ACK!!!

It's a good ACK!!! Well, at least it's not a life-is-terrible ACK!!!

So, last week, I set up my test date for the personal trainer certification exam. I decided on Tuesday, July 28. Tonight, one week out, I Googled, "How hard is the NASM CPT test?" The top post in response was a blog entry by a woman who took over four hundred (four hundred!!!!) note cards worth of notes, and the test was still pretty daunting for her. I have...far fewer than that.

Look, everyone is different, and one person's obsessive note-taking is another person's absorbing and reciting to themselves over and over again. I'm not entirely sure that endless note cards would help me, as I'd just have to flip through them all to find what I'm looking for, which would frustrate me and up the stress level.

What I've been trying to do is take the information I'm learning and apply it to real situations so that I can truly remember it. For example, in trying to memorize the muscles of the lower leg and their primary functions last night, I would say, "Anterior Tibialis," while pointing to my very own Anterior Tibialis (it's a muscle on the anterior--front--of the tibia bone). "Function: dorsiflexion of the foot," said while lifting my toes off the floor and bringing my foot into a dorsiflexed position. A note card won't necessarily help me memorize the information, but speaking it and moving it will.

(I'm such a musical type. Look me, all kinesthetic and stuff.)

Still...it suddenly occurred to me that I have one week to really get on board with this exam prep, and a sudden panic took hold. I quickly reset my test date for next Friday (those extra few days give me huge piece of mind) and now I'm setting out to really plan my studying out to optimize my time...because, you see, taking this test isn't the only Big Thing I have right now.

Yesterday, my new boss called. Mrs. Principal must have really liked my interview, because the day after, she had someone checking my references. She's excited to have me on board, and I'm excited to be on board. Today, I met up with her at the school and got a look at what my teaching schedule will look like. My primary focus is middle school, but I will see each K-5 class once a week, as well. I will have some prep time in the day, and for the first few months, I'll be a travelin' music teacher...until my shiny new portable classroom is installed around December/January. Woohoo!! I'll be excited to move in.

But for now, I'm up to my eyeballs in thoughts and ideas for that--and school starts in a mere three weeks. It looks like I might be doing some instrumental instruction with the middle school students, which is hugely exciting.

Between trying to pass the CPT exam and getting ready for a new school year, my brain is on a slight overload right now. I know I can do it all, but of course, it's also easy to worry a little. What keeps me sane is having a plan, so the To Do List gets updated and just looking at it and crossing off all the little things makes me feel better.

So by the end of July, I'll be a Certified Personal Trainer and Music Teacher all in one petite, slightly-harried brunette package. Which means I need to wrap up this post and go point at various muscles on my body.