Good news.

Just got off the phone with Jmaie...she called to let me know that Jess left Rochester an hour ago ( she is pulling their boat home..we store it in our pole shed) & that

Jessica did great at the interview at the Mayo. Jamie & Ryan helped her practice Thursday night... she had 5 questions & according to Jamie, did great. Jamie almost acted like she was THERE in the room... she must have drilled Jess for the details afterward.

Jess was told after the interview that she did very well. They were impressed with her & that she will not get a rejection letter. I asked Jamie what this means and she said, "well, I don't know for sure". I interpret it as meaning that she definitely did well enough to at least be put on an alternate list. Crap. I mean, good, but... CRAP.

Some pluses : Two men interviewed her. Jessica was hoping for guys & expressed to me earlier that she feels more comfortable talking to men; that many of her friends have been "guys" & she was hoping to be interviewed by males.

One of the "guys" ( a 2nd year PT student in the program) perked up when he heard that she played intramural hockey... they interacted / interjected with some small talk. Jamie said that this set her at ease for the rest.

The prof who did the interview was particularly intrigued with Jes' interest in gereatric PT. Apparently many of the apps. have their heart set on sprts med... Jess has accumulated hundreds of hours of volunteer experience & has expressed to me that she enjoys working with old people the most but that she had to remain open in her possibilities. Jamie said that during the interview she said that she was "open" but that the prof perked up and was very interested in her experience/interest in gereatrics PT. Coincidentally, she was just hired part time at St. Bens for a newly created position as a PT assistant & loves it. The prof. told her that most of the jops in PT are & will be in gereatrics so that is a plus for her in his eyes.

Where does it go from here? Well, first Jessica has to be safe driving that darn big boat home & then there is no next step.... just a waiting game . Jamie thought she should know by January. Jessica will have a more definite answer regarding that detail for me. I'm sure that she asked.

There was a pre interview lecture that included a general overview of the program. Jessica came out of that being impressed. From day 1( starting 2 years ago!) she has resisted the Mayo.... it may be the 'I can do this on my own" thing... who knows, but according to Jamie, she came out of the experience being impressed with what the program has to offer... especially the support the students get. Jamie said, "well that is just the Mayo". In other words, it is a teaching hospital & it takes care of its own..... which again goes back to the "courtesy" interview thing. Hopefully Jessica really did do an excellent job. I have no doubt that she did, but there is no escaping the facts: they receive over 400 applicants and interview over 100 people.... for 28 spots....

Jamie was pretty torqued ( talking to her when she is like that, especially on the phone, is a one - way conversation... she never hears me respond or ask a question... she just bores ahead:) ) but when I finally was able to interrupt her I said, "well I hope that she is ready to not get accepted" , Jamie paused and said, "I know. We talked about that. She realizes that is a possibility and is prepared for that". Whew. Don't set her up for a freakin' free fall, Jamie.

So it goes. All of the above information was gained in a 4- 5 minute "conversation" which included Grace demanding the phone to talk to Gma.. " Hi Grace. Are you having a good day ? "yes. blah blah blah blah blah." Jamie "Grace can mom talk to Grandma?" "No. blah blah" " Grandma loves you Grace" "Yes". Jamie, " GRACE! Give me GRANDMA!". ha ha ha.

Later. Buster will be glad to see Jessica. Buster will be glad to see Dan. Mary will be glad to see Dan. Mary will be glad to see Jessica. Mary needs to clean the kitchen & hide certain ... uh..... evidence.

Flash :) :) :)