It's official....

But not officially official,yet, if you know what I mean.  I have been duly informed by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians that, with the passing score I earned on the computer test, provided I pass my psychomotor skills test, I will be granted the dubious honor of becoming a paramedic.  Of course, I passed the skills test on June 4th.

Two years of my life, and countless hours driving back and forth to class and clinical, and I am done.  The disco patch will soon be in the mail.  There are times when I still wonder if I went the right route.  If I should have stayed with the whole biology thing, and kept on looking for a job (usually those thoughts came when I got calls from biotech recruiters while in school).  I realized with about a week or 2 left of school that I had made the right decision.

How did I know?

I stopped biting my finger nails.

For as long as I can remember, I've been a nail biter.  Bored, stress, whatever...I bit my nails down to the quick and beyond.  Nothing I or anyone else (read: my mother) did stopped me from biting my nails.  Bribery, threats, funny tasting chemicals, tips, polish; all went by the wayside in my single-minded attempt to chew my nails down.  Usually boredom was the problem.

So imagine my surprise when, with just a few weeks left till class, and theoretically the most stressful time I could be going through (finals, graduation, NREMT tests), I realized I had no desire to bite my nails anymore.   I still am not biting my nails.  And while I am still stressed (finding a job, state protocol test, etc) I am not biting my nails still.

Who knew that getting into a field you really liked would make such an immediate difference?

Of course, after playing a bit of frisbee with some of the kids at the station today, and breaking a nail, I realized why have longer nails is not such a good idea given my activity levels.

Anyway, I am now a NREMT-P.  The card is in the mail.

May God have mercy on my souls (and the souls of my patients).