It Must Be Happening.....

There is outside evidence that I really am graduating in a few short weeks. Before I get into Exhibit A, I would like to take this chance on Marathon Monday to compare my grad school program to a marathon. At first, I was going along just fine, not really realizing what I had gotten myself into but knowing that I just had to keep going. I don't quit something once I've started it.

It was ok in the beginning, not overly time consuming and just required some slight finagling with regular life. This was the situation until halfway through the program when clinical's started. At that point, the intensity cranked up. I like to think of this part as the Heartbreak Hill of grad school. At this point, your mentally tapped because you are seeing patient's for the first time pretending you know what you are doing. In addition to the clinical hours, there is time spent in the classroom and in lab. There are now two days that I had to finagle my schedule at work.

Then, I hit last semester...2 full days of clinical in addition to about 6 hours of class each week (3 in person and 3 online). Presentations galore. Major rescheduling at work. During this semester, there was an upheavel at my clinical site and I had to find random people to precept me until I could find something more permanent. Semester ended, I didn't die but I really thought I was not going to make it to the end of the semester. Even though I had only one semester left, it felt so far away and that I was really far from graduating.

Fast forward to this semester, same schedule as last semester. Minor upheavel a few weeks ago with my clinical site because I wasn't seeing enough pediatric patients but I got moved to a far less stressful environment. The assignments were roughly the same as last semester with the addition of finishing up a major project. Class schedules were the same as last time. I began to think that there really was a light at the end of the tunnel....I had hit the runner's high. Formal count downs of classes began, talk of taking the boards began, letters about graduation fees were sent to my home. I wasn't being delusional, the finish line was near! Other people were noticing this!

This brings me to today, I'm on autopilot and I'm in the last three miles of the finish line. After you've done 23 miles, what's a few more! I can do this, and I did do it for the past three years! Since January 2007! I'm now starting to think of myself as a superstar, it's so close I feel like I'm starting to glimpse life without school. I listen to other people talk about their grad school programs and it's very different than mine. I was not paid a stipend to be a student, I did not get the luxury of making my own schedule and could not afford time away from clinicals and studying to become someone's research assistant or TA. This program was grueling and not for the weak! This is why I feel like a superstar....I did it and lived to tell!

As promised, the evidence that I really am graduating!

• Letter from Citibank telling me my previous loan is coming out of deferment with a 'seperation from school' date of 5/21/10.
• Letter from the government telling me about grad school student loans pay back options
• Letter from AANP confirming that they have recieved my transcripts and are just waiting for my final transcripts which will trigger them to send me a testing date window
• Graduation gift from my inlaws! Pregnancy massage(s) here I come.

The proof is in the pudding...hopefully my running shoes last till the end!