Beemouse Laboratories

I don’t think I’ve talked about my career change at all here, so I’ll start now.

I was laid off from Howard Hughes in December, since the immunology lab I was supporting uprooted itself and moved to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and I did not want to move to NYC to follow. This ended up being a good thing for me, since I was able to use the severance money to pay for school at North Seattle Community College to do the Medical Assisting program.

You may be asking, “What the hell?” I shall explain.

At some point after I was diagnosed with lupus, after maybe my thirteen billionth blood draw, a phlebotomist remarked to me that it was unusual that I watched my blood getting drawn instead of turning away like most people do. I like watching! It’s interesting! I mean, there is red stuff coming out of me, into a tube– real liquid parts of me with cells and proteins and all manner of little organic molecules, and it’s going to be analyzed! Science!

Afterwards, I realized that maybe my complete lack of fear of needles was an asset. This was what started the wheels turning. I thought I could just get a phlebotomy certificate after my job at Hughes was finished, since administrative work was so deeply and completely boring. I understood that I needed a “day job” if I was to keep working on illustration and photography, but I did not want a day job that stressed me out within an inch of my life, as previous degree-using day jobs did. I thought that a technician-level job would be just perfect– not paid enough to assume lots of responsibility, but still trained enough to have an interesting job.

I looked around to find out what places offered phlebotomy training courses, and found North Seattle CC. I saw they actually offered an entire Medical Assisting program, and that it was a good one. Richard suggested that I just do the whole program, which takes a little over a year, instead of training only for phlebotomy. Smart man. I can use all the medical knowledge that I have gathered over the past years, and all the empathy I have gained for people playing the role of Patient, and put it towards something useful. As a Medical Assistant, I will have a good chance of making a positive difference, being someone who knows exactly how scary and frustrating and bizarre and humiliating it can be to deal with medical stuff.

I am fortunate that I can go to school full time right now. I don’t have kids, I don’t have to work, and I can just concentrate on school. Other people in my program don’t have that luxury, and are still taking the same course load I am. I honestly do not understand how they do it. Mad respect for them.

Anyway, the end of my first quarter is coming up on Tuesday. I have a lot to do before then, but I’ve been getting really good grades, feeling a part of the program community, and I like my teachers. I’m stressed out, but it doesn’t make me want to shoot myself in the head. It’s kind of sad, but the teachers at NSCC already know me better than any of my teachers at the University of Washington ever did… the entire five years I was there.

Let’s hear it for going back to school when you’re older and are ready to give a fuck!

Sophomore year, 1999