So, once again I'm the oldest student in my group of 40. Figures. But it's all good. There is one woman who I'm guessing is in her late 40s, so I won't be the only one old enough to have parented the others. We went over the expectations, our schedule for the program, etc. The usual. You could feel the tension and anticipation in the air; everyone is both excited and nervous to start what is surely going to be a wild adventure. One good piece of luck...because my university is switching from quarters to semesters, the various nursing cohorts are all in transition and scheduling clinicals is a real challenge. So, with a bit of luck, they are going to finish us up in August of 2013, versus December. That compresses the work, but will save me thousands! Yay! Now I just have to buy some white clothes, some equipment, my library of textbooks, and wait. Oh - they did suggest that we find some time to just rest and relax before we begin. That, my friends, I fully intend to do! Cheers! Ima

Preparing for Nursing School

Well, things are moving right along.
I am busy applying for any grant or scholarship that I can find, and trying to back them up with student loans. Oh the life of a college student!
Someone asked me the other day if I'm concerned about taking out student loans. I thought about it for a bit, and said "No." The amount of loans I'll have should be reasonable (less than my first year's nursing salary) and so we look at it as an investment in my new future. When I get out, it will simply be a car payment for ten years. But that ten years will be full of new things, promotions (hopefully) and will be lived whether I do this or not.
So, FULL STEAM AHEAD!

But my one worry...How will I EVER get over wearing white shoes after Labor Day! :-)

Stay tuned...the fun is about to begin.

Cheers!
Ima

Late Summer Update

I've got two days in a row off work. Can't recall the last time that happened, outside of a planned vacation. Retail, you know. Anyway, I have managed to catch a summer cold and have decided to take it easy today and hopefully knock a lot of it out. While surfing the web I decided to look back at this blog and read it all from the beginning. WOW. I am so very glad that I started this thing, and that I could capture the emotions and discoveries of this last two years.

I highly recommend it!

So, now to buy textbooks for fall quarter, and get ready for the last of my prerequisite classes.

Cheers!
Ima

Big News

I have officially completed enough of my prerequisite coursework to be allotted a spot in the nursing school class beginning June, 2012. WOW. It seems like only yesterday that I was this overwhelmed returning student, taking that first class of Anatomy and Physiology. I am proud of my grades, and look forward to finishing the prereqs in fall. Child Development and Pharmacology await!

But I am also keenly aware of the toll that working full time and doing school has taken on me physically, mentally and emotionally. I needed a week of decompress time after spring quarter to feel like I could breathe again. Even finding time to write this blog has been tough, as you can tell by my relative inattentiveness.

With the help of friends, family, work colleagues and the "Man Upstairs" I'll get this done! Hopefully before the energy and money run out! :-) So, with a sunny day and a shady hammock just a few feet away, I'll sign off for now.

Cheers!
Ima

Getting Close

Once again it seems like months since I posted to this blog. And - it has been! Since we last "spoke", I successfully completed winter quarter classes and am now in three courses for spring. Seems my university will be switching to semesters in the fall, but that won't affect me for the moment. Three classes, but now all three are directly geared for nursing/medical students. And the course content is getting very interesting. Nutrition and Disease, Medical Terminology, and Genetics are on the "dance card" until early June. I wish time would move faster, but that simply isn't going to happen. When I finish the prerequisites this summer I may have a year to wait until my nursing cohort starts. I've got a back-up plan however, that involves applying for and possibly switching to a university that can get me started sooner. If there's nothing else I've learned this past two years, it's to have contingency plans! But, until then, I'm going to enjoy this glorious spring day! Cheers! Ima

Dissapointment

It's been a while since my last post. But I really need to vent a bit, as I am hitting a tough patch of road. First, Microbiology lecture and lab are not going as well as I'd like for them to be. Not that the material isn't interesting, and I've got an "A" going so far, but the test Wednesday seems to be coming too soon for my level of understanding. My instructors aren't very engaged in what they teach, and things are not clear to me when I review my notes. So, I am not very confident about the Wedesday test, and that doesn't feel very good.

I've also run into snags in my attempt to enroll for winter quarter and, as is typical of a large bureaucracy, getting answers and action isn't easy. But to compound matters, I learned today that many of those like me who were accepted into this program a couple years ago or more, are all of a sudden showing renewed interest in finishing the prerequisites. The economy is pushing more people into school (as evidenced by my university's record enrollment for fall term) and as such they are filling the nursing cohorts (classes) out further than I had previously thought. It was a selling point for me that I could finish up my prerequisites and then get into nursing school in about 6 months. Looks like that may be in excess of 12 months now, and may be longer when I'm ready. That pushes all of my personal goals out further and further. And the calendar is not my friend.

Why can't all of this be easier! Quitting sounds very appealing on a day like today......

Cheers (or not!)
Ima

What We Take For Granted

I'm back! In school, that is, and have just completed my first exam. Microbiology is the science of all things small - all things (seemingly) insignificant when viewed through the eyes of a homo sapien living in this society of "bigger, faster." There are more microbes by volume/weight on this planet, than the volume of all other living things. Think about that for a minute.

Right now I'm watching the miracle happening in Chile, as those brave miners are being pulled one at a time, from depths and conditions we can't even think of. All of the people on earth working together, pooling resources and brain power to help one person at a time, survive and come back to their families.

Both of these, in a different way, make me feel very individually insignificant. But I marvel and the complexity - and simplicity -of of our beautiful world.

Glad to be back to the story of my journey.
Cheers!

Ima