My Half Birthday...

...was a week and a half ago on July 7. Just in case you were wondering. However, that was a pretty eventful day and I have been rather busy recently and have decided to take some time to write about last week a bit. After studying all weekend long, I had my first gross anatomy test on that Tuesday. It was pretty intense, but my study habits have significantly changed from undergrad, so I felt rather comfortable and calm and somewhat confident going into the test. And, I came out of it feeling pretty good about it. After the test, some of my classmates and I went to celebrate and then about ten of us left the larger celebration to go to the A's game! Well, everyone else said it was the Red Sox game, but Oakland was in town. Although the A's scored the first run, they ended up losing when the ninth inning came around. The A's had won 6-0 Monday night and I realize I was being rather hopeful in wanting them to win two in a row. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the game and it was fun to be in Fenway Park, which is a lot smaller of a field than I was expecting it to be. I did not get a Fenway Frank though...I suppose I'll just have to go again.

Wednesday was our White Coat Ceremony for school. Nothing big nor fancy, but just a small ceremony in our classroom in which the third year DPT students coated us with our white coats and then pinned us with our MGH Institute of Health Professions pin. There were only a few families there...mom and dad--you didn't miss much! I can re-enact it for you in August if you so desire. It's kind of fun to have a white coat, which we will be wearing when we go to our clinical observations and practicums. It looks rather professional and medical. I have my first clinical observation on Monday at Massachusetts General Hospital, so I will be wearing my white coat for the first time on Monday. I'm excited for it, so hopefully it goes well! After the ceremony, I went apartment searching with my future roommates and it was a successful trip--the realtor called us yesterday and told us that he has a lease for us to sign! I will be living with five other people and we are all pretty excited. It's almost a California exclusive house; there is one guy from Florida, but the rest of us are from California. It most definitely is CA dominant (and northern CA to be more specific). One girl from Los Angeles area (Cerritos), one girl from San Ramon (Shirin-current roommate), one girl from San Jose, one guy from Petaluma, and me! We'll all be learning how to manage in the cold winter together when the time comes. :)

Last Friday morning I went into school to practice my transfers. It was great! haha... But, really, it was good practice and becoming more comfortable in transferring people from a bed to a wheelchair and back again and moving them around to different positions while they are in the bed. It will be necessary for me, especially if I am working in the hospital or rehab setting. After practicing those important skills, I went with a couple friends to wander around the tall ships. I suppose once every five or six years or so these "tall ships" come into the Boston Harbor from all over the world for a weekend for people to visit and explore and learn a bit. We didn't go on any of the ships because there were so many people and families around. But, since our school is right in the navy yard, right on the water/harbor, we walked around and explored the festivities. It was a beautiful day outside and seeing the tall ships was fun and a good study break (between transfer practicing and anatomy studying). After eating lunch in the festivities, I went inside for the rest of the day and missed the gorgeous weather in the harbor to study. Then, we went to Indian food for dinner and the dish I got was a bit too spicy for my liking, but I was able to try other not so spicy dishes that were rather tasty. It was a pretty good first impression of Indian food.

Saturday morning, we went to Haymarket, which has an outdoor farmer's market every Friday and Saturday all day. It was nothing like Thursday nights in San Luis, but we were able to get a bunch of fruit and vegetables and some cheese and bread for pretty cheap. Then, we came home and guess what we did?!?! Yep, you're right...we studied. Then, I had a mini baking session that night in which I baked brownies and it was great.

Sunday morning, I went to Park Street Church which is celebrating their 200th anniversary and part of their celebration is having a few featured guest speakers throughout the year. One of the guest speakers, Joni Eareckson Tada, came last week and spoke about the goodness of God in all situations and circumstances. It was neat to hear from her and how she has experienced God's goodness in her life after becoming a quadriplegic following a diving accident after high school. She has been a quadriplegic for 42 years and she shared what's real to her, but was able to remind people that everyone experiences brokenness. She broke her neck, but others have broken hearts and broken families, and we need God and his mercy and goodness to experience freedom from the brokenness we experience. After church, I went to Harvard Med to study a bit and look at the cadavers some. During that time, I realized how much I don't know and how much studying I had before me. Now, I still have a lot to study, but am getting through...a little bit at a time.

Tuesday, I had a test in my Professional Socialization class and I think/hope I did alright. This class is not as intense as anatomy and I'm sure I did alright. We were told to not stress over it and my teacher is aware of how demanding our anatomy class, so now, I'm just waiting and studying for anatomy. That night, I was so tired and exhausted, but had bought a ticket to a Greg Laswell concert in town. It was a nice setting--small venue, pretty low key. However, I was so tired, I almost fell asleep during the concert. It was a pretty good show and I enjoyed the music for the most part, but I was so ready to be in bed!

Nothing else really exciting, except one thing. But, I will wait to write about that until next time. This is already a pretty long post, so if you read this whole thing, I'm impressed and honored! So, the exciting stuff for a later time. However, I will warn you that I will not be writing until after Tuesday. If you can't guess, I have a test on Tuesday! Yay anatomy! Actually, there's quite a few exciting things that have been going on recently. Although, most of them have been in the cadaver lab, so I'm sure many people won't find them as exciting as I do, but that's okay! I'll still share! :) That may deter a few people from reading the happenings in my life, but oh well! It'll only be a few more weeks before I'm done in the cadaver lab...which is crazy! It has gone by so fast! Ok....off to sleep so I can study well all day tomorrow! :)