Day 178 - Ring That Bell! (34 Days Left)

In the school's lobby is a foot tall Asian style bell with a mallot. The first thing people want to do when they walk through the lobby door is ring the bell.
C'mon. It's human nature.
Everybody wants to. I know I wanted to the first time I visited.
That bell is special to every student in the school because on the last day of class, the graduating students get to say a few words and ring the bell.
Exactly five weeks from tonight, I will be doing just that.
However, several in our class got to ring the bell tonight after our practice job interviews for class (basically the only thing class-like that we did*) and our potluck feast to celebrate with the graduates.
Some classmates gave inspirational words, some cried, and some just seemed happy that they can get their lives back after tonight.
I will miss them in our class, and wish them the best in their careers in massage.

*I ended up getting an "A" in Professional Development. Yay!

Day 177 - Plugging Away (35 Days Left)

In Pathology tonight, we took our last quiz and turned in our homework. I ended up getting a 15/15 on the quiz and a 98% overall grade for Pathology, my nemesis class. It's tough, but with some studying, I was able to pull off a pretty high grade. Yay!
After all that got taken care of, there wasn't much else to do, and with the expectation of a pouring rain storm with flash flood watches, I decided to go home early. So, here I sit at home on my couch when I would normally be in class.
It's kinda nice, I gotta say.
On other note, there's something I've been thinking about for the last few days. WGH and I hardly see each other through the week, but I have to give him props because he's so encouraging and helpful to the things I can't do because I'm at school. Also, because he leaves before the crack of dawn and I don't have to leave for another few hours, and then when I get home from school, he's already asleep, our communication through the week is sporadic at best. Sometimes, when he actually reads this blog, he can actually find out what's going on in class and at the J-O-B, since we barely have 15 minutes otherwise.
So I just want to give a shout-out to WGH and say "Thank you" for all the support. Also, I need to thank my sister, who has been available and willing to help out when WGH has needed a ride to drop off a car at the shop - or pick it up. She's also very supportive of this endeavor, despite her initial misgivings.
And to all of you, my friendly readers, all four of you, thank you for your ways of encouraging me and inspiring me to get through this.
Wow...kinda mushy or something tonight.
Back to my usual tomorrow.

Day 176 - Strange Things Are Afoot (36 Days Left)

One of my favorite brain-dead movies (the ones that you watch when you really don't want to think too hard) is Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. One of the best quote from the movie: "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
Working on feet in Reflexology remind me of that quote. Go figure.
We had our final exams tonight, both portions, written (98%) and hands-on (100%). When they allot you 50 minutes for an exam and you're done in approximately 14, you know you did pretty well.
My partner nearly fell asleep during the hands-on portion. Our neighbor on the next table over definitely fell asleep...and snored. Pretty loudly, I might add.
Prior to the class and exam tonight, representatives from Massage Envy were on the premises recruiting for their new locations opening in the DC/Baltimore area, including one in Frederick - the one that will practically be across the street from my current J-O-B that is 14 minutes and three STOP signs from my house.
I have to say, I think I may have to go for this one once I'm licensed. The location can't be beat. Well, I mean, unless it's in the strip shopping center across the street from my neighborhood.
And I got a free plastic cup and pen.
Everybody say, "ooooo ahhhhh..."

Day 175 - New Tricks (37 Days Left)

I'm sure you're familiar with that cliche saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."
I have some thoughts about that.
I am - ahem - middle aged. I have started to do that thing when I'm trying to read something and adjust my arm to the proper length for reading. I bought a pair (or two) of reading glasses at the flea market.
I am ok with this.
Last year, when I embarked on this journey through massage school, once classes started, to say that I was stunned would be pretty accurate. Prior to that, my knowledge of the human body was pretty limited to that song, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes." I found that I needed to study quite a bit in order to retain the information. I started getting into a groove and understanding a catching on pretty quickly. I am finding now that I look over the information a few times and I'm good to go.
Is this because exercising the brain makes it more supple and can retain more, or is it because I'm getting familiar with the terminology and subject matter to better retain information?
Or is it a combination of both?
Either way, I'm pretty glad about the retention of information becoming a bit easier than it was in the beginning.
Speaking of information retention, we had a level test for Professional Development class tonight. I won't know what my score was until tomorrow, probably, but I'm pretty confident. We also ended up going over information about taking the national and state exams and their application processes. Quite informative.
Our instructor also gave us some words of wisdom that how we present ourselves at the school is going to potentially impact how we have been perceived and our future prospects in our massage careers. It's true. Just based on what I've seen in the hallways at the school, I don't know that I would want some of the students being my professional massage therapist.
I hope that I present myself in a friendly, if not professional, manner while at the school. I guess only time will tell.
Tomorrow night: Reflexology final exam.

Day 174 - Visitors (41 Days Left)

Tonight during breaks from classes, a local massage business came in to recruit and/or educate students about their business. They are a franchise of nationwide massage centers and are looking to open new centers. The center that the folks came from this evening were from Edgewater, MD, which is roughly an hour and a half from where I live. As soon as I saw where they were from, I turned around and went back to class.
Then during our Reflexology demonstration, one of my classmates came in and mentioned to me that they are looking to open a center in Frederick, so I high-tailed it out of there to go talk to them.
I know just the area where it would do well.
So the question is - do I pass that knowledge off to somebody else to make it happen, like I have done before, or do I make it happen myself?
Oh...and about class. We had Reflexology tonight. Enjoyed it. Definitely wish I had more time to be on table as the client.

Day 173 - Cram It In (42 Days Left)

Back when I was in college, I don't remember too many times doing "all-nighters" in cramming for exams. Or even writing papers. I did my work and I think I studied some, but not necessarily all-nighters.
I remember some parties that were all-nighters, though.
Well, mostly remember. I definitely enjoyed the extra-curricular college-life back in the day.
Anyway, fast-forward to today.
While I've been in class, sometimes I feel like we are just putting stuff into our brains. And we're cramming it all in there. Sometimes, pieces fall out, though.
Tonight's menu of cramming was pathologies of the digestive system and the urinary system. Because we had so many issues with previous classes of pathology, our instructor felt very behind and after a certain amount of panic and consultation with TPTB, she gave us the notes for the two systems and helped us review for our quiz next week. And so we crammed.
Not much else to report.

Day 172 - System Review (43 Days Left)

At one time, I worked in the computer department (Information Services) at the old J-O-B. Every once and awhile, we'd hear of people saying they had a "system Failure."
That's not a good thing.
Especially if you are talking about the body. System Failure is definitely not good. Systems like respiratory, circulatory, urinary, skeletal...you get the point. Usually, without those one of those systems, the body is "unable to sustain life" as is stated in some of our manuals for class.
We did some reviewing of those systems this evening in class. Believe it or not, it was not even an anatomy or pathology class, but a reflexology class. In order to learn the principles of reflexology, we also must understand the systems of the body, as they are what corresponds to what we are trying to accomplish with this modality.
On a side note, I went to the dentist today. My dental hygienist is also a part-time massage therapist, so we had lots to talk about. Well, I didn't talk much. My mouth was otherwise occupied. Go figure.
I had a good report. I may need a crown, though. Ewwww.
I don't mind the dental work, I just hate paying for it. Especially crowns. They cost as much as the royal jewels, so that's why they call them crowns.