Earlier tonight (as in a little over an hour ago), I dragged myself to the campus health center because my shoulder has been bothering me off and on for the past 10ish days. It was ranging from no pain to easily a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. Not fun.
(Although it probably doesn't help that earlier tonight, I had 2 binders, 2 folders, 4 textbooks, a pencil case, three hole punch, planner, and other odds and ends in my backpack...)
So, anyhow, I went and signed in and sat in the waiting room and watched some terrible TV while waiting for the nurse (she was with another patient who was clearly not having a good night. I felt terrible for the poor thing. She looked so afraid and broken. I just wanted to give her a hug and tell her everything would work out).
After the nurse called me back, I realized it was the nurse who had helped me set up an appointment with the counseling center after my breakdown of sorts in February. She gave me an ice pack and some Motrin for my shoulder, and then asked if I had any questions about the Motrin and its potential side effects.
It was then that I decided I had to do something. During graduate school, I really want to thank people, be it friends, professors, or other university faculty and staff who have helped me. This nurse is definitely one of those people. (I've started a blog label about this to remind myself to write these letters or visit these people.)
I told her about how I had come down earlier in the year, and how grateful I was to her for being so kind to me and how much the counseling sessions I attended helped. I also mentioned that I was studying counseling on the graduate level and hope to be able to help people in the same way that I was. She was elated to hear that I was able to continue attending the counseling sessions that I did and that it did get better for me.
Some people are just awesome like that. It's wonderful to meet people who are genuinely caring and love what they do. I hope I can say that I truly love my job someday (not that I don't right now, but I'm always looking at job postings and whatnot online). As the saying goes, "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life."
I think this is an excellent idea, Cary. I've been planning something similar for my final year of grad school - taking the time to say thank you to everyone who made my college experience wonderful - professors, former bosses, AVI employees, and friends. It sounds like an extensive work, but "thank you project" is probably the best way that you can describe it. Good luck!
ReplyDelete