Life is Interesting

Life is interesting...but still good. I would be such an ungrateful brat if I tried to claim that I'm going through a hard time, even though sometimes I want to.

Some of you are aware of my ear situation. I started complaining about it seriously when I was in China, but I've been struggling with it since January. I'm going deaf in my right ear, and I've decided to not go to graduate school quite yet.

Every time I try to play my flute, I notice my hearing getting progressively worse, especially the last few times I've tried to practice. As a serious music student, I'm not OK with doing only 30 minutes a day, and I can only do about 5 minutes at a time before I start suffering from intense pain. It's kind of weird, being separated from my flute not because I'm burnt out, but because it's not good for me right now. I've been in and out of a few doctors, some who think they know about ears when they really don't, and I think that I will not be ready to start a masters degree of music by the end of August. I'm working on getting a deferral, so we'll see how that goes.

In the meantime...

I got a job as a Legal Assistant at Myler Disability! My dad actually does Social Security law, so I find it more interesting than most people probably do. This law firm is really big (and has been growing for quite some time) and is hiring a lot of people. Everyone starts out in a call center, so I'm on phones (on my left ear obviously) talking to people who have sometimes very serious disabilities and are starving to death. I get to file an intake for them and tell them that we're on their side and we are going to do our best to get them the money they need. And the best news? After 90 days I'll get health insurance benefits so that maybe I can afford to see a better ear doctor than the one I've been to. Not that I think they'll be able to wave a magic wand and make my hearing come back completely, but at least I can feel like someone really cares about helping me get better. I'm also prepared for a long, arduous process, but hey, I'm just excited to get started!

In other news, since I can't really practice all day every day, I am spending a lot more time at the gym. It feels great to get healthy! I would go into more detail about my people-watching, but that might have to wait til this weekend. 8 hrs a day every day at the same place is a little much for my energy level. I'm still getting used to it.

Thanks for reading. Just thought it would be good to get an update out there.