One month out

One month out from my previous post, quite a bit has happened in my "professional" life. Here's a little rundown on what's up.

I not only graduated from the University, but they also sent me my second degree in the mail. It's pretty rad, except that I need a diploma frame for that one as well, so it is still sitting in its original envelope.

I also began Phase II of Intermediate training. This phase consists of going out to clinical sites (local ER's) and performing patient assessments, starting IV's and administering medications (at certain places). So far, so good I think. I did have one patient try to fight me when he was forcefully awoken from his drug-induced self-coma. There are set minimums of what needs to be accomplished in Phase II and I am worried I might not be able to. Yeah, so one student already has met the minimum requirements, but this student also works at one of the clinical sites as part of his day job, so I wonder how much they have really completed. I didn't want to bring this up to the instructor, but I really wanted to. For all I know, they could be pencil-whipping paperwork. They have the means and the motivation to do so.

Aside from my pining about Phase II, it seems I have a lead on a new job. This is at an ambulance service, and it the ideal ambulance service of the two services locally based. This service is nationally recognized as a leader and innovator in EMS. Employment standards at this service are really high, as they expect the best people to give their absolute best to ensure the service continues to be one of the best around. My new job is conditional on passing background checks and a physical examination. I am worried about the physical examination because I do have a heart condition that may be detected during the cardiac stress test portion of the exam.

There isn't much more for me to say. I am still pretty damn confused on life and where to go from here. I am perpetually dissatisfied with life and I have no idea where I should go from here. I know a change needs to be made, but I am not sure what type of change needs to be made. Do I relocate? Do I change jobs (working on it)? Do I do something else? The answers are hard to come by and they likely always will be. It's like driving down the highway late at night when it's difficult to see to begin with, and you suddenly hit a patch of thick fog. You aren't sure where you are going but you keep moving forward because you have to.

Only time will tell what changes, if any, will occur and if they are the right ones to make.

END OF COLLEGE!

I am done with college! Two Bachelor's degrees are now under my belt: hooray!

If I had to give this a title, what would it be?

I meant to write in here yesterday, but academia sometimes has that nasty tendency of getting in the way of things you actually want to do....

While I still feel slightly bored with my life, I should mention that I am not expecting overnight changes to make life more thrilling. There are right ways to make life more exciting, and there are really bad ways to do that as well.

Even though school will be wrapping up in the next week or so, it really does not feel that way...aside from all the things I have to do between now and then. I am making headway on that, however there is still a bit to go.

I think continuing my EMS studies this summer will help make life a little more exciting. Moving from EMT-B to EMT-I is not that big of a jump (since there tends to be a large amount of overlap) but it does open the door to a bunch of other cool things you can do....like give more drugs and giving them intravenously. Clinicals in the fall will be pretty cool too, but I don't know about spending 12-hour shifts in the back of an ambulance or an ER. Personally I think that, currently, I prefer the ER over an ambulance. However, there is something about driving really fast with lights and sirens on that is somewhat thrilling. At times I think I want to be a fire fighter, however the only real reason why I would want to do that would be to drive the fire truck, and apparently in some areas you have to earn the rank of "Driver". Running into burning buildings is not quite my thing.

Starting a new job over a month ago also helped make things a little more exciting. For a good portion of that first month, I was really busy helping my department prepare for an important visit and for final exams, but now that both of those milestones have passed, things are not as hectic and I can go at a slightly easy pace.

I guess the gist of my story here is that, while I may not be entirely happy with my life, I am not sure how much I would change. There is also a lot up ahead that I am not entirely sure how (and even if) I will deal with it. There is a lot that I need to think about within the coming weeks and months.