Month: October 2009

Categories Education, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Three Days

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Today, I’m thankful…

That I have just three more days before my RD exam

For those of you unfamiliar with the process of becoming a Registered Dietitian, I’ll give you a quick summary. First, a RD-hopeful must complete a qualified Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD). I completed mine in December of 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Second, a RD-hopeful must complete a qualified internship including at least 900 hours of supervised practice. I completed my internship at UNL just this last July. The final step in becoming a Registered Dietitian, then, is passing the Registration Examination for Dietitians (or RD exam). This is our version of med school’s “boards”.

The RD exam is a computer-based test that will test my knowledge in five critical domains of dietetics:

  1. Food and Nutrition Science
  2. Nutrition Care Process
  3. Counseling, Communication, Education, and Research
  4. Foodservice Management
  5. General Management

The potential scope of this exam is perhaps best illustrated by the list of references the board recommends potential RD’s review prior to sitting for their exam. The list is twenty-two books long. I own just five of those titles, but that alone is over 3000 pages of information. The texts I own that are analogous to the other suggested references are just as long. So imagine a test that could cover up to 13,000 pages worth of information. Of course, the test won’t be that long. I’ll have a minimum of 125 questions and the test will take somewhere around four hours. But still, I have no way of knowing what information might show up on my exam. Which means I need to review it all (Hah!)

Needless to say, this is slightly stressful.

So today I’m thankful that in three days the stress will be over. The results are scored immediately, so I will know Sunday evening whether I’m an RD.

And, presuming that I pass, I’ll be ready to accrue some CME (Continuing Medical Education) at FNCE (Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo–the American Dietetic Association’s National Meeting) next weekend.

Categories Education, Simple Sunday

Simple Sunday: Skipping

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Simple Sunday icon

~Thankful for (almost) guilt-free skipping today. With one week to go before my RD Exam (and 60 lab reports to grade), I knew I needed to get down to business. So I skipped the Sunday school prayer hour, choosing instead to spend some time in the Word at home. And I skipped the Precinct meeting of the Republican party (Mom and Dad will have to catch me up later.) And I skipped Life Chain (Probably the second time I’ve missed it since it began.) And I’m currently skipping a movie night at church.

I don’t feel bad at all. I spent some hard-core time with my MNT text–and am feeling much more prepared for my exam.

I’d never even thought of skipping. I don’t skip things. Especially not church things. Or political things. I go. to. everything.

But yesterday, my Dad told me that I had “permission” to not attend the precinct meeting–and it suddenly hit me. I don’t HAVE to attend everything. Not right now, when I’ve got too much on my plate already. I don’t have to attend things just because they show up in the church bulletin or in my mailbox.

Thankful for the realization–and thankful for all the work I managed to get done on my quiet day while everyone else was attending the stuff I skipped.

Visit Davene at Life on Sylvan Drive for more Simple Sunday posts.

Categories Books, Reflections

Then and Now

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Several years ago, I picked up an etiquette book from the 1920s at a garage sale. I’ve rifled through it every now and then, but haven’t really read it–at least, not until just recently.

What I’ve found has been most entertaining.

Some things stay the same, other things change.

In a chapter on dinner parties, the author suggests the following as an acceptable way of taking leave:

“Good-night, Mrs. Carr. I must thank you for a perfectly delightful evening.”

To which the hostess may reply:

“We were glad to have you, I’m sure, Mrs. Roberts.”

Perfectly polite in the ’20s. Ridiculously snarky in the next millennium.

Just read the sarcasm: “I must thank your for a perfectly delightful evening.” “We were glad to have you, I’m sure.”

Ah, the differences between then and now.

Categories Reflections

Time for a little whine

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I know I’m just complaining and I know I ought not. But seriously. Something is wrong with my life. I just wish I knew what.

I’m beyond tired. I’m exhausted.

I’m impatient. I want to be done with my RD exam, done with my grading, done with this infernal Master’s degree. I want to be on to a job search, a house search, a family.

I feel like I’m piddling around, wasting time. I don’t have any time to do anything I want to do–and I don’t seem to be getting any closer to being able to do what I want to do.

I’m just here. Tired. Overworked. Frustrated. Impatient.

God, are You listening?

Help!

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Negative Edition

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Today I’m thankful…

  • for NOT oversleeping this morning, despite staying up way too late last night
  • for NOT waking up with the same horrible headache I had yesterday
  • for NOT running out of gas, despite letting my gas tank get MUCH lower than normal
  • for NOT being late to class, despite leaving myself little extra time
  • for NOT get drenched on my walk to class

And I’m thankful for a few positives, too. Today, I’m also thankful…

  • for a call from a potential roommate (and she has an “A” name, how perfect!)
  • for the opportunity to be in journal club (I had SO much fun today!)
  • for getting some SERIOUS studying in for the RD exam (reviewed all the macronutrient and vitamin digestion, absorption, and metabolism pathways)
  • for uploading some more blog posts to WordPress (now I’ve got all the blog posts uploaded back to February 2009)