The Shadow knows...

Yesterday was a very cool day for me. I did something that confirmed for me the direction I want to take my Army career.

For the past year, I've been tossing around the idea of whether or not I want to branch out into the medical field. The Army has a great P.A. program (IPAP) and I've kind of thought I might want to cross over into that field.

Psychological Operations isn't really working out for me, and I've only been in this job for about five months. Sure, being part of an elite organization is pretty cool and the training opportunities are second-to-none, but in the end I will have very few marketable skills, especially since I don't want to go into Marketing after I leave the Army in 6 to 13 years.

So, since I have the opportunity to talk with people that actually do the job I'm thinking about, I thought I would shadow some P.A.s and Nurses down at the Army Hospital. I had to get permission and all, but that was easy.

I worked for an extra four hours after my normal work schedule last night, just hanging out with the two P.A.s and the Nurses in the ER and I must say that what I saw of being P.A. has me totally stoked for becoming one. It is exactly what I want to do.

It fits my personality, my natural talents, my intellectual curiosity, and it is virtually recession proof. I don't think I could ask for more.

So, next year, I'll drop my packet (that's Army-speak for apply) for the IPAP program and we'll see what happens. I have a lot to do until then, but I have about 10 months until the deadline next year and I am totally going to need every day of it to get ready.