Would You Accept Yourself?

I can’t believe I’m actually about to tell you guys this. In all honesty, I'm actually happy I was denied my first time applying to physical therapy school. Yes, I said it. It wasn’t easy accepting this news in the beginning, I mean, who likes being denied anyways? I wasn’t just denied once or twice, but I received nine emails stating, “We regret to inform you." I know, tragic right? Yup, thousands of dollars thrown in the PTCAS and supplemental application offering plates. I never knew what so called  “failure” meant, until I had to face my reality. There were a million questions that ran through my mind, but when I look back on this first attempt at applying to physical therapy school; I’m grateful for the “No’s,” because I wouldn’t have accepted myself.

Yes, I wouldn’t have ACCEPTED myself!

I’m giving you guys my truth right now and looking back on the...

“Believe in yourself and stand for your dream. Even in the midst of difficult times. You need to maintain the confidence and conviction that you can achieve what you want.” -Anonymous

The only question I have for you is:

Do you believe in yourself?

I really want you to take the time out and think about this question thoroughly. Yes or No. I know it’s not always the easiest thing to do, but without belief in yourself, how can we set a goal out to achieve it.

To believe in yourself is to stay true, to your true self. Not the person I see, not the person your parents see, but your TRUE SELF. Once you’ve learned to stay true to yourself. You have to think about your goals, and what you want to achieve.  I could imagine your biggest goal right now, is getting that acceptance letter with your name on it. 

But, do you believe in yourself?

Recently I had someone reach out to me on Instagram, and they asked me “How Did I get Into Physical Therapy...

I learned more about myself in 2 and a half months, than I have in my entire existence and I can proudly thank physical therapy school for this. Now that my first semester of physical therapy school is over, and I’ve finally had a mental break (yes, these are needed during PT school), I have a few lessons from my first semester of physical therapy school that I thought I’d share with you guys; Ohana.

I know this is kind of a reach for some of you, but I know many of you will be in physical therapy school faster than you can say “Six sticky sucker sticks” 5 times fast.

Even after the mental breakdowns, the endless conversations about studying, and after way too many pop quizzes that kept me on the edge of my chair, I’m happy that I was able to gain a better understanding of myself. First as a person and secondly as a student, and how far I can be pushed. If I can make it through my first semester of PT school, I can do ANYTHING.

So here are a some of...

Is Physical Therapy Really for You?

Did I just ask that? Yeah, I did. I presume that most of you all are applying to physical therapy school this cycle and if you are still on the fence about rather physical therapy is for you or not; just keep reading. Because this blog is directed towards you. Believe it or not, there are pre-PT students out there who are applying to PT school with blind eyes. There are some who are actually applying “just because”, and sometimes, these are the exact people who will win a seat at the table instead of you because they have played the game far too well. But trust me, it will all catch up to them one day. For now, my job is to make sure you know the reasons to NOT go to physical therapy school. 

I’ve finally completed my first summer semester of physical therapy school. It was nothing near a walk in the park, and to be honest I felt like PT school disrespected me and slapped me in the face. I became a new person, a new...

A common question that we get here at Pre-PT Grind is, “Should I retake a prerequisite course if I got a C in it?” Is it worth it? Should I do it? Can I slide into PT school without retaking it? Can I save money? Can I say the time, the effort, the anxiety, the stress?

A lot of different factors go into retaking a class. You have to consider the financial aspect of it – do you have to work and save up money for each course you want to retake? You might already be busting your butt working and saving up money. You might be thinking, “do I really need to retake this class? Will it be worth it? All of this money that I'm making, can I save it and keep it for myself? Do I really have to go through another class? If I just retake one, will my GPA increase just enough for me to slide into a PT school?” 

Retaking a prerequisite class has the opportunity to not only increase your GPA, but it can give you confidence and peace of mind knowing that you did...

“You’ll have good days, bad days, overwhelming days, too tired days, I’m awesome days, I can’t go on days. And everyday you’ll still show up.”

“The Flu Game”: 97 NBA FINALS, GAME 5, Michael Jordan showed up to conquer the UTAH JAZZ; 90-88. The legend himself showed up, sick af and still managed to score 38 points that night! This was one of the most memorable moments of Jordan’s career.

But what if he didn’t show up?

I know many of you are in different areas on this journey to your acceptance into physical therapy school. I was in your same exact position a year ago. Looking back on this past year, I wonder where I would be if I decided to stop showing up.

Seriously though, what if I stop showing up to class, GRE study sessions, or coaching calls? What if I stop showing up, because life became “too hard/too much” or if I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel?

I can guarantee you if I had stopped...

So you might have thought at some point, is physical therapy school REALLY worth the investment? There have been a lot of conversations and discussions on this topic, and some have been really one-sided. I understand that you have to save money. I understand that you have to be smart with your investments. I understand that you have to be responsible. I understand that you have to think about your future. You have to ultimately make the decision and you have to know exactly what you’re getting into. 

If you’re going into physical therapy uneducated about student loans and student debt, or if you’re going into physical therapy blindly and don’t have some sort of financial plan, is it really worth the investment? Is it the best investment? Maybe, or maybe not. Are there other choices that might be better for you financially? Maybe. 

Now, if you don’t plan on being just an “average” future PT, if you’re looking to have more...

"Moving forward on your Pre-PT journey, always remember to be in competition with yourself."

Have you ever compared yourself to others? Compared your value of belongings to another persons belongings? Wished upon something that was totally out of your league at that moment?

I remember when I was younger, and there was one pack of gummy bears left. When I asked my mother if I could have that last bag, she told me I could have it, as long as I shared with my younger sister. Of course like any other older sibling, I was going to make sure I had more gummy bears than she did. My mother knew my objective, so she took it upon herself and split the bag between my sister and I.

From the looks of it, I was at a guaranteed mindset that she had a bigger portion than I did. But that wasn’t the case though, we had an equal amount of gummy bears in our hands.

Before writing this blog to share with you guys, I thought back on this situation and as a kid I did not realize the importance of the...

"Everyone wants success. However, there are a few of us out there who aren’t willing to prepare for it."

I’m writing this for you. For the one who is looking forward to July 3, 2019. The day PTCAS rolls out it’s red carpet, welcoming all of its applicants. For some, this is unknown territory and for others this could be your second or third time applying.

I know you’re preparing for this day as best as you know how. Maybe you had to retake a couple of classes to get that GPA a tad bit higher. There are some of you who had to retake the GRE, gain more observation hours, or ask that professor for a letter of recommendation.

Whatever it may be. I’m just here to tell you to RELAX. That day is coming, and I know the feeling of anxiety and the pressure that comes with it. You see, you’ve prepared for this and if you prepared accordingly, you’re ready.

"Show them that your foundation is rock solid, and that you’ve been preparing for this day."

To you, and for you.

"Failure is needed, it hurts to say that out loud, but it is. This is where we can discover the weakest link in ourselves and strive to make that very particular aspect about us better."

To the one who has failed. This can be anything from tests, relationships, unfulfilled promises …and the list continues on forever. But there’s one lesson that failure has taught me, and that’s to not settle and surrender at the altar of failure. It’s easy to give up on something. We’ve all been at the foot of failure, but it’s what we do after this point that determines the overall outcome for us.

I often find myself pondering on what my life would be like at this very moment, if I would have given up on going to physical therapy school to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy. To be honest with you, I have no clue how life would be.

Failure is needed, it hurts to say that out loud, but it is. This is where we can discover the weakest link in...