My friend Teresa (who I have been friends with since I was in 7th grade) got interviewed in her blog and offered to interview any of her friends that were interested. Since my blog has been suffering lately, I decided to let her interview me. So here is her interview…
Teresa: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? Any long-term plans (that bring you back to Washington perhaps?)
Nicole: Let’s see. I really love working EMS, but I have been thinking about going back to school to do nursing. They get paid twice as much, and if my back goes out from lifting all these 300-400 lb pts on the stretcher, then I’ll be out of a job. I am not sure when I want to go back to school. I kind of wanted to wait until Daisy was a little older, but there is a college here that has a bridge program, where if you have your Paramedic, then it only takes a year to get your nursing degree, instead of doing a two-year program. So not this fall, but maybe next fall, I might be back in school. Then definently, after I get my nursing license, I will be looking for a job in WA. Right now, I only have a NC certification as a Paramedic and can only work in NC. If I wanted to work in WA as a Paramedic, I would have to get my National Regestry, and become a Firefighter to work in Western WA. I don’t want to be a firefighter.
Teresa: What would you do if you won the lottery?
Nicole: Oh that is a easy question. First, move back to WA. Buy an awesome house and car. Put money into a college fund for Daisy. Take a trip to Yap durring Yap Day (day in spring where Yap has a big celebration with lots of dancing, crafts and other traditional things) to meet her family and see the island where her dad is from. And I would probably give some money to my family since they have all helped me through all the hard times that I have had the last five years or so. I would probably also buy a bunch of clothes for me and daisy, and do a spa day. 
Teresa: What’s one of your favourite high-school memories?
Nicole: Well, I don’t really try to remember too much from High School. (LOL) But if I have to choose something to remember it would be going on a field trip with my Marine Biology Class to the Orcas Islands where I saw orcas swimming in the sound for the first and last time that I lived in WA state. There were three buses that went on the field trip, and my bus was the only one that got to see them. There were also a lot of other really cool stuff that we got to see on the field trip, but the orcas were definantly the highlight of the whole trip.
Teresa: Daisy is the sweetest little girl. What’s your favourite thing about her?
Nicole: Do I have to pick just one thing? I love how funny she is. All the funny things that she says and does, especially when she is in trouble. If I am yelling at her for something she did, she will start making funny faces at me to try to make me laugh. How can you stay mad at a silly face? I also love her energy. (Most of the time, sometimes she has maybe a little too much energy) And I love how she always has a solution to every problem that I might have that she hears about. Some not so realistic, like the time she wanted to call the fairy godmother to fix my broken down car. But still, in her mind, a solution. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it at that for now.
Teresa: What is the best compliment you’ve ever recieved?
Nicole: That is a hard question. Really right now at work, just getting any compliment about how I did something or treated a pt is really great. I have so much to learn, especially between the two services (they are so different on how they do things) that whenever I get a compliment from a partner or supervisor, it is awesome. Just gives me a little bit more confidence for the next call I go on, which makes me a better Paramedic.
Well, that is it. Hope you all learned something about me.
