New Beginnings

Don't you just love the fact that every session is a new beginning to start all over and try to learn from the challenges that you have over came? I do! I feel that each new session is another chance to learn how to remain calm and pace myself. Monday was our first day back to class; however, we had a snow storm come through here so our first day of class was canceled.  On Tuesday I was able to have a surprise baby shower for my classmate. Sadly, this is the last session that she will be with us before having her baby. She was really surprised and really appreciated it. I was very happy.

This session I have anatomy and a condition class. Yesterday in my Anatomy class we were able to see the cadaver. Due to HIPPA, I cannot say anything more than that.  With my sessions being 6 weeks long, the class moves at a fast pace. We have already covered the muscles of the face and neck in two days. I bought a coloring book to help me retain the information, but class moves so fast that I have not been able to get into it because we have a work book that goes along with our course book that I fill out nightly. I not complaining about the class. I know that anatomy is one of my weak areas. If the class was slower, I would still think it was fast. I think this will be a great class. I like that the teacher has a sense of humor. It makes the class a little easier.

Today was actually my first day of the conditions class. Today we mainly went over the syllabus and talked about what we are going to cover in the class. We will be really getting to know conditions that our clients deal with, people first langue, and ADA. I am really excited about this class because I want to really know what my clients are facing.

I am about to read these two chapters for my Conditions test tomorrow. I am hoping the best for you. Goodnight!

I wanna be L.A.Z.Y

Good evening!!!!!!!! I am super excited because I am on break from school this week. I finished Neuroscience and Psychosocial last Friday. Our University had a Vision and Action Conference that Friday. At the Vision and Action Conference, the graduation class chooses a topic from their Level II fieldwork that they would like to research more, such as Fibromyalgia. Then they give interventions, causes, prognosis, and statistics for the diagnosis. Practitioners from the communicate are able to attend the conference to receive CE credits. It was really amazing. My cohort had to make Mind Maps based on Eleanor Slagle articles. The impairments that was in my group's article was Schizophrenia and TBI. We had to incorporate what we had learned from Neuro, to what we read in the article. Our article mainly talked about the benefits of OT in the mental healthcare settings, which went hand in hand with what we had learned in our Psychosocial class. From what you will see in the picture below are the major concepts we learned in Neuro and then branches that go into specific details about each topic.

During lunch at the Vision and Action Conference we presented our boards and the information from our article to by passers. Our board received many visitors. They said that they loved the colors, which is another thing we learned in Neuro, that the brain loves color. That was another bonus that we were able to include into our presentation. Neuro was a very interesting class. I can tell you that I loved my brain before, but now.... I REALLY love my brain and I am really thankful for it and want it does. Another successful class.

I have to start off by saying that I LOVE PSYCHOLOGY! I feel that Psychology is a very powerful field. My Psychosocial class was really amazing as well. We were able to look at mental health through the eyes of an OT. Each week we had a different group present a condition, tell its prognosis and perform an activity with the class that would work on a specific impairment. My group had Eating Disorders and our impairment was self esteem. We preformed a skit of an eating disorder group talking about anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating (eating disorder-NOS). Our activity was called "I am..." were we had the class break into small groups and list 5  I am's about themselves. The purpose of the activity was to give affirmation that would remind them how great they are. Then we asked different people questions like "Was it hard to come up with these  I am's? Do you think differently about anyone in the group after they shared? etc."

Overall, I find myself each session in the same place each we and that is FREAKING OUT! LOL. At times I feel overwhelmed because I go to class from 8 am to 2:30 pm. I pick up the baby from daycare then come right home and have to be at work from 4 pm to 10 pm, just to go to bed and do it all again. I also work 6 days a week. I worry if I studied enough? Does my kids know I love them? Did I get enough rest? The questions go on  and on, but at the end of every session, AFTER it is all said and done, I look back and think, "Why was I freaking out because I did just fine?" I am learning to not create so much stress in my life because I come through every semester passing my classes. My teacher who taught my Psychosocial and Research class was a student at my school a few years ago. He always reminds me that everything will be OK. In those moments, I do not see it as that, but in the end...... he was right. It always works out.

So this week..... I have been laaaaaaaaazzzzzzyyyyy. The baby and I have been laying in the bed watching cartoons all day. I have been able to help the kids with their homework, which I have not been able to do for a while. I have also been reading Bible stories to my daughter at night. I have to admit that being lazy feels sooooooo good and I like it. It is not just any ordinary lazy either. My lazy is Loving, Amazing, Zealous, and enjoYable every minute because I love being able to spend this time with my family!

I am thankful that I made it through another session. I did it! YAY! Thank you for taking out the time to read my post.

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

How are classes you ask?

First off, I need to tell you how excited I was to be able to attend Beyonce's 100th show in Louisville, KY, on the 12th. I have been a die hard Beyonce fan since I was 15!.15 years of loyalty! I am also critical of her too, so I feel that I look at her with a human lens opposed to a stalker lens. I went with my hubby and we originally had nose bleed section seats that I paid $144 for each, but we were able to talk a guy into giving us wrist bands to be on the FLOOR! I was standing so close to her that I felt her fans blowing my hair! MAN! I am thankful again! I have had these tickets since they went on sale back in July. I was really looking forward to that night. It was great. I was able to get some solo time with the hubby and I was able to see my favorite singer of ALL TIME! Queen Bey.

My neuro class has been pretty interesting. It is a lot of information. I have so many questions, but since we are in six week session we are not able to get to EVERYTHING that I want to know. Most of the topics we are covering are sensory, such as vestibular, somatosensory, vision, etc. I am starting to be able to put the pieces together about how our body if full of receptor sites that allows our cortex to perceive what is going on in our environment. We have smaller receptor sites for areas that receive more detailed information and larger receptor sites of other areas where we integrate information. I thought it was very interesting how vision is a big part of balance. I may have heard it before; however, when I am learning it for a skill, it has a whole other meaning. We have talked a lot about neural networks, how our brain is very plastic with an emphasis on if we do not have our clients use their skills then they will lose them. Oh, another aspect that I found very interesting was about when peripheral nerves grow back, one of the main task of sensory integration is to desensitize the nerves because the new pathways are highly sensitive to a point where the client can be sensing pain or discomfort. The is the best part of learning is that we always creating new neural pathways and are constantly become better person.

My psychosocial class is........... abnormal psych. We did read a book called "A Curious Dog in the Night Time" which was awesome. It was the story about a teenage boy who has autism. He strives to write his own mystery and tries to be placed in an A level math class. The book did a really good job on capturing the behaviors and thought patterns of someone on the autism spectrum. It is a good read. Other than that...... it is another abnormal psych class.

I will return to class on January 6 to finish my last 3 weeks of class. I am looking forward to this two week break. I will more likely try to do some reading to be prepared for when I return to class next year! Time really flies. I am still learning how to take one day at a time and enjoy every moment with my family and to try not rush for graduation because that would mean that my time with my kids is gone. I am just appreciating everything as it is. I have to remember that when I am freaking out about class. LOL

I am hoping the best for all of you!

Back in Session

I hope everyone had a good Gobble Gobble Day! We had a blast. We stayed in and watched movies all day. Well... I fell asleep on some of them. I was tired. LOL. Today is my hubby's birthday. I am really blessed to have this man in my life. I did not have a stable father in my life. He is an amazing husband, father and friend. I have never been loved the way this man loves me. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GISBY!

Class started back on Monday. I have a really good feeling about this session. I have Neuroscience and Psychosocial. This week was an introduction to the classes. I did learn what FAOTA means. It is a person that has earner a high regard in the OT community. They have to be nominated for some achievement that they have made. My school has 3 of those members on staff. My teacher, Dr.Laura Strickland is one of the members. She was one of the people who opened the OT program at Spalding University. Her husband, who is the Dean of the program, is a member along with another teacher on staff. Dr. Laura LOVES her some neuroscience. You should see her eyes light up as she talks about the class. I am looking forward to learning from her over the next 7 weeks. My first neuro quiz opened online tonight. I have to complete that by Monday. Our second test is next Monday. I have been making a list of my readings that I need to get through. Dr. Laura recommends not read the text like a novel. She said to skim it to get the main points. She also had us complete a learning style assessments so that she can accommodate everyone in the class. I really appreciate that she takes a real interest in my learning. It makes me feel like she want me to succeed in the program. Oh by the way, in January, ACOTE is coming to do our accreditation. My teachers had to make sure to fit our course material around them coming because I take it at they need the teachers on those 2 days.

In my Psychosocial class, we have been watching documentary's on mental illnesses. I am looking forward to seeing how this class will turn out because I really like Psychology and this class seems very close to Abnormal Psychology.

That is how my week has been so far. I am still feeling so thankful to be in this program, but I am on count down to my first Level I Fieldwork which starts in May!

Hoping the best for all of you!

OT School is NO JOKE!

I finished my last session on Thursday. This has been a very rough session for me. I have had some emotional break downs, some body changes, fear, anxiety, you name it I had it. And to think this is only my second session out of 18. My teachers were really great supporters. They encouraged me and reassured me that I was not alone in what I was feeling. I can thankfully say that it is over. I can breath and give thanks for making it through. When I say last session was ROUGH, IT WAS ROUGH. I'm telling you that I FAILED 2 TEST! I never recall failing a test in my life! Due to some chemical imbalances.....my body went on auto pilot the first half of the session. I left like I was completely losing myself. Then on top of that, my job decided that they are no longer going to work with me on my school schedule. They basically told me that by December I need to decide what I am going to do. School or work? That was a very hard decision because my income is the highest in my household. I was hoping to keep working until January 2015. Sometimes life does not go as planned. I have to be honest with you... I flipped my wig when that happened too. I thought, "I have 4 kids, a house, a husband, and school feels I need to take care of. What am I going to do now? What about insurance for the kids? How are they going to eat?" After talking it over with my teachers and my spouse, I have to put school first. School is for a bigger vision, not just something short term which work would be. I would be leaving at some point anyways. I just do not know what I am going to do about health insurance when the time comes because I have a little baby. Hhhhhh...... I have to let the higher powers take over from here. If someone had told me that I would have this MUCH change in a short 6 week period, I would have never believed them. I have to say again... I am thankful that I made it through. Thankfully in the last two weeks I was able to pull everything back together. I was able to get back to myself. I was able to ace both of my finals on Thursday. The test are very challenging. Because my teacher had questions on there where ALL of the answers were correct, but I had to chose the best answer. Man that was difficult. I still do not know which one was that best answer. I pulled through with B's in both classed. My Theory's and Research classes. In case you were wondering.... in my program you can only get 1 C. Not like I want one. I about flipped my wig when I got B's. One of my amazing teachers told me that when I go for my NBCOT it would not matter if I got an A or B because what matters is that I know the material and I pass. A light bulb went off. He is right. No one really knows my grades but me. My employers won't know. Nothing says I have to have an A to sit for the NBCOT.  So I strive for an A and to learn the material, but if I get a B, I am thankful I was successful because a B is still a success!

Overall... I have to say this over and over again I am thankful that I made it through. I am more amazed with myself as I go through this journey because I keep learning more and more about myself. When I was younger, I thought that by time I would be 30 I would know myself and would be at a point in my life where everything would be smooth sailing. I have found out other wise. I am always changing for the better and I am always willing to learn something new about what this world has in store for me.

I appreciate you for sharing in this journey with me. I am hoping the best for all of you out there!