Picking Up the Pieces

Getting rejected sucks.

Big time.

I had to go through that this past week with finding out that I did not get into my top choice of PT schools. Shoot, I didn't even make it to the interview. I knew that it would probably happen. I know my science GPA wasn't exactly stellar, and that is what affected my chances. Had I worked harder to took them at an easier school, without a doubt I am sure that I would have gotten to the interview portion.

But this is a learning opportunity.

I now know where I stand, and to be quite honest, it's not the worst place. I'm not freaking out as much as I did while waiting. I know somewhere there is a PT school for me. And if it isn't this year, then it will be next year as I boost my grades and GRE score, as well as get a job to help pay for the impending costs.

Speaking of costs, I have been trying to figure out ways to help pay for school, and I think I came up with one: teaching yoga. I have been practicing since June now and I really enjoy it. It's relaxing and therapeutic. I know PT school is going to be a big stressor so having something to calm me down in the evenings will be beneficial. Plus, I will get paid for it. What could be better? How about doing something that could in some way be linked to physical therapy and take PT in a different direction? I've seen it happen with Pilates, so why not yoga? Yes, it will be a big commitment to this training (I will have to do it every Saturday next semester). I need to look into it more before making my decision. It will be great to do, but I need to make sure that I have the time to give to this.

Even though this was from my top choice, I'm not that upset about it. It's weird. I guess I knew there was always a chance I wouldn't get in so I've prepared myself for it without even realizing. But it's nice to know that even though I was rejected, I didn't act like it was the end of the world. Nor did I really even had the chance to think that since I've been so busy with classes.

I know there is a plan set out for me, and I'm allowing it to take me where it needs to take me.

Application Complete

The last reference came in. Hallelujah!! Now my early decision application is complete. You can't imagine the weight that has been lifted from my shoulders from this. Now I can focus on my schoolwork for the semester and only have to wait until September to find out if I got in or not.

Speaking of school, I am in for it this semester. Just when I thought I was done taking sciences, I've come to the realization that three of my four classes are science based, including one regular science class plus lab. I was really hoping to be finished with that so I wouldn't have one year without a lab. But I can handle it. I've dealt with more difficult semesters before, and this one is looking like a piece of cake. Not the same piece from this past summer, but it will still be pretty delicious.

Awhile ago I've come across a Tumblr site called #whatshouldwecallptschool. It is without a doubt the most hilarious thing I have ever seen. Here is a link to one of the posts:

http://whatshouldwecallptschool.tumblr.com/post/26496185430/after-spending-weeks-in-the-library

There are plenty more where that came from so whenever you have the chance, browse around it and get a good laugh from it. It may seem a bit over dramatic, but at the same time, it may even be an understatement. If it's the latter, this will definitely be an interesting three years of my life.

As much as I want to continue chatting, I must depart and work on my schedule and figure everything out. Or I may just pass out for a few hours. Depends on how I feel. Since I won't have much PT information for the next month, I will add some tidbits on applying to PT school and choosing a school.

Peace, Love, and PT

Missing Reference

Seriously, there is nothing more stressing than waiting for a reference letter to get into PTCAS and the early decision deadline is tomorrow night. I sent the request form back when the application first opened. Now, I am freaking out that the letter won't get in on time and I will have to wait until regular decision. It makes me sick just thinking that I won't be able to participate in early decision. I have no one else to turn to for this since it's only about a twenty four hour notice. I haven't been this freaked out since my transcript troubles. I hate waiting until the last minute to get things done, and this isn't making me feel better. I really do not want to do regular decision and apply to a bunch of other schools and waste even more money. This is why I hate relying on other people. There's always someone who doesn't follow deadlines and apparently you can't depend on them to do a small favor. I did not want to start my semester this way. I wanted to enjoy it and not have to worry about more applications and all of this. I know I will apply to other schools if this doesn't work out, but I really don't want to wait until February or March to figure out where I'll be spending the next three years of my life. I'd rather know next month. I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow to know for sure. I'll be praying/freaking out until this goes through. Wish me luck.

Fall Semester

Well another semester has ended last week, and I must say, it has been my easiest semester to date. I only had to focus majority of my attention on one class. With the other class, I could have passed it sleeping. It wasn't challenging for me (seeing as it focuses on statistics and I find math easy to understand), but it was nice to get a simple class. The class that was my main focus was Physiological and Comparative Psychology. In basic terms, it focuses on neuroscience and the sensory systems. It was an interesting class, and luckily I managed to exempt the final, which resulted from me having an A in the class before the final. Gotta love classes like that.
With the application process, I am grateful that my transcript from West Georgia finally got in and that part of my application is completed. The only thing that I'm waiting on is one more letter of recommendation. With the early decision deadline coming up on Wednesday, I don't have much time. I would love for it to be in this weekend so I can focus on my classes on Monday.
Speaking of classes, I have a crazy semester coming up. I will be taking Biology II plus Lab, Applied Exercise Physiology, Sign Language II, and Cognitive Neuroscience. I started working again at the dining hall yesterday and I will be going there every weekday morning and every other Sunday morning. On top of that, I am still volunteering at one of the hospitals that I did this summer. It is going to be a quick fall for me with everything going on and it will be interesting to see what will happen.

Stress

One of the most stressful parts of the application system is making sure that all the supplemental documents are in by the deadline. Recently, I had a scare with one of my transcripts. I ordered it two weeks ago and it was taking forever to be notified that PTCAS received it. I still haven't, and now I was freaking out. If I don't get that transcript in by August 15, I might as well kiss AASU goodbye because it is a firm deadline and I couldn't even get everything in on time. So this morning I finally had to know for sure when my transcript was sent out and if PTCAS received it. I called up the school first and they told me when they mailed it, which was the day after I sent in my request. At least I know there wasn't any problems on their part. Next I called PTCAS to see if they have gotten the transcript. After waiting on the phone much longer than anticipated, I finally got a hold on someone. They told me that it was received five days after being mailed out and that it was probably still processing. The final day that it will take for it to be processed is next week. So now I will keep an eye out to check my status update to make sure that it is processed and everything is good.
Hearing that they do have it released a lot of stress on me and now I can focus on getting the last of my references in. I'm not that worried about those. I know that one will get theirs in soon and the other I will see in two weeks so I can ask them about it. After that, I won't have to worry about anything anymore with this application with the exception of getting in.

Be Positive

I've been volunteering at the hospital for about a month now. Reflecting on what I've been through there, I would definitely say that I have grown. My first few days I was very timid and wouldn't talk much. Now I talk to patients, help out the therapists with whatever they need, and even get to help out with the patients in some of their exercises. I've seen patients who have been very positive and upbeat, and I have seen patients who really don't want to try to get better. Today, I got to witness two patients who are very determined to get better.

The first patient was one of the sweetest women I have the pleasure to know. Bless her heart, she gained a lot of weight in a very short amount of time, and it has made it difficult for her to get up on her own. It takes about four of us to lift her up, but she is one of the patients who helps as much she can to get up. Even though it is difficult for her to sit up, she still tries and she is the most positive patient in the hospital. She is the kind of patient anyone would love to have. She does not give up and she does not give attitude. It's sad not knowing what caused the steep increase in her weight, but hopefully when we get her out of bed and walking she will be able to figure out what the problem is.

The second patient was a bit different. He is on dialysis, although the actual reason for why he's been admitted is unknown to me. He doesn't have the same attitude as Patient 1, but he is a determined person. Today we worked on having him stand with one of the lifts. He was able to do it for six times. He did not want to stop until he had at least five. With the last time, it took him awhile to recover and catch his breath. With most patients, they would have stopped at that time. Not this guy. He worked very hard and his determination is what is going to get him out quickly.

Both of these patients are what PTs would hope to have from every patient. Sadly, not every patient is that. On the other hand, it does give the job a challenge to overcome, which will only help in the long run.

Update

So, it has been quite some time since I've written here. It has been incredibly busy that I really haven't had the time to write. I apologize for my readers and I hope that I can make this up to you guys.

I have officially applied to physical therapy school this past week. It was a process but I'm relieved that this part is completed. I decided to do early decision to Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, GA. I won't know if I got in until September 24. It may be less than three months away, but it can feel either much longer or much shorter depending on how much I have going on in that time. My backups are Georgia State University, Georgia Health Sciences University, and North Georgia College and State University. I know I have mentioned before about looking into Mercer University and the University of Central Florida, but due to expenses and lack of accreditation in the former, I have decided not to apply to these schools. The four I have selected are good schools and I know I will be able to excel in any of them.

I completed all my prerequisites and I am currently in my third volunteer position. This time, I am working at a hospital near campus. For those interested in going into physical therapy, volunteering in an inpatient setting will bring an edge to your application. It has certainly been a unique experience for me. At this hospital, PTs and OTs are working together to help patients get out of bed quickly so they can start healing faster. This is done by getting the patients out of bed and into a chair. It is not easy for a lot of the patients, but once they start getting out of bed with little help, the rehab team can start working on problem areas to get them out of the hospital quickly. It is a very interesting aspect of rehabilitation and I'm glad I get to see it.

Back in April, I was given the privilege to look at NGCSU. It is a very small campus up in the Georgia mountains. I know they have a good program, but there is not much up there. If you enjoy being in the mountains, surrounded by nature and like to go camping and hiking, then this is a good school for you. For me, it is tolerable, but in no way my first choice. I enjoy being close to a big city or a beach. If I can get either, I am a happy girl.

With all the chaos of getting to this point, I have realized what aspect of PT I want to go into when I'm done with school. My dream is to be a traveling physical therapist. Looking into the information, traveling PTs tend to get paid more than domestic PTs. They also have their rent, utilities, and traveling expenses paid for by the agency. Each job is about 13 weeks, or three months, long, and you can get a job just about anywhere. Already I have a list of 22 places I want to travel to, and I plan on making another page dedicated to those places.

I hope all this information is helpful for those who are interested in going into physical therapy, and informative for my friends who support this page. I thank you all and hope you continue to follow.