My Pre-PA Story: Did you know I was a copywriter?

I would call myself a non-traditional PA student. Here's why:

1. My bachelors degree is not in the sciences. My undergrad is actually in Journalism & Mass Communication. 
2. I went back to school for my certificate in dietetics. It's only after that that I discovered the PA profession. 
3. I'm going back for this third degree in PA studies as a 31-year-old. Yes, being in classes with students who are 22 does make me feel old!
4. I'm a distance education student. I watch lectures online, take proctored exams at a local public library, and go to campus twice each semester for labs and hands-on activities. 

See? Not exactly your everyday PA student experience. So maybe you can't relate to me. But maybe, just maybe, you're a working adult wondering what might be next for you. You've dreamed of a job in healthcare or one with more responsibility, but you're not quite sure how this whole PA school thing could work out.

That's why I decided to write a series all about my experience deciding to pursue PA school, applying, preparing, and eventually getting accepted. 

Maybe it will resonate with you. Maybe it won't. Hopefully, at the very least, you'll find it to be an interesting story.

So here's part one. The fact that I started my journey just about as far away as you can -- sitting in a cubicle in a cool advertising agency, writing social media posts for furniture companies, collaborating with bloggers, and even doing some less exciting online monitoring and analytics for B2B companies.

I liked my job. Really enjoyed working with a lot of my colleagues. And heck, I'll even say I was pretty dang good at my job. But I wasn't really feeling fulfilled. My job didn't seem to light me up inside. I wasn't excited about advancement opportunities. Working with other types of clients wouldn't make me happier (I had switched agencies at one point to see if that was the problem, and welp, it wasn't).

So what did light me up inside?

I had gotten really interested in the health and wellness realm. I was reading books like "Omnivore's Dilemma" and watching nutrition documentaries and following food bloggers and thinking hard about my own personal health. It was something I was really loving digging in to.

"Once your hobby is your job, you may not love it anymore," I was warned. "Maybe you keep your day job to fund these other things you enjoy," I had been told. Valid points, if I'm being honest.

So I dug in some more. I researched the crap out of how one makes a career in nutrition and wellness. I took a mass online open course in nutrition to decide if my hobby was still fun when I had homework. Eventually that led to me deciding I wanted to become a registered dietitian.

I found a program nearby, applied, and spent three whole years pursuing this second dream. And a weird thing happened. I went from envisioning that I would be some nutrition blogger/entrepreneur at the very beginning, to realizing clinical nutrition was the absolute coolest. Forget the parts where I had to wear a hairnet and learn scoop sizes for cafeterias. Give me more of the science-y and clinical stuff.

This is coming from a person who, when deciding on a career, specifically said, "Oh there's no way I could be a nurse or anything like that. I couldn't handle all the gross stuff!" (I could now go on a rant about the problems of choosing career paths when you're only 18 years old and know nothing, but I'll save you from that for now).

I digress. The point is, I found this love for working with patients and being in acute care and I really enjoyed where my career change took me. But we all know this isn't how the story ends.

Being a dietitian lit a new fire inside of me. And I wanted more. Admittedly, I didn't have a clue what a physician assistant was before I started working in a hospital. But once I did, it appealed to me for a few main reasons. First, being a dietitian had limited growth opportunities for me. Being a PA would allow me so much more responsibility. Second, the schooling would be manageable. Another few years? That would be an investment worth it to me. Med school though? Yeah, that'll be a no.

So, just like the first career change, I did a ton of research. Really familiarized myself with the profession, what it would be like as a student, schools with reputable programs. But that's a story for another post (or two)!

"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might as well put that passing time to the best possible use." -- Earl Nightingale

I have kept this quote close to my heart during both of these transitions. It's a hard decision to make such substantial life changes. But here's what I thought to myself -- it's three years of school for thirty-plus years of happiness. That has got to be worth it. Wouldn't you say?

Be well,
Olivia

Me and my dad when I graduated with my dietetics certificate.