And the Winner Is...

Many of you have been wondering where I am going to grad school.

I myself have been wondering the same thing.

For a few months, I was set on going to Pennsylvania. I was really excited about the program there: it's the shortest, I don't have to do an ounce of research, I can do international rotations to wherever I want to go, I would get the chance to travel all over the east coast, and they have had the highest test scores in the nation for several years running. (When they consistently achieve a 100% first-time pass rate with the average score in the 98th percentile you know they're doing something right!)

Unfortunately, things just weren't working out. The roommate I had lined up fell through unexpectedly and I was having a hard time finding another one. (Housing was so expensive I was even seriously considering living with two unknown males... I don't know, but I'm pretty sure my bishop might have a problem with that.)

I was also becoming increasingly discouraged by the fact that I was committing social suicide. (Because let's be honest, I've already hit social rock-bottom after all the drama I've been through over the last couple years and I really can't afford to sacrifice any more of my "youth" to the inevitable isolation of being the only single LDS adult within a 40 mile radius. My personality already started to shrivel years ago and I'm really not so sure how much of it is still salvageable at this point.)

Add those factors to several other unmentioned concerns and I was starting to feel pretty darn discouraged.

That's when the school in Arizona called to offer me a spot in their program.

Now, you would think I would have been excited... But no sir-ee. Not me. I totally started crying. I didn't want to have to make a decision between the two schools. I liked the program in Pennsylvania better, but was it really worth it if I was miserable and alone? Not to mention the fact that we all know how hard it is to distinguish between what we want to do and what we're supposed to do.

Finally, after five drama-filled days, I made my final decision. And the winner is.....



ARIZONA!

I am moving to Mesa next month to start the program the first week of June! I am so excited to be starting sooner and to be living closer to friends and family. I'm also looking forward to warmer weather (okay, probably a little too warm,) la comida mexicana, cold cadavers, and above all, the fact that I get to drop Bio 100. (Hence the reason the aforementioned "flurry of posts" never came to pass. You might have to wait until I start grad school for that event to take place.)

Announcing My Return to Blogdom

This blog originally began not because I have anything of interest to say, but merely because it was the most time consuming means of avoiding homework and the GRE.

Hence the reason I immediately stopped blogging the moment I walked out of the GRE testing center.

Unfortunately, it was recently brought to my attention that my admittance to grad school was conditional on me taking Bio 100 this semester. (Don't ask me how I forgot something that important - Hallelujah for Independent Study!)

As a result of the impending Biological crisis, it's back to the books, and with that, back to the ultimate procrastination enabler: blogging. You can expect to see a flurry of new posts over the next month or two as I strive valiantly to avoid doing my homework, thus effectively prolonging the misery.

(Side rant: Seriously, is it really necessary to take Bio 100? What pertinent information can I possibly learn that I haven't learned in the 5 million other pre-reqs I've already taken?)

Identity Crisis

I must be having some sort of major quarter-life crisis. In the last couple of days I have seriously been considering not only going sky diving, but moving in with a couple of guys whom I've never met.

Let's start with the sky diving. "Sky diving?" you think to yourself, "that's not that big of deal." Right. It really isn't. Except for me. Have you ever met me? I'm pretty much the least adventurous person of all time. Not to mention the fact that I like to stay grounded. Have you ever seen me dance? I am not a jumper. You are much more likely to find me writhing around on the dance floor than trying to mess with gravity. Gravity is not to be messed with.

Second, moving in with two random guys I don't know. I was planning on living with another girl from Salt Lake when I went to grad school, but she just emailed me out of the blue to inform me that she decided to live with some other girls (I have a sneaking suspicion that it's because I'm LDS and she's already had her fair share of our kind after living in Salt Lake, but I suppose I can't be too offended because I've never met her and we only exchanged a few brief emails.) Anyways, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to find other roommates at this point (and I really can't afford to live on my own) so I was starting to get kind of worried, when one of the guys from my program offered me a spot with him and one of the other guys. For the first hour or so after I received his email I couldn't stop laughing. Then, I started to think, hey, that actually doesn't sound like that bad of an idea. They would probably let me have the master bedroom with a walk-in closet and my own bathroom and it would be nice not to have to live with all of the drama that comes from living with females. Not to mention the fact that I would have two built-in bodyguards that I could manipulate into doing manly things for me like opening my pickles, hanging my pictures, and moving my furniture. Of course, there's always the possibility that they are smelly, raucous and vulgar, but hey, I've met my fair share of smelly, raucous, vulgar females so it's a toss up really.

So yeah, between sky diving and the roommate situation, I keep finding my old-self asking my new-self in complete and utter disbelief, "Who are you?" I have to admit that it has taken me almost an entire week to talk myself out of both, and I can't say that I've completely succeeded. Sky diving is pretty much out, based purely on financial reasons (I just found out that none of my federal taxes were withdrawn from my paychecks last year. Yeah, uh-huh.), and the roommate situation is pretty much out for the sake of my parent's psychiatric and cardiovascular health... Pretty much... But who knows, really, because apparently alien life forms have invaded my body.

Seriously? Who am I? I hardly recognize myself these days. Next thing you know I will be agreeing to go on more than 2 dates with the same guy... But don't worry, if it ever goes that far I will be sure to get some serious help.

Have I mentioned that I am NOT a morning person?

I didn't notice until after I got to work this morning that I was

wearing one black shoe and one brown shoe. Sweet.

"And why," you ask in bewilderment, "do you own not just one, but TWO pairs of orthopedic shoes?"

"Because," I reply sheepishly, "I went on a mission, became addicted to Dansko's and now I can never go back. (No matter how ugly they may be.) Why do you think I'm going into health care? For the simple fact that orthopedic shoes are socially acceptable... Not just acceptable, expected really."

If I were a zoo animal, what would I be?

I love asking my 4 yr. old nephew questions because I know I'll get an honest response. The other day when I asked him what color my hair was, it turned out to be a lot harder question than I had anticipated. I was expecting him to simply respond either blonde or brown, but this time he really had to think about it.


"Ummmm........" he paused, furrowing his eyebrows and giving it deep consideration before finally responding, "brown with white stripes."


Sweet. Brown with white stripes. Good to know. Now I can't get this image out of my head every time I think about my hair.

Praise to the Man

“Faith in something greater than ourselves enables us to do what we have said we'll do, to press forward when we are tired or hurt or afraid, to keep going when the challenge seems overwhelming and the course is entirely uncertain.” ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

Grad School Here I Come

It's official - I'm going to PA school! I received my first acceptance letter from DeSales University and I am so excited! It's such a relief to know that I am officially starting grad school next summer. I have been invited to another interview in Mesa (at A.T. Still University/Arizona School of Health Sciences) in a couple weeks and I am still waiting to hear back from several other universities. I'm hoping I only get accepted to 1 or 2 programs so I don't have to deal with the drama of deciding where to go (I think we all know how I tend to struggle with indecision.)

I flew out to Philadelphia for my interview at DeSales two weeks ago and I absolutely loved it there. The school is about an hour north of Philadelphia (near Allentown.) The region is blanketed with trees in all of their autumnal splendor and the winding country roads are dotted with charming old houses and quaint little towns. I was very impressed with the university, but there are definitely some advantages and disadvantages:

PROS:

• Amazing scores on the National Certification Exams (100% First-Time Pass Rate over the last 6 yrs. (99% overall); scored first in the nation 13 of the last 15 years.)
• They offered to arrange international rotations for me!
• There are a lot of Hispanics in the area so I would get to use my spanish.
• They have a unique integrated curriculum and are one of the few schools to provide rotations and patient experience throughout the first year.
• All of the clinical sites are within 20 minutes so I wouldn't have to relocate.
• Affordable housing & tuition (comparatively speaking.)
• The dance department is in the same building as the PA program and I might be able to take a class or two.
• NO THESIS!!!

CONS:

• No Cadaver Lab (I realize that I can learn Anatomy from a book... But seriously, dissecting cadavers is pretty much my favorite thing to do. This could very well be a deal-breaker for me.)
• No Singles Branch (There is a small singles branch in another stake about an hour away. Everyone I met seemed really cool (and a lot of them were in grad school), but I think it would be hard to meet people and get involved living so far away.)