Well that flew by....

I can confidently say that this semester has gone by faster than any semester I have ever had.  I still remember loosing my mind over transcript requests and taking the TEAS test.  Flash forward to now and I see so much change in myself spiritually, emotionally, and academically.  I find myself to be much more confident knowing that I have the intelligence and drive to be successful, and rely on God so much for strength and peace.

My habits have also gone through some changes, I have learned that my body can run on 3-4 hours of sleep efficiently, and getting 6 hours of sleep in one night is now me sleeping in. I said it wouldn't happen to me, that I would be the exception to the rule, but it's happened........ I am a caffeine addict.

Luckily a few weeks into the semester I found a place where I could be focused, and be the most productive........

This place is perfect. The Daily Brew (or what we regulars call "DB") is a small privately owned coffee shop a freeway exit away from CBU and is my personal safe haven.  They have the best chai tea, and the staff is awesome, they are all super friendly and are just genuine people who make an effort to learn not only your drink order, but your name.    

One of my favorite things about this semester, is all the the friendships I have gained.  There seems to just be something about nursing school that binds us closer than other friendships I have.  I don't know if its the heavy work load that we carry together, the twelve hour study sessions, or the fact that we do physical assessments on one another.  But no matter what the reason is for our closeness, I am so unbelievably thankful to have formed some of the relationships I have with people who share not only the same passion as me for nursing, but also who share the same love for Christ.  

This semester has been quite the journey and I can't wait to see what the next five semesters have in store :)

But it's Thanksgiving......

Since school has started, I think all of us have been counting down the days until Thanksgiving break.  The idea that a week of rest was coming was the tiny glimmer of hope we all hung on to in order to keep our sanity during midterms.  Now although we will not have class for a whole week, we will still have to keep up on our reading and complete any assignments we are assigned.  Staying focused and actually accomplishing these tasks will be a difficult struggle. For myself, it is very hard for me to concentrate when I am at home.  I am from northern California and live on campus here at CBU.  While I am here at school it is easy for me to stay on top of things and get all my work done because I am always on campus and constantly reminded why I am here to begin with.  When I am at home, I go back into high school mode. My mom will make my meals and the laziness will set in. 

Another distraction while I am home is my family.  I love my family to death and at times it is hard to be away from them while I am at school, however because I do not get to see them as often it is harder to say no to them when I am home.  They all want to see me and spend time with me which makes it very difficult to study and be productive.  

My plan for this Thanksgiving break is to get all of my reading and assignments done prior to the day before Thanksgiving.  The day before Thanksgiving is prep day, so I will be in the kitchen with my mom and grandma form sunrise to sunset baking pies, and prepping materials needed for the next day.  Having all my work done prior to this will make it easier to just be present with my loved ones and not stress or worry about all of the tasks I need to complete.  By getting everything done I can actually enjoy Thanksgiving Day, and have a day of complete rest where I can watch the parade, gorge myself with turkey, stuffing, and pie and feel no guilt looking like this.....

Why Did the Nursing Student Cross the Street?

Humor, when used properly, can turn a bad situation into a better one and allow a glimmer of joy to shine in the most sorrowful situations.  The key to good humor relies on more than one factor, since humor is relative.  Determining whether something is funny or not all depends on how the joke is perceived by the audience.  Twitter accounts like @nursingprobs might be funny for nurses and nursing students but to others the joke might not be very humorous.

“Finish one exam…...immediately start studying for the next one #nursingprobs”

“Having to set 8 alarms to wake up for clinical #nursingprobs”

“What’s this whole weekend thing everyone talks about #nursingprobs”

“Dear redbull, please make me as Wide Awake as Katy Perry. Sincerely, 23 pages of chronic health reading left…#exhaused #nursingprobs”

Another thing to keep in mind is morality and professionalism.  Although laughter is the best medicine, we as Christians need to hold ourselves to a higher standard and refrain from using crude, or profanity.  As health professionals we need to carry ourselves in a professional manner and foul language is never appropriate no matter the setting.  You can be funny as can be without the use of bad language. 

No matter in what form we tell our jokes, it is necessary to be lighthearted as a nurse or student nurse. We will see life, death, heartache and tragedy on a daily basis.  It is our job to serve and our job to be strong enough to handle it. Without a little humor in our lives we would probably fall into insanity.  

But I don't know how to juggle...

It's only the third week of school and already my planner is ripped, scribbled on, and has started to get questionable stains most likely from snacks consumed while late night studying.  Juggling a full schedule, Church, friends, family, not to mention eating and sleeping seems to be a balancing act that I don't have figured out yet.
Since nursing school has begun my prayer life has kicked into overdrive.  I am a firm believer in the principle that if you keep God first, everything else will fall into place or at least find its place more easily.  Even on the nights that don't end until the wee hours of the morning I make it an intentional habit to not let my head hit the pillow until I have done my quiet time devotional with God.  The same thing goes for Sunday morning.  No matter how late I went to bed or how much homework I have to do before Monday rears its ugly head, I still get up and go to church.
Next on my priority list (right or wrong) comes school.  I worked very hard to get where I am academically, so unfortunately if that means missing a family BBQ or get together because I need to study then that's what it comes to.  I am thankful to have a family that loves and supports me enough to be understanding that I need to do whatever it takes to succeed in my journey to become a nurse.  They have seen God's hand in getting me to nursing school and would never to anything to discourage me from obtaining my goals.
When it comes to friends, eating, sleeping, and everything else, I am still in the trial and error phase of finding balance. I am nowhere near perfect at it yet, but I believe admitting you need help is the first step to recovery...