. Yesterday our last patient cancelled, so we got to leave early and today we were extra busy at the end of the day, so it went by very fast. I'm sure tomorrow we will be double booked all day long, which isn't always a great thing, but maybe the day will go as fast as today did and then I will finally get to my day off to work on assignments all day. Yipee. I just have to keep telling myself that only 2 days and one more clinical stands in the way of me and graduation.