Did I REALLY sign up for this??

Today I went and paid for my malpractice insurance. Ok, stupid question. Why in the world do they make you get your malpractice insurance a whole semester before you need it??? Why not have me get it next semester when is when I'll actually be using it??? Isn't that just ridiculous? Whether it is or it isn't, it's done and I am FINISHED with all my pre-school starting stuff. Now I just have to send all my stuff into some agency and I will be 100% READY to start school. Ok, well 99% ready. I still have to get my books from my friend & I need to order my beautiful raspberry stethoscope and get some cute school supplies, but you know what I mean. The PAPERWORK part is finito!! Woohoo, one more step down. Now just to get through Christmas and it's the final countdown after that!! Oh yeah, today while I was there paying for my malpractice insurance I decided to take a mini tour of the campus, well just to find the most important part, the library!! And wo...

So went today & talked to the very nice girl at the clinic. She said they definitely need volunteers, so I'm going to start there in January once my kids go back to school. It's not a walk in clinic, it's by appt only & she said they mainly do maintanence type of care, you know BP & diabetes checks/meds. But right now any experience will be more than I have in a nursing role. I've done patient care before but it was for an orthopaedic surgeon & I basically did wound care, cast applications & removals. So, this will be a new thing for me. I'm excited about it. She basically said I could work whenever I wanted to, which she knows will be around my school schedule, so that's good too. I'll work it around mine & the kids school. Looking forward to it. Oh and tomorrow is my LAST thing on my checklist to be completely done and ready for school. Did I say the CPR class was my last thing? I can't remember. Well if I did, I wa...

So I went yesterday for my CPR certificate which was more fun that I anticipated. I was envisioning a bunch of note taking blah blah blah, but actually there were NO notes to be taken, the class was only 3 hours long and it went by really fast b/c the whole class was hands on. I love hands on. But the really neat thing was that all of the other people in the class (there were 4 of us total) were also going to be attending Blarvard in January. So it was the first time meeting my other fellow nursing students. It was a very interesting mix of people too. You had me, the old one. There was another girl who already had her Biology degree, but had decided to go back for her nursing degree, so she was a teeny bit older than your normal student, but not as old as me. There was a very young black girl and a young Asian guy. I loved the mix. Greg was the Asian guy, he was so very sweet. I can't wait to see them again in January!! :) Now the last thing I have to do is pay for my ...

Today I go for my CPR class, woohoo, not. I am so not looking forward to this. Not because I don't think I need it, but my baby girl is out of school today and a couple of days ago she said "I don't want you to go anwhere" and I said "Where would I go?" and she said "No, while I'm out of school. Do you have anywhere to go while I'm out of school?" and I said "No, I don't have anywhere to go." But then I remembered this stupid class and I told her about it and she was just so sad. She said "I don't want you to go anywhere while I'm out of school." It was so sad and sweet at the same time. Luckily though the class starts at 10, which she'll probably just be waking up and it's over by 2, so I should be back home in plenty of time to spend some more quality time with her. Then nothing else until she goes back to school on the 2nd. So, on my checklist, I am down to the wire. Today I am getting my C...

Ok so I know Dave Ramsey says you should pay for college with cash, but Dave Ramsey doesn't live at my house where we live paycheck to paycheck and where 1 income just doesn't cut it, but for now that's what we have to do while I start nursing school. Sooo, that brings me to the dreaded student loan. Man was it easy to get. Amazing how quickly one can become $10,000 in debt in just a few minutes. I mean seriously, I went from NO debt to now being $10,000 in debt. I mean it's pretty mind blowing when I sit down and think about it. I'm a no credit card/charge card kind of girl. My car is a clunker, but it's 100% paid for and the only real "bill" I have is our cell phone, to now being $10,000 in debt with the amount going up every year I remain in college, which looks to be about 3 more years. Wow, I just can't even wrap my head around how much debt I will have incurred by the time I finish school. Thank God the career I chose at least has a decent ...

So my friend who started in the program last semester just text me & asked if I wanted to buy her books from her. I'm very excited about that b/c since she's a semester ahead of me, I can just buy her books the whole time!! She's going to charge me $265 for books she paid over $600 for! Woohoo!! So exciting. I can't WAIT to start school, the closer it gets the antsier I get to get started!!!! Now if I could just get through Christmas, haven't even started shopping yet :(.

So, I FINALLY was able to register for class. There was a computer glitch that was causing everyone not to be able to register, but I called & the lady (you know the one I mentioned every time I called she was NOT very helpful) was actually very helpful this time & she did an override and voila, I was able to register!!! Woohoo!! SO excited and nervous. Want to know why I'm nervous, well let me just show you.... This is a picture posted by one of my friends who is already in the program that I'm going into. This is her Patho book. Oh Lordy bejordy, now THAT made me nervous!!! Now, if you have read my blog for a while, especially through Micro & the A & P's, you know I am prone to making molehills into mountains quite frequently, which is a common occurrence I know. But I take it one step farther, I actually create the mountains before I ever even see them. I'm what you might call a "pre" worrier. I don't wait to worry, I start WAY ...

So I am now registered for more classes than I have taken is a VERY long time. Does it make me nervous? Extremely!! I am so scared and excited all at the same time. 41 more days before it ALL starts, can't believe it's finally here. I know this next 5 semesters is going to fly by and they will be over before I know it, but I also know walking into class that first day I am going to look at the days looming before me & think "Lord this is going to be forever!" I have registered, gotten my financial aid in place & now I just have to get my books together & all my other assorted nursing gear. I am still dreading the whole white scrub look. I mean seriously, our school colors are blue & white, why white??? I guess I shouldn't complain too much, it could be worse, I could still have to wear those nursing dresses!!! So, for now I just need to get Alei's birthday party (this weekend) out of the way, get Christmas done & then it's res...

Ok I know I just posted, but I just read a post by New Nurse in the Hood titled Regret and it just really broke my heart. I know that one day I too will confront this issue, but honestly in all the hustle and bustle of thinking about nursing school and the future, etc. I just really don't think about abuse all that much. This was a bit of a wake up call for me. I can think of a lot of gross stuff that I hope I don't ever encounter, but I'm sure I will, but abuse is something I KNOW I will encounter. I hope and pray that like this fantastic nurse, that I will do all I can while caring for this child, and I hope and pray that this post will stay with me and that it will make me a little more cautious when this sweet baby walks into my room and I'm having those little nagging doubts in my head. I have to say, I think this may be the hardest part about going into this field, the regrets of things that you can't change. Sad....

Ok, so I'm pretty positive I've mentioned before that I HATE getting up early!! Therefore I can tell you right now, I am NOT looking forward to the next two weeks!! I start my CNA class on Monday and I am SOOOOO dreading it. Not because of the CNA part, but because class starts at 7:00 am!!! I mean seriously! I usually don't even get UP until like 7:20! So, needless to say, getting up at 5:50 is going to be BRUTAL. Of course on Monday I'm going to see just how long it takes me to get there & then I'm going to make sure I sleep ALL the say until the last minute before it's time to leave. Isn't that terrible? I can't help it. On a different note, I finally got my schedule for school!!! Woohoo! I am so excited, although a little irritated that I haven't been able to register yet! Frustrating. And another thing that I'm not TERRIBLY thrilled about is that on Tuesday I have two classes with a BIG gap in between them. This is so annoyi...

Ok, so today when I went to my provider's office to get my health assessment letter for school, the nurse there asked me what program I was going into. When I told her she said that was the same one she was currently in. Well you know what THAT means, that I had to TOTALLY pick her brain clean of any and all information I could get that I had to ask her a few questions. So a little background. When I took A & P I & II & Microbiology I'll be honest, I never cracked a book. I didn't read anything other than my notes and I only studied about 4-6 hours a week total (even less for A & P II, I really hated that class). So, you can imagine my total terror upon hearing stories about having to read 7 chapters for one test, when I've never even read the first chapter of anything. So of course that was my FIRST question. I told her about my study habits up until now & she just laughed & said the SAME THING! She said she was the same way and that even now (s...

So I just went for my group interview for the position in the CNA class two towns over from me. So, ok in case I haven't mentioned it before, I HATE getting up early. Absolutely HATE it. I am NOT a morning person. I like to stay up late and get up NO earlier than 7:00 am. So what do I find out today in the interview? Oh that there may be days when I have to be there as early as 6:30. Well guess what? That place is an hour from me, meaning, yep you guessed it. I will have to leave at 5:30 in the morning!! Are you freaking kidding me!! 5:30 in the morning is still considered NIGHT in my book. That's not a decent hour to be up and driving on the streets!! And guess what else that means? It means I'll have to WAKE up at 5:00 am. ARE THEY INSANE!!! I mean seriously, why can't shift change be at a decent hour like 10:00? What's wrong with that? Lord thank you that the class is only 3 1/2 weeks long. Oh my goodness. And before you say it. Yes I know there are probably goin...

So I went to school today to turn in my signature page, my intent page & some other page. Got MY ID!!!!!!!!! Wooohoo! And talked to the financial aid counselor. Turned in my loan signature page and guess what? I'm DONE with turning stuff in to the actual school. Now all I have left to do is get CPR certified, have my health assessment done & get all that turned in to some place called Accusource & I AM GOOD TO GO BABY!! It was weird being at the school today there were so many freaking people there!! It kind of made me a teeny bit nervous. I've never gone to an actual University before. Up until now I've only attended community colleges. I don't know why but it kind of made me feel old. Which of course, I am older than most of those students, but I never felt that way at the community college. It also made me feel fat. Nothing like attending a University full of young, fit 18-23 y/o's to boost the old self esteem!! But, whatever. I am wh...

Ok so tomorrow I am going to get my school ID. I have to go & pick it up so that they can activate it for me. You need it to get into places like the labs I believe and without it the doors won't open. Which is kind of cool, but also makes me wonder why you'd need a locked door with a security pass to get into it? I guess I'll find out. Also, I talked to Financial Aid today & she said that my loan was in place, that all I had to do was to go in and accept the "award". I don't really know why it's called an award when I'm going to be paying that sucker back for the rest of my life next 10 years or so. Shorter if I'm lucky :) But I was just happy to hear that that is in place. So I have to go by there tomorrow too & fill out a paper regarding that. Also, I found out I don't have to meet with an advisor. I just have to keep watching my student email and they will notify me when I am allowed to go and register and then I jus...

Ok so apparently my "big" idea of blogging my way through nursing school/graduate school isn't so original after all. I've come across another great blog by Kendra over here that is basically the same thing I plan on doing. Although I AM planning on adding video's to my blog, as soon as I get my camera :) But anyhoo , if you are interested in a first hand experience through nursing school, head on over to Kendra's blog and check it out. She's one super smart chickie !

It's so hard to believe that in less than 2 months I will be a full fledged nursing student!!! Even harder to believe is that in 2 short years I will be a nurse. A full on RN. A Bachelor degree holding RN!!!!!!!!! First of all, just having a Bachelor's degree is big in and of itself. As I said before, I will be the first one in my family to hold a Bachelor's degree. My mother talked about going back to school a lot in her 30's, but she just never could make it. She always wanted to be an attorney and Lord that woman always thought she was right, she would have made a great one!! But with 2 kids at home and a full time job, she just couldn't make it happen. It's something I always regretted for her, and definitely a major motivator in my life to spur me to go back to school. When she died with unfulfilled dreams I knew that I didn't want to end up like that, I don't want to be on my death bed full of regrets of what I should have done. I want to take lif...

Today is the beginning of the rest of my life!!! Today I was ACCEPTED into Blarvard's (name changed to protect the innocent) nursing program. Starting in January I will again roam the hallowed halls of college, but this time it will be a University and not a community college. This time I will be working toward my Bachelor's degree. This time I will be working toward changing my family's future. This time I will be working toward a life that includes someone in my family that graduated from college!!!! This time will be the beginning of what I hope is a life changing dream come true. I am SO excited, I GOT IN!!! Now of course, this is where the nerves kick in. Am I smart enough? Will I be able to pass these classes? Will I be able to afford everything I have to have? Will I be able to balance school, a family and possibly work? I am totally thanking God right now for how this has all fallen into place. Once again I am just praising a Father that knows the road ahead. A Fa...

Well hi there, won't you come in, take off your sweater, grab you a cup of coffee and sit a while? Won't you be my neighbor? Ok, I'm only kidding I don't talk like that, as you'll soon see. Seriously, welcome to my blog about my wild, scary, exciting, sometimes depressing days as a nursing student. I'm going to try and answer all the questions a future nursing student or someone interested in nursing as a career might have as I go along. Because I don't know if everyone is like me or not, but before I get into something I love to know ALL the deets. I mean I want to know the ins and outs (hence my blog address :) ), the good, the bad and the ugly. I feel like the more I know the better decision I can make. So as I said, my plan is to totally blog all the way through school, so I guess you need to plan on sticking around for a minimum of 2 years, but probably more like 3 1/2 or 4 because my evil master plan is to go straight from getting my BSN ...