One Day at a Time

This weekend it hit me that I am far, far away from home.  That doesn't happen often since I'm pretty used to being away from home, but the East Coast is far away and in a totally different time zone than most people I know.  I guess by "home," I don't even really mean a particular place, I just mean everyone I know and love is far away.  While everyone was posting photos of their cute families and barbecues and all the fun things they were doing, I was hanging out at my house being overwhelmed by the crazy workload I have this summer and thinking about how I really SHOULD be writing a paper of some sort.  It also just hit me that my sweet puppy really does live in Utah for awhile.  She is at Doggy Disneyland (aka, my folks' house) for the summer since I'll be headed to Africa in August; plus, with two long clinical days and two long class days every week, it was just a lot to ask of her to be crated for that many hours, so she's living the high life in Utah.  She's loving it, but I'm not such a fan.  She's been my little buddy for almost five years now, and it's weird not having her around.  :(

Beginning new semesters always overwhelms me a little.  Okay, maybe a lot.  I think it's because we spend the first week or so going through syllabi and being told in depth about every assignment we will have to do over the next 11 weeks.  The ten exams, many, many quizzes, projects, discussion board posts, and the gajillion papers I have to write hit me all at once and I'm just knocked for a loop for a minute.  I think it's also the moment when I realize how much I truly do NOT know yet and there's a finite amount of time in which it all must be crammed in my head and hope it stays there.  It's kind of hilarious, because last semester was the semester that everyone warned us about and I did just fine--unlike most people, I LOVED it--but I remember having this overwhelmed feeling at the beginning of January, too.  This, too, shall pass.  

Okay, pity party over.  Tomorrow is a new day and I have big plans to get lots done.  I just want to be clear--I LOVE North Carolina.  I love being a student, I love nursing, I love pursuing this new career in health care, I love the people I get to interact with on a regular basis, and I am shocked every day by how much I LOVE Duke.  I feel like North Carolina is "home" more than I ever felt Portland was "home."  I miss my friends and family like CRAZY, but otherwise North Carolina is a fantastic place for me to be (so if ya'll could just move here, it would be perfect).  I couldn't possibly have made a better decision for myself.  I'm already over halfway finished with this program and thinking about what's next...isn't that wild?  Time flies when you're having fun.  :)

Anyway, a lot of the new(er) cohort has been asking me how to survive THEIR second semester, and I just keep telling them to take it one day at a time, one week at time.  Time to start following my own advice.

One day at a time.

#Nursingschool

Well, hello!! I'm sure no one reads this anymore since I have effectively dropped off the face of the earth, but since I'm trapped on a plane with wifi for another hour or so, I thought I'd actually write a quick post.

I just finished the toughest academic semester of my life. No joke, this is degree #4, and even when I did my Masters degree, when I was doing a 2 - 2 1/2 year program in a year and working three jobs, I've never worked so hard or been so busy in my life. I've said it before and I'll say it again--when they said this was an accelerated program, they weren't messing around!!! And it's Duke, which means it's super academically rigorous on top of being fast. But want to know a secret? I LOVE it.

To give you an idea of what my schedule has been like the last few months, here's an average week for you:

Mondays were my clinical days, so I left my house at 6 AM, worked 13 hours at the hospital, and made it home about 8. Tuesdays when I didn't have random class obligations, my study partner and I would meet at school around 8ish, study until our review session at 4, go to a review, go to our a Cappella choir rehearsal, and head home around 6:30. If we had a test that week (which was the case most weeks), we'd grab dinner, let our dogs out, and meet back for a few more hours of studying. Wednesday was another all day study day. Thursdays we had class from 8-4:30. If we had Friday exams, it was back to studying after dinner. Fridays we had class from 8-2:30. Depending on the week, Friday afternoons were more studying, random paperwork, errands, grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc. Then Saturdays and Sundays were usually all day study days. Somewhere in there I also tutored a student behind me and took on a couple leadership positions in different organizations. Insane!!

Since I started the program, they've been warning us that second semester was the hardest, we just needed to survive it and pass, and don't worry about grades. Well, I guess my hard work paid off, because I got a 4.0!!!! I promise I've never worked so hard for anything in my life!! Totally worth it. My professors are incredible and I learned SO much this semester. It was stressful and exhausting and totally fantastic. We all are still totally blown away by how much we know that we didn't know eight months ago. Unbelievable.

Anyway, if you haven't heard from me or I've taken forever to respond to your emails or I've just been a crappy friend in general, that's why. I wish I could promise that it will get better, but I have an insane, 18-credit, 2 clinical summer ahead, followed up with a 16-day clinical rotation in Africa!! So, know that I'm always thinking of you all, and I'm so grateful for your support and love, even if I've been MIA. I'm halfway done!! Next week I start helping deliver babies... :) Can't wait!

Cheers to a wonderful summer, everyone, and if you're not afraid of the humidity and want to check out beautiful North Carolina, my spare room is always open!

Loves!

Jen