Medical and Dental process

So, I finally mailed off my medical and dental clearance package today. I don't remember it being this difficult and drawn out last time. I recieved the package a few weeks after my nomination, while I was in Ithaca over the holidays. With my birthday and my brothers visiting, I wasn't able to get started on it until mid-January. The medical part went fine, until I saw the part of the form asking about any other issues that were not mentioned and I thought of the mole that I had removed back in July. It was what is called a dyplastic nevus, which is a pre-cancerous mole with irregular skin cells and a lot of melatonin in it. According to my dermatologist it was no big deal, most people with fair skin and a lot of freckles have them. Just to be safe, I called the OMS and they said that I would need to fill out extra paperwork for it. I recieved the form in the mail a few weeks later... and it was the form for skin cancer, so I got a little bit worried that this will become a big issue but I think they probably didn't have a form for my specific condition and skin cancer was the closest thing to it. So I had to go to both my dermatologist and surgeon to get all the papers for that. Then I also had to get my immunization records from my pediatrician. Since it has been quite a few years since I have been to that office, they had my records in an archive or something so I had to fill out a ton of paperwork to get them and even though they promised that it would only take a week, it ended up taking about a month to get them.. they never answered my phone calls, so I had to chase after them (remember I work overnight so I had to do this all in the middle of my sleep-time). The real headache though was the dentist. I expected it to be as simple as my doctor's form but when I got my teeth checked, turned out that I needed a bunch of work done. Firstly, I had a cavity under a filling that I had done last summer, which makes me think that they didn't drill deep enough the first time. Then, I needed my crown replaced. And last but not least, I needed one of my wisdom teeth pulled. So all of this work took about a month. When I went to get my wisdom tooth pulled they told me that my insurance was refusing to pay for any of it. I am still under my mother's insurance because it is free for students but turns out that rather than requiring verification of being a full-time student once a year, like my medical insurance, they now want it every semester. I am only taking one class this semester, so I have no dental insurance and if I sign up for dental insurance at work, they obviously won't pay for any of the work I had done before they insured me. To make a long story short, right after I got my wisdom tooth pulled, I had to pay almost $1,500 for dental work. Not a good day. The best thing that came out of the wisdom tooth is that I decided to quit smoking and it was the opportune moment to do so. Friday will be two weeks without a cigarette. So finally I got it all together and mailed it off today. I am hoping that I will be cleared quickly so I can get my invitation soon!

Back in New York (Recap: Part IV)

The day after I got home from Russia, I started my new job as night auditor at hotel QT. I am still there, and will be until I leave. As night auditor, I work overnight, 5 nights a week and am basically in charge of overnight operations and accounting at the hotel. I love my job, its a great environment and I have fun there... and the money is good, so I am almost finished paying off my credit card debts. But anyway, this blog is about my PC experiences not QT-land... So, by the time I got back from Russia, my excitement and determination about going to PC was re-invigorated but I was seriously considering getting my Master's first. After a few months back at Hunter, in the undergrad grind... plus full-time work, I realized that I don't want to postpone any longer. I am 100% ready for the next step in my life. Unfortunately more than a year had passed since my application had been de-activated, so I had to reapply. I sumbitted my new application in November '06. I was assigned to the same wonderful recruiter who I had two years earlier, so the interview and nomination process went very smoothly and I got the nomination that I wanted: Central Asia/Asia TEFL for June 2007. Honestly I prefer not to go to Asia but my recruiter actually took the extra step of calling the placement officer in DC for the program and she said that I will most likely be invited to Central Asia since most people prefer Asia... so its perfect!