Thats a Nice Story

Well, I haven't blogged for a while and so now is a good as time as any to post something. By the way, for the singles and singles of individuals that looked at my vacation pictures, I will finish putting them up on myspace sometime soon.

So far my program... sucks. It is different than my previous University years and a lot of people feel that we haven't done anything concrete yet. We've just got special words we like to throw around such as "enabling", "client centered", and "holistic." However, I remember being told by others to just wait for that first field placement. After that, you suddenly spring to life. Everything clicks and from there its a whole lot more smiles than before. Hm... I guess I better make sure I get all my requirements for that first placement. Oh yeah, I stay in Edmonton for my first one in October.

The most interesting classes I've had so far are when patients have visited. Actually, the first one was a standardized patient named "Millie." A standardized patient is actually just an actor or actress playing the role of a patient. Sort of like Kramer when he played the part of a ghonorhea (sp??) patient from Seinfeld. Anyways, she basically played the part of a stroke patient and came into the class so our instructor could perform an assessment. It was pretty neat and the actress did a really good job. she even cued our instructor to remember that in her stroke case she could only hear from the left ear.

The next visitors were a very nice, humourous couple. It is kind of a sweet story because they met in Rehab. One of them has Multiple Sclerosis and the other one has a brain injury after being struck head on by a vehicle. These events and their meeting occurred way back in the late 1980's. I'm not going to mention too much about them, other than that they seem to have a high zest for life. They love their independence and wouldn't trade their lives for anyone elses. For some reason all I could think is that Hollywood couldn't produce a script that could touch their story. There is no doubt in my mind that the whole class loved having their presence. I'll add one last thing that I really admired about their relationship. They seemed to be able to talk to each other about anything and I guess they've learned in their way of life not to take anything for granted.

It seems like a shame to just give them only a paragraph, but I think I may be seeing them in future classes. Alright, thats all for now. GG o_O

5 Quickies

So Chris, a question on your imminent future, how are you feeling about a whole new school year?

My mood right now is a bit of excitement. I'm crossing my fingers that I didn't forget to tie up any loose ends before I head into my new program. But there should be a lot of things to look forward to. Hopefully I'll meet some new people in my classes and get ot know them, learn something new, build a career, and have some fun while doing all that. I do have however this lingering doubt in the pit of my stomach that maybe what I'm going into won't be the best fit for me. ...Ahhh shut up. I can't really worry about that too much.

How was your vacation trip to Brunei?

I really enjoyed it, but I don't think I did as much or appreciated it as much as I could have. Seeing so many relatives back "home" was a treat, unfortunately I've never regretted being unable to speak Asian languages as much as when I was in Brunei. But I'm incredibly lucky to have had the chance to go and experience some travel like that. Now another question I'm wondering is whether or not to blog about it. I'm feeling that I should, but I will actually have to plan it out like an essay. I'm just not sure what to include and exclude, and whether I have too much to say or nothing at all.

How was your summer overall?

It was excellent! If I complained about it at all, I'd have to somehow roundhouse kick myself. In all likelihood I've probably had the most time available to be running around having fun. Now its time to prepare for the year and be ready to "hit the ground running" for school.

What are you looking forward to?

I don't really know. Since I'm kinda unsure of what the future holds for me, I have an optimistic "lets see where this takes me" kind of attitude. In sports however, I know that 68 Edmonton Oiler hockey games will be televised for free. Oh that might hurt the studying a little bit... hey anyone wanna know the cost of seasons tickets? For the best seating, season tickets will cost about pretty much the same as a year of going to University fulltime. Yay!

Any last comments?

Yeah, while the optimism meter is running high I just wanted to say to all my friends out there, good luck on the upcoming year in whatever your endeavour may be. Work hard, play hard, be safe, and have some fun. =D Heres to all the good times we've had, the crap we've waded through, and whatever it is that comes up this year. And just so you all know, whether you need somebody to cheerlead, celebrate with, need support or help, whatever, just ask and I'll show up.