The final week before school starts

This week is my last week before PA school starts and I am a combination of excited, nervous, giddy and panicked all at once haha I feel like the end of the first book in a story, setting the stage for the next installment of the series during these final pages. The characters are set, the next goal for the main character defined and the major climax in the first book resolved.

The first book of this story was about me getting into PA school. It was a long journey for a goal that seemed impossible at times. I'll detail my journey in a post next week. In these final few days before school starts I'm taking care of odds and ends; changing oil in the car, getting notebooks, cleaning my room, finalizing my schedule and just relaxing.

I constantly wonder what school will be like during the thick of it. Sometimes I get panicked that it will be much harder than I expected, other times I wonder if it will be easier (I may eat my words on that one). But most of the times I feel excited to start the next step of this journey and I feel prepared. As Macklemore said in his song Ten Thousand Hours

"Ten thousand hours felt like ten thousand hands
Ten thousands hands, they carry me"

This song is most likely a reference to Malcom Gladwell's book "Outliers" which to summarize proposes that people are successful at a task more because of practice and experience as opposed to inborn skill. As of today I have over 7,000 hours of healthcare experience, dealing with patients in a variety of settings and have completed a Bachelors and Masters in Biology. All that time working with patients, studying late nights and managing a very busy schedule will hopefully lend itself to PA school. I can certainly tell a difference in my own comfort in healthcare and school these past few years. Whenever I get nervous I think back to what I had to do to get here and I draw my confidence from it. That was part of the subject of my narrative for my application.

I write this to you not only on the first day of the new year, but my last night shift at my full time job where I have worked for three years. This is a bittersweet last shift, but also a very exciting time.

Happy new year,

Kevin