Our Life

Chelsea's Career Story

*Summer 2008 I graduated high school at McKinney North High School. I began taking classes at Brigham Young University-Provo as a visiting student hoping to transfer as a full-time student as soon as they'd let me in. I made the most incredible memories and met amazing friends that summer.

*Fall 2008 I attended Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho. I went there for 2 semesters, Fall 2008 & Winter 2009. It was crazy freezing cold there but I loved dancing in their program and made pretty awesome friends there.

*BYU continued to deny my application (Heavenly Father's plan, NOT mine). I left Rexburg and attended BYU-Provo as a visiting student again for Spring & Summer 2009. Again I LOVED being there and felt like I needed to be there.

*Well for whatever reason Heavenly Father still didn't want me at BYU for Fall 2009, and not wanting to go back to Rexburg or Texas, I stayed in Provo and just worked to save money. That was a rough Fall semester. I prayed to know what to do. I felt a strong comforting feeling to move back home (even though that was the last place I wanted to go after being at college in Utah & Idaho). I moved home to McKinney and attended Collin Community College for the Spring 2010 semester (January-May). The idea here was to work (Urology office), save money, and take full credits and get straight A's to raise my GPA to get into BYU. (Mind you, I had a 4.0 GPA in high school and maintained mostly A's & B's in college so I don't know what BYU's problem was.) I danced at Collin College, I took 18 credits and got ALL A's, but BYU raised their TRANSFER GPA so I was still denied while students who broke the honor code and blew off their classes got to attend BYU. You can imagine my frustration by this point...

*In Spring 2010 I moved back to Provo and took classes at Utah Valley University. Still not where I wanted to be, but I wanted to be back in Utah. 

*Fall 2010 I decided to attend UVU as a full time student, but the tuition for an out-of-state was WAYYYYYYY too much money. I didn't want to go into debt. I was so frustrated that I wasn't a resident because I had transferred everywhere. The dance classes were so overwhelming and I felt so discouraged and had no idea where to go or what to do or where I was supposed to be. I could feel Heavenly Father trying to tell me not to go to UVU! So I dropped my classes after the first day of fall semester. I continued to work and save money, another fall semester not in school. FRUSTRATING!

*On Halloween 2010 I met my future husband. We dated. We were engaged in February 2011. I worked to save money, another semester not in school. We got married in June 2011. Yay I got married to my best friend the most amazing man ever! We moved to Glendale, Arizona in July 2011 so that James could start medical school at Midwestern University in the Fall of 2011. I also started school at Glendale Community College that semester. I chose here because 1) it's the cheapest 2) it's the closest 3) it's the easiest 4) they have an associates in dance & a dance company.

I attended GCC for Fall 2011 semester, Spring 2012, Summer 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013. I gradated with an Associate of Fine Arts-Dance on my birthday, May 10, 2013. 

*Heavenly Father knew my next step was to return to BYU-Idaho. I didn't have to go to Rexburg though! I enrolled in BYU-Idaho Online (not Pathway) because I had previous BYU-I campus credits. This worked out great because James and I moved a lot with medical school and rotations, so I could work on school from anywhere. I worked hard for an additional 2 years and FINALLY graduated with a Bachelor in Science-Marriage & Family Studies. I had a bajillion credits, enough for 2 degrees, but I am THRILLED with my Marriage & Family Studies major. I'm passionate about Marriage & Family and I'm so happy to be done!

*I worked as a teller at Chase bank for 3 years and loved it!
*I work as a part-time Beachbody coach
*I also work part-time as a Posey and Pence Rep!

James' Career Story

James attended Southern Utah University his freshman year before he served a mission in Pusan, Korea for 2 years. When he returned he attended Brigham Young University. In April 2011 he graduated from BYU with a Bachelor's Degree in Biology & Exercise Science with a minor in Korean. In August 2011 he started medical school at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona. He graduated Sigma Sigma Phi of the D.O. program studying Osteopathic Medicine. The first two years of medical school are filled with several challenging courses (20+ credits) and extremely difficult tests. Many many many hours go into studying for these classes. After second year, he took his first set of BOARD exams to assess his residency options. The third and fourth years of medical school consist of ROTATIONS. Rotations are where the students are assigned to work under a doctor at a hospital for four weeks at a time in order to learn about a specialty in medicine (i.e.Emergency Medicine, OBGYN, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Psychiatry, Surgery, etc.). Rotations are assigned and can be in any state, but James will most likely be at rotations in Arizona. After third year he took the second set of BOARDS to help determine Residency. Fourth year he signed up for audition rotations for places he wanted to do his residency. He graduated on May 27, 2015 and he is officially Dr. James Lee Chapman, DO. But it's not over. RESIDENCY is the specialized training doctors go through to prove themselves as a doctor. They work at a hospital and are paid a low salary (hardly anything due to student loans). A residency can last 3-5 years depending on the specialty. James attended 6 audition rotations and interviewed at 18 different hospitals (his choice, and WE pay for all travel expenses), to ensure that he would match to a residency. MATCH is where you are ranked by the residency program and you rank them. There's a whole algorithm that takes place, and it's very nerve-wracking. If you don't match then you have to choose a different field of medicine and reapply and try to match all over again! So it's a pretty big deal. Thankfully, in February 2015 James MATCHED to his first choice, Emergency Medicine at Kent Hospital in Rhode Island! We have loved lived in Rhode Island. His work schedule is all over the place, he works several overnight shifts, he continues to do different rotations although he is mostly in the ER, and he studies daily for weekly lecture, has quizzes, and exams, including BOARDS. He is very busy! Intern year was brutal, but 2nd year is better. Residency is 4 years, and after that he can apply for a job in any state and we can move where we want! Also, to correct the misconception that we are "rich" because he is a doctor. FALSE! Medical school is RIDICULOUSLY expensive, and the medical school debt we have is insane. It will take us years and years and years to pay it off! I'm so grateful for James' work ethic. He is amazing to go through all this for something he is so passionate about. He truly loves Emergency Medicine, and despite all the hardships of medical school and residency life and debt, we feel truly blessed.

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