Now What?

A lot happened last week.

The semester ended. I think I survived it. I will say, however, that Biochemistry was not my best or most favorite science. With reasonable certainty I can say that it wasn't due to the subject matter; I have a grasp on it that is reasonably snug. However, the instructor just piled material on all semester long. And I'm really not complaining about that; it was just hard to keep up with that plus the other demands of the course. Considering I had a full load again this past semester, I think I did okay to pass it with the C+ that I was able to squeak out. And I earned a B in the lab component of the course. Neither of these grades are worth writing home about, but all things considered I think I could have done much worse.

On the other hand, I scored A's in both of my other courses. One of them I wasn't surprised at. The other, I was. Pleasantly, but surprised just the same. I did not expect to earn an A in the second semester Biology course; I would have been happy with a B. The other course - the introduction to infectious diseases - was also an A. Truthfully, I didn't think either of these was nearly as demanding as Biochemistry. This makes me think I could have done better in Biochem without too great a cost to the other courses. That happened last semester with Organic Chemistry; I earned a B in that course, which was at the expense of the other two courses that I took.

So the lesson here is that it is very difficult to strike a balance, no matter how hard you try. And I could make excuses; goodness knows I had a legitimate one with the issues around my arm, but I won't do that. I'll accept responsibility for the shortcomings I had. When all is said and done, I either stand or fall by my own merits. I have nobody to credit or blame but myself.

As far as my arm is concerned, I was cleared to go back to work for the town of Goffstown. My first shift back with be this Thursday. I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time I am a little bit apprehensive because I don't know how it will be, with respect to skills. I should be fine, but I won't know that for certain until the rubber meets the road, in a manner of speaking. So we'll see what happens.

Plus, I've been approached by one of New Hampshire's other private ambulance services, at least indirectly. The company that covers the area where my son went to college is looking for Paramedics and the principal owner of the company asked one of our mutual friends what my availability was. She contacted me while I was on light duty asking me if I had interest. They must have had some sort of intuition because I was contacted again today. My response was that I will certainly speak with Rob, the owner, if he calls me. I will also take the rest of my life into consideration should I go ahead and pursue this. I have worked for multiple employers in the past (multiple being more than two), and it is hard to keep it all straight sometimes. But it could be worth it. I won't know unless I check it out.

So this begs the question to be asked: what do I do now? I have all of this time on my hands that I didn't have before, and I certainly could use the work. I would like to be able to at least make an effort to get my financial house at least partially in order before the fall semester starts, and it appears I may have an opportunity to do just that. All things considered, if things don't go my way for PA school, I potentially have some opportunities to sort of move forward.

But I need to wait and see what happens. And I won't let my brain sit idle, either. I can't do that.