Where do I even begin, y’all. OOF. So much has happened! I honestly love life so much – the ups and the downs.
The past year and a half has not in any way slowed down. After my spinal fusion, we got married, we moved, we have two new puppies, I passed my NASM CPT exam, I started a new job THE DAY we moved into our new home and I started a business. All while going through my nutrition and dietetics program.
Between work, school, and taking care of my family/home – things have gotten pretty overwhelming to say the least. I learned a hard lesson on BALANCE during this summer semester. I was going to try to finish my courses + apply for a dietetic internship SPRING 2022 [ CRAZY right]! Well, a few things happened over the summer that snapped me back to reality and ultimately I decided to give myself some more time. I will be applying to internships in spring 2023 and I have some fantastic institutions in mind.
Here’s what I learned:
To focus on the quality of my work
I was trying to do too much at once. I still have a stellar GPA but the stress I put myself under to get there just isn’t worth it. While working full-time, there aren’t enough hours in the day. I decided to take two classes at a time so that I can put my focus on each class accordingly. Up next this fall are two clinical classes and I could’t be more excited.
To reprioritize family and friend time
Boy did I miss spending quality time with my husband + furbabies. Not to mention my friends. Having that time away from the computer screen, away from the textbooks is SO incredibly valuable. It can be so isolating to be stuck to a computer.
To reprioritize self-care
This one I’m still working on. Self-care to me is working out at the gym, and taking a hot bath while reading a good book. I can’t say that I do the latter very often. I struggle with having the constant need to be productive. When I’m not in class, I’m watching a nutrition or medical related documentary, reading something similar or diving into some current research. YIKES. If you have any tips on how to just “exist” without being productive – I’m all ears.
It’s okay to slow down
I had to be comfortable with the idea of slowing down my academic progress. For whatever reason, I felt the need to get done ASAP. Whether it be an eagerness to begin my career or just feeling sick of being in school – I had this intense sense of urgency. My dad always told me growing up that time is going to pass anyways, use it to your advantage and continue to grow. It’s so true! And it’s totally okay to do it at a slower pace if that means that you are going to come out on top and have the best quality work possible.
So what’s next?
Just gonna enjoy life y’all. Right now, I’m working as a health coach, slowly building my nutrition coaching business [I’m not in a rush because bandwidth is an issue], getting some awesome mentorship and of course, I’m in school. Other than General Chemistry I & II, I have completed all of my prerequisite science courses and I am now moving into clinical classes [YAY!]. I am also focusing on strengthening my body – my back, my shoulder and my core so that I can continue to have a positive recovery from my spinal fusion.
I really want to start creating content, potentially creating YouTube videos and doing better with social media. That stuff is really time consuming though and if I’m forced to choose between quality school work [a high GPA] and social media content – well, school it’s going to win every time. Not to mention, time spent with my little family. Hopefully I can get to a point where I am able to fit that stuff in.
I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer. I’m so glad we have been able to catch up.
How many #rd2be ‘s do we have here? What are you up to this summer?
As always, thanks for reading!
x Crystal Dee