So blessed at the end of the year

As is customary for this time of the year (and because I finally have the time to reflect on everything that has happened of late), I have been thinking about all of the things in my life that I have been so blessed with during the past year:

• I am exactly 1/2 of a PA, with only one more semester left in the classroom!  I started feeling fairly early in the semester what past 2nd year PA students from our program have talked about before: the 2nd year slump.  Getting up, even for only 3 days a week, felt like such a huge chore, and every morning involved lots of coffee, blasting campy 80s music, and having a dance party/mental confidence booster in order to drag myself to yet another class.  However, clinic was something I looked forward to every week!  It was the one place where I could get away from the drama of being in class, and really hold my own.  I was blessed with 2 amazing rotations this semester, both of which I was treated with incredible independence and respect by my preceptors (especially during my second rotation in family practice).  I learned so much this semester in clinic, and gained huge confidence in my knowledge and abilities to accurately assess and treat my patients.  I even detected a heart murmur in an adult patient that had no history of a murmur in the past, which eventually led to a diagnosis of an aortic aneurysm.  I had so many moments like this where I have been able to synthesize everything I have learned in the classroom, and during past rotations, and I can't wait to start full time rotations in June.
• I have the love and support of my amazing family
• My sister came home!  After being gone for almost 4 months in London, she finally came home.  She even surprised us all by coming home 4 days earlier than expected, so we got to spend all week with her before Christmas.  
• I got to spend wonderful time with my mom and sister in the company of our amazing congregation for Christmas eve Mass, and I prayed the rosary using the beautiful Italian-made rosary that my sister brought back from St. Paul's cathedral for me!

I have been blessed by so many other things this year, including a phenomenal scholarship from my program, the opportunity to meet amazing people and have life-changing experiences in clinic and in my work experiences, and just happy to be surrounded by friends and family who love me.  I only hope that 2012 ends up being as wonderful as the tail-end of 2011 has been!  (That is, of course, if the world doesn't end :-))