Thinking about life after Masters, ALREADY!

So lately in class we have been discussing FUTURE PLANS. I think its crazy that our professors are already talking to us about whether we want to get Ph.Ds. or not… when we just started our Masters. lol

So because we have been talking about it so much I’ve been thinking that I eventually (probably not right after Masters) will want to get mine. I have been thinking so much about possibly teaching Public Health at the college level… I would love to be a professor… and I love to do research. And in order to be qualified enough most have Ph.Ds.

This last week I met with my Issues in Public Health professor, Dr. Jones, at her office hours to discuss what I would need to do in order to possibly be successful in getting into a Ph.D. program.

She referred me and suggested that I join this research team here on campus. I’m really excited about joining this team. Its chaired by a professor of nursing and its called, Community Advisory Board: Homeless Issues, its a collaborative effort to assist Orange County homeless populations on the macro level.  This includes homeless providers (Mercy House in Santa Ana), homeless population policy specialists, Southern Calif. College of Optometry, CSUF Nursing Dept. members, CSUF Social Services Dept. members, The County of Orange Healthcare Agency, and the Health Science Dept.  All of our efforts will align with the Orange County Report, “Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.”

By joining this research team I am going to get HANDS-ON experience with health and the homeless. Exactly what I wanted to do. I’m really excited.

And here is the BEST NEWS I HAVE GOT IN SUCH A LONG TIME. Some of you may know it already just by reading my Facebook, but here is the news for all of you. While I was meeting with the my professor I asked about how I can teach a class here and we planned to let me sit in on the 100-level Personal Health course next semester (for credit!) and starting next August I GET TO ACTUALLY TEACH PERSONAL HEALTH here!! 🙂 Like full on, I’m actually creating my own PowerPoint’s, Assignments, Exams, etc. I’ll have to follow the general curriculum and use the same textbook as all of the sections of Personal Health, which I expected, but can create everything else from scratch or use what is already done. 🙂 I am REALLYY excited for this opportunity and I feel blessed that she has only known me for a little over a month now and she already feels like I’d be a good candidate. I learned from a couple people in the 2011 cohort (the year before me) that really only two or three people from each cohort is asked to teach that class. Dr. Jones wants me to gain as much experience teaching an actual course to see if it is something that I really would like to do.

So this summer I’ll be preparing for teaching that course… I can’t help but want to jump the gun and start planning now! Lol

I better go… its 1am and I have A GROUP PROJECT to work on at 11:30 tomorrow morning… and I’m exhausted… Goodnight!

Love you all. ❤

Hey everyone! …

Hey everyone!

 

So sorry it has been a few weeks since I’ve blogged last!

I am not kidding when I said that my workload is going to be immense here in this program.

 

I’ve finally found time to write in this blog tonight… for the last 5 hours I’ve been reading 6 peer-reviewed journal articles on Assisted Suicide. I finished reading the articles, which were very very hard to read and comprehend… I’m not so sure why I chose this topic to do my controversial paper on, as it is such a hard topic, morally and emotionally… but that is part of being in graduate school, learning things that are challenging to better myself in this career.

 

Finally done reading so after feeling unsettled and confused as ever (as to how to write this paper!), I’ve stopped for the night. So currently I am watching The Proposal and eating ice cream.

 

I’M SO SORRY FOR BEING DISTANT. I figured I’d give one big apology to all my family and friends, and everyone back home and who reads my blog. I promise that I think of you daily… please don’t be offended or upset if I don’t call or write often. My to-do list is a mile long.

 

Its crazy, I was always super busy when I went to WOU and my to-do list was always just as long as it is now but the main difference between undergrad and grad is not the workload persei as much as it is TIME CONSUMING WORK LOAD! Its not hard either really, besides statistics- which is starting to get confusing, its just a lot of group projects, individual projects, exams to study for, and chapters of reading to do for each class that it is multiplied lol and everything seems to be due around the same time… the week of October 15^th is going to be the worst…

 

Ahh! The joys of graduate school… and supposedly NEXT SEMESTER IS THE HARDEST OF OUR ENTIRE PROGRAM!