January
I thought that my last semester of school would be a cake walk and I couldn't have been more wrong. The amount of work required this last semester was unlike any other. I know I spent the first
two three no, four weeks of the spring semester filled with an inhuman amount of anxiety and no matter how I sliced it I couldn't figure out how to control what needed to be done when or where I was supposed to be and what I should have been doing. The key, looking back, was taking one day at a time and meeting with classmates who understood my current (at the time) life situation. My classes included Leadership and Management (L&M), Community Health (CH), Overseas Missions Class (Haiti), and Sociology. The material in L&M and CH required a different type of learning. It's not like memorizing lab values or a disease process; something I actually would have preferred.
Toward the end of January a police officer in the city was shot and killed in the line of duty. This hit especially close to home since I have a family member who is an officer. I sat and watched the ceremony weeping for the officer's family, friends, and co-workers. I was thankful that it wasn't my family member but also reminded that a traffic stop is never just a traffic stop.
February
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| Group photo- Say "You complete me!" |
By this time I needed a break so I hosted a Valentine's Day Party at my friend's house. I called my friend and asked "What are you doing on Sat.?" She replied, "Nothing" Me: "Can I have a party at your house?" It was a much needed time to laugh and relax with our cohort without worrying about school.
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| Part of the spread for the evening festivities |
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| Raiding Alyson's closet and dressing up in random clothes |
The fun only lasted for a little bit, it was welcomed and of course, too short. It was back to the grind with projects, papers, clinicals and exams. Soon the pressure and stress of school and home life got to be too much. Grades began to slip, I was sick more often than not and I wondered if I would even finish the semester. At the end of the month a wonderful friend of mine lost a battle against lung cancer. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit with him two days before he died. I will forever hold onto the memories of him. (btw, cancer sucks) The medical trip to Haiti was just around the corner and I had no interest in going. I remember telling someone that I was "tired of taking care of other people." Selfish? Maybe.
I don't remember how, but I got to the airport and along with 10 other nursing students and faculty. We made our way to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The week in Haiti was filled with adventures, new friends, and service.
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| After our 5-2 victory against the Haitian girls. |
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One of the many mountainous views we were treated to in Haiti.
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| Our host missionary, Betty and myself in Belladere |
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Our nursing group settling in for the night in the church
of one of the villages we traveled to. We all crammed into this cement room to sleep.
Then there was a HUGE spider and I slept in the chairs in the room behind us.
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April
April was filled with putting finishing last touches on projects and papers, presentations, more exams, volunteering, interviews (which never led to anything) and having dinner with Chuck and Jess at their home with both sets of parents. At the end of the month, I was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International, International Honor Society of Nursing.
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| A few of my classmates and I posing for the camera. |
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My self decorated Easter cupcake.
scary looking... |
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| Family portrait. This may be our Christmas card. Typical. |
May
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| The finished dish! Bon appetite! |
The first week of May was made up of final exams and ended with the nursing pinning ceremony and graduation. The rest of May was composed of preparing and registering for the NCLEX, which I will take in the middle of June. This month I also started going vegetarian! At first it was all vegan, but after a few days I realized I had done too much too soon. So, I'm definitely not eating meat and I am cutting back on dairy and eggs. In the first week I noticed a change in myself and it wasn't long after that others began commenting on my appearance. It was welcomed, for sure, but it wasn't my primary purpose for changing my habits. The first point came from after taking a personal inventory and concluding that I couldn't tell my future patients what they should be doing if I wasn't doing it. "It" being moderation, lifestyle changes, etc. The second point was genetics. My family health history wasn't pleasing to the eyes and I decided to start now on attacking those modifiable risk factors. This led me to take a closer look at the types of foods I consume and how they are prepared. My first home-cooked vegan meal was Mediterranean Vegetable Wraps with Quinoa and dessert was a chocolate moose. The wraps had mushrooms, eggplant, peppers, hummus, and tabouli. Overall, I thought it was pretty tasty! My favorite grocery store to shop at is Trader Joes and Kroger. They have a great selection of foods and are reasonably priced. Even the barista at Sbux knows now that I order a soy mocha :) My family is still getting used to me bringing home "strange fruits and vegetables" as they call it. I am hoping that some of this rubs off on them. Also, if you've never read
The Omnivore's Dilemma I recommend it. I had to read it as part of graduation requirements and despised it at the time, but now I find it fairly interesting.
So, now I am preparing to take the NCLEX and looking to become a productive member of society again. I am going to try to be better with updates, but you know how that goes...
