Okay, so where do I start? First off....I am GRADUATED and am now a PA!!! I cannot even begin to talk about all of those times when I was just so stressed that no matter how much good happened, I was still bitter, or the number of times I cried to Luis saying I wanted to quit, or how many times I felt I deserved a better grade on a test, or how many times I felt my hard work actually paid off, or how many times I looked forward to Friday's date nights with Luis which was the only time we really had together with neither of us studying.
My first semester was by far the most difficult. I believe it was 20 credits (and that's graduate level credits). There was one professor I had that hated when students asked questions, which made it even harder on me, because that's how I learn! I remember one week we had 7 big tests. It was hard deciding how to divide up the small amount of time I had outside of class between all of those tests that were weighted heavily on my grade. How can I say this? PA school makes you have good time management skills. ISU's PA program has a policy where if you fail 2 tests, you have to go before a board and basically defend your case, that you are not slacking off, and simply don't have enough time to devote. Thankfully, I did not ever fall into that trap. But that just added to the pressure of performing with each and every test (which was a lot).
Second and third semesters weren't as bad, as we had modules of each body system and so all of our classes that were M-F 8-5, were all about the same system, instead of switching from pathology, to anatomy, to physiology, to Pharmacology, etc. And we had quizzes each morning, but then only one big test every week or 2. Much more organized. But of course, the test score was pretty much your grade for the class.
Something that I am grateful for is that PA school helped lower my competitive side of my personality. In undergrad, I was often at the top of my class (because I had 0 social life- trust me!). And my grades were not from natural intelligence that many others are blessed with. My grades were a reflection of my hard work. I would often have to tell my roommates that I couldn't go to a movie, or I couldn't go shopping, or whatever. I was always at the library. I knew what I wanted to become and I was determined to get there. Thankfully when I married Luis, I married a man that was as devoted to my goals as much as I was. Luis had his own goals and ambitions, but he was always sure to remind me of my own. He supported me in every way that he could. He encouraged me to not work and make school my work so that my grades could continue getting me scholarships, and hopefully into PA school. He did this as well and so even though we didn't technically have an income, we were able to live off of a minimal amount of money from our loans. And because we shared a common purpose, it was easier to tell each other we needed to spend the night (well, until 11pm when the it closed) at the library, or spend all day Saturday studying instead of going on outings with the school- which I sincerely wanted to go on.
I knew more schooling would put Luis and I into much greater debt. We were poor, and knew we would be for a while. We shopped the food sales like an extreme couponist without coupons. We very rarely went shopping for clothes, and we never got new furniture or went on extravagant dates. Our dates consisted of the simple things, such as going grocery shopping, or riding our bikes to the cheap theater, or going to the gym together. Honestly, these things have become some of my very favorite things to do with Luis.
I still remember going through the interview process, and being so stressed for my first one. I knew my first interview didn't go very well, and I was losing hope. Then I interviewed at ISU and I felt so confident that it couldn't have gone better. That evening we were in a computer lab at the Ricks building (at BYUI), BIG surprise. I was trying to finish my math homework, but was so focused on my interview from earlier that day that I couldn't help but look on my profile that gave me updates on my acceptance or not. IT was just a few hours ago, it would have to be at least a few weeks before I would get an answer. And slowly but surely, I scrolled down that page and in black ink it read, you have been ACCEPTED. I just started to cry. All of this sacrifice would pay off and I would be able to be what I have worked so hard already to become. I remember telling Luis, "I didn't think I would actually get in!". He was happy too.
Luis was still waiting to hear back from all of the graduate programs he applied to and so we weren't sure of where we were going to live. Then he got his acceptance to University of Utah for a Masters in Political Science. He really liked what he saw about this program and so he wanted to go there. How were we going to do this? Our programs were 2 1/2 hours away from each other. There was talk of one of us doing school, while the other put it off for another year or two, applying to other programs. But after praying about it, we knew the right thing to do would be to both go to school, both fulfill our dreams. We had no idea how it would all work out. But it did. We found a place in Pocatello, that was 3 miles from my building. Luis would drive to SLC every week for his classes and stay with a really great family friend Rob and his new wife Beth. And because we only had one car, that meant I would be without a car during the week. I rode my bike to school, and to the grocery store (one time I bought milk. That was interesting). This set up helped Luis and I to really focus on our studies and do nothing but that. On the weekends we were able to be together. We made sure every Friday night was set aside for each other. A number of times we were both so stressed that neither of us wanted to spend that time together, and just fought about dumb things. But then we would always make up and go out Saturday night if Friday didn't work. I had a lot of anxiety at night time being alone, and so thankfully this was only for a year that we would have to do this.
Then came year 2. As I promised Luis, if we lived in Pocatello the first year, we would move to SLC for the next year, so he wouldn't have to commute that much! So then we looked for housing in SLC and we were lucky enough to find an affordable place to live downtown. We were a few blocks from Temple Square, and to the capitol, and to running trails, and to anything we wanted, pretty much. I was so grateful to be able to actually LIVE with my husband again. But wait. This is my clinical year! Now I am the one that has to travel! I had to go to Ogden, UT, SLC, then back to Ogden, then Vancouver, WA, West Valley City, UT, Logan, UT, Portland, OR, and ending it in the place it started, Pocatello, ID. The most interesting I would have to say would be Pocatello because I had to move into student housing again. Kind of weird. Thank you to my brother Chad and his family for letting me stay with them, and to my parents for letting me stay with them. It saved us a lot of money for me not to have to stay in a hotel! And it was nice to be able to visit with family. Chad's wife, Angela, was actually the one who introduced me to the PA profession. She is a PA herself and a darn good one. Thank you Angela for helping me find my passion!
After Luis' first year into his program, he was feeling a bit discouraged. He was getting the grades he had wanted, but just wasn't sure if he loved Political Science as much as he thought. He really wasn't enjoying any of his classes and was so stressed from all of the requirements. As he always does, he shined in all of his classes, and all of the professors loved his comments in class. He did so well that for the second year, he was offered a grader position. This meant he would grade for a professor while getting a huge chunk off of his (out-of-state) tuition, and a bi-monthly stipend to live off of. This was great experience for him and he was able to build his resume'. He graduated with his Masters degree in International Relations. But as planned from the beginning, once he got this degree, he would apply for the PhD program. He was pretty unsure of himself, but I knew he had everything they were looking for and more (his great looks!!). He then got a letter saying he had been accepted to the program and on top of that was offered a teacher's assistant position. He will now hopefully get to teach a few classes and see what it's like to be a professor (his dream job!!). Again, resume building, and a great stipend and tuition help. Couldn't have gotten any better. But wait!
After clinical year in the PA program, comes....GRADUATION!!!!! I can now say that I am a PA!!
Wow, congratulations! The hard things are rough while you're going through them, and in the end it all works out and pays off. This is very evident in your lives. Hurray!
ReplyDeleteNow I can't wait for Jason to graduate with his master's. Just one more year... :)
Valerie, you are AMAZING! You are so determined and look what you've accomplished. You worked so hard. It was hard not to cry as I was reading this post. I just think it is such a neat story. Congratulations!!!
ReplyDeleteYou two are so sweet. It is crazy to look back and see what we have accomplished. But I will miss the 2 weeks off at Christmas time that students get. haha.
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