What it do babbyy ! One year in the game and I have soooo much to share !  

First things first, this year flew by so FAST and I've enjoyed every bit of it.

Here’s a couple of things I've learned over the past year.

1. I should definitely pray for more patience because honey you can NEVER have enough
2. Tough skin is a must in Nursing, you’re working with different personalities which can be challenging at times. You may not agree with your coworkers & providers may snap at you but you have to learn how to address it professionally and keep it moving sis. 
3. How to make a split decision ( only medically because lord knows I'm so indecisive lol) In nursing there are times when you literally have to make a decision on the spot (a safe one lol) you may not have time to debate with yourself on whether you should do this or not…
4. How to be a listening ear when you have one million tasks to do. Sometimes it's so easy to become task-oriented and forget to actually pay attention and be a listening ear to your patients. Even though they may want to talk your ear off, I have learned it could be refreshing for them and you to actually have a twenty-minute conversation.  
5. Time management, which is soooo important in nursing. One thing I can say that I have mastered in nursing this year is charting in a decent amount of time. Chile you will NOT catch me staying after work for an hour to finish charting lol. Nooooo way Jose!

​

​Hey guys! I know it’s been a while (sorry)! PA school takes up ALL my time and I rarely have time to do other things, but I wanted to give you guys an update on didactic year!

First off let me brag on God real quick! When I tell y’all he has been allowing me to kill this PA school stuff! One of my prayers, when I started, was that I will not struggle and y’all he has been with me every step of the way. Don’t get me wrong PA school is no walk in the park at all, but I’m grateful God has been allowing me to do well and get through!

I recently just finished up my third semester of PA school and began my 4th and LAST semester of didactic ( If y’all only knew how happy I am about that lol)! So far I’ve completed behavioral health, HEENT, Dermatology, GI, Infectious Disease, Cardiology, Ortho, Neuro, Heme, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Emergency medicine, surgery, Genitourinary, and of course we take physical exam, pharmacology, and clinical skills each semester. ( At times I'm like "okay Tayler you know a little something something lol")
P.S we’ve done all that in the last two semesters and that’s what makes PA school difficult because it’s so much info in such a little time!

My program does these things called “Pre Clinicals” where we go and basically shadow different providers. So whatever we are going over that semester we will go and shadow in that area, which is nice! ( a few weeks ago I shadowed in the lab and was able to physically hold organs that were removed due to cancer or other things going on and it was so cool).

But back to the update! I can’t believe that it’s been a year since I’ve started PA school! Like so much can happen in a year and it goes bye so fast! That’s why I tell people never say "man that’s going to take me a long time to do" because you look up and time has flown by!

I’m grateful for this opportunity that God has blessed me with! Sometimes I get so caught up in school and I never take time to step back and just enjoy the moment! Like I’m actually doing this. Soon I’ll be working doing what I love and I’m so excited about that. God is beyond faithful and I owe him all the praise. It’s because of him that I have what I have️

Love you guys!

Hey guys! I know it has been a while since the last post. Please forgive me! It is so hard to pretty much do anything outside of school right now. My life has been on “whew chile lately.” I’m sure any PA student in didactic year can relate.
​
I’m a month into my second semester of PA school and it has been a whirlwind! I’m currently taking Clinical Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, Physical Exam, and Clinical Skills & Procedures. I wanted to take the time and just let you guys know “what it takes to wear this white coat as a PA student.”
​
PA school is very difficult. It’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. There is a constant overload of new material that you are learning every day. It's not that the material is necessarily hard or not interesting it's just that it is so much at a time. Wearing this white coat as a PA student means literally eating, breathing and sleeping PA school. It means being in class all day just to go home and spend more hours studying and reviewing what you learned that day; just to do it all over again the next day. It means learning “fifty leven” diseases and conditions in a short time period. It means exams every week and multiple ones on the same day at times. It means being miles apart from family if you’re like me, and not getting to see them for months at a time. It means not being able to chat and talk with your family and friends every day because you have to study! It means not getting to watch your favorite TV shows all the time lol (seriously though I was 2 weeks behind on my shows and I finally got to catch up this weekend lol).  You have times when you feel you are not adequate to handle this. It is feeling overwhelmed more days than not. Sometimes it's feeling like “what the heck have I gotten myself into.” Before attending PA school people try to tell you how it is going to be but you never really understand until you are actually here doing it!
​
I don’t want you guys to get scared by this post and not want to pursue the profession. I mean learning how to save lives is going to be hard but it's going to be so worth it in the end. When I learn something and it makes sense, I’m like omg! (I legit got happy the other day because my little cousin had croup and I was like did they give him dexamethasone and his mom was like omg yeah how did you know Bahahaha! I was like let me find out I’m learning something) 
​
Self-care days are so important! Didactic year is tough but it is doable y’all. Sometimes it's easy to get depressed, that’s why you have to set out time for yourself so that you can rest. Talk to your classmates and let off steam. It can be hard talking to people that are not going through this process because they don’t really understand but your classmates do! They are going through the same process as you. I thank God for my PA frans! Most importantly lean on the LORD. He wouldn’t have allowed you to go down this path if he knew you couldn’t handle it. Yes, it's hard but you have to keep your eyes on the prize. Literally, I haven’t been able to sleep at night. I felt like I was starting to have anxiety about school and I was like the devil is a lie! I shall not stress and worry but know that God is with me at ALL times.  In no way am I trying to complain I’m just being honest about the hard work you have to put in to be a medical provider. I’ve literally been going non-stop since we started back in January but I know it's going to be so worth it, so I just have to keep the course! (Last week was exam week and God came through y’all! I literally almost started shouting once I pressed submitted and saw my grade on one of my exams lol) He is beyond faithful!
 
So, if you know anyone in any health professional program make sure y’all check on them and send prayers up for them lol! We will appreciate it 😊
 
It takes a lot to wear this white coat as a PA student but I’m so glad GOD chose me to serve in this capacity!
 
I love you guys and God loves you sooooo much!

"You is kind, You is smart, You is important” lol but no really! As I sit back and reflect on where I was a year ago I decided to write a letter to my pre-pa self
 
A year ago, I was living in Nashville working as an ER scribe and taking my last pre-req, Microbiology. I was in the “waiting” process of my pre-pa journey; still looking at other schools to apply to and turning in my supplemental applications. I was grinding trying to keep busy so that I wouldn’t think about the schools that weren’t emailing me for an interview lol. This was a very “trying time” in my journey. This is like the WORST PART of the journey! You’re waiting around, checking your email every 2 seconds and wondering if you will get an interview invite or not. A few months passed with no interview invites. Only emails saying that the school has received my application and that it's being reviewed.

People would always ask so what are you doing? Did they call you for an interview? Did you hear back from any schools (I would be fine until someone asked me this lol)? Why is Kayler in school and you aren’t (Yes people would ask me this, comparing us and I had to just get myself all the way together). This would make me feel like I wasn’t doing anything or like I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.

"Tayler celebrate the small and big victories. You completed your CASPA, you completed your personal statement, you turned in your supplementals way to go! This is a huge step in your process because it’s a lot of work that went into it. You spent countless hours inputting your grades, your experiences and perfecting your application. You spent countless hours writing your personal statement to reflect why you want to become a PA. That’s huge, way to go girl! Don’t be so hard on yourself! Breath and congratulate yourself for crossing one bridge before you stress out about the next one. Sit back and reflect and see how far you’ve come. You are making progress and I’m so proud of you. Tay, you got an interview invite today that’s huge! Thank God and pat yourself on the back. Tay, you got through the interview without it going horribly wrong. Tay, they called you and said you’ve been accepted to PA school! That’s so awesome! Go celebrate and thank GOD because this is what you’ve been waiting for. You’ve prayed for this and never forget that. GOD did just what he said he would do. Look in the mirror and just reflect on how far you’ve come girl. You are walking into a new season that’s going to come with new blessings. Even when you start school don’t get so caught up in the stressors of it but remember how far you’ve come, remember the nights you prayed to be in this position. Remember all the hard work you’ve put in. Remember that God brought you to this point and he will sustain you. Congratulations Tayler! I’m beyond happy for you.”
 
I wanted to write myself a small letter because I can be so hard on myself you guys. I have to remind myself that I don’t have to be perfect or have it all together (who has it all together at 24 anyways lol)
 
 Side note: Everyone’s journey is different. Just because someone is further along in their journey doesn’t mean that they are winning and you are losing. God orders our steps and each and every one of our journeys are different. For my pre-pas, pre-nursing, pre-med, etc. when others ask you “what are you doing” tell them that you are preparing for school. You are preparing for your career. You’re preparing not only to learn how to save lives but to pour great things into your patients that God has given you. Just because you’re not “there yet” doesn’t mean that what you are doing isn’t important. The process is just as important as the end results. Let me say that again for the people in the back lol. Your process is just as important as your end results. (you remember in school you couldn’t just write the answer down, your teacher wanted to know how you got the answer because the how is just as important). During the process, God is grooming you and preparing you for the next level. God is teaching you things in your process that are instrumental in where you are trying to go. My process taught me how to step out of faith even more, it taught me how to continue to trust God no matter what it is, it taught me how to continue to speak those things that are not as though they were, and my process taught me that comparing myself to others is unhealthy.
 
So today I tell my pre-pa self and my current self lol to not be so hard on myself. Celebrate the small and big victories. You don’t have to be perfect and you definitely don’t have to have it all together.

Hey, you guys I’ve officially started PA School 😊 Glory to God! I’m still in awe and so grateful that God chose me to serve in this field and in this capacity. It makes my heart so full!
​
Orientation was last Thursday and Friday and school started Monday. When I tell y’all I felt like last week was the longest week ever! It seemed like Thursday and Friday were never going to come lol. During Orientation I was able to meet my classmates, all the professors and faculty (the majority of them I interviewed with) learn important things about the program, meet our advisors, we did some team-building exercises and ordered our medical equipment! I can’t wait to show you guys the stethoscope I ordered (look below lol).




​                    The First Week of PA School
The first week of PA school is officially under my belt! Wooo Hoo!! This semester I’m taking Anatomy (and lab), Physiology, Health Systems and Risk Management, Interpersonal Communication and History Taking, Intro to Pharmacology, Fundamentals of Medical Science, and Role of a Physician Assistant & Intro to the PA Profession. My classes are Monday- Thursday typically starting at 9 am and ending at 4 pm. Of course, the first day I was a ball of nerves because I didn’t know what to expect (like uh what did I get myself into lol) but honestly my first week wasn’t bad at all. I’m trying to figure out what ways I’m going to study so I can develop my study schedule for the semester. Did I study this week? Sure did! After class, I took a break and would go over what we learned that day just to keep up because the next day we were going over something new. In undergrad, I was the one who liked to write everything down versus using my laptop, but I’ve found it faster for me to type in class instead of writing. Now I don’t know if that will be my approach for all of PA school but that’s what I’m going to do for right now.

We have soap notes due Monday so I’ve been working on those with my classmates. Oh, how much scribing has come in handy for these. Thank you Jesus!

Overall my first week of PA school was great! I like my classmates and the faculty. You can tell they really want everyone to succeed and do well in the program! God is beyond amazing and I’m so grateful I’m not on this journey alone. I just wanted to let you guys know how my first week went!

There are moments when I already felt overwhelmed but I had to take a step back and just breath. I know God will see me through everything!

                                                           Tips

• Don't compare yourself to others! You are there for a reason. The admissions committee had faith that you would succeed in the program.
• If you are feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and relax for a while before going back to study. Its okay to take a breather.
• Speak positive things and believe in yourself! You made it this far, you can do this!
• Always trust God! He has you :)

Let me know what type of topics you guys want to hear more about!
​
I love you guys and God loves you soooooooo much! ​

​Here are a few pictures of my classmates and I! Taking a study break and having some fun :)

Thinking about applying to nursing school?
  
Here are three major tips that helped me when applying to multiple nursing schools: 

1.  Narrow down the locations where you want to attend nursing school.

• ​​​Before applying to nursing school I knew I didn’t want to stay in Texas, so I prayed and asked God to show me where he wanted me to begin my nursing journey. God showed me Tennessee so that made things easier as I applied to multiple nursing schools there. If you want to apply to schools in multiple states, I say go for it (I applied to two outside of TN) but I just found it easier to narrow them down.

2. Be familiar with the requirements of each school 

• It's important to be familiar with the prerequisites for each nursing program. Some schools may have different requirements, which may cause you to weigh your options. I know for me I didn’t apply to multiple schools that had different requirements, because that would have caused me to take different classes for each school.  Its Important to print out the schools requirements, write them down on a white board, save them to your computer, or whatever is the easiest way for you to have access to them. pre-reqs are your best friend during this process, its important that you have these classes done or you will not be able to start nursing school (Well for most programs, not everyone)  

3. Don’t Cram !

• Applying for nursing school can be OVERWHELMING. You should take things day by day and PLEASE do NOT try to cram everything into one day or one week. Applying to school is a long process, so it's important to give yourself enough time. Set alarms, jot down deadlines in your planner, set reminders, or whatever you have to do in order to stay on top of the process. I remember when I was applying, every day I was doing something that was related to applying to nursing school. Monday I would call a school if I needed extra information, Tuesday through Friday I was on nursing CAS making sure all of my information was filled out. I also made sure to fit in my schedule to tell my mom how I needed all of this money for the application fees LOLOLOLOL. I know this process can be difficult and long but remember to breathe! Ask God to help you not to get overwhelmed and ask him to make this process easy for you! (Ask and it will be given to you) "Matthew 7:7" If you see yourself getting overwhelmed take a day or two break then jump back on it! 

​

​When I got my first interview invite I was ecstatic but then quickly got nervous because that meant I needed to prepare for it. A lot of PA students recommended the book “How to Ace the Physician Assistant School Interview” so that was the book I purchased off Amazon. The book was around $25 so it wasn’t expensive and with amazon prime, I received it the next day (I love amazon prime y’all lol).

The book gives you a lot of questions that may come up in your PA school interviews and gives you good examples of how to answer the questions. When prepping for my interview I would say I utilized the book a little bit, but I also did other things. I googled questions and asked some PA students about common questions that were asked during interviews. I told myself I would prep for my interview really early, but truth be told I prepped like a week before (this may work for some or others may need a longer prepping time, it just depends). I would scan over a few questions off and on but didn’t really go over them until about a week before.

I would read the questions aloud and say my answer aloud so that I could hear myself and make sure what I was saying made sense. I also did a mock interview with my friend that’s in PA school. We tried to be serious and act like I was really having my interview, that way I could get a feel for it. (I recommend doing a mock interview with someone and if you can do it with someone you don’t know this may be even better because it will get you to open up and talk with a stranger, which is what you will be doing in your interview). One thing I didn’t want to do was memorize my answers because it’s easy to tell if your answers are rehearsed. So, each time I said my answers I was saying the same thing but in a different way if that makes sense.

                  What to wear/bring
A SUIT! I wore a nice pants suit to my interview and a nice pair of black heels. You don’t have to go out and buy an expensive suit unless you just want to invest in one, but I got mine from target. I wore a navy-blue suit with a light pink blouse and black heels. One piece of advice I can give, is ladies if your interview day is long and you have to do tours, bring a pair of flats to change into. My feet were screaming during my first interview because I didn’t put my flats on before the tour and we were walking across campus. (feet were on hurt hurt lol). I don’t really wear makeup like that, but I would say try not to do anything extreme with your makeup on your interview day.
I printed out my CASPA application along with a few copies of my resume and placed them in a nice “padfolio” (had no idea that’s what that nice looking folder was called lol). I didn’t need my application or my resume for my interview, but it was nice to have just in case. I also brought thank you cards to give to my interviewers, but I ended up not passing them out due to the fact that I was only given their emails.
                          TIPS
• Make SURE to send a thank you email or if you do get an address you can send the thank you cards to your interviewers. It doesn’t have to be long but, in the email, say something that will make them remember you. For example, one of my interviewers were from Dallas and he had an upcoming trip to Houston, so he wanted to know about good restaurants and things to do. In my email, I reminded him about a restaurant I thought he should try (just something simple so that they can remember who you are (oh she is the girl that I talked to about Houston)).
• Dress professional
• Be yourself! I know it’s so cliché but honestly just be you. They are not only interviewing you, but you are interviewing them to see if you think you will be a good fit for their program.
• Be nice to everyone and mingle! They are looking at everything. Even how you interact with other interviewees. Remember the whole time you are there you are being interviewed from the time you step foot in the building.
• Think about the question before you answer. If a question throws you off don’t sweat it too much, you will get the next one.
• Don’t forget about your transportation and lodging. (This entire process can be expensive but it’s so worth it.) If flights are too expensive see if your interview is close enough to drive.
• Know what’s on your CASPA application because sometimes they will ask questions off of it.
If you have bad grades or anything concerning on your application don’t be afraid to talk about it. If you received the interview they obviously know about it and still consider you qualified enough to invite you for the interview. (I got asked about a few grades, but I just swung it into a good direction.) Tell them why you received the grade that you did. Always make it seem like you learned from it. I made this grade but, in that process, I learned how to go to office hours, use my resources better which helped me out in other courses blah blah blah maybe you went from a C in Ochem I to an A in the second one after learning from your mistakes.
​• Have questions to ask your interviewer. One of my questions were about medical mission trips and if they had a weekend where our class could meet each other and hang out before we start school. (The PA weekend sparked a full conversation because one of my interviewers was over the event planning for the program and another one of my interviewers was working on implementing medical mission trips into the program).
• Thank and praise God in advance. You speak it that that spot is yours in the program. Remain positive; don’t doubt God nor yourself. (You know what I realized this weekend? What’s for me is for me. If God has given me an assignment nobody can stop it. They cannot want you on a job or in a program all day long but if its GOD doing it's going to happen and nobody can stop it.)

I love you guys and God loves you sooooo much!

​Hey guys! I can’t believe I start PA school in two months (say whaaaaat). I so remember the times I prayed for this! I remember going through the application process, enduring the waiting period (which is the worst part ever) and now I’m here. God is so faithful and I’m so grateful that I’m actually living out my dream. 
Many people ask me how I feel about starting school and how do I feel about Kayler and I separating. Well, the answer is…….. I’m so happy to be starting school but I don’t think it has actually hit me yet. As you guys know Kayler and I are twins, and this will be our first time living apart which will be different, but we will definitely be ok you guys lol. Everyone is like OMG why are you guys separating, why didn’t you go to school in Atlanta, etc. I’m like y’all are more freaked out about it than us lol.  We will be living in different states but its only 4 ½ hours away from each other. (God could have easily allowed me to go to a school in ATL but that’s not where my assignment is right now. He sent me to this state and this specific program for a reason 😊)
Right now, I’ve been trying to find a place to live. (There are no units available in this specific place I want to stay but that just means my speak it into existence game is about to be strong. Y’all its two people on the waitlist in front of me but I’m thanking him in advance because of the favor God is about to show me. I’m telling y’all now so that when I come back with my testimony of how God worked out my living arrangements y’all know it was ALL him.)
My program requires us to dress business casual every day, so I’ve been updating my closest. I have been traveling quite often lately and enjoying life before PA school. Overall, I’m super excited about starting school and meeting my new classmates. I’m starting a new chapter and I couldn’t be more thankful. I’m learning how to enjoy every moment of this journey and be thankful every step of the way. I’m about to learn how to save lives you guys (something I’ve wanted to do as long as I can remember).  It’s like I’m about to hit a new level of  adulting lol. 
Again, I give God ALL the praise! It’s because of him that I am where I am today. For anybody that’s in a transition period in their life, just trust God, have faith, think positive and enjoy the journey. 

Love you guys and God loves you guys soooo much!