Chapter Four - "A New Path"

Well, it finally came, the day that took so long in coming; my final day of placement at 'Hospital A'. As I left through the main doors I half expected to hear the end theme to Casualty coming, and took one last walk down the path to the bus stop. Aside from the fact that it was my last proper working day at this site nothing really felt different, though it struck me I'd be doing everything here for the last time. It was a regular day, with regular patients, doing pretty routine things. There was brief mention by one colleague of a party at 7, but I heard nothing more of it, and it seemed unlikely as I was the only student in. The others had either made up time on Wednesday (which I'll come to in a moment), or were ill; poor girl. On the positive side however I did gain plenty of experience acting as a sort of student-radiographer-nurse-helper in the morning, and then proceeded to image a man in the afternoon from about 11:30 till 3:15; the poor guy hadn't counted on waiting around for so long, and wanted to know when he could get changed - only for me to tell him to wait around for another hour (at least)! I hope he liked my coffee. Once he'd gone home during the final stages of the afternoon my lecturer/double made an appearance, filling me in on some revision answers I'd emailed him. After wishing me all the best - and probably observing me struggle with a T-spine (not my own, I hasten to add) whilst trying to attract attention for assistance from those around me - he went his own way too. This week, working with the staff nurses as part of my clinical area I realised how much I'd miss being part of the team. I even looked on the whiteboard earlier in the week to discover that I'd been given a nickname... 'Thatcher the Milk Snatcher strikes again!' After sampling some of the baritop for myself, I reckoned they should create a mockup poster on the same theme, as those featuring Gordon Ramsay (or 'Scary Cat', Mark) 'Make mine barium' (ooo, catchy). Barium and milk are both white, afterall. I don't suppose the former would go well on cereal though...

Back on the 22nd April we had our first CU meeting under the new leadership, and they made a great job of it! After having seconds of soup and sandwiches, the speaker shared on Psalm 49; not one I was familiar with. I recorded it so I could listen back to it again if I desired. Afterwards we headed on to Late Night Church, where we started on the results talks of 'Kingston's Biggest Survey Ever', and What's the meaning of life? It really occurred to me just how futile everything in life becomes if we don't have Jesus at the centre of it all. Otherwise we're here one day and gone the next. Read Ecclesiastes and you'll get the point. Everything is vanity. It was a really strong and in-depth talk, but it would've been good to see more new faces in the crowd. But little by little...

On Saturday evening we threw a surprise party at our house. And I discovered what party-popper tasted like! It was a fun evening, following the routine of many of our other parties - the couch game and Mafia.

On Sunday, after playing in the music worship band at church (and a good sermon on the Sermon on the Mount) we headed over to HS's for lunch. After sampling a range of different sausages (including one lot that were made from beef - which I didn't try) we went for a walk by the river, after which I took a detour with a bass-playing friend into one of Kingston's music shops where he jammed on a bass, and I listened wishing I could. I can get by, but I just don't seem to have the time at the moment. Maybe one day. We headed back to the house afterwards and chatted before the evening service, as seems to be usual. It was encouraging to find an answer to my problem of reading the Bible daily (something Haggai 1 had convicted me of), and so HS started me off with The Daily Reading Bible which worked through each book in turn with passages and questions. Even if the questions are too simple, any study is better than no study.

Jumping forward to Wednesday I was acting as a Student Ambassador for a radiography open morning with sixth form tutors and teachers, with the aim of raising awareness of the radiography profession in schools. I was led down into the basement of the Accommodation and Student Services building, into a bunker-like room where the presentation was held. At one point we were all wearing 3D glasses to view the virtual training programme, which made me feel like I was in IMAX all over again. (IMAX-ray, perhaps?) I'd be hearing much of the same stuff again in the afternoon as I helped out with an open day for prospective students, but I didn't mind. It was fun and I'd get to meet new people, and it was paid. As I waited in reception at 1 pointing people towards our room, I met most of the candidates - a large proportion of whom were blonde girls. I spent a lot of the time talking to one about the course here, which was nice. She was pleasant and thanked me afterwards, and I hope she makes the grade and gets in - as do some of the others! :-)

Thursday again saw me at CU after a busy day of work. Psalm 2 this time, and a chance to catch up with the Americans; it's good to see HP and BG back again. As we packed up, DM and I invented a new game involving Bibles, a long table, and a tin of mints - let's just say it was close but I lost. Then on to Late Night Church and Why doesn't God make himself clearer? A great talk again, which answered some of my questions. God is so obvious in the world around us that ignorance is not an option. Listen to the talk!

Anyway, as the clock ticks away I'm realising I should probably get started on this evening's revision. Till next time.