Marilyn Mueller » Education

Passed the state certification test

Marilyn — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:48:20 +0000

I passed the state certification test last weekend – I was so surprised when I went on line to register for the test that I could take it on a weekend – the last time I checked the site the only times were mid-week. But a whole bunch of new locations were added, and the closest one to where I live does testing on weekends, so I signed up for the test. I was really nervous that I would not pass the test, but it was a lot easier than I expected. They allow an hour to do the test, but I finished it in twenty minutes. While I was there I met another pharm tech who had just finished the test and she told me it was easy.

I asked her where she worked and she told me it was a CVS in a nearby town. I asked her how much they paid and she didn’t want to tell me (shame.) I told her how much I had been paid where I WAS working and her eyes bugged out of her head and she told me that was all I could expect to get paid anywhere. So that was a disappointment – if I had realized that pharm techs were so poorly paid I probably never would have bothered pursuing that job!

Saving money on college textbooks

Marilyn — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:04:10 +0000

I have always thought that college textbooks were/are a major source of income for the colleges that sell them through their campus bookstores, and that they are overpriced. I have always felt like I was being held hostage by them when I was in college. Now that the Internet has come into existence, however, it is a whole new ball game!

I was helping my son last night to order his college textbooks for this upcoming semester. We got the list of books that he needs from the University, and found out what they would cost from their bookstore.

Then we went to the website gettextbooks.com and typed in the ISBM numbers of the books that he needed. That site is a search engine that searches for where you can buy the books. The results come up in a form that shows you where you can buy it and how much it will cost, sorted by price. We found all of his textbooks and ordered them, saving $300!

Good deal!

Teacher couldn’t solve the problem, either

Marilyn — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:22:27 +0000

Well, the test I mentioned a few posts ago, I got a 97 out of 100. The teacher said the highest score on the test was a 97, so I guess that was me! I asked him to demonstrate how to get the correct answer to the one question that I missed, and he couldn’t do it! Everyone in the class had gotten that question wrong, and since he couldn’t solve it himself, he decided to “give” everyone 3 points on their test (the equivalent of throwing the question out) which gave me a 100! I was very surprised that I got the highest score, I was sure there were at least two people in the class that would have scored higher than I scored! I’m not complaining, though, it is an ego boost to know I scored the highest!

Heart health

Marilyn — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:43:50 +0000

I see a lot of news stories lately about people dying from sudden cardiac arrest. More news coverage is happening about taking care of our hearts, and lots of advice has been given out about making sure to eat properly and get proper exercise. There has been a lot of discussion about risk factors and mortality rates. St. Jude Medical has put out a sudden cardiac death video that I just watched and found to be very educational. It is well worth watching.

I was worried about the test

Marilyn — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:43:46 +0000

Last week was the mid-term exam for the Pharmacy Technician Course that I’m taking. I was really worried about how well I was going to do. It was largely a test where we had to memorize a bunch of measurement conversions, like how many milliliters in an ounce, and a lot of math. I was worried that I was going to have a brain cramp and forget my conversions. So I spent several hours the day before the test writing my own conversion chart over and over and over again.

When the test was passed out I asked the teacher if it was ok if we used a blank scrap piece of paper to write on, to do the math, etc, and he said yes. So I took out a blank piece of paper and as the test started I wrote down the chart that I had been memorizing. What a HUGE HELP that was! I got an “A” on the test, but I KNOW that if I had NOT written down that chart I would not have done as well! The panic factor/brain cramp would have hit and I would have forgotten many of the conversions!

D was driving me crazy today

Marilyn — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:39:50 +0000

There’s a guy in class that I’ll call “D” to protect his privacy. I swear he has adult ADHD and it seems to be out of control in class. I know what ADHD is, my oldest son has it. But this guy is a lot worse than my son is! He seems to be in his early 20s and he just cannot sit still. He is always using his pencil to drum on the table, or rocking his chair back and forth, or banging his head on the table or getting up and walking around the room. Today he was worse than usual and he was very disruptive. I’m surprised that they teacher did not ask him to settle down. He was driving me CRAZY!

Pharmacy Tech Classes

Marilyn — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:23:17 +0000

My Pharmacy Tech Classes are going quite well so far. I’ve gotten “As” on all of the tests and homework assignments. I’ve completed the research paper, which isn’t due for another month. I’ve even been interviewing for work in the local Wal-Mart store for a job as a Pharmacy Technician, and they say that they are very interested in hiring me. I’m supposed to call them back tomorrow afternoon and see what kind of progress is being made to that end. I hope I got the job! We sure could use the money since my hubby lost seven months of pay from being out injured from that car accident he was in last fall.

I’ve been doing some research as to how much money Pharmacy Techs make and to be honest it was not as much as I thought it was when I signed up for the class. I’m not sure if I would have signed up for the class if I’d realized how little they actually get paid. It seems to be for a job to require certification and continuing education that companies would pay decent money! But it seems that in this area where I live getting paid decent money is a pipe dream, which is why most people commute an hour or more to go to work. And I don’t want to drive that far to go to work, so I have to just swallow my pride and take a lower paying job.

Oh well, I need the money and the job is close to home. With the price of gas going up as much as it has, and as much as it is going to be going up, I’ll be the lucky one bringing home more money at the end of the week once the costs of commuting are figured into the picture!