I must prioritize my health so that I have the tools to manage other things in life
After completing my finals and passing my clinical comprehensive exam last week, I now have the opportunity to reflect on my third year as a clinical psychology doctoral student. I began writing this column at the start of the school year, and looking back at my previous columns, I realized just how little I have shared about how my being in school affects my experiences with sickle cell disease.
I am always charmed by the look on strangers’ faces when I tell them I’m in the midst of a six-year graduate program. It’s a look of admiration, appreciation, and pure horror regarding why I chose to spend my “good years” in school being paid an unlivable wage. When I chose my career path, I knew it wouldn’t be easy for someone like me who is living with sickle thalassemia, but it would be worth it.