Summer School At An End

I just submitted my Human Development final essays, which means that I am hereby officially done with summer school. Oh yeah, I took classes this summer, three actually: Microbiology, Micro Lab and Human Development (online). Micro was fun, mostly because the teacher was cool. Human Development made me want to gouge my eyes out, mostly because the teacher was anal retentive and the rest of the class seemed to be there under some kind of mental deficit provision.

But now all that's passed, and I look to the future. Three weeks of vacation followed by the worst year of my life (oh no, don't try to argue; I know it's going to be that bad). How do I know this will be the worst year of my life? Well, you could say I have it on good authority, the authority of ever second year who just graduated and informed us that this last year was the worst year of their lives, therefore predicting within a very narrow margin of error that it will indeed be the worst year of ours. Mine. Seriously, I'm almost having a small stroke just thinking about it.

I've just so enjoyed the mental clarity and energy level that is available when all you have to do is take three easy summer courses and work prn at a job you love. I've gotten so much done. My house is organized and clean, my hair is cut, my nails are painted - heck, I even learned to play the ukulele! No, I'm serious. And my creative mind has been bursting with fresh ideas, wanderings, musings. I've read three books that were in no way nursing related, really great books. It's been so nice.

But now I know as soon as nursing school starts up again all that freedom of thought is going straight to the farthest recesses of my brain, where it will wait subconsciously for another chance at life! My house will fall apart, my nutritional status will steadily decline, I'll gain ten pounds and probably develop an irreversible frowney face. It really begs the question: do I really want to be a nurse all that much?

Yes, yes I think I do.

Fine. Then I'll buckle down and do it. Goodbye, happy thoughts. Fair well, ukulele skills. Aufvedersein, confidence gained by easy summer school A's. I'm off to have my brain pummelled into submission by a bunch of old nurses and their insatiable desire for my very soul. See you all in a year. If I make it.

iiiiiiiiiif.

Coming Soon: Actual Posts!

Um, so yeah. I haven't really been doing this like I thought I would. But here's the deal: first year of nursing school basically wiped the hospital floor with me, and that floor is freaking disgusting, so I was a little put out. However, next month I will start as a second year, my final year, and things are going to be different. I know stuff now. Lots of stuff. And I will hitherto impart any future stuff I learn on to you. Aren't you so lucky?

Be back soon.

Week 2: Trail of Tears

Yes, this was the week of many an ocular waterworks. Of course, now we're in the thick of it. No more first week honeymooning - this is for real, and all the assignments that have been thrust upon us are also for real. So many things to do. It's not just the assignments they give us through the week, it's the studying, the practicing, the mandatory lab hours, the standardized tests we have to complete and pass on our own time. I downloaded a task managing app onto my ipod just to keep track (for those of you interested, it's called iProcrastinate, and it's free). I don't have a lot of time here, so let's get into it.

The Water Works

Wednesday was the beginning. I guess in the week where we have our first exam I should have expected some public breakdowns, but I must have overlooked the possibility, because as soon as that girl was walking toward us, her eyes red and running, I was as taken aback as ever by it. I'm not a public crier. In private, sure, why not, but never in front of people. This poor girl couldn't keep it in, though. She had just failed a skills checkoff (more on that in a moment), and it was devastating. I was sitting  with my new friend, studying for our test, and it took us both about ten minutes to calm her and move on to other subjects to help her forget her forlorned state. But she was fine by the time she left, so mission accomplished. The other one was less fortunate. She cried all through our test on Friday. The whole time. I wasn't quite sure of what to do for that. It's one thing to cry in front of two of your classmates, it's another to cry in front of all your classmates. I hope she makes it.

Skills Checkoffs

So, pretty much every week we learn a new "skill," and to prove we've learned it we have to complete it successfully in front of a classmate, and then an instructor. These checkoff sheets are then filed away to prove to the state that we can, indeed, perform these tasks. Last week was sterile gloving. Oooh. Yeah, doesn't sound complicated, in fact I've done it quite a few times in my MA career, so I was fairly confident about it. But boy does that change when your being watched like a hawk, especially when that hawk's name is Smiley Smilington (or so I named her - note the sarcasm). I tried to drop a joke or two just to lighten things up, but she was not having it. This explains to me why it was that a young girl can come out of her skills checkoff crying, when I know for a fact she's done it perfectly numerous times. That grouchy hawk made her too nervous. It'll take more than that to get me, though.

First Exam

So, yeah. It was Friday, and I did it. I answered every question, 100 in all. Not a walk in the park, but also not brain surgery. Somewhere in between, like building a house, or baking a really complicated cake while sleep-deprived. Here's how I figure the math out for projecting how well I did: there were six questions I marked to come back to, since they were taking me more than 30 seconds to answer. So, if I got all of those wrong, we're looking at a 94%. That's the best I think I could have done. That leaves the rest of the questions that I could answer with a fair amount of confidence. Of those, I figure no more than ten could have been able to trick me into answering them wrong, so that would put me at an 84%. So that's it. Low A, or low B. That's my range, and you know what? That's okay with me. If I get a C, I will probably cry in front of all my classmates.

Speaking of Sleep Deprivation

I have not had a restful night's sleep in two weeks. And when I do manage to fall asleep, and dream, I don't get to have just one dream. I'm having about four to five dreams at the same time. Like watching four movies at once. It's trip-ee! I'm not even sure how to describe it. It's like watching a movie on a window that you can see through, in front of another window playing a completely different movie that you can also see through. And there's five of these just lined up in front of you. Another evidence of stress: bowel habits. Read no further if that doesn't interest you, but for those who can handle it, I'll just say it as plainly as I can. I've been pooping, like, three times a day. Three times. Per day. Yeah.

Stress Bustin'

Friday, after the test, I hit the local outdoor shopping plex, and scoured the clearance racks. I always shop clearance racks, and for those of you still paying full price, or even more than 50% off, I pity you. Either that, or you're rich as a Czar, and in that case I don't pity you, but you're still getting had. The result of my thriftiness is as follows:

BCBG Blue pleated knee-length skirt with pocket: $138 (I paid $25)

BCBG Dark Blue knit top with gathered cap sleeves $128 (I paid $30)

Anthropology t-shirt mini dress with empire waist tie $88 (I paid $19)

Yeah! Feels soooo good. Also, movies are a big retreat for me, and this weekend's release of Inglorious Basterds (excuse my misspelled French), was one of the best movies I've seen this year (Cheryl, don't go see this - you won't like it).



Nursing School Stats: to date

Hershey's Chocolate squares consumed: 32 (trying to cut down)

Naps taken due to exhaustion: 4

Breakdowns that include crying: 1 (no increase from last week)

Hours of study time : 10

Moments of regret: 0

Boot Camp Day 2 of 2 (a day late)

Okay, no more contemplation of quitting. I'm all in. Day two was just what I needed, and I'm feeling good. Two words: sim lab. This place is so cool. It's like a mini ER set up right in the school. A nurses station, four patient rooms with very crazy mannequins lying in them. These things do it all - they breath, blink, have heart tones, bowel sounds, lung sounds, their pupils dilate and they sing songs (all that except the singing part). It's cool. So, am I saying that I am completely put at ease about this whole nursing thing because I got to play with a large plastic doll that may or may not have working veins? Yes, yes I am. I figure, if this program is awesome enough to have this, then it's good enough for me.

And, in addition, I was encouraged by the faculty and all the second year students that they are, in fact, rooting for us. They want us to succeed; it's not the kind of environment where you will be continually asked to prove that you deserve to be there. And with any luck, I won't end up doing something that would prove otherwise.

A Small Triumph

From this point on to graduation, each small victory must be duly noted. Here is my first of what I hope will be many tiny triumphs, and this one is pretty substantial. A perfect school bag, who can find? It sounds trivial, but given some serious thought it is almost impossible to expediently settle on one as opposed to another. What could be more defining of you in those first few moment's interaction with your classmates than that huge, book lugging apparatus attached almost permanently to your shoulder? Two years lay ahead of me, and in those two years one of the only constants will be that glorious bag, for glorious it must be. I searched everywhere, every website (and by that I mean a few hours on Amazon), every store (namely Target, Old Navy - what did I think I would find there?), thought through every option presented to me. I'm not the girl pulling her books along in a wheeled device better suited for airports, and I'm not the one giving myself a huge backpack hunchback, not even for the newer one-shoulder inventions. No, I want a bag. I want a nice, fashionable but functional, cool and sophisticated, modern but classic, expensive but cheap, fit for all seasons school bag. How hard is that? Well, it was hard, but I did it. I found it. It is everything I need. Pretty but industrial, Sleek but compartmentalized, Steve Madden, but under $30. Thank you Marshalls:

 

[caption id="attachment_13" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Yes, you are seeing four pocket compartments right in the front. It's okay. You can be impressed."][/caption]