Orientation didn't get off to the best start, but I guess that is to be expected when you leave for home at 6... with 7 hours of driving to go. It's ok, think of me as you wish. I totally deserve it. The trip from Orlando to Atlanta was gruesome. I had to take a ton of breaks, stop at a gas station at 2 for a twenty minute nap, and ended up getting in at 3 instead of the 12:50 a.m. arrival time that I should have had. I stumbled home and up the stairs to pass out, setting my alarm for a bright and early 5:40 a.m. Naturally, this meant that I got about... 2 hours of sleep. The alarm went off entirely too soon, and having drilled into my brain that this class was more important than 8 a.m. Physics (which I always managed to oversleep for), I wearily pushed myself out of bed and into the shower, got dressed, got my bag, made a protein shake and was out the door. I wasn't sure what to expect with traffic, so I left about an hour and twenty minutes early. I hit traffic as soon as I got on the interstate, although even with the crazy stop and go, which somehow seemed to still be functional, I arrived at school in 24 minutes, so I had plenty of time.
I had chugged about 2 bottles of water before arriving in an attempt to wake up, and arrived at the Trustees Dining Room at Mercer bright eyed and bushy tailed to meet my fellow PT students and faculty. Likely the last free breakfast of my Graduate career: check. Ice breaker: check. Professor that researches Diabetes: check, and yay. Don't get me wrong, orientation was a really helpful experience, but it was extremely hard to sit for almost 9 straight hours until 5. We had another tour of the campus, had several of the staff and faculty come to brief us on different aspects of the school, talked amongst ourselves, had a couple of lectures, lunch and shared a lot of laughs. I ashamedly started nodding off a couple of times, simply out of pure exhaustion; when I got home, I went for a walk to the local farmer's market to try and get my mind going. I saw "Guardians of the Galaxy" with one of my friends at the Drive-In movie theatre here. I got home, tried to chill out, and did my best to tackle the huge mound of emails from clients that I had completely neglected during my time in Florida and the terrible endocrinologist appointment (more on that later). I folded laundry. There was so much computer work to do that I started falling asleep on the couch. It was 2 a.m. before I stumbled up to bed, and it was much too late for me chastise myself for not going to bed sooner. I was still adjusting from summer and had forgotten I had another early morning.
Thus, the next morning was even worse. I slept in a little later since I knew that it didn't take 1.5 hours to get to class, but 6:20 a.m. still came far too early for my taste. I stumbled out of bed. Sleep deprivation was taking its toll. My face was drained of colour, I looked like a ghost, and my mind felt as though it was operating at about 65%. I felt terrible. I stumbled to Day 2 of orientation, putting on my best face, drank about 3 bottles of water, met with my academic adviser Dr. Fabrizio, and by the time we breaked for lunch at 12, I made my way to the car to drive home since we had 2 hours and I had forgotten a pair of pants for one of the two birthday parties I was working later. I hit traffic, which I was not expecting for the middle of the afternoon, though now I hear Fridays are just bad traffic days. I had enough time to take a 20 minute nap, and for my non-nap inclined self, was startlingly happy about this. I had never passed out sooner in my life I think. I woke up to my alarm going off 20 minutes later, having collapsed face down on the couch. Drool and all, seriously, my level of exhaustion had reached critical levels. I made it on time to the white coat ceremony, while trying to fight dozing off again. I left the white coat ceremony, and by some freak of nature, as I mentioned earlier, had TWO parties to do that evening, back to back. I rushed to the first one, fighting traffic and wrong turns the whole way until I was finally there. I did that party, then rushed to the next one. The party lasted until about 10:30... I stumbled out at 11. My hair drooped. My head drooped. My eyes were sandbags that wouldn't stay open. I was so tired that as soon as I got on the highway I had to pull off at an exit and rest at a gas station. I locked my doors, but this time I was so tired I slept through my alarm and when I awoke, it was after 1:00 A.M. the lights were dark and it was scarily quiet. I sighed and couldn't believe myself. By some miracle I made it home. I stumbled into bed, all of my more tired that I had ever been.
Saturday I had two parties, but thankfully was able to sleep in until about 8; still tired, but the tiredness wasn't critical as it had been. I was able to relax the rest of the evening, go for a run, make lunch for the week and unwind. Today was even better; I had a relaxing morning and even fit in some studying amongst my ritual weekend chores (vacuuming, tea making, organizing my balloon aprons, paint brush cleaning and remembering that I should wash my sheets). I managed to get it all done, go to a birthday party as the Frozen Queen up in Jasper, get a pretty view of the mountains and stop there for a Walmart shopping trip, since I have yet to find the Walmart in ATL and don't know that if I find it that I'll necessarily like what I see (Atlanta is sketchy enough as it is!)
So this weekend has been good for me, and I learned a very important lesson on the power of sleep. If I keep myself centered and focused, I think I will be fine. I know PT school is going to be hard... but I know that everytime I think of the people I am passionate about helping, that I will remember how worth it this journey will be.
It's here, guys. My dream of being a Physical Therapist is here, and it begins with this single step, this single first day.
Here goes nothing, and here's to getting used to having males in my class again after 3 years at a women's college.
Go Bears! ;)
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