His Golden Birthday

Happy 30th Birthday to one of the most amazing men on this planet, my boyfriend. Of course, my father is the first amazing man on earth.

I feel pretty young officially dating a 30 year old. We are 6 years apart in age. I am currently 23 and turn 24 in June. BTW, my Dad and I share the same birthday :) I guess that's another reason as to why he is the first amazing man in my life.

Happy Birthday, baby. I love you more than words can express. You are amazing. <3

Another Term Begins

I start my second term at RCC on Monday. I am pretty nervous. Not only nervous because it's only my second term there but nervous because I have never taken this many credits in college before. I feel like I am taking a risk but a good risk. I am taking College Reading 2, Pre-Algebra, Introduction to the Health Care Industry, and Medical Terminology. All of those classes equal out to 14 credits.

Whew. Wish me luck! <3

I've Made Up My Mind... I Think...

I think I've settled on a career choice and where I will transfer once I finish my prerequisites. I know I keep saying I have found a place and blah blah blah but honestly, I am always thinking of something new. So, just bare with me and my decisions, haha. Nothing will be official until the last term at my current college. That won't be for at least a year or maybe two. 

I have decided on getting my Associates in Physical Therapy Assistant and then getting my Doctorate in Physical Therapy. Call me Dr. Ariel ;) HAHA.Once I complete my prerequisites at RCC, I will transfer to Mt. Hood CC which is located about 2 hours north from here. After I complete my PTA there, I will transfer an hour north from there and attend Pacific University for my DPT. I won't have my DPT until 7 years from now but the money and enjoyment of helping others learn how to function again, is going to be pretty rewarding in my book.

I had the option to attend Sacramento City College and then go to Sacramento State University, which is only about 5 minutes from each other, but I know a lot of dumb people that go to both of those colleges and I would rather not be around them. So, I'm going to finish college in Oregon and once I complete my DPT, I will end up moving with my boyfriend down to Redding where I will find a permanent job and home for us. We will be moving to Redding because we want to be in between both of our families. My parents live in California and Jared's parents live in Oregon. It's only fair enough. Right?

One Step At A Time

Today was my last day of my first term at an Oregon college. It feels bittersweet. I've successfully passed all 3 classes I took and I am excited for the next term. I also found possibly a new career path that I am strongly considering my main choice instead of backup.

This term, I took 11 credits. I received a B for one class since the other 2 were pass/no pass only. Therefore, my GPA at the moment is awesome; 3.0. I plan on keeping it that way for a while. *Fingers crossed* My finals... we're fantastic! I don't recall the last time I've scored above 85% one my finals. I feel AMAZING.

Next term, I am taking 14 credits. College Reading 2, Pre-Algebra, Introduction to the Health Care Industry, and Medical Terminology. I am praying my GPA will remain a 3.0 or better. I have never attempted to take this many classes in college before because I'm the kind of person who likes to take things slow with school. I don't like to proceed if I feel I will fail or end up withdrawing the class. I've learned from my previous college mistakes, haha.

My new back-up career is officially... PHYSICAL THERAPY! I sat down with my advisor after my final class today and he helped me figure out my choice. He had told me it's more competitive than Nursing and takes an extra year. Generally, Nursing takes about 6 years to complete. Since I want my doctorate degree in Physical Therapy, it will take me about 7 years to complete. But, it sounds completely worth it. Starting out, I could make $76,000/year and after some experience I could make $116,000/year and up. Sounds pretty amazing, right? I thought so. Not only did he advise me with all of that, he also said after some work experience, I could consider opening up my own practice and potentially make millions. At first, Physical Therapy was going to be a back-up for me but now I am strongly considering it as my main career choice.

I still have a ways to go in school to even knock out prerequisites that aren't the same as one another. Such as, Nursing and Physical Therapy require pretty much the same prerequisites and very little that are different than one another.

Career Ideas:

Registered Nursing

Radiologic Science (Ultrasounds)

Doctor of Physical Therapy

<3

Open Options

Last night I was looking at options for my career path. I found out from Utah State that I have to get my CNA certification before I can enter into their nursing program. That put a damper on my goal. I never even considered a Nursing Assistant because I never liked the thought of changing someone's diaper who could potentially be older than a young child. That is why I chose the route of getting my CMA. Now, I might have no choice which I am not liking. I looked around at other colleges and found another one I was previously interested in before I made my decision to go to Utah State. My search resulted in finding Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. Now keep in my I haven't been a huge fan of the Broncos, college football wise, but their nursing program is off the charts. They admit 65-70 students per term and their NCLEX pass rate is 96% on the first try which is above average for state and national percentage. Awesome, right? I thought so. I emailed the school and asked them if they require a CNA or any other certification before entering into their program. I am waiting on a response back.

I have also decided to sit down and talk with my advisor in person, which I haven't done yet, because I think he could really help me in this search and figuring out what's best for me. I know I can do this on my own but it helps when I have another person there to help me who knows what they are doing. So, I've been thinking of back-up career ideas in case nursing doesn't really work out for me since there is such a high volume of students in nursing programs, which is why it's so competitive. I have thought of sticking with Medical Assisting and I have also thought of Photography. I have always loved taking pictures so why not make it a career someday? We will see. I know it's not that easy and I will have to "sell myself" in order to get customers. That would be something I DEFINITELY need to work on. I am not the best salesman in the world, haha.

With all of that said, wish me luck and I will keep you updated, as always.

<3

My 1st Golfing Experience

Like I said in my first post, I am not only going to be blogging about my success in school but also my interests outside of school.

About a week ago, I went with my boyfriend to a local golf course. I've never found golfing to be very interesting to me. In fact, I've found it to be very boring. I don't understand how someone can stay interested in hitting a little golf ball across the course. The day I went with my boyfriend is the day my views changed. I told him the only way I will go golfing with him is if I can ride in the golf cart and that's exactly what I did. The little photographer in me came out and I got a little carried away. I took a total of over 50 pictures of Jared just swinging away. I think I could get used to this. He explains what stuff means as he does it and I am slowly understanding it. This summer sounds like it won't be filled with just camping and fishing but also golfing. I am proud to say I am pretty excited for this summer :)

I know I will get better at taking pictures in time but for now, here's a few of what I took:

College Buster?

Last night I was talking to my mom about Utah State University and their requirements for the nursing program. Their nursing program is linked with another college in Utah called Weber State University. I have been totally confused about the requirements (GPA wise) due to the program being linked to both universities. Utah State requires a 2.5 GPA for transfer students. Weber State requires a 3.0 for all applicants. The average student has a 3.87 GPA when accepted into the program. Once you get accepted, even if you're a student at Utah State, you are considered a Weber State student. So, my problem now is if I can maintain my 3.0 GPA and possibly get it higher. I don't have self confidence that I can do that. I have NEVER received a 3.0 in school until this semester. I think that's why I don't have the self confidence that I can keep my 3.0. My mission now is to find other colleges in case I don't have a 3.0 by the time I am done with all of my prerequisites.

Wish me luck that I can maintain my GPA and attend the university I want to attend; Utah State - GO AGGIES! I will update you with my choices when I figure them out ;)

<3

A Little Insight About My Career Goal

When I lived in California, I attended two schools. I attended two because one college didn't have the classes I needed towards my degree at the time which was Criminal Justice. Once I moved to Oregon, I had to switch career paths. I decided on Nursing because in High School I attended a Nurse Camp at North Bay Hospital. I toured the entire hospital to see what each division did. The one that got the most out of my attention was the NICU. There was a premature baby addicted to cocaine. The only way to get a baby off of addiction, sadly, is to feed it more of what it's addicted to. That completely broke my heart and ever since then, I've had an interest of working in the NICU. I've always adored children and I don't like seeing innocent children struggling.

With that said, I am now attending my third college here in Oregon. I am almost finished with my first semester here. This semester I took Math, Reading, and Human Sexuality (Psychology). I just finished my Human Sexuality class and received a B. Math and Reading are pass/no pass classes. I have officially earned my first 3.0 GPA in college. I am extremely proud of myself. I think with moving to a whole new state where I know absolutely nobody except my boyfriend and his family, has made me focus in school a lot harder than I did in California. In California, I didn't take school seriously and failed a majority of my classes. I would always choose friends over school. I am so glad I took a turn in life and now have my head on straight. Especially where it matters the most. 

Right now, I am interested in transferring to Utah State University for their Medical Assisting and Nursing program. However, it's not set in stone and won't be until all of my prerequisites and general education courses are completed. So, I still have lots of time to think of other colleges that may spark my interest. I won't be eligible to transfer until Fall of 2014, which is my goal. I've vacationed in Salt Lake City and Park City. Both cities are absolutely breathtaking. I am excited to know that I could potentially be living in Logan, Utah to pursue my career goal of becoming a Registered Nurse.

I will continue to update you as I succeed in school. I will also post some things about interests I do outside of school.

<3