Oh How the Days Fly

With my sisters and my (soon to be!) brother-in-law enjoying some summer fun

Boston may have J.P. Licks, but I'll miss fun
Oregonian places like Salt & Straw

     As my family recently discussed plans for the Fourth of July this year, I was reminded of how I celebrated America's Independence Day just one year ago: a Bon Voyage party before I trekked off for a month in Kenya. It's a crazy thought. I almost cannot believe how much has happened in one short year. When I started this blog my future was fuzzy to say the least. I knew where I wanted to go, but I was having a hard time figuring out how to get there. At that time I didn't have as much medical experience as I wanted, my EMT class had just been cancelled, I was pretty sure that I needed to take at least one more prerequisite class, and I was starting to seriously doubt that I could pull everything together in time to apply. It really did feel like I was facing a path full of chasms with no bridges in sight. Now though I'm accepted at MCPHS, I have housing in Salem, and I just bought my ticket to fly back to the East Coast. At each step along the way God has been faithful, even when the road has semed crazy, and it's really only the beginning of the adventure. 

I'm also going to miss seeing Mt. Hood from my street
and downtown Portland.

     Of course, my plans to become a PA did not start with this blog. I've spent years preparing and planning to get to this point, and I've learned a good deal about what it takes to apply and get into a PA program over these years. Much of what I've learned has come through the hard lessons of trial and error (mostly error) as this has been very new territory for me. In light of that, and as I spend this next month and a half preparing for my journey back to Boston (and my sister's wedding at the end of July!!!), I thought it would be a good time to share some of these lessons that I've learned to make life just a little bit easier for anyone else thinking of pursuing a career as a PA. Obviously, I don't know everything about the process, and I'm not claiming that I do. I just want to help others avoid some of the mistakes I've made. I'll be dealing with a different topic for each post (getting medical experience, prerequisite classes, dealing with CASPA, interviews, etc.) and just giving some tips and thoughts on things to do or avoid. I hope they're helpful to anyone else just starting the journey.