the test is over!

i took the OAT yesterday afternoon. and it was kind of grueling. but after 4 hours of sitting in front of a computer, answering multiple choice questions, i feel pretty good about it. perfect score on reading comprehension, not so perfect on math...

the scoring is a little weird, but overall i think i did well. so, now that's over. there is still a lot left to do. a few more classes, some hours of shadowing, extracurricular stuff. but that was a big one to mark off the list. yay!

now, i'm watching the olympics and trying to motivate myself to clean, do dishes, laundry, etc. all the stuff i put off doing throughout the week while i was studying. does anyone want to come do it for me? :)

well, well...

wow, i didn't realize it had been so long since i've posted. nobody reads these things anymore, do they? i obviously didn't get very far with that photo challenge back in february... anyway, to update anyone who may accidently end up on this blog post, i am still in utah. still going to the university of utah. i have made a career decision, and i'm sticking to it! i have decided to apply to optometry school. i am taking the OAT (optometry admission test) this friday. so i'm going to lock myself in the library this week to study. if you could say a little prayer for me, i would greatly appreciate it.

many people ask me why i chose optometry school. it was a long decision process. i had decided a long time ago that i wanted to do something in the healthcare field, because i needed to be doing something more interactive with people, and something where i felt i was actually contributing to something, and something that made more money. :)  for a long time, i had thought about pharmacy. this is a great field, and i worked for a year as a pharmacy tech. but i realized that it was also very stressful. i also looked at going to medical school and becoming a doctor. this sounded really good, until i realized how LONG it would take. plus, even hanging out with pre-med students was annoying with how competitve everyone was. so then there was optometry. i've been going to an eye doctor just about every year since i was in 2nd grade. that's when i first got glasses. i kind knew what they did, at least as far as interacting with patients. and as i got more into it, i realized that it would be less stressful, (don't have to deal with crazy insurance problems, or people high on pain killers) have a better schedule, still make the money, and i would get to look into people's eyes all day. not to mention i totally aced the optics section of my physics class. so here we are. hopefully that explains a little of how i got to this decision point. i know it will still be difficult. 5 more years until i finish. and then i'll have to pay back 6 years worth of school loans....

and for anybody who cares, i will try to stay more up to date with this blog thing. :)

and here's a photo of a summer rainstorm in the slc valley. just because i have an awesome view.

careers

i've always considered myself one of those people who will never figure out what they want to be when they grow up. someone recently suggested (or should i say highly encouraged) me to find a career aptitude test and take it, as the path that i'm planning didn't make sense to them... so i did a google search for a test, found a free one, and took it. 485 questions later, these were the results...

1. Conservation or Environmental Scientist
2. Medical Scientist or Epidemiologist
3. Agricultural or Food Scientist
4. Counselor
5. Editor
6. Dentist
7. Dietician or Nutritionist
8. Surgeon
9. Medical or Veterinarian Technologist
10. Proofreader

the first two were in the "very high" category, while the others (in no order other than alphabetical) were "high".

i've already had a job in the environmental science field and the agriculture field. and actually, my plan to go from here was to take classes to be certified as a medical technologist. maybe i didn't need this test at all! or maybe i should give each one of these a try. anyone want to pay for my schooling?

stickittothemanitis

it comes right after cubie fever...

am i the only one who secretly wishes that there was no such thing as work? not as in, life should be all play. i don't mind putting effort into things. i'm talking about the whole office, corporate, staring at a computer under flourescent lighting all day long type of work. i don't always feel this way. but i think its worse in the winter, due to the fact that i'm locked inside all day long, and never see the light of day because the sun isn't up when i go to work and it's already set by the time i get to leave the cube farm. it's kind of frustrating....

so, today, i say stick it to the man. i'm not going to work tomorrow!

ok, i'm not that brave. it's saturday tomorrow and i don't have to work anyway. i guess this is my way of saying, thank goodness it's the weekend!!!

1:00am thoughts

i can't sleep. so i blog. although i'm not sure what to talk about. my life hasn't been to extremely exciting lately, except for traveling. i spent two weeks in new mexico, then a week in el centro, then a week in st. louis, and now i'm home for the weekend, and headed back to el centro this week. i love traveling, but it's getting a bit tiring. it's kind of weird to think about where life has led me so far. i never imagined that i would be doing what i am doing. i never thought of myself as a career woman, but i guess that's what i am. but don't be expecting any pant suits anytime soon. :)

recently a friend asked me why i chose the field that i'm working in at the moment. there's not really a straight answer to that. it's like asking someone why they like their favorite color. yeah, there are reasons like, it's bright, or it makes me happy, or it calms me down or whatever. and it may not be your favorite every single day. but it's still your favorite. maybe that analogy has problems, but i guess i chose to major in horticulture, because i liked it. simple, but true. i was struggling to choose, so i took classes in a number of different directions, but i really enjoyed my plant classes, so i decided to stick with that. then as i finished school, went on a mission, and was looking for a job, i still wanted to be involved with plants. to me, it's pretty amazing to be involved with the process of life. a tiny seed comes to life, grows into a plant, which provides beauty and nourishment for all of us. and then the cycle starts over. i love being around that life, the idea of creation, to watch it all happen. i suppose you could do that in other fields of work, but this is the direction i took. i'm still working on the career path that i'm taking, but for now, this is where i am.

in a slight change of subject, as i was riding in the shuttle from the airport on friday, i realized that i may finally feel at home here. i think it took awhile for me to get used to all the people around, it still gets to me sometimes. i'm definitely a small town girl and driving through the city is quite different from what i was used to. but as we drove along the coast, i felt lucky to be here. i know there are ups and downs to this place, but at that moment, i didn't care about the downs. maybe it was because somebody else was driving. :) maybe i'm finally able to let go of whatever was holding me back. maybe i could finally get past the drawbacks to see the good. maybe i'm just in a more postivie mood... i guess what i'm saying is that life is good right now. 2008 is going to be a good year, i can feel it.

by the way, i bought a new car. a glacier blue honda crv. i'll try to get a pic of it on here sometime. i'm on the lookout for a name for my new baby, if anyone has ideas...