I'm not sure if I've explained exactly how this whole thing works. You see, St Jude Medical hires a class of interns each year to start training in two areas: cardiac rhythm management and electrophsysiology. We start with rhythm devices (pacemakers, etc) and get certified for those in the first year. Then, we focus on ablation surgeries and get certified in that area. Once we have finished both (it takes about two years), we drop the title of "intern" and start working our way up in the company. 100% of my time on the job is interacting with patients, doctors, or other people in the field. I don't have an office and I practically live out of my car. But I love it.
Our intern class:
Anyway, I was pretty nervous going to the dinner since I would be meeting the other 18 people that SJM had chosen for this job. I knew they would all be highly intelligent and have great personalities, but I wasn't sure exactly how I would fit into the group. Fortunately, the entire group was awesome and we all formed a pretty close bond immediately. On the last night before the final there were 7 people crammed into my hotel room, studying as a group. I made some awesome memories and now have lifelong friends who I can turn to for help (which is essential with a unique job like ours).
The 3 Bs at dinner in ATX:
In the middle of my first week of training, Darren and a few of our friends drove all the way out to Austin so we could celebrate his birthday!!! It was so great to see them and spend the evening talking about random things and playing our favorite nerdy game. I am truly blessed by those people.
During the weekend in between the two weeks of training, I returned to College Station to witness the union of two of my dearest friends, Aly and Ryan. Friday night Darren sped me all the way down the Presidential Corridor to get to the rehearsal dinner as quickly as possible. Then we helped set up for the wedding & later I enjoyed a wonderful sleepover with Aly and the other bridesmaids. Saturday itself was a complete blur but I distinctly remember watching my two friends join together in the covenant of marriage! I also got to see my family since they were in town for the wedding. I spent Saturday night at the hotel with my sisters and then we all went to church together on Sunday morning (I think the last time our entire family was together for church was Christmas).
After all of that excitement, it was back to Austin to cram more knowledge into my brain. The second week flew by quicker than the first and before I knew it, I had finished the final and was sitting next to Darren on the way back to College Station for a last visit.
Of course, every event has to come to an end, so after a lazy weekend watching Survivor on Darren's couch it was time to head back to St. Louis. I absolutely hate saying goodbye, so that wasn't fun... but when I got back to my apartment here in Missouri I tried to focus on being excited to see my cat and to get started at work the next day.
This past week at work has been wonderful and crazy all at the same time. The good news is I love my job. The bad news is that adjusting to an adult lifestyle of waking up early and going 110% all day every day is difficult. The people on my team are amazing. They are unbelievably intelligent, wonderful with each person they interact with, and superb teachers. I am inspired by each one of them and how fabulous they are. Even though waking up at 6am (and, in the case of Friday morning, 5am) is tough, and even though I don't make it home until late (in the case of Wednesday night, after midnight), it's totally worth it.
Cool things about my job:
-I have badges that give me access into places
-I get to wear scrubs to work
-I am surrounded by people who care about people
-I get to interact with patients and their families and help make their lives better
-I will get to work at Children's hospital!
-I get to socialize
-I am using my engineering background to program devices
-At the end of the day, I feel like I made a difference
-A good portion of my time is spent on the road in between hospitals so I get to listen to music and jam out in my car
-I get to work in TWO states (most days I go to both)
So, during the week I pretty much focused on work. If I got done a little early at the hospitals I would head home and work on modules online or study what I did that day. But on Friday afternoon I knew I was facing my first weekend alone in St. Louis.
Don't get me wrong, I definitely do not want to come across as some sad little girl sitting all alone in her apartment blogging about how difficult being away from home is. The truth is, I am in a transition and it's just hard. Today I finished a little over half of my workbook (the thing is like 1.5 inches thick) and 2 modules (each one over an hour long). I also watched a ton of Survivor. Almost all of the people I talk to on a regular basis were either super busy or literally had no cell phone service today. I haven't gotten mail in days. It's fine. I'm fine. It's just tough. I put together a quilt stand, did a ton of housework, and had some pretty intense conversations with Leonard. It's reminiscent of my freshman year of college and those weekends when I vacuumed my dorm room 3 times. Haha.
I am looking forward to tomorrow and going to church #3 for the second time to see some familiar faces. I am looking forward to more experiences at work that will expand my understanding of the devices I will program. I am looking forward to Wednesday night when Darren arrives in St. Louis for a little visit. Trust me, I'm fine. But, if you're bored, please know that I would love to hear from you.
Love & blessings,
Brooke
I love you and I'm thinking about you. I know it's hard to be alone sometimes, but you are a strong and amazing woman, and soon enough you will have enough friends in the area so that any time you feel lonely, you can invite someone over or go out and know that you have a support network full of people who love you. Ok, so that was a run on sentence, but I hope you get the point. =)
ReplyDeleteAlso, send me your address. I'm sure I can fix that no mail problem you're having.