#195 - PT school tudor

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

-- William James (1842-1910), psychologist and author

 
 
I know some of my posts seem really random and sometimes people ask me, "How did that person make your blog?  Were they really that influential in your life?"  I have two answers to that question.  #1.  Ya'll would get really bored if I just talked about my family and the friends that I love...blogging needs some excitement!  #2.  Some of them, even though random, really did make changes in my life that I know made me the person I am today.

# 195 is both random and influential.  Let me explain...

I was a good student (read "nerd" again) always.   I really love to study and perform on tests.  I can honestly say that I never went into a test unprepared.  I may have may a bad grade or two, but they were far in between.  I did very well in high school and very well in college.  Then came PT school.  Wow!  Talk about a different ballgame.  It was like I was in a foreign country and everyone was speaking a foreign language.  Many of my classmates had more college prep courses under their belt, but I had the bare minimum.  I had not had physiology, anatomy, kinesiology and in fact, I did not even know exactly what those subjects were.  The first summer of PT school we took gross anatomy and physiology.  I was totally a fish out of water.  Trying to learn names, places, and nerve innervation of muscles and then find and identify them on my cadaver.  Trying to learn about all the different systems of the body and how and why they work.  Lots of memorization which I am good at...but only if I understand first.  I struggled from day 1.  I tried to apply all my study strageies that had worked for me in the past, but no luck.  I was floundering.  I remember trying to read from the book...trying to go to the library...trying to talk to the teacher.  No luck.  Then someone told me about a service from the med school where medical students did tutoring in these core subjects.  It was just what the doctor (no pun intended) ordered.  Some one on one time with someone who understood the foreign language of medicine.  I was able to ask questions, process the answers, and understand.

Now I know this does not seem like a big deal to most people, but for me it was.  I had never needed help before and as a general rule, I really don't like to ask for help.  I can honestly say however, that #195 saved me.  I don't remember his name, but I will always be thankful for the time he took to teach me.

Moral of the story #1:  Ask for help!  It may be the best decision you will ever make. 

Moral of the story #2:  Help others if you can.  You never know when you can make a difference in someones life.