The Diary of a Massage School Student: Week Six
Posted by Jennifer Shaw on Fri, Feb 26, 2010 @ 02:00 PM
By Hjalmar Perez, January 2010 Intensive Student
Week 6 of massage school is almost wrapping up. I'm totally in awe of how much we have covered so far. Last week we had our first Swedish massage practical exam, and the experience was incredible. Cindy, our Wednesday instructor, fittingly called it a 'celebration!' I'm not necessarily sure I was ready to call it that just yet, but I could definitely sense the positive energy in the classroom - a mix between excitement, anxiety and nervousness. Fortunately, I had the chance to practice a few days earlier on the actual classmate I would be demonstrating my technique on, so there was a certain level of comfort and familiarity that definitely came in handy.
No doubt the whole experience was extremely positive.
As an engineer who has worked on developing processes for educating people of diverse backgrounds, I am impressed at how all the material and classes was organized in order to provide us with all the necessary knowledge and experience to succeed in our first practical massage. I especially found the "Guided Full Body" massage practice session we did Friday with Christopher and Christina before the practical exam to be extremely helpful, insightful and inspirational.
Beside helping us experience the pace at which we needed to go at in order to complete the routine in under 70 minutes, I found it inspirational when Christopher had us come together in a circle in the middle of the room before starting the practice session. He reminded us to have fun giving the massage and then had us touch elbows with those next to us in the circle (got to keep those hands clean!) This action made me feel part of something bigger than myself -- plus brought back the awareness of how much positive growth was happenning in that moment in time -- within me and around me.
I joined the intensive massage therapy training program looking for a new challenge and plenty of growth. No doubt I found the place.
Hjalmar Perez, Massage School Student I was born in in Panama, Central America — host to one of the wonders of the modern world, the Panama Canal. Spent the first two decades of my life there, going through elementary/secondary school and practicing HapKiDo, a Korean art of self-defense. Played some classical guitar and drew a lot. Helped run my parent's ceramic shop. Years later realized that it was at this shop where I first met Melissa, the woman who twenty years later I would marry. Moved to Austin to study Electrical and Computer Engineering at UT. Did my senior project with a (then small) company in town, National Instruments (NI) and got hired full time after graduation. Got married. Worked with many talented and passionate individuals. Had the opportunity to take on an overseas assignment which granted me the chance to experience the amazing country and people of Hungary.
Passionate about being part of the community. Member of the Committee of Managers at the NW Austin YMCA for the past 4 years. Currently chairman of the Membership Task Force at the same branch. Suffered a heart attack in April 2007 while training for first Triathlon in spite of eating well, exercising, and having no family history (genetics, we figured...). My thirst to gain a better understanding about my own body led me to become a personal trainer. Currently teaching functional strength classes at YMCA and training for my first Tri - second time is the charm?
With the support of my wife, left my full-time job early this year to pursue massage therapy school. Volunteered to contribute to the school's blog. Having a blast being back in school and getting to share and learn with lots of wonderful, compassionate people. Will look for software design consulting gigs when the rhythm of school settles in. (I promise, honey.)