Sunday, April 26, 2009

a little crazy. a lot wonderful.

I'm trying to squeeze in as much playtime and relaxation as I can before school starts. I know I'll be working my toochus off come the end of June. In addition to playing a lot of ultimate, hanging with all my pals, and a little bit of traveling, I also am almost certainly moving. I'll be sad to lose the LandPeople as my neighbors, landlords, and surrogate parents. But I am thrilled that the Beau and I have decided to take the leap to co-habitation. We are excitedly apartment hunting and looked at a few great ones today.
Yes yes yes I know this seems very fast and thank you for all of your concerns. We've had long discussions about it and have arrived at this with our eyes wide open. Sometimes you just know something is right and true regardless of what the calendar says.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Stepping out of the Waiting Room...

...and into the classroom!!!!!!

Most of you have gotten the news already, and I apologize for not writing this post sooner. One month after getting stuck on the wait-list, Admissions came to their senses and called me up. The conversation went something like this:

"Hello this is the Office of Admissions, is this Stephanie?"
It's nothing, I'm just getting accepted to the nursing portion alone... "Yes, that's me."
"I see you have been placed on the alternate status for the nursing/miwifery program here."
Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God... "That's right."
"Well it looks like a spot has opened up and we'd like to offer you admission to the program. Are you interested?"
"Yes, I am definitely interested," as calmly as I can while I jump up and down trying not to whoop with joy.
"
Great, we'll send you an enrollment packet tomorrow with further instructions. Congratulations!"
"Thank you." Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With a racing heart, I then called my mom, my dad, my grandparents, my sister... and when I couldn't speak any more, I sent a text message to everyone else.
My Beau took me for celebratory cheeseburgers (score!) which were extra delicious with a side of sweet victory.

In other news, I've had a mini identity shift: I am now a mac. Look what cool things I can do with my mac!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Waiting Room Confessions #3

The word I've been using to describe this lately is "unbe-freakin-lievable!"
Some of you have heard already that I have indeed received The Letter from my most sought-after program and to my utter shock and disbelief I have been placed on the wait-list AGAIN!!!!
I just don't understand how it happened. I felt so confident. I'm a fantastic candidate for this program... and it's not just me and my mom that believe that. I'm trying to remind myself that this is not a rejection, and there is still a chance that I can be accepted. I also have a back up plan where I have applied to a few accelerated nursing programs in the area - so I'm sure I'll be in some sort of school this year. But still, I'm pretty devastated. The wait-list did end up being a rejection last year.
I haven't told anyone but my parents and my Beau until now. I needed a few days to cool off before I could take anyone offering their sympathies. I was so incredibly angry for the first day. I was treated to cheeseburgers, which admittedly helped some. Mmm cheeseburgers.

So we're back to waiting. Waiting to hear from the nursing programs, and waiting for someone "more qualified" (feh!) to decline their acceptance so that I can take my rightful place in the program of my dreams. I WILL catch babies!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Waiting Room Confessions #2

This is a play in four acts.
Act 1, The Interview.
Program Director and I had good rapport from our previous meetings, and I felt much more at ease than at my interview last year. There were lots of smiles and nods. She even said, "Great," after some of my answers to her questions. I had the standard questions about my strengths/weaknesses, ability to multi-task, response to stress, how do I like to learn yayaya. The more interesting questions were those that addressed how I would respond to certain situations that would arise in my practice as a midwife. I brought a list of good questions to ask her at the end and we ended up chatting a bit past the 45min scheduled time. All in all, I think I did great!
Act 2, The Tour.
Current Student #1 gave a campus tour to me and another interviewee. I had good questions for her, too. She was very friendly and eager to sell the program. She seemed happy in it herself. At the end of the tour, she mentioned that we should look for her friend, Current Student #2, at the applicant potluck that evening.
Act 3, The Party.
Three faculty members and a handful of current students hosted a potluck for the applicants at the home of one of the faculty. They had a basket of slippers for everyone to wear; very cute, very midwife-y. The food was delicious and the conversation better. I floated around a bit, talking to the midwives and students (and the other applicants a little). I found Current Student #2 and started to introduce myself. She said, "Oh! You're Stephanie!" Apparently Current Student #1 had called her and told her to look for me at the party (note also that she couldn't remember the name of the other girl that had toured with us!) She was fun and honest, and I think I have a good picture of what it will be like to study there.
Act 4, The Coincidence
Four days later, I attended a birth through my doula job. The wonderful young mama had an amazing, beautiful, normal childbirth. Her provider happened to be a second year student midwife, Current Student #3! When the mama was in the bathroom (read an appropriate time), I mentioned to CS#3 that I was applying and had interviewed recently. She asked if I went to the potluck and then I discovered that she is the third amigo: Current Students #1, 2, and 3 are best friends! She was happy to hear that I had met both of them, and CS#3 said that she would be pulling for me. She offered her email address and asked me to let her know when I find out if I am accepted. [I telepathically sent a message asking her to report to the faculty what a wonderful doula she had worked with for 10hours and what a great midwife that doula would be.]
Fin.

p.s. At the interview, Program Director told me to expect to hear in "a few weeks." That could mean one more week, or eight. So I know y'all mean only the best every time you ask if I've heard anything--- but believe me when I tell you that I'll activate the phone tree as soon as the letter arrives.
Love!!!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Waiting Room Confessions

Now that all of my school applications are submitted, I don't have much more to do but wait. I'm glad not to have the apps staring at me anymore, daring me to revise my essays one last time. For the nursing programs alone, it's all out of my hands. For the combination BSN-CNM program....

I got an interview! I got an interview! What what? An interview!

This is good news, it means I've passed the first round of the application process. Hopefully I will prove my worth and make the final cut. I'm still quite nervous, though. I had an interview last year that I felt went pretty well... but I never made it off the wait list. This year will be a little different. First of all, I only have one interviewer (last year I had 2). The gods shined down on me and assigned me the program director - who not only interviewed me last year, but also we had a meeting in August that I arranged to go over last year's app. She was pleased and impressed by my initiative.
Secondly, in addition to the interview there will be a "welcome dinner" hosted by faculty and attended by current students. I'm really excited about this new addition. No matter how hard I try, I get nervous during interviews. I know this is pretty normal, but I often wonder whether I'm able to demonstrate my true self through the stuffy, nerve-wracking interview session. This dinner will give me another chance to make the faculty love me and beg me to be their student. :)
This all goes down on Feb 5th. After that, it's all about patience...

And sitting on the stoop waiting for the mailman every day for four months trying not to pull out all my hair and grind my teeth down to little smooth nubbins and gain 50 pounds from stress eating and, well, you get the picture (ew, sorry about that picture.)

Sunday, January 4, 2009

winter paradise!

This is what I did for the holidays!!



Thanks for filming and posting, Daddio!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

If we let the auto industry fail by denying a bailout...

...converting the United States to the metric system will be wayyyyy easier.