We've got a few waiting games going on currently.
They are so fun.
Especially when we are counseled by church leaders to live now & not in the future. Sometime's that is tough though.
I won't share all our waiting games with you, but a more immediate one is HUGE.
Weston's Paramedic Program application is in & we are now waiting to hear back. He should hear back by next week. Wow, we have been sitting on the edge of our chairs for this one.
Weston is an unlikely candidate for 1 reason, he will have the minimum requirements for medical experience.
The minimum requirements for the Paramedic program application were:
- 4 months of EMT-B license before Paramedic program begins
- Anat/Phys
- Math
- English
- 3 letters of recommendation
- Paid medical experience
- Volunteer medical experience
- Letter of intent
- GPA
- Number of credits completed
- Transcripts
- Driver's License
- CPR Cert
So, he has the class requirements fulfilled, he is doing the math & Anat/Phys & EMT-B course currently.
We collected his transcripts & filled out the application forms. He wrote his letter of intent, which was phenomenal, by the way. He collected letters of recommendation from 3 very generous people. Joe Williams, former fire boss, President Hutchings, mission president, & Brandon Jensen, former fire boss.
Each person sent Weston a copy of the letter as well. Wow, they were powerful & spoke such great words of Weston, but were very honest, which says a lot about the person for being so thoughtful writing it & a lot about Weston for honestly receiving phenomenal marks from people he worked for & with directly. He has Wildland firefighting experience & has now been hired onto a hotshots crew for this summer.
Things change so quickly. I'll fill you in on that next.
He has a good GPA, not a 4.0, but definitely good. He has little volunteer medical experience, but everyone who he volunteered for & worked with all highly recommended him. Including the fire chief at an Orem fire station, who is friends with the paramedic board director.... & he has no paid medical experience. So basically the odds are for & against us.
Weston turned in his application & got an interview & had to do a physical test & some other written tests. Meanwhile he's been finishing up the patient assessments that he had to do for EMT requirements. HE had to do 100. He could not use the same person, but 4 times (unless pediatrics or infants). It was a challenge, props to everyone who played victim for him & Kristin & Joel for donating their baby for his infant patient assessments & to Jacob for volunteering his body for the pediatric assessments. Golly, it took a lot of work, but Weston accomplished them all! & my blood pressure is perfect!
Weston had full intentions of applying for the paramedic program this spring. However, he got a little nervous when he started talking to people about it who thought he was totally nuts for applying this early into his emergency services courses. I encouraged him to apply, even with him not being an EMT-I(intermediate). I figured there was nothing to lose, except he had to do a TON of work to get this application in. Including finding out that his driver's license expired the day before the application was due, bc he turned 25. & he was so slammed with school work that he did not even want to think about DMV junk, it was much easier just to sit in the passenger seat for a few days till he could get his head above water. However, he collected all his necessities & got his DMV stuff worked out & got a new driver's license on the same day the application was due. It was a zoo at our house. But I am so proud of Weston for working SO hard in school & all the work it takes to get his application in. Now we're praying he makes it in & that he does well on his finals so that he meets the grade requirements for the Paramedic pre-req's that he is currently taking. Eeks!
It is an extremely competitive program & Wes does not have the medical resume that most he is up against have. So, please pray for him/us that he gets in!
The Paramedic program is 2 semesters long. & extremely busy. It is 19 credits the first semester & 12 credits the second semester, but they do not want him taking any other courses with his second semester because he has to get 1,000 hours of clinicals. Whoa. So, that's our plan. However, after he has his paramedic certification he can start applying for big dog jobs & either keep going to school at UVU, or follow a job & then finish his degree online. There are so many options, but I am so proud of Weston.
Now, update on his fire job this season. Weston applied for a job with Hotshots up in Draper in January. He had an interview with them, just like he did last summer. He walked in to bring them his application & they remembered his name from last year...in an interview. Amazing. He applied & interviewed with them last summer, but they did not hire him, they don't like hiring students, because they have to return to school before the season is over. So, he applied & interviewed with them again this year, & again they told him they didn't hire him last year because he's a student. They told him the same thing this year. He was bummed, but still had his application in with Squad 8-1 in Spanish Fork who he worked with last season.
The U.S. Forest Service has this new thing for "diversity." Do not get me wrong, I love the diversity of our country, I love that we are a melting pot & I have a ton of friends that were not born in the U.S. I have no problem with that, my problem is with reverse racism. Weston literally almost did not get a job on his fire squad this season. So, his boss, Joe, went up to bat for him. He told the way high up people that Weston was a great employee, etc. & that he wants Weston back on his squad this season. Miraculously Weston got the job & got hired on with Joe.
Last week Weston got a call from the Hotshots. He got hired. Oh my goodness..... this was a moral dilemma if there every was one. Joe sticks his neck out for Weston, & then Weston gets this other job which will be a huge career booster for him & resume builder. (Hotshots are a big deal, Deej, Wes said he can now come present to your class on Hotshots!) Weston did not want to let Joe down. Joe is a great man with full intent to help others & he has definitely helped us & Weston out with various things. Weston felt comfortable calling Joe & getting advice on what to do, knowing that Joe would be honest. Joe told Weston that he obviously wants him on his squad, but that Weston needs to do what is best for his career & family. Wow, what a great man. We prayed about it in the 10 hours we had to make the decision. I left the decision to Weston, I really had no opinion or inspirations of which one is best & let's be honest, he's the one that will be working the job. Weston decided that hotshots is what I needed to do. He called Wade & accepted the offer & then called Joe & told him about his decision.
We have been so blessed that Weston has these different opportunities & incredible people that he works with!
10 high fives for you if you actually read all that & 5 high fives if you didn't make it, but that's basically what ha been consuming our lives lately.
love you all & will update pictures lata playas!
xoxobusybees!
