Friday, August 30, 2013

FINALLY GOT PICTURES UP!!!!

After 6 attempts to get my pictures to my email, they finally came through this morning.
 This was our first ice breaker we had before orientation. It was so awesome. We meshed so beautifully. First impressions are very important! This was a great one!

Me in uniform for first day of class/ orientation!

Our brackets we made during orientation to unit us!

I HAVE A NAME!!!!!! and OTS after it!!!! YAY!!!!!! 
Our second ice breaker before orientation!

Lunch after orientation!

Oh and guess what? We have 6 guys in our cohort! Dr. Leader said that this is the first time that they have had this many men in one cohort.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

First week of OT school DONE!

This has been such a fun week. This week started off with orientation. We met our teachers for the next 30 months. One thing I like about OT is that you see people from all walks of life in this profession. As my teachers introduced themselves and explained when we would be in their class, I saw the "funny" teacher, the "calm" teacher, the "high energy" teacher, the "monotone" teacher and so on. I really like that OT's do not have one type personality. I love the fact that most of my teachers are still in the working field, they still have a full case load and are full time teachers. It is love when someone can work TWO full time jobs AND are passionate about both of them. We learned that our "journey" is like kayaking(teachers, education and peers) down the Ohio River(journey) where we encounter all kinds of obstacles, but the kayak has what we need to keep moving forward on the journey safely. We also made cohort brackets that was a class building exercise. Most of the people in our class had already met because we had already attended two get togethers to break the ice. After orientation some of us went out for lunch.

The actual lecture started on Tuesday. Our professor, Dr. Leader, is the "funny" teacher. He started us off right! We had our first group presentation on Wednesday. It was something that Dr. Leader did on the spot. He said he had never done this particular group presentation before. Each group had to present different parts of OT history. The catch was, which we did not know until we were going up to present, that our audience was a group of high school students that we had to keep engaged. We all started off rough, but once Dr. Leader showed us that he wanted a "theatrical" presentation, each group got better. Today we ended on OT framework. What I got out from that is that what we do,the framework, is based on how we bill the insurance company so we can get PAID! So I have this in mind, if I am wrong can someone please correct me because I am still learning.... Framework= Billable guidelines! Our first test in next Monday, and we already have 4 days of study groups set. We also delegated class representative.

Then my class went out for lunch again after class. Unfortunately I had to work, so I did not get so go.  I have already seen pictues of the fun they had. They also started a softball team tonight too. They named themselves The Regal Eagles. They went out for diner again after their game. THEEEEEEENNNNNN...... we have made a schedual to start running on the weekends together. I am not a runner soooo we will see how that goes. Right now, we are one big happy family! I am thankful for being here with all these amazing people.This was a great way to kick off my OT education.

I am hoping the best for all of you out there!

P.S
I'm still trying to get the pictures from my phone to my email so I can post them!


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

I'm Loving IT!

Hello dear friends. I started back to school on Monday. All I can say is that school  IS AWWWWEEESOME! I am so thankful to be going through this journey. Let me tell you, when I received my bill from school this summer with the amount of tuition that was still due, I freaked out because I did not know how I was going to come up with that money. I thought my journey was about to come to a fast halt. Like a night in shinning armor, my husband cashed out his 401k to pay for my college. He said to me , "Na' (that's what he calls me) this is no joke! You are going to have to get serious and succeed at this!" I wanted to cry because I did ask him to do that nor did I know he was going to do that! I have to say how blessed I am to have a MAN who literally would give the world to make my dreams come true. So a big shout out to my husband for making sure that I continued on my path of success.

I want to quickly remind people to make sure that they give back to their community in any way possible because I am thankful that I received an scholarship from the Paul Olge Foundation here in Indiana (I wrote a blog entry on the amazing organization last year. If you have the time please read it because the history of the foundation it truly incredible.). I also want to thank the Catherine Spalding Foundation for their scholarship this school year. Enough of the Grammy Thanks You's.

I have been trying to upload pictures from my first day as an Occupational Therapy student; however, the email isn't posting to my blog. Hopefully I can get those pictures up soon for you to see how fun it was! I must say I have also been blessed to have fun, focused, and successful people in my cohort! One of my classmates said to me that we have already did the hard part with trying to get in the program, now we need to start feeling like each and everyone of us deserve to be here because we were chosen out of hundreds of people. That's when a light bulb went off! She was right! I tend to freak out about if I am good enough to stay in the program since I have heard that people get dropped for grades? After watching that TED Talk broadcast of Fake it Til You Become it (it's one of my blog entries if you would like to watch it), I feel like I am getting some good energy everywhere I turn now. It's like BAM in you face! BAM in your face! THIS IS YOUR JOURNEY! THIS IS WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE AT THIS TIME IN YOUR LIFE! All I can say is how thankful I am that I am keeping my eyes wide open and I am willing to receive all great opportunities in my life! Have you ever felt just so thankful for something that your heart just feels moved by every great opportunity that comes your way? I just feel too blessed to be stressed. Literally! I did some studying last night. Normally I panic about making sure I remember it all for the test, but I just feel like everything I am learning is meant to be. So why should I stress about the test when I should be enjoying this moment right now?

I know this was a long post but I had soooo much to say. I want to THANK YOU for reading this and those who have followed me, THANK YOU for believing in me. Even though I may not know you personally, you gave me good energy to succeed too. THANK ALL OF YOU!

I am hoping the best for all of you out there!