Chronicles of a PT student

Just an average girl trying to make it through PT school

[pt-girl-blog]

Sept. 23, 2015: Heart

AJ finished 3 days today and just spent 2+ hrs on Skype helping me with EKG material for my Cardio exam tomorrow, all the while I knew all he wanted to do was sleep.

Thanks, love. You’re the best. <3

[pt-girl-blog]

Sept. 15, 2015: New Beginning

"Your world's not falling apart, it's falling into place." 

 Afraid, but excited.

[pt-girl-blog]

Sept 10, 2015: Perspective

Even though a lot of the things we’re going over in Cardiopulmonary are going over my head, I really appreciate our professor because he knows we’re about to go out on our first internship and he wants to make sure he leaves us with the information that will prepare us for this experience. He also adds his little stories throughout lecture that not only add to the existing excitement of the class...but also puts everything in perspective. He was telling us a story today of this one PT he worked with who was nonchalantly eating lunch while one of the patients on the unit was coding. Our professor was like, “Uhhh isn’t that one of your patients?” -Eats sandwich, “Yeah.” “...Didn’t you see him, like 30 min ago?” -Keeps eating, “Yeah.” Our prof turned to the tech that was working with him earlier, and the tech was saying that he advised/suggested/warned the PT not to do some of the interventions due to the pt’s cardio condition, but the PT did them anyway. The patient ended up having a heart attack and dying.

As schooling drags on and I’m just counting down the days till I graduate, I feel like I’ve lost some of the passion that I started out with. But I hope I never never never become “desensitized” to the fact that the patients we will be working with are people and deserve the highest of care because they are trusting us and simply because that is what we are supposed to do. I hope I never take the easy way out just cause it’s easier for me because the fact is that it’s not about me. I’m not being a PT for me. I’m doing the things that I’ve learned to help others, and that’s something I need to continually remind myself each day to get through school, studying, internships, and the rest of my career.

[pt-girl-blog]

August 23, 2015: Carefree

Just came back from a weekend spent with good vibes and great friends. It was so long overdue and I’ve missed everyone so much. I wish more were able to come, but grateful for the ones who did and I’m glad I got to see some old faces on Friday at Jr’s. Water level at McKinney Falls was low since it hasn’t been raining, but kinda faced my fear and jumped off a small overhang. Even having to deal with the flies turned into a killing spree game. Loved each and every moment with these peep holes.

Upper Falls. Eating lunch in Krystin’s van. Pepperjack cheese. Pterydactyl screams. Garry Potter. “My eyebaaallss.” Trekking the dessert to get to Lower Falls, then finding out it was just the other side of Upper Falls. Skipping rocks. Rock heads. Alyce’s huge room. Penis holder... “You’re the spy!” Fly graveyard. Making it to midnight. Partner pictionary. Crab claw wrench. Transportation superpower. RV world. Lovelovelove <3

- Also, wanted to make a post reflecting on my first year of PT school, so tried to make a video but editing is a pain so that’s still a work in progress... In the meantime, gonna try to savor every minute of this summer vacation.

[pt-girl-blog]

Just got our Internship I sites, and...

HOUSTON, I’M COMING HOME!!!!!!!!!

[pt-girl-blog]

August 2, 2015: Trust in Him

Coming to an end of the third trimester, and that means that we’re soon gonna find out where we’re going to be for our first internship. Everyone’s freaking out, afraid that they’re gonna be placed somewhere where they don’t have accommodations (which is a pretty big deal since that means paying double rent on top of paying for a full trimester at this ridiculously priced school..) Don’t get me wrong, I’m hoping with all my heart that I get placed back home or at least in Austin so that I don’t have to deal with finding a place to live and all that. But at the same time, I’ve prayed and asked for God to help prepare my heart for whatever news I get. I think the most important thing I’m looking to gain is what all I can learn from my first internship, and if that means being somewhere I don’t really want to be then that’s something that I will have to accept. I can honestly say that I’m okay with that because I know that there’s a reason for every thing and every situation.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding..” Proverbs 3:5

[juliaaa-t-blog]

Little things

Getting to see friends I haven’t seen in a while made my night. Even if it was just through laggy snapchat video, lol.

[pt-girl-blog]

July 25, 2015

You know that feeling when you’re running and you’re so tired, but you’re so close to the finish line so you just keep on running, getting more and more exhausted the closer you get to the end?

Yeah, that’s exactly how I feel about this trimester...

Trying my best not to complain and dread the upcoming weeks and finals. Everyday, praying that He will give me strength and help me to see the good in every situation.

Three things I’m grateful for:

1) For this opportunity to pursue my dream of becoming a PT

2) For the stroke pts who have been gracious enough to visit our classes and for the site visits our professors set up for us

3) For my health and for this life

[pt-girl-blog]

Other current thoughts

Lately, I’ve been thinking about maybe going on physical therapy mission trips once I graduate and start working. Just something that seems interesting as of now. Getting to help people + traveling? Sounds like a good idea to me. Idk, we’ll see. Still got a long way to go.

[pt-girl-blog]

July 4, 2015: So tired

This break is coming to an end and I feel like it did nothing for me. It sounds ungrateful, but I am still just as drained now as I was before the break, maybe even more so. I loved having AJ and my family come up, but I felt like I couldn’t even give them all of my time since I have a test and a practical to study for this coming week. I long for the day when I don’t have to worry about studying anymore and I can just enjoy my time with friends and family. It makes me so sad that my parents felt like they had to leave early to let me study. They left a couple hours ago and I already miss them so much. Times like these makes me hate school. Why is this so mentally and emotionally draining for me? This will probably be the last time I’ll get to see them till I finish this trimester which is only another month and a half, but it just feels so much longer. I try my best to look at the bright side. It’s just so hard though when school literally sucks life out of you. I just have to keep reminding myself that it’ll all be worth it. One and a half more years, it’ll all be worth it.

[pt-girl-blog]

June 27, 2015: Hitting a wall

I don’t want to study anymore. That is all.

But really, I’m proud of myself cause I finished all of my assignments that are due this week, so all I have left is Child Development exam on Monday and then POC due Tuesday!

I’m so ready for this mini break. Celebrating AJ and I’s anniversary, maybe watch Jurassic World when my parents come up, play some sand volleyball, get the grill going, try out Moojo. And find time in between to study for Neuro.... But it’s gonna be awesomeeee!!!

EDIT - 

And those 4 exams and a quiz we had during Hell week? Didn’t do too bad. Yay!

[pt-girl-blog]

June 13, 2015: Procrastination

I’ve been sitting here at Starbucks for maybe 30 min and I’ve probably only studied for 10 min. I haven’t been on here in a while, so what a better time to get back on when I have 4 tests and a quiz to study for..? I have been so unmotivated this trimester, but I’m glad I’m not the only one. Basically all of my classmates I have talked to feel the same way. Just non stop studying and exams, and we’re all just burnt out. I always forget that it’s summer until I walk by the pool and see all the kids playing. I WANT TO PLAY TOO!!! Sighhhhhh. Just a couple more weeks and we get a couple days off for July 4th. I can’t wait for AJ and my family to come up! Miss them all so much. Just gotta get through this death week and a couple more tests the following weeks.

Now time to get back to studying till I get distracted again in probably 10 minutes.....

[pt-girl-blog]

May 28, 2015: POC

We’ve only done 3 so far and I’m already tired of them... Probably cause it’s taking me forever to write them.

Also, I really need to learn how to finish an examination within 45 minutes. It makes me soooo nervous for Mock practicals.

[pt-girl-blog]

May 26, 2015: Small Victories

I love having guest speakers during lecture, especially if they were former patients. It’s difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel, constantly studying and stressing, but getting an opportunity to hear a patient’s journey through physical therapy is an uplifting reminder of why I chose to pursue this profession.

The speaker we had today suffered a TBI in 2007 from an attack while on a mission in Iraq. He was knocked unconscious, not breathing, with his skull broken taking out a portion of his brain. If it were not for his friend “Animal” rescuing him, he wouldn't have made it. He was flown out to a hospital in Germany, then back to Austin where he started his physical therapy. During his presentation, he showed us clips of his treatment sessions so we could see how he has progressed. Right sided hemineglect, double vision, hemiparesis, ataxia, dysarthria, tremors. The list goes on. But this man was so determined to get better. When he was younger, he competed in gymnastics and even competed in the US Junior Olympics. He joined the Army and worked his way up in the ranks. In his words, he was “always on a mission.” Now with this injury, he had to find a new mission, something that would keep him motivated and fighting to get better. He’s not completely at 100%, but he’s leaps and bounds away from where he started. And now his new mission is to help others with similar injuries, so as he started blogging and reaching out to others, he also started a foundation called Small Victories. He believes that to keep yourself motivated and continue to fight, you have to recognize even the smallest accomplishments. His foundation he started with his wife allows others with similar injuries to channel their artistic creativity into “small victories”.

At the end, he jokingly tried to convince us that we should all take the neuro route, you know, not biased at all. And then, he proceeded to thank us. Here we are, still only students, haven’t even gone out on our first interships, and he’s thanking us for what we have decided to do and how much we are going to help others through our skills. These are the moments that I live for. The rush of emotions that I felt when he said this is truly an indescribable feeling. To you, it just feels like you’re fulfilling your duties as a therapist. But to them, you’re giving them back their life.

[pt-girl-blog]

May 22, 2015: Home for the Weekend

I will always miss being home, and I love when I do get to come home. Austin is a great city, full of good music, good food, and oh so pretty trails. But BUT, Houston is home. People get so confused when I try to explain why I love Houston more than Austin, but it’s so hard to put into words. Houston is an expanding city, and the more it grows, the more I love it. It’s a city full of diversity and opportunities, culture and excitement. Most of all, it’s where I've grown up and where my friends and family are. Sappy, I know, but it’s true. I hold Houston near and dear to my heart, so coming home is such a warm treat in the midst of the craziness of school.

Speaking of, I have my first two exams this coming week but my mom kept insisting that I come home cause my parents are having a little Memorial Day Weekend get together with the family. I’m sad I have to go back Sunday to work though. I guess it gives me more time to study... I tried studying on the bus ride home, but I was getting major car sickness and this guy sitting behind me was on the phone talking pretty loudly about some baby mama drama. It’s already Saturday, and I’m dreading going back tomorrow );

Side note: I’m getting increasingly jealous of my friends who are graduated, working, and have money to go on all of these adventures. By the time I get out of school and start traveling, they would have already been to all of the cool places. But I just have to keep reminding myself that this is all worth it and I have to be patient because my time will come. 

“For I know the plans I have for you [...] plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” -Jeremiah 29:11

[pt-girl-blog]

May 21, 2015: The Beginning-ish

Just an average girl trying to make it though PT school. I wish I started this a while ago, but better late than never, right? Two trimesters and some weeks down, a lot more to go.

Let’s see where this takes me.