!!!

1:15pm....epiphany...

I LOVE LEARNING.

Now I know for a fact this sounds crazy. Don't get me wrong, I had an amazing time receiving a priceless education at CMU. I had top-of-the-line professors, amazing classes, grueling case studies and research which all helped me wind up where I am today, at such a great internship.

But, while sitting in a foodservice hands-on session doing inventory, ordering, and procurement, I had this epiphany. In undergrad - all of high school, middle school, and elementary for that matter - I've been judged and graded on every single project and assignment I've ever had. Now that I'm in this internship? No grades, no judging. Just evaluating. HUGE difference. I'm being evaluated on my performance and my attitude towards the profession. And it's not just an evaluation, it's constructive feedback. Such as undergrad, I might receive a grade on a paper and the only feedback I receive might be highlighted areas where I made mistakes or failed to mention something...

And again, I'm no baby. I can take harsh criticism very well and learn from it. But, the feeling I get from preceptors, faculty, staff, and even the foodservice workers make me love learning. It makes me that more excited to go in the next day, even if it is at 5:30am. 

And it's not just those who are above us. It's the people I'm around all day: other interns. In undergrad, it's almost as if I had to compete with my classmates for the best grades and to be the best candidate for an amazing reference letter from a professor or supervisor. I had to be to class the earliest and stay the latest to make sure I obtained everything I could. I had to be involved in this, that, and everything. 

Here? All the other interns and I are on the same level. We've all worked just as hard as the other to be where we are. The only thing we have to get used to each other? Knowing we can trust each other. In undergrad in group projects, you know there would always be a leader, some good workers, and some slackers. As a natural leader, I'd always end up taking on more than I could handle, seeing as how many times if I didn't, none of the work would get done. It's tough, but nice and reassuring to know that when we do a project as a group, we're all leaders; when we are assigned something, it will get done by that person. 





Well, that was fun...

Today was another day in purchasing and procurement. We did a quick daily inventory, which would normally take our preceptor about an hour to do the entire food service program, but it took two other interns and I about 2 hours to do about 3 stock rooms. Ha! Basically it all boils down to knowing your organization. I'm sure that with more practice, other interns and I would be able to whip through inventory like its our job. Our preceptor taught us many things today, some of which include...

• Knowing your organization and inventory 
• Knowing what items are popular and move off shelves quickly, and vice versa
• Being aware of production schedules and holidays
• Seeking out competitive prices and bargaining with suppliers

This lady's been at her job for more than 30 years. She's a pro. After finishing inventory, we then went into CBORD and entered her order in and then loaded it into the supplier's website. From there, items are double checked and flagged if they seem like odd amounts (40 cases of celery). The program asks you like 1,304,239 times if you're sure you want to submit the order (duh, it's about a $20,000 bill), and that's it! But, it has many more steps than it seems, I'm just cutting it down for time, and for my Grandma's boredom tolerance (I know you're reading this Grandma Z)!! :)


Overall a great day though, just exhausted, as usual...

Officially a CBORDian

...among many others...
 PFANS = Patient Food and Nutrition Services

UMHS = University of Michigan Health System

UMHHC = University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers

DI = Dietetic Internship

UH = University Hospital

CVC = Cardiovascular Center

MCHC = Maternal and Child Health Center

MPB = Medical Professionals Building

HETM = Healthy Eating Tip of the Month

NSS = Nutrition Services Suite

FMS = Food Management System

CBORD = ????

Needless to say...there are lots of acronyms. Today, a group of interns and I worked with CBORD - a food management system program which it's acronym-type name stands for nothing. CBORD is where the PFANS staff set up food items, recipes, menus, etc.

Definitely more complicated than it seems.

• Every food item is linked to something
• An item must be logged and given proper names and numbers, within character limits
• Items need a unit of measure for ordering and production 
• Inventory done every day and logged, items and recipes forecasted
• Items must be logged with how much they costs and which supplier to come from
• There may be one item, but it may come in...
• 7 different varieties
• 6 different diet variations
• 20 different portion sizes
• (7 x 6 x 20 =  840 different ways to prepare one item)
• There are prep cost yields and nutrient yields to consider
• Items must be linked to specific menus 
• Nutrient information must be linked into items so they will appear in linked recipes
• Recipe ingredients must be done in pounds (1/2 teaspoon baking soda = 0.008 lb...literally)

Lastly, CBORD then prints a bunch of reports which break down the recipes for where they will be prepared, when, and who will prepare them. Reports to also do inventory, track waste, and so on...so on...so on...


Did I mention that for every food item and recipe - every single one - staff must go in and determine if it is compliant with all 110 different diets?!

 I learned a lot today. 

But, the preceptors for this session were amazing and so much fun, which made the experience that much easier. And, we got out early! But that means into bed early, as I must report to the hospital at 6:30am tomorrow. That means I should leave the house by about 5:30-5:45am, which means I should wake up at about 4:45am. 


Yay!


275 days...

And so it finally begins...

So, the rotations have officially started and it is SO nice that they have. Today our task was to do inventory, which might seem simple but it's definitely not. I worked with one of the purchasing managers and she took me through her daily and monthly routine of doing inventory. U of M has thousands of products and produce that they have, not to mention nourishments and formulas.

The manager I was with was awesome. She first let me do the looking around in inventory, counting the cases or individual boxes or flats of product, then I would tell her. Seem easy? It's not. First, everything in storage comes in similar looking boxes, especially the formulas. With those, there might be one slight number variation and it was my job to find it on the cardboard box. Then, boxes aren't always where they're supposed to be. I may have thought I counted them all, but 10 minutes later, I would find a box out of place and then have to go back and add it. To make it better, a shipment came in while we were doing inventory so we had to go back and add all of those to our list.

After I was on that end, my manager let me be the one to write. That was also neat to see because again, it's unbelievable how closely related some of the products were. One product might read "For Enfamil Lipil 1.5 RTU" and another might read "For Enfamil Lipil Unfl RTU." And, of course, those products would be right next to each other in the storeroom and on the inventory checklist.

In other good news, I finished one of my projects today. Quite an easy project, actually. Each of us are to be assigned to a camera for 2 days during our rotation. Our task is to take 2 pictures for each of the following categories: Teamwork, Automation, Service, Quality, Communication, and Empowerment. Definitely harder than it sounds, but an easy project nonetheless and fun to do. We then turn the cameras in and they will have a contest during our wrap up session and people will be awarded prizes. I volunteered to be one of the first people with the camera so I could get this project out of the way and have one less thing to worry about. I'm really excited to see what people come up with! 


And, last but not least, of course, I'm started to get a head cold. There has been weird shifts in weather lately in Michigan, which always seems to mess with my health. A few days ago it was sunny and 80 and then today it shifts to 55, windy and rainy. It just seems to give me super bad headaches and make me feel like crud. But, luckily we got out early today and I was able to take a nap.

Short day, but felt very long. Basically we had an orientation that reviewed the 7 projects we're going to have due in three weeks! Which include....

1. Customer Satisfaction Survey and Statistics
2. Tray Delivery and Pick Up Time Statistics
3. Cleaning/Sanitation In-Service Program
4. Knife Handling In-Service Program
5. Personal Journal Reflection Paper
6. Camera Project
7. Recipe Development and Taste Test
8. Healthy Eating Tip of the Month (just for me!)

So, lots to do! Not a lot of time to get them done. But, that's why we're a team and we're going to tackle them head on. Then, on CMU's Homecoming on October 16th, the day after everything is due...I might be able to relax. We'll see...

277 days...

Well...

Hm, guess it's been a few days since my  last entry. Had a bad day on Thursday and yesterday we attended the Michigan Dietetic Association Fall Conference in Mt. Pleasant. It was cool to be back in Mt. Pleasant, but I was bummed I couldn't visit anyone while I was there. The conference was all about how to market yourself as a dietitian and they also touched on everything that's going on in Lansing about a bill that helps RD's getting a license to practice (which I LOVE). This would mean that only a licensed RD would be able to give out nutrition information and advice.

The best part was after the conference when we stopped at the Uncle John's Cider Mill. We did wine tastings and enjoyed cider and donuts. A few girls in our internship group had never been to (or heard of) a cider mill, so we decided to take a quick tractor ride around the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. It was lots of fun and it was nice to hang out with everyone outside of the internship. These are the times I wish I lived in Ann Arbor...

279 days...

...

I can't even begin to explain how exhausted I am today. We really didn't do too much out of the norm. We had a speaker on how to give an effective evaluation, an introduction to PFANS (Patient Food and Nutrition Services) and the B2 kitchen, and a tour. But - there was a big storm last night that woke me up at about 3:30a and I couldn't seem to get back into a good sleep...and the fact that I'm not used to sitting so much. I'm ready to start rotations and finally be on my feet and moving around. Can't complain though...we did do some moving around...

Easily the best part of the day! After lunch, we went back to our rather cramped room and it was no longer just the presenter and six interns, but about 10-12 other supervisory/managers from the PFANS B2 kitchen! We all shared introductions (as usual) and then moved through a PowerPoint about what each supervisor/manager/director does and how they all come together. It was good to see where everything falls in place. Then, we got up and went downstairs and had a tour of the B2 kitchen. Still, nothing too crazy.

After our tour, our tour guide told us we had one more assignment until we could go. Nothing other than...A SCAVENGER HUNT! Now, sounds childish at first right? But totally awesome. We were split into two teams of three and we had a "coach" and a "cheer squad" composed of the managers and supervisors. We were then given an envelope and in relay fashion, interns were given one strip of paper that said a place we had to locate in the kitchen.

Time out. When I say kitchen, don't think of like a restaurant kitchen where it's not all that big. This kitchen is MASSIVE. And it's not only the kitchen, but locker rooms, loading docks, special elevators, millions of offices, galleys, etc. This place was floor plan size of an entire hospital but on the bottom floor. HUGE = understatement.

Time in. So after we were given our strip of paper, it had a location or thing in the kitchen that we had to go and find. When we found the right place, we found a small piece of paper that verified we found the right place. Then, as fast as we could (and we HAD to walk through the dish area), we made our way back to our central meeting place. Then, it was another team members turn. In total, there was 16 places/things we had to locate, so it took about 30 minutes to do the entire scavenger hunt.

WE WON! It was so much fun. Not only the game part but also having the kitchen staff and managers/supervisors help us. They were incredibly friendly and played along. Our prize was a little gifty bag with a lunchbox, water bottle, a small bottle of hand sanitizer, and a cooking thermometer. What may seem like a bag of random gifts is, in fact, a "foody's" lottery. 

In other words, I can't wait to start my food service/kitchen/production rotations next week. Only one day left of food service administrative classes, then a conference in Mt. Pleasant on Friday. Then, lots of homework and project work needs to get done this weekend. Then...rotations start!

Finally. Bedtime. 

282 days...

Almost to rotation time!

Today was another great day. Literally. Our classes today were based on customer service, planning budgets, marketing, disaster management, and creating in-service presentations. I realize some of this information seem dry and dull at first, but I assure you, it was awesome.

First, our schedule called for a four hour session with Aramark this morning. I wasn't sure what to expect and with a four hour session being so early, I knew I would be drowsy. But I was wrong! We walk in and there was Starbucks coffee waiting for us, along with a yogurt parfait "buffet" set up, along side with heart healthy muffins made with carrots and fruit purees. Needless to say I stayed wide awake through the first half of the day.

Then, lunch came. Again, provided by Aramark so I was assuming we were going to get basic sandwiches and box lunch materials...wrong again. Chicken fajitas! With all the fixings, including chips and salsa, and pound cake with fresh whipped cream and berries for dessert. Again, I stayed wide awake after that, even through the calculus and budget planning math problems. In the marketing presentation, we were split up into two different teams and we competed for a bid to become a new catering company. Our company was named "Crisp!" and based our concept around specialty organic/local/fresh salads with homemade signature dressings. Fun stuff!

The only downside today was the terrible commute home. We were on the other side of the medical campus that picks up people, so we didn't get to the bus stop until about 5:15pm, after the big rush. So, all the buses were busy and we stood there for a good 20 minutes, which is terrible compared to the normal 2-3 minutes we usually wait. After that, we were shuttled to the car, then the actual commute home. I got home much later than normal days, but the fun conversation at the bus stop made up for the time wait. And the fact that I got an up close and personal spot on the bus. I really do think that I was closer to the windshield than the bus-driver was. Completely illegal because I was far ahead of the yellow line, but I felt like I was "ON TOP OF THE WORLD!"...that was a Titanic movie reference, P.S.

Then, grocery shopping with Grandma. I'm pretty sure we shut down the entire deli section getting yummy turkey, ham, extra-sharp cheddar, pepper jack, and baby Swiss cheese. I'm officially in love with the Better Health store here in town; the fact that everything is organic and with all best attempts at products and produce being local. And my Bridge Card works there! We then came home and had delicious grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, fresh garden tomatoes, and vanilla yogurt with fresh pineapple. 

I forgot to mention we got our schedules for the first three weeks of our food service rotation. Oh yea, and did I mention I have seven projects due in three weeks!?

Food + Service = Food service

Currently in the food service classes that prep me for my food service rotations which begin next week! We had classes that covered NSF, remodeling of food service areas, HACCP review, recipe conversion, etc. It was definitely a good refresher course and I'm feeling more confident than ever to begin this rotation. Our preceptor went over some of the projects we will be doing in this rotation and it's making me very excited!

The project that was introduced today was that we get to create a recipe that will be on the new University Hospital Room Service menu! We will be paired up and our mission is to compete against each other to create the best entree salad recipe. The trick is, the recipe has to expand well to 400+ servings, pass a taste test, and a survey. So, not as easy as it sounds. But, it will be exciting nonetheless. 

Other than that, today was nothing to complain about. It's tough getting back to getting up at 5am when you get to sleep in on the weekend. This Friday we are going to the Michigan Dietetic Association fall conference. Guess where it is...Mount Pleasant! Just when I thought I couldn't go back soon...

Not only to make the day better, all of us interns are going to stop at the cider mill on our way back! Today we were talking about it and some of them have never heard of a cider mill, so I'm really excited for them to see how fun it is. Cider donuts, homemade cider, corn mazes, wine tastings, and tractor rides...HERE WE COME! 


284 days...

Round 3

First two weeks of administrative classes are OVER. Finally! Now onto round 3 with my foodservice classes, to help kick off my foodservice rotations that will begin next Monday. I can't really report much now, but I'm sure there will be much more to tell by tomorrow.

Went home again this weekend. It's so hard to leave once I get there. There's nothing better than spending time with family, relaxing, going to the cider mill, spending time with Jordan, watching the 'lil cousins little league baseball games, chasing Bella around the house, big brunches, and sleeping in.

As an alum of CMU and Phi Sigma Sigma, it was hard to look on Facebook and see all the pictures from recruitment week - and not being there. I think of everything that has happened since I graduated, that was the trigger that really makes me feel old. It seems like the new girls are amazing and I'm sure they will keep the ΔI legacy alive, I can't feel but left out as I can't meet them! As much time as it took up, I would give anything to go back and help out at recruitment, go to meeting, and sleep in my old room in the house. 

 

 
This will forever be my second home...♥

Eh...

Ehh...

Woke up to thunderstorms and because of the horrendous rain and driving on an unfamiliar, pitch black road at 6:30am, going 50mph, I almost had my first accident. Almost. In a valley between two steep hills, the water decided to all come together. And of course there's no street lamps so i didn't see the small pond that was forming. A literal wave of water over my car and a clutched fists on the steering wheel, straight-armed swerve took my breath away. Someone (or something?) was on my shoulder this morning.

One of those days. Super exhausted, so many projects piling up, and family matters. This whole thing is more than I expected and I we're still in the administrative week. Presentation tomorrow, but at least we get out early. Then, it's heading home.

288 days...

Hump day!!

Another long day of classes. Almost done with the last administrative week. Today we learned about The Joint Commission, our attitudes, diversity, Healthy Eating Tip of the Month, literature reviews, etc. LOTS of stuff. 

Turns out each month, an intern is in charge of the Healthy Eating Tip of the Month. It's not just a little tip that's thrown out in a department-wide email every month, but instead a hospital-wide initiative that includes displays, bulletin boards, handouts, and creating a website. Yea. No big deal! So, of course, whose name is first alphabetically in the intern list? MINE! That means that I get one month from today to create all of this. While other interns get 3, 4, heck! 8 months to finish theirs. Is this unfair? Mm...debatable. But - will I get it done early and not have to worry about it and have it come at more inconvenient times? Probably. I'm going to be the optimistic pessimist for today.

But I really can't complain. I'm here. I'm getting it done. I'm going to be an RD soon. And, today we got to put our sweet acting skills to use by role playing tough situations for communication. 

Today was loads better than yesterday. Yesterday we slowly trudged through the intensely slow afternoon of learning about how the hospital disposes of medical waste. Get this - U of M hospital has a state-of-the-art autoclave which is attached to a grinder. All medical waste (sharps, rubber gloves, etc.) goes down into the grinder and gets grinded until it's unrecognizable. Then, it goes up a conveyor until it's put into this MASSSSIVE autoclave that seals and heats everything inside with 280 degrees of steam. This kills all the germs on it so it would be safe to go to a landfill. Then, it goes down a chute into the everyday garbage. Cool, but completely unnecessary for us to know. Not to mention the guy had a super monotone voice and didn't move around the classroom at all. The tour of the autoclave area was neat, but...

a) smelled beyond disgusting, a possible mix of a sewage plant, wet dog, and rotting eggs

b) we had the tour directly before lunch

c) the guy overstayed his tour time by 10 minutes, cutting into recovery/lunch mode

So. Needless to say, good information, just didn't need to be 2 hours worth. 

But then today the entire hospital staff (including us!) was invited to an ice cream social outside in the courtyard where personally treated myself to some vanilla frozen yogurt with strawberries and Oreo crumbles. Yay hump day.

289 days...

So, now orientation is done. Now comes two weeks of classes. The first week is consisting of making sure my attitude is in check, that I'm a well-rounded team leader, that I can manage my time, that I can recognize diversity, etc., etc. Then, next week I have class to prepare me for my foodservice rotations.

Lots of sitting, but overall good information. We had "quizzes," which turned out 5,600,385% easier than we ever expected. Through writing and presenting a short paper about my time wasting tendencies, then hearing other interns tendencies, I learned I'm definitely not alone. I thought today was going to be less than stellar, but turns out a lot of our information was hands on and was put to simulation projects. Not to mention I was in a sweet, almost too outgoing group that likes to put our cool spin on hospital slogans (patients-and-family-first!)...

The sunshine was our drug of choice today.




Now, it's just working on short assignments here and there. Learning style quiz and reflection here, reading this article there. Finish this reading here, work on a case study there. 


I really need to invest in a quality planner. Nothing too fancy with leather and that jazz. Mom, I love you, but the free planner you gave me with 1/2 inch spaces for each day and stickers that say "Parent-Teacher Conferences!" just might not do the trick!

Third day...check! So, technically the first week is over. Only 42 to go! Friday was nothing too much different from the other days of orientation. We had a tour of the Taubman Health Sciences Library, which was less than stellar as our "tour guide" seemed more tired than we were. I expressed that thought in my evaluation. 

Although the last day of orientation seemed bittersweet, it seems to signal that the real rotations are coming. One more week of administration classroom meetings and then foodservice - here I come!! We had lunch provided by PFANS (Patient Food and Nutrition Services), and it was amazing! Homemade pita chips and hummus, quinoa salad, wraps, fresh fruit, and a strawberry/whipped cream/sponge cake. After lunch, we had a lecture on how to use CBORD - which apparently was taught at some universities but was unknown to 7 out of 12 of us. 

Either way, to make a long week complete, I spur-of-the-moment decided to see Jordan in Mt. Pleasant. I left by 4:40pm, hoping to miss most of the westbound traffic and made it past most of it, but alas was caught and at a few points in time was going 0mph on the highway. My car didn't seem to mind the trip but I'm just hoping that my red wagon makes it just 42 more weeks. After I graduate on July 1st (yea, found out it's July 1st, not the 2nd!) and I get an entry-level position, a new car will be my first purchase. And much needed.

Snuggled back in the nook I love, I don't want to leave again. But I'm finishing what I started and I'm going to finish at the top!

293 days...

In the movie, "Holes," kids explain to the "new guy" about how digging the holes day after day turns out. The first day doesn't seem too bad because the blisters are only starting to form and everything is new. The second day, they say, is the worst because now you have to work through the pain of existing blisters.

Not exactly sure what made me think of that. Today, the excitement dwindled a little and everything is just starting to become real...well, and the fact that I obtained blisters by taking the long tour yesterday and today I had to walk with said blisters. Ouch. 

There is no doubt in my mind that I made the right choice by coming to U of M. The first item on the agenda was to sit in a conference room with our director, her assistant, and all 12 interns. We went over our orientation binders, policies and procedures, and our master rotation schedule (which I'll get to later!) Not only did we do that for some time, but what I found awesome was our next task. We got a slip of paper and were asked what our expectations were of the internship. A long time I was seeing as from, "what do they expect of me?", but now it was our chance to tell them what we want to learn and what we expect. My list was as follows...

• To be challenged!
• To make networking and lifelong connections with other interns, hospital staff, and preceptors
• To find my specific interest within pediatrics and become passionate about it
• To pass my RD exam on the first try and obtain a great job with a competitive edge
• To be confident and competent by my graduation in July
• To be respected in the hospital as a crucial member of any multidisciplinary team
• To have fun and step out of my comfort zones

Just to name a few. Then, we went around the table and shared our ideas and our director took a sincere interest in what we were saying. I know I made the right choice and it makes me feel amazing to say it.

After that, all 12 interns sat together at lunch. We get along really well and it's nice that we can all relate. No, we don't all eat perfect at lunch and today another intern bought us all chocolate chip cookies from the cafe and they were A-MAZING!! 

To end the day, we sat in a computer education lab and learned about the patient software they had. That was also interesting how diverse programs can be. The program UofM uses makes other programs look so basic and almost as if they miss lots of information. Of course, I have a project due tomorrow already and two others that are due on Monday. Yayyy, being an intern...

As for my master schedule (and it's been a long day, so for now I'll keep it short), I'm starting off in my foodservice rotation. Which I think will be a nice slow transition as much of my experience is in hospital foodservice. My clinical rotations, which I won't start until January 3rd, will be in areas such as...

• pediatric bone marrow transplants
• cardiac medicine
• clinical nutrition management
• neurology/otolaryngology
• pediatric renal
• pediatric intensive care unit
• neonatal intensive care unit
• about 6 weeks of varied pediatric random disease states

The next 10 months have been mapped out for me...so now I just gotta hop in the car and GO!!!

First day - COMPLETE!

Well, I made it through the first day! YAYY!

What a day...my schedule went as planned. I got up at 5am to work out, which was good. I walked on a janky treadmill that maxed out at 7mph but I worked out until 6am. Then showered, ate, and got ready and was out the door by 6:45am.

The commute was nice, took longer than expected because of construction - but what's new? We got there really early, as in first ones there early, but I'm OK with that. We had a nice breakfast and mingled with preceptors and met lots of people, in which I won't remember their names. After that, we took a 2 hour tour of the hospital. I guess I never realized how extensive and massive this hospital campus really is. So many hallways and buildings and numbers and letters to coordinate my destination.

But I get a beeper. So that makes it completely legit.

After that, we ate a scrumptious box lunch and listened to some more administrative assistants and directors talk about their positions and how we'll be seeing them around. Then, we got our ID badges...SOOO cool! We look like everyone else, with our badges.

Ohhh yea....

After that we filled out some paperwork and were free to go! We get our master schedules tomorrow which will outline which rotations we do when, as well as who our preceptors will be. So exciting!

If anything, I'm just glad the first day is over. The nervousness is no longer there. The other interns are cool and legit, and our directors and people we report to are no longer quite as intimidating. What just stinks the most is not being able to share in person my excitement with the bf or my mom or sister. Boo. But as all the past interns and preceptors said today, "it goes by so fast and it'll be over before you know it!"

Lets just hope.

296 days...

Nuh uh...

The fact that I start my internship tomorrow? Surreal.

The day I prepared for, for four years straight? It's here. I'm not really sure how I pinpointed dietetics exactly. I know tons of people have their hearts set on it from elementary and go into it headstrong once they get into college. I just seemed to fall into it. I've always loved food, I've had preoccupations with food in the past, and I love science - so, why not? 

Big-name counselors and professors tell you all the time that you have to get involved and active while in college to get where you want to go. It seems like in other programs that may, or may not, be the entire case. For dietetics, it's the whole entire case and all the cases behind it. When I look back to the thousands of hours I spent in meetings, doing research, and projects which may have seemed pointless at the time - they now seem like saviors. I'm not sure if I would have made it here without all of them. I probably lost out on crucial bar time; but was it worth it? Hell yes. While I may have regretted staying in and missing out on being in some pictures, I can confidently say it was worth it. 

Now, I'm not saying that I had the book-worm-type college experience - it was definitely 1,000,000 times more fun than I had ever expected it to be. But, in all reality now that I'm out and starting this internship tomorrow? I don't even know how I can explain or begin to thank those who helped me get here.

Anywho, enough of that. My schedule for the next 40 weeks will be as follows...

5:00am - wake up and work out

6:00am - shower and get ready

6:45am - leave to meet carpool buddy

7:00am - make the trek to the hospital because we all know that not being really early makes me anxious

7:30am - arrive to the commuter lot and take the bus to the hospital

8:00am - clinical rotations, classroom sessions, project presentations, etc., etc.

5:00pm - leave for the day

5:45pm - arrive to home to grandma's!!

After that? Without college organization meetings, sorority recruitment, socials, and everything else college related...what will I do!?

Gettin' there...

So it's decided...I have someone to carpool to the hospital with! It may seem like a small victory for many, but this means that I will have someone to show up with on the first day, someone to vent/cheer with at the end of the day, someone to quiz me with medical terminology, and of course the logical reason everyone else is thinking of - saving gas.

Because I'm a nerd and I like to figure things out and have personal justification for things, in the next 10 months with driving to the hospital and trips home, I'll be spending about $1,100 on gas. Not to mention putting 10,000 miles on my car, which I hope and pray makes it through the next year. By carpooling, I'll be saving about $400. I did another grown-up thing today by signing up for a credit card, so I could pay for the gas and build credit so that at the end of this internship, I'll be able to buy a car that is completely reliable!

Yet, while $1,100 seems like a colossal amount of cash for a recent graduate like me - it's FAR from the amount I'd be paying living by the hospital in Ann Arbor and not commuting. Four bedroom apartments in Ann Arbor range from about $550-$900+ for 10-month leases. Oh. My. Lanta. And that's just the lease - not to mention utilities and gas money for visiting home and CMU. 

I think chillin' with Grannie will do...


301 days...

The toughest part of this process isn't necessarily the packing everything into my car and moving, but what I'm driving away from. CMU was my home for 4 years, and while I'm not about to get nostalgic or anything, it's a little sentimental thinking that the next time I go to Mt. Pleasant...I'll be a guest - not a resident. I'm going to a new place where I won't know anyone, and unlike college, I won't have any forced living/making friends interaction like I did in the dorms.

Eh, slightly weird mood today. I went to visit my "irreplaceable love" yesterday and had to leave him this morning. It didn't help that I drove home in the rain and it's been raining all day. But, I did manage to clean the entire house for Mom, just so she'd have one less thing to worry about. And this reading for the DI is something I can't seem to stay focused on. Just one of those days...