memorial day weekend

This past weekend has been memorable for a memorial kind of weekend.

On Friday I went to Mexico with a group of 26 people. We built a house in a day. It really wasn't much of a house. Yeah, we can pat ourselves on the back saying we did good but it was so minimal. And yet, God used it to bless Hector and his family. In small ways, things happen and change.

And then on Monday, I went to Salvation Mountain with some friends. Basically, it is a painted rock with Christian motifs. The guy with the vision behind it is Leonard Knight. He just wanted to keep it simple:

How great is that? He was also around during the sixties so that might also have something to do with it.

And, because the weekend doesn't end on monday during the summer, on Tuesday, my friends and I had a get together. It was a progressive dinner and it was probably the best graduation/birthday/goodbye party ever. I love these girls.

Anyway, this whole weekend made me realize how incredibly blessed I am.

And it has come to my attention that I have about sixty days before I move to Texas. Crazy.

last week of undergrad.

Last week was the last time I would be on APU campus as a student. So let's go through the week.

Monday: Softball game

Winston. I'm pretty sure he does not put on a normal face for any picture.
But our team won. NBD.


Group picture.

Yeah, I made it to second base.

Wednesday: Lyndsay and I visited South Hills

Darrick trying to jump in the background.

Yeah, this is the norm at South Hills.

Thursday: ATEP awards banquet.

Ashley and I with the Asians, aka Glory and Isak

I absolutely love this picture, it's candid and yet not and definitely does not get the whole group but it makes me happy every time I see it.

Ashley and I with the Kim, Chrissy and Sarah.
On nights like these we ditch the khaki and polo for something classy.

We were playing with our stolls.

I definitely would not have been able to get through the last four years without my fellow peers.

Saturday: GRADUATION!! (just a few of the pictures)

We so excited.

My parents. Love them.

Football players. Enough said.

....

Megan McBratney. She's pretty cool. And now we're graduates. Too bad I'm moving 1,000 miles away and she'll probably find new friends in her doctorate program.

I'm sad we didn't become friends till our senior year. But whatever, we're hanging out this summer.

Was it worth it?

Today, I received the email I was waiting for. The email saying I could go to this website to see if I passed or did not pass the national certification test for athletic training.

When I saw it sitting in my inbox, time sort of stopped. I just couldn't look at the email right away because I could not deal with the possibility of failure.

I started going over my plan for if this happened. It wouldn't be too bad. I would just sign up to take it again. I'd have to wait till June, but it would work out. And then I could just apply for temporary licensure for my Texas gig. It would work out. I would be out a couple hundred bucks but it would work out.

And then I opened it and saw the lovely little word behind status: passed.

I just couldn't contain myself I jumped and screamed and probably kicked a little bit (after placing my laptop gently on the table next to me of course). And thankfully my biggest lifesaver this year was in the room and jumped and screamed (louder) and hugged me.

And then I had the horrible thought of "what if I read it wrong?"

So I looked at the screen again. Read all the script on the page and proceeded to jump and scream and shout again.

It is still sinking in that I passed this test. It is the accumulation of my four years being at this university. In the past few months I have spent more time at the library studying the differences between heat stroke and heat exhaustion and memorizing muscle insertions and origins and general medical terms than I did at my actual apartment. I put so much effort into this in the hopes I would be able to move to Texas ready to be an athletic trainer. It is amazing what the addition of those three little letters to your last name does to your self-esteem.

And to think I almost waited to take it. When I was considering this I asked my dad for advice on the situation. I explained all the pros and cons; the biggest pro being I would have more time to study. And his advice? "The sooner the better. You don't know what's going to happen in June." Great advice, Dad.

That day, I proceeded to sign up for the April test.

And it was worth it. I'm glad to be where I'm at.

I was hanging out with a friend at his work and he asked me if I wanted to see pictures of his cruise he recently went on. We then proceeded to look at all the pictures he was tagged in. And he definitely had some adventures here at APU; a lot of them drunken adventures (he has since given up drinking and hopefully starting a community house in Oregon sometime in the future) and I realize I don't have those types of stories from APU. I have a lot of stories of staying late in the ATR or helping an injured off the field or staying countless hours in the library so that I didn't have to work on a paper the day before it was due (yes, I rarely procrastinated on my papers).

And I'm ok with that. Because as my classmates are finishing papers and taking tests for online classes they had to take to fill up unit requirements, I am done. I turned in my last paper today and found out I'm certified.

Now I'm off to make some funfetti cookies. Best day ever.

Love,

Jane Read, ATC

Back to the lib.

Pages are done. Now I just need to go back and edit and pretty much make it sound intellectual and polish it up a bit

As I'm sitting here in the library, I've come to some conclusions.

1. People do not know how to plug in their headphones. That is the only way I can explain the soft but distinct music coming from somewhere in the computer lab.

2. I am so over coming up with new ways to say promote and invest and change.

3. Waking up is always easy when you are in a strange place. Because our lease ended on Friday, I am staying at my friend Lyndsay's apartment. When I left home this past weekend I packed up a week of clothes. I felt like I was on my way to camp.

4. You know its finals week when everyone in the library has bags under their eyes and they have a face that distinctly says "Go away." And everyone thinks they have it worse than everybody else. Except for me, I'm pretty sure I have it great. I just need to finish this paper and I am done because I took my last final this morning.

5. I am currently waiting for an email about results of test I recently took. I have now checked my email 12 times in the past hour. I think its time for a distraction.

Last week of undergraduate....whaaaa?

I am currently sitting in the library trying to finish my last paper. I can't decide if I am avoiding it because I do not want to admit this whole undergraduate experience is truly coming to an end or because I am at a point full of no inspiration to write about athletic training legislation. You decide.

So I will blog.

It is surreal to think I will soon not be a student of APU. There's still a lot of loose ends to tie up. And then it is time to get prepared for Texas.

I recently checked on the NATA career center and I just saw the perfect GA position for me in Chicago, IL. But I already committed to Baylor and it would be a terrible thing to back out on that for something that may not happen (considering I would still have to apply and all that). It is only perfect because it is a small school very similar to APU and it is in Chicago; the place I fell in love with last summer. I want to go back and actually live there but instead I will be going to Middle of Nowhere, Texas.

Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for this next step. But did I rush into it? If I had been a slacker this year I would have waited and procrastinated and eventually gotten around to applying for GA spots and would have been able to apply to this other spot in Chicago. However, that is not me. I am not a slacker, which I guess is a good thing considering I'm graduating cum laude. And while its not the top honor, it'll do.

And I know Baylor will be great. At least, I hope.

And now it is back to paper writin' so that I can do something fun tonight and have nothing hanging over my head.