Hello Spring! (or fake spring?)
I’m halfway through the first semester of my MRC (Master of Rehabilitation Counselling). It’s been busy, and I’m working my way through it. Some days feel long when you have minimal commitments other than studying. Unlike last semester, when I was running my business and studying the last two units of my grad cert, I have more time, so I should be less stressed about getting assessments done. However, I find the assessment is still stressing me out. It seems the more time you have, the more you procrastinate. But I’m getting it done and noticing the higher standard of masters level compared to undergrad and grad cert. Some of the positives, though, are I’m feeling fresh most days because my quality of sleep is better, and I’m managing my routine of going to the gym at 7 a.m. at least 4 days out of the 5. Now that the weather is warming up, I’ll be more inclined to go for walks during the day, and I’m looking forward to spending some time outside.
The Big News
(I will tell it like a story to set the scene, so bear with me.)
Two weeks ago, I received a phone call with some news. Well, more, we played phone tag. At 5 p.m., I noticed a missed call from a number. If I don’t know the number and they haven’t left a message, I won’t call them back as I figure if it’s important, they will call again, although I often don’t answer numbers I don’t know unless I am expecting a call. My intuition told me I needed to call this number back, so I did, and it went to their voicemail; it was James. I thought, I don’t know who James is, and I’m not expecting a call. I went to dinner, and when I was leaving, I noticed the number had tried calling me again, and I’d only missed it by 5 minutes (my phone is always on mute). I was heading to trivia next and would already be late, so I decided to call when I got in my car.
Once I got into my car, I had quite a big coughing fit; the cold air or something had triggered my asthma, and I got to my ventolin a little too late. Sometimes, my coughing fits are so severe that they trigger the gag reflex, and despite saving two close calls, I had no control over the third and flung the car door back open (while I was still sitting in the car park), vomiting half out of the car and half in. I didn’t have any wipes or tissues, so I had to wipe my hand on my pants and rule myself out of going to trivia.
Before heading home, I made the phone call, and James answered. He introduced himself, acknowledged we hadn’t met before and told me he was the head of physical therapists for the Australian Olympic Medical team. I found myself holding my breath and thinking, is he calling to tell me I’ve been selected, or have I missed out? “We’d love to have you on our medical team if you’re still interested.” (It had been almost three weeks since my interview). “I’d love to,” I replied, holding back the tears forming. James then explained to me the process from here on, and just like that, I became part of the Paris 2024 Australian Olympic Medical Team.
I hung up and then started texting my family and close friends to tell them the news while letting my emotions flow out, which was more than I’d anticipated. I hadn’t realised how much the selection meant to me until I was selected, but then I realised it was the first time I’d ever ‘won’ a massage job.
As I discussed in my previous blog, it's not what you know but who; my work opportunities in sports have come about through contacts and connections. The only exception was when I was selected for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which was volunteering for the organisers of the Commonwealth Games. There was an interview, but it was a one-way video interview where you were asked a question and recorded your answer, and you could record as many takes as you needed. The interview for the Paris Olympics was my first actual interview in at least 15 years, and there was minimal prep as I was contacted at midday on a Wednesday, and my interview was at 9:30 a.m. on a Thursday. Even if I had prep time, I wouldn’t have known what I needed to do, so I decided to show up as myself, and if I didn’t fit, I didn’t fit.
Since that phone call, I’ve received a couple of emails, provided my uniform sizing and had a meeting with the Soft Tissue lead where I could discuss my selection and ask questions, including who the other therapists were. 4/7 of us are from Victoria, but 2 of us are from Canberra, which is pretty cool that from 30 applicants, two Canberrans will be part of the team. They were trying to choose people with different sports backgrounds, so for me, it was my rugby-heavy experience and my interest and participation in weightlifting. They also liked my love and ability to work as part of a team.
The Australian Olympic Medical team supports small sports that don’t take their own medical. We will be allocated to sports, so I’m excited to find out which ones I will get and how it all works when we get to Paris. My understanding is we will be rostered on shifts in the village, but we are also on standby to assist the big sports (e.g. swimming, rowing, cycling and athletics) if they have a staff member go down sick or if they need extra support.
I’m hoping I’ll see some of the rowers despite them having Laura (who supports the women in Sydney) with them for the Olympics. I’ve followed them this week as they race in the rowing world championships for Olympic boat qualification. The daily race schedule is posted on the Rowing Australia social media pages. Before travelling and working closely with the team, I don’t think I would have been following the rowing at all. Still, I’m pretty emotionally invested in these incredible humans who are also athletes.
I'd best get back to my uni work. :)
Till next time.
Congratulations !!! Well done... All the best
Yewwwww!!! Well done!!!