Jaclyn Leeper (grad March 09)

12 Down, 2 to Go

Today, I officially attended the first class of my thirteenth quarter here at Sherman. I have now been here for a full three years. Now, I only have about six months left before I am out of school and off to the real world. It is something I have been looking forward to for a long time. Now that it is almost here, it is really exciting and a little scary all at the same time. When I walked into my first class here at Sherman, it seemed like it would be an eternity before I even progressed far enough in the curriculum to become an intern in the Health Center. It was like a whole different world outside of the one I was involved in, sitting in class for hours and hours on end. Then, before I knew it, I was working my way out of the classroom and onto the Health Center floor. Now, I have almost reached the point of being out of school and on my own, trying to make a living. It is hard to believe. There for a while, I was beginning to feel like I might just be in school for the rest of my life. The great thing about this quarter is that I only have two classes, the one I attended today and one other one that meets on Monday morning. I have finally reached the point where just about all of my focus can be placed on taking care of patients in the Health Center and passing the remainder of my National Boards so that when I graduate, I can get to work right away. It will not be an easy task but is one that should prove to be very interesting.

Home Again

It is officially time for a break from school again. This time, however, it is only for one week. Many people have already finished up finals and headed home or out of town to make the most of it. I will be joining them tomorrow afternoon as I will be headed back to Kentucky. Unfortunately, it is only going to be for a few short days. Now that I am an intern and have some patients who come on a weekly basis, I have to make sure they are taken care of (even when school is not in session). Sometimes that means being at school a little bit over the break. I am actually really looking forward to it though. Luckily the Health Center is open for three days during the break which gives us some time to see our patients who need to come in during the week. Time goes by much quicker in the Health Center when you are taking care of patients or even analyzing x-rays and doing the necessary paperwork that is required to ensure appropriate care is taken of each and every patient. Seeing patients on a daily basis is a big treat. It is so much fun to be able to get to know them as you are taking care of them. I am looking forward to a much needed break. It is such a relief to have another quarter behind me and to be finished with Part III of the National Boards (at least for now). We can't find out our scores until October 24th so we still have a little bit of time to wait. Nonetheless, there is nothing we can do about it now, except relax and enjoy the time off before kicking it into gear for yet another quarter.

The Cookie Monster

Boards are over yet again. I hope that they went well for everyone over the weekend. Yesterday morning, Part III came and went pretty quickly. The first two parts of the Boards consist of six tests each so waking up on Saturday morning and only having to take two tests for Part III was actually pretty nice. Granted, it was no cake walk, but it was nice to be done by noon. Now all we can do is wait patiently (for several weeks) to find out how we did. In the meantime, I decided to take the rest of yesterday as well as today to just sit back and relax. This evening, as I was watching a few of the NFL football games, I decided to bake some cookies. Unfortunately, I only got around to making one dozen and this is why:

My sweet adorable Maltese, Ripley, has gotten in a very bad habit of climbing up to the table after people eat in hopes of finding leftovers. Needless to say, there have been a couple of times that he has managed to sneak a couple of sandwiches off the table when nobody was paying attention. Now I make a more conscious effort of keeping the chairs pushed in close to the table in order to keep him from being able to climb up there. Unfortunately, that isn't always enough. I have found that Ripley has a particular liking for sweets.
This evening when I was making cookies, after the first batch was finished, I got them out to let them cool. A little while later, I prepared another pan to put in the oven to bake. Just as I was getting ready to put them in, my cell phone rang and it was one of my old college teammates and one of my best friends whom I hadn't spoken to in quite some time. As I was talking to her, I went back into my bedroom away from the tv to give her my undivided attention. Meanwhile I had placed the pan of cookies (a dozen to be exact) on my kitchen table with the chairs pushed in tight. I thought for sure they would be safe. Boy was I wrong. When I got off the phone and returned to the kitchen to place the cookies in the oven, this is what I found:

For some reason, my little cookie monster (Ripley) decided to leave one cookie on the pan. I guess he thought that if there was still one there, maybe I wouldn't notice that some were missing. Somehow, he had managed to make his way onto the table, eaten eleven raw cookies, and gotten back down without me noticing at all.
He definitely has a sweet tooth and has proven on a couple of occasions now that he will go to great measures to get his tongue on something sweet. About a month ago, just after my birthday, I had some left over cake that my mom had made me when my family came to visit. One morning, I had gotten a piece of the cake to eat and sat down at the computer to check my e-mail before getting ready to head over to school. I ate all of the cake but left my plate, fork, and a few crumbs laying next to the computer while I went to take a shower and get ready for school. When I got out and came back to the computer, this is what I found:

Ripley is one of the most mischevious little dogs I have ever seen but I can't help but love him. It proves to be very entertaining at times!!! I have to say, however, that this particular incidence gave me a pretty good scare. The cookies he ate were chocolate chip and knowing that chocolate is toxic to dogs scared me quite a bit. So far, so good though.

Sad Times in New England

If you have any interest in sports and watch ESPN at any point in the day, you already know that on Sunday afternoon, the New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, was injured and is going to be out for the season. During the first quarter of the game, last year's MVP was hit in the left knee and is now going to have to undergo season ending surgery. For anyone who has read some of my past blogs, you know that I have only been an NFL fan for the past couple of years (since I began dating a die hard New England fan). I have to say however, that support of New England was not forced upon me. It may have been strongly encouraged, but rooting for a team that has the history New England has, that goes undefeated for almost an entire season, and has a quarterback like Tom Brady (who is loved on and off the field (especially by the ladies)) has not been hard. Yesterday, when they announced that Tom Brady would be out for the season, I found myself very disappointed. Sporting my red, white, and blue #12 jersey when the Patriots are playing just won't be the same. I have to say, however, that I will still be rooting for the team and hope that they do a good job of making the most of the hand they have been dealt. They have a strong team and should be just fine.
Aside from New England, I have also come to love the Carolina Panthers. A lot of that is probably because they are so closeby. Charlotte is only an hour away and it has been a blast to get to go to Wofford College located right here in Spartanburg to watch the Panthers training camp. It is lots of fun to support a team that you feel like you have had the opportunity to see up close and personal. Not to mention, I absolutely love the color of their uniforms. They have only been a mediocre team for the past couple of years but have still been fun to watch. As a matter of fact, I was watching the end of their game on Sunday which was probably the most exciting game yet this year where they pulled off a last second comeback to upset the San Diego Chargers. Despite some of the disappointing injuries (the one to Brady in particular), it looks like this years NFL season could be very interesting and entertaining to watch!!