Challenges and competition

Grades are in from last semester, and I got an A in all three classes: Dynamics of US Health Care (a survey of the U.S. health care system), Therapeutic Communication for Health Care Professionals (practicing interacting with patients experiencing different emotional hardships in their lives, ie loss of a spouse, depression, long-term illness, etc), and General Chemistry 2. Although Chem was way easier than it would have been at the school I got my undergrad at, I still worked hard to get that A. I think that was the first class I have taken in the four years where I was extremely focused on getting an A. The classes that I took during my undergrad were so challenging that my focus was only on doing the best I could. Now that I'm at another school, and have realized how much of a disadvantage I am at as a candidate, I've returned to the "MUST GET AN A" mindset. However, despite the urgency of achieving that top grade, I've actually learned how to "learn" the material, instead of just memorize it. A skill that I'm sure will be quite useful once I get to PA school.

Today I spent a good chunk of time reading through the blog a PA student wrote a few years ago (http://pastudentlife.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_archive.html). Reading it got me so excited! I hear and read time and time again that PA school will be the most challenging time of my life. In class 8-12 hours a day, sleeping 4-6 hours a night. Eating, sleeping, and breathing medicine. Little to no social life, and the expectation that most of our relationships will suffer. Yet reading about all the trials that I will encounter gets me totally pumped! I love challenges, and if there was one thing that I could say summarized what I learned most from the education I received my four years of undergrad, it's the growth that occurs when you are pushed to what you think your limits are and what benefits from the process. I think what excites me most though is the fact that for the first year, I will be surrounded by people who live and dream the same aspirations I have. Working together with people to achieve a common goal is something I have always enjoyed, and I will more than my need for that during the didactic portion of the program (heck, that's what competition is all about! The root word for competition, competere, means to strive together). :-)