The realization that I'll be starting graduate school in less than six weeks hit me hard this week. It could be the fact that I met with some of my professors for my grad assistantship assignment, and was already assigned a six page lit review/essay to be completed before school starts, or maybe it was the emails I received today from each professor giving me multiple chapters to read for each class, with quizzes to be awaiting me on the first day of class. Or maybe the realization hit me the hardest when I looked up the prices for the 11 textbooks and manuals I have to buy. I swear it's a crime to charge that much.

As crazy as it sounds, I live for the excitement that a new semester brings. Even though I'm already feeling the pressure of what awaits... I get my motivation from knowing I'll have a challenge ahead. My philosophy has always been that nothing worth having should be easy to get. I've worked extremely hard just to get this far, and I haven't even begun. Grad school is just the next step, and the real learning experience will begin when I'm an OT with patients of my own.

Oh, and I'm also psyched about buying school supplies. There's something about blank notebooks and new high-lighters that gives me the sense of a fresh start. ; ) ...yeah, I'm strange like that.

Waiting, Watching, Wishing...

July is already here, that's insane! Things are going well for the most part. Graduate school starts in less than 9 weeks, and I have less than 35 days of work. (But who's counting?...). I'm psyched, a little anxious, but mostly psyched. Life as I know it is going to be different... but I'm sure it's a good different.

One of my soon-to-be professors wrote to me about a potential graduate assistantship option. It involves planning and facilitating a social skills group for autistic children down in Long Beach Island. It's a ten week program on Saturdays throughout the semester. Now this is something entirely out of my comfort zone... which is also a reason it appeals to me. My intentions up to this point have always been to work with neuro/psych patients, primarily geriatrics and stroke/TBI. These next two years will be my best chance to see every option I have and to truly define my area of passion in the OT field. Like anything in life, if you never give something a chance, you might miss an awesome opportunity or experience. So I'm going to meet with the professor to discuss the project, and I'll probably take her up on the offer. One of my goals in grad school is to become a braver person, and to be more willing to try new things.

Finally, I was emailed an awesome OT treatment plan website by the creator of www.OTplan.com. This is going to be extremely useful when we start learning about evaluating and treating pediatrics. I can't wait to see this site grow. Thanks for sharing it with me! It'd be cool if there as a huge database out there like this for all populations and conditions that we see in OT.

Till next time!