Week 1: Introduction to Me

Hey, everybody! My name is Taylor Hamstra and I am a Chemical Biosciences major with a minor in Medical Humanities.  I'm a junior this year although I'm graduating so I guess you could call me a senior?? Anyways, I spent my summer here in Norman doing a variety of things- taking classes, working as a tech, shadowing PA's, volunteering in the NICU and at the animal shelter, etc.  I also went home some weekends which was really nice. When I say I "went home," I did, but I have lived in seven different places so Fort Worth is where I go to, but it's not where I was "born and bred."  Also, my family got a puppy not too long ago so I was very eager to spend some time with the cute dog before I came back to Norman.  As you might have guessed from what I've written so far, I want to be a physician assistant (PA) when I am older.  I shadowed many different specialties this summer, but my favorite was outpatient pediatric oncology.  I shadowed a lot of PA's this summer because during the school year, I take lots of classes but also work as a resident advisor (RA) which keeps me pretty busy.  As I've told my residents, I've had my fair share of crazy stories- don't become one of them :) I really enjoy working as an RA and one of the neatest things for me is to see how my residents transition from knowing nearly no one when they first move in and then seeing them at the end of the year in their various organizations and grabbing lunch with different friends every day of the week.  It's a really rewarding job and although it can be hard sometimes, it truly is a wonderful job and it also has taught me a lot about myself and mediating conflict among others.  On a lighter note, it's fun to plan events for my floor and for the fall semester, my floor theme is puns- so there's lots of terrible plays on words at every turn.  In conclusion, I look forward to being in class with all of you and wish you all a great semester!

Fort Worth Water Gardens