It was so great to see all of my classmates, many of whom have become my very close friends from all of the stress, studying and times of relaxing between tests, classes etc. we have had together. It was fun to celebrate this exciting time with them and was very hard to say goodbye at the end of the weekend! But maybe now that we can make some money we can see each other every once in awhile! Everyone is pretty spread out from coast to coast- but with email and facebook it makes it easier to stay in contact. 
Brett was able to be up on stage and put on my hood with my advisor Peg. The hooding ceremony was very personal and it was nice because the graduation ceremony is so huge and impersonal. It was nice to have the hooding ceremony to be just our class and Tom the head of the department gave a nice speech about how they already miss seeing us around the department. It was very heartfelt and a nice end to a difficult and rewarding 3 years. 
My family and some of Brett's family came up for everything- it was nice to have them there to celebrate with me!
We were able to see a lot, not all, but quite a few of our friends when we were home in MN, which was so nice. It is always for an occasion that we are home and it is nice to be able to see all of the people we can even with our busy schedules!
So then after we came back to CA we had a couple weeks before Brett left for his first deployment. We celebrated our 2 year anniversary by taking a trip on the Napa Wine Train- it was a 36 mile trip that was 3 hours long and we ate on the train- it was great food and fantastic scenery- it was nice to relax and enjoy each other and California. We have been so busy we haven't had a chance to enjoy all the area we are living in has to offer.
Brett left May 31st for his first deployment to the Middle East and has been flying quite often refueling all of the planes that are protecting the troops and borders over there. He has been doing well- there is air conditioning thank goodness because it is 115 degrees. It has been lonely here since he left- but I am so glad we got Cooper when we did, he has made it bearable. I also have lots of great people that I know out here and they are looking out for me as well.
I took my national physical therapy examination this past week (board exam) and passed! which was very exciting! It was a 5 1/2 hour test with 250 questions and I had been studying 24/7 for several weeks. It is so nice and quite a relief to be done with that! I have another exam on Tuesday over the laws of PT practice in California but this is a much shorter exam which I have heard is not too bad! I also got a job working for NorthBay Healthcare- where I did my clinical. They have 2 hospitals and 2 outpatient clinics and I will be working on-call covering people's vacations, sick days, and maternity leave. I am very excited to be working for them- it is a really great opportunity- they have a growing women's health program in one of the outpatient clinics (which is something I have become interested in) and the hospital is getting certified as a Level 3 Trauma Center as well as working on being a certified Stroke Center. So there are many exciting things going on and I am excited to be a part of it. I am hopeful that the position will turn into a part time position at some point! But as for this summer I already have work for almost every day in July! so I will be keeping busy! I am excited to finally be using my knowledge to help others and making money while I am doing it!
Well I am tired so that is all for now! I need to update more often so I don't have so much to update on when I finally write. I will try to write more often now that I have my evenings and weekends to myself (instead of studing ruling my life) :)
Emily
Congratulations so so much with your graduation!! How does it feel to be finished?
ReplyDeleteI graduated to and we had a small ceremony today where many brought family and friends. So strange to be finished but really really good to think about it! Sad that I won't see many of the classmates for a long time now!
I'm staying here in Oslo for now, have a job for the summer, but hope to continue in the same ward. Congrats with your job :) Will be good to start earning some money now.