Reflective Essay On Professional Development

My journey as a student has felt like a never ending battle. I have constantly been struggling to manage my time properly, which I had stated was a true weakness of mine in my previous professional development paper. Although it has been a struggle, it seems as if my hard work and dedication has been paying off, because I am now almost two months away from graduation and I am starting to apply to take the certification exam. Another weakness I stated previously was my timidness. I am no longer timid and I feel very confident speaking to my peers and patients. It wasn’t long before I adapted to each setting and found a way to speak to those around me in a way that made sense based on the location I was doing clinicals at. At the hospital there

I thought I was going to be starting a position as a radiographic technologist as soon as I graduated from the program. What I didn’t know back then is that I’d actually be looking to purse a career in radiation therapy. Throughout this passed year, I have done numerous research on advanced modalities as well as rotate through them at Sherman Hospital. The first three modalities I rotated through were CT, MRI, and nuclear medicine. While I thought nuclear medicine was interesting, I had no desire to continue my education in either of those modalities. This is when I started doing more research about other career options. I found radiation therapy. I read about the modality online and it really interested me because like many others, my family has significantly been affected by cancer. I began looking for a program and it was important to me that this program must be accrediated. After researching, I found out that Southern Illinois University in Carbondale had the degree I was looking for. In addition to becoming a certified radiation therapist, I would also be recieving a bacherlors of applied science degree in radiography. I started my journey by first applying to the school itself and then to the program. Another thing I did to make sure I was interested in the program was go down to Carbondale and met with an academic advisor who gave me a tour of the medical imaging classrooms. Recently, I recieved my acceptance letter in the mail stating that I have been admitted into the school and