Packing my bags

Most of you who know me can remember when I was pretty dead set to be a pharmacist. Sometime in my junior year of high school (don't ask me how) I came up with the idea that I wanted to pass out pills and deal with insurance companies for the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong, pharmacy is a great field and if that is what your heart desires, more power to you. Don't let some big-headed physical therapy major change your mind. Although it might have set me back a little, my short affair with pharmacy wasn't the worst thing that could happen. I honestly am not sure if I would have the same passion for physical therapy if I didn't choose the wrong path first.

A little about my wrong turn as a medicine man. Most of the classes I had to take for pharmacy ended up transferring towards my physical therapy degree, so switching my major never set me back -- academically. I still struggled with the college courses. High school came naturally to me. I graduated 12th in my class with a GPA around 4.1 even though I took AP Calculus, AP English, and AP Spanish (yo podria escribir un "blog" sobre de esa experiencia, ay caramba). So when I got to college, and they expected me to open a book, it was a little bit of an experience. I never failed a class in college, but I got some grades I was less than proud of. I later realized it was less of a deal than I made it back then, but to this day I am mortified that there are a few Cs just chilling on my transcript.Ok, but school talk is boring and stuff, so I'm gonna get to the physical therapy part now.

While I had been considering changing my major for a little bit, I didn't really have anything that I had wanted to switch to. Weather had always been a passion of mine, but it just didn't seem like a really practical profession. I would also lose the opportunity to stay in the medical/healthcare field which was pretty important to me. So, I just waited around for something to click. I needed a big change, some giant sweeping change over me to ignite some passion into something, anything. Ok, that sentence got a little to dramatic, so let me just tell you. I got it. It clicked. I found it. I knew.

If you ask me what my big defining moment was, I'm assuming you wouldn't guess I would answer with the Special Olympics State Summer Games. You can go ahead and insert your own "Go for the gold" or short bus joke here, but seriously; Special Olympics changed my life. It was my defining moment. 

I was able to chaperone the state summer games because of my inside connections at SCCRESA (i.e. Holly's mom works there). I wasn't really sure what to expect. I just figured I would hang out, do some cheering, then come home and that would be that. Something happened when I was there though. I wish I could explain to all you people out there (the two of you) what exactly it was, but I don't think I could ever explain it. There was literally this place where there was no judging. No one seemed out of place. Everyone fit. Everyone. If you ever get the chance to volunteer with any special olympics function, please take it. I don't think you will be sorry. I have never felt so included in anything, and I wasn't even competing. (Yes, go ahead insert your next joke) In all seriousness, I knew what I wanted to do with my life (Well, kinda...)

I didn't want to make any rash, life-changing decisions just yet, so I slept on it. I slept on it for a while. I was actually kind of afraid. I had made this commitment, and I take commitments pretty seriously. Plus, what would people think? I mean, my mom was pretty excited about me being a pharmacist and took every opportunity to tell people. (When I say everyone, I mean that she told her coworkers, the mailman, the cashier at the store, her OB/GYN, the customs toll-booth operator, and the bum she gave change to one day.) I don't really know if she told all those people, but I think my point was proven: My mom loved the idea of me being a pharmacist. So to tell her I wasn't going to be one anymore weighed heavy on me.

Aside from that, I still didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, I just knew who I wanted to work with. I wasn't sure that being a special education teacher was the right path for me because I wasn't ready to give up that healthcare dream. Time to research. No one cares to hear about that, so I'll just say what everyone is thinking: I picked physical therapy.

It was the perfect blend of what I wanted: to help people, to be in the medical field, and to work with the special needs population. It would be a little bit of a pay cut, but that small amount of money was well worth the enjoyment I planned on getting from this career. I had finally committed to something.

Now came the really hard part: telling everyone (talking to you momma). Telling Holly went well. She gave the typical girlfriend response "I'll support you whatever you choose!" (Not that I'm complaining, Hollz, but that is kinda what you HAD to say!) Telling my mom was fine too. I'm not really sure what I was worried about. Her only concern was job market (Rapidly increasing, btw). So after hearing the field was growing, she was totally fine with the switch. Plus, it came with that almighty "Dr." title. (I know deep down she can't wait to tell everyone that her son is a Doctor). 

So that's really it. A lengthy post to tell you I switched my major. I was packing my bags and hitting the open road. A one-way ticket to a doctorate of physical therapy, if you will (and I hope you will). 

Hope you guys are enjoying the blog. Give me some feedback. It'd be really appreciated. I don't mind if no one reads it, but if you are reading it, I want to know that it is interesting for you. Maybe I can throw in a knock knock joke next time. Everyone loves a knock knock joke.