Tuesday, February 25, 2014

95 Days Until Graduation...Wait WHAT?!

That's right...just 95 more days until graduation! Absolutely mind boggling to think about because in all seriousness, when you start college it feels like it is going to be the longest 4 years of your life, especially in nursing school. But in reality, it is the fastest years of your life. It feels like just yesterday I was moving into Columbia 1st, filled with excitement and anxious for the beginning of this 4 year journey. Now, with just 95 days until graduation, it is all coming to an end.

EC just had February break after midterms (see my midterm week in a nutshell in the photograph below), so I am officially back at school for my final 6 weeks of classes. I am still in community nursing and currently my clinicals include going on home health visits to see patients within the community, as well as completing some rotations in urgent care. All of the clinical experiences truly allowed me to get a better understanding on the community around EC and learn about just how important community nursing is. In just 6 short weeks I will finish this class and have 2 more exams, as well as present my final project in which I developed a community based plan to address an issue within Chemung County. I am excited about my project because although it is a lot of work and takes a long time to complete, I feel my idea of addressing adolescent depression is an essential thing to focus on in the upcoming years to create a better community and adolescent population. I will have the opportunity to present in front of many EC faculty members later in the term. I am also still in critical thinking and have taken many practice NCLEX tests which are helping to build my confidence in testing as well as giving me a baseline for how I will do when I take the NCLEX, and so far it is looking good! Finally, I just started aerobics and will be starting another night class next week, so I really am in the final stretch of the term and it is so exciting!

This is what midterm week in nursing school looks like...

After this term is over, I will be returning home to complete my internship at Concord Hospital in NH in the ICU. I am SO EXCITED to finally be practicing like a real nurse, become independent in my care, and further develop my hands on and critical thinking skills. Over break I was able to meet my preceptor and get oriented to the hospital, so now I am even more excited to begin the internship. Although 200 hours seems like a lot, it actually is not and will go by extremely fast! I just hope to get as much experience as I can and take every learning opportunity to further develop as a student nurse.

Campus is busy, of course, since it is the last 6 weeks before term 3. I have been attending many basketball games and cheering on my friend. Lots of campus is coming out to support our winter athletes and some of our teams, including Men's Volleyball and Women's Hockey are nationally ranked and doing great! Soon it will all be over and term 3 will begin, and I can already tell everyone on campus is ready! During term 3, many are going to be traveling abroad, others will be doing clinicals, student teaching, or taking classes you could never imagine exist. Term 3 truly is fun because it is a time of exploring while learning. Not to mention beautiful weather, floating on floats in the fountain, and the beginning of intramural softball, a campus favorite. Until then, winter goes on and the campus stays busy. Relay for Life is coming up in which the EC campus raises money for cancer. Tap will be performing again and so will many other clubs on campus. We also have lots of senior fundraisers coming up to help raise money for senior week! As the term winds down I will update frequently because this is an exciting time for me and the class of 2014 because everyday that goes by is bringing us closer to June 1st, graduation!

Taryn and I enjoying a basketball game...or at least keeping busy during halftime! :)