Fall on Campus: One Month Down of the 2012-2013 School Year!

The first month of school has officially come and gone, and with one month gone I have so much to tell you all about the new school year! First, as everyone knows we have a new President, President Champagne. As the new President, he has initiated many new changes on campus. First, we no longer only have purple and gold in the book store! I know, it seems crazy, but it seems to be going over well with the student body. We also no longer have a traditional Mountain Day, but instead a Founder's Day which is essentially a scheduled day off from school where activities will be taking place all day! With so many new changes, the Elmira College staff and student body is working to keep Elmira traditional but still bring it into the modern era. Thus far, the changes seem to be going over well and Elmira still continues to have it's own unique spark!

Extra-curricular activities have all started now, and like before I am again dancing in Orchesis and this year, am dancing and teaching as VP of Tap Ensemble. Both of these clubs performed at Octagon Fair and just this past weekend at Parent's Weekend! Octagon Fair took place a few weeks ago and the theme was "Under the Big Top" or circus theme. It had a great turnout despite the rain and all of the clubs had great booths with the circus theme throughout! 

As a junior nursing student now, I have had a wonderful first term back. I am currently on the Med-Surg unit at one of the hospitals in the area, and I am really enjoying it. This term I have given various medications, including many injections and IV's. I also was able to do my first foley catheter on a patient which was such an accomplishment and wonderful learning opportunity. I have had a variety of patient's and learned about a variety of illnesses, diseases and health complications. This term, I had the unique opportunity to go to the OR. While there, I watch two full knee replacements and was able to see the entire surgery up close and truly understand the physiology of caring for a patient after a ortho surgery. I absolutely loved this experience, as it opened my eyes to a new area of nursing. I also was able to spend a day in Endoscopy where I watch two endoscopy procedures and one colonoscopy. It was so interesting to see the inside of the human body on camera and really understand the intestinal system. Both of these opportunities are so great to have because it allows for us as students to get to learn about various departments of nursing and gain a better understanding for our patients and what they go through with all of the testing, procedures, and surgery while in the hospital. Also during this term, my clinical got the unique opportunity to participate in a disaster drill simulation with a local hospital. We acted as the simulated patients, and as you can see in the picture, we made the story come alive. This was a really fun experience and truly helped the staff of the hospital prepare for the potential of a real disaster! With six weeks left of clinical, I am sure that I will continue to get these learning opportunities and have many more stories!

 Clinical Disaster Simulation!

To have some fun this term, my friends and I have taken a break from the textbooks and careplans and gone on a few adventures. Last weekend we spent the entire day apple picking and visiting a local store, the puppy patch, to play with all of the sweet puppies! They love having students come to visit, and for nursing students it is a great place to just have fun and relieve stress. SAB has also sponsored many events this year, including a welcome back dance which was widely attended as well as 2am Club, a band that played in Mackenzie's and also had a great turnout. There have also been weekly movies in Gibson, Pub Trivia, and various other sponsored trips and activities. There is always something to do on campus and if someone is uninterested in the campus sponsored events, one can always adventure off campus and find something else to do. 

 

Puppy Patch Visit! (Yes, that is a real puppy!)

 

 Climbing Apple Trees!

 Nursing Major Apple Picking Adventure!

 My Apples!

The campus is beautiful right now with wonderful fall colors and fall weather. Midterms are this week, and everyone is hurrying to get all of their work done before the start of break. I will be spending much of this week in the library with the other nursing majors as we study for our midterm on Friday. In clinical this week we will all be heading to the local health department in Elmira and be doing flu shots for residents of the area, as well as for each other! This is a great opportunity to really become injection professionals and I am looking forward to having so much practice, because practice makes perfect. After midterm break I will have much more to update as October starts to fly by! Until then, off to the library!

Term III...ALMOST DONE!

Term III may be a short term, but it has been filled with fun this term! Last weekend was May Days, an annual celebration put on by SAB each year. This year the theme was Aztec, and since I was not at May Days last year, since I was in Ireland, I was extremely excited to attend! The celebration started on Friday night with the May Days dance. Everyone was dressed to their best and the decorations impressed as always! After having fun there, the next morning is the May Days carnival. It included rock climbing walls, carnival rides, bouncy houses, bouncy obstacle courses and challenges, carnival games with prizes, a bbq, sandart, smoothies and slushies, free tshirts, and the clear fan favorite...the slip and slide down the hill...nothing short of hilarious! It was a beautiful day and everyone enjoyed May Days! 

Just a few days later, Elmira College students and staff honored Doctor Meier with an honorary Mountain Day singing, with a BBQ and puddle raft racing the next morning. Needless to say, the raft racing across the puddle always gets lots of viewers, as members of campus construct their rafts from cardboard and duct tape. It was quite funny when half of the racers sunk in the middle of the puddle, however this year there was one very well built raft done by the Anderson boys. The freshman are definitely stepping up their game! 

 This picture, taken by a staff member, shows just one side of campus celebrating May Days!

 Before the May Days dance...dressing for Aztec is hard, so I figured this skirt was in theme!

Enjoying the carnival, with my free May Days T-shirt!

Intramural softball is still in full swing! Both the men and women's teams have been busy competing against one another for a shot at the championship game. My team is doing well, and we are hoping to keep progressing. Some of the other teams are really competitive, while some others are a little less focused...but all in all, it is really fun! Those who do not enjoy playing softball have been relaxing in the fountain...yes, with floats, rafts, and pool toys!

Term III is almost complete, and all of the students who went away on trips are finally returning with lots of stories of their adventures. I remember Ireland last year was such a blast, I still recall some of my adventures overseas! With just under two weeks left including finals, campus is busy preparing for the big move out! But classes are still in full swing...

Here is a few pictures from my Term III trip last year!

 

Sightseeing in Ireland!

Edge of the Earth!

 Cliffs of Mohr! Top of the world!

For nursing, I am currently in clinical on a medsurg unit, which I am really enjoying. This term I have given many more meds including IV meds, and even shots! We are expected to take full care of our patients and have been busy with careplans and patient care. This term has taught us all to be more skilled after learning how to do IVs, foleys, and NG tubes. We have learned new techniques for care as well as more about various medical diagnoses and procedures. In Term I, we will continue with medsurg and hopefully perfect these newfound skills. Overall, Term III has been a lot of hard work, but the most exciting and interesting term thus far!

With the term coming to an end, I am more focused than ever. 

Next week I will recap the final days of the term!

Term III...SNOW?!?

Yes, it is in fact true...term III started with SNOW...and then rain, and now finally we have a little sun. After a nice and well deserved break after finals, school is definitely back in the swing...just 6 weeks until summer! But anyways, on the positive side, this questionable weather did not inhibit the student body from jumping into term III head first. 
 
Spring sports including men's and women's lacrosse and women's softball has been playing anyways, and intramural sports are off to a good start too! I am playing on an intramural softball team, and we have some games this week. Term III means no Wednesday classes, so I am hoping for some sun so all of the students can enjoy swimming in the fountain, some can jam, and music on the campus lawn. Everyone is taking new and exciting classes, including Fermenting Through the Ages, make your own beer, and nursing students like myself are in clinical again...this time MedSurg! So far I have met and seen many new things on site, as well as practiced and learned new techniques including IV administration and higher level patient assessment. Soon we will all be giving meds to our patients post surgery, and that will be a huge step for us as growing students. With only 6 short weeks, the time flies by and students are constantly busy trying to get everything done. All of the term III study abroad trips have left, and I reminisce that this time last year I was studying abroad in Ireland learning about a new culture and making lasting memories. This term, I have friends in Alaska, the Bahamas, India, France, England/Ireland, and Poland/Prague. With so many choices, I am wishing I was traveling too but I am enjoying my time on campus anyways.

As the term progresses, May Day's is quickly approaching...this years theme is Aztec, which should provide a unique decor for the dance and bbq/carnival the following day. Since I have never been to May Day's before, I am looking forward to enjoying this day and making a new on-campus memory with all of my friends. It provides a good opportunity to just relax and have fun outside so lets all hope for NO more snow! With that said, I am off to bed as I have clinical tomorrow and a new patient to care for. Next week I will post pictures of things going on around campus!

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

Guess what time it is?! THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!
Just like the winter term, student association sponsors the final countdown on the Sunday night of finals week! All the students on campus head to the dining hall where we all get served breakfast by our professors, and they give us motivation to really focus in on our finals and do well! Finals week is always busy and stressful, so seeing our professors in a laid-back setting serving us food really makes it less worrisome. I have finals on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and I plan on driving back to NH on Wednesday after Anatomy and Physiology! I am excited for this second spring break, as EC does it differently by having two breaks; February and April!

Classes have officially come to an end! Today was my last day of clinical, and for me it was bittersweet. I have really gotten to know the residents on the long-term care ward, and I truly enjoyed my time there. By having this as my first clinical, I was able to gain skills that will be essential to success in my future as a nurse. It is sad to know that I will never see my patients again, however I am proud of myself for making it through clinical and doing so well, and I feel as though my clinical group had a very positive impact on the patients we worked with. Next term I am starting medsurg, which is suppose to be a very exciting clinical. I am looking forward to coming back to school after break to learn even more!

This week I presented my women in society blog to my class as my final project. The presentation went great and it appeared that the blog was a great success both in and out of class. I hope that you were all able to check it out. The other projects were especially well done too! I like to hear what other people decided to do for their projects, as Elmira College is filled with people with creative and unique ideas. I will definitely miss this class as I have learned a lot about people in the world as well as about myself. I am actually considering continuing to write the blog I used for my project, as I feel it is important to stay involved in issues involving women in today's world.

Break is just a few short days away, and campus is crazy with students working extra to finish up papers and projects. The studying has begun and the library is filling up fast! This upcoming week the library has extended hours which is always nice...that means late night study groups with the other nursing majors! It should be a busy week! I will post about the start of the new term when we arrive back from break! In the meantime, it is study time for me, as I will be in the library for all of the extended hours next week! Enjoy Easter!

Not So Sunny Anymore...

Well, if there is one thing EVERYONE should know about Elmira weather...its absolutely unreliable and changes drastically from one minute to the next. For example, the other day when I had class early, it was literally pouring rain out and super windy, like a mini hurricane. When I left class, it was sixty degrees and sunny. Remember last week's eighty degree sunshine...this week provides us with rain and clouds, maybe even a thunder storm. Oh well, at least we enjoyed the weather while we all could, and Term III is right around the corner so hopefully it will bring promising weather as well...we all need a few days of swimming in the fountain!

So what happened this past week...lots of important things! The Orchesis show took place and it went great! So many of our peers attended as well as many of our families. My mom and a great family friend drove from NH to see me dance, and my suite mates and friends all came as well. Now that dance is over, I have been filling my free time with even more homework...On a positive note, Orchesis elections also took place and I can say that I am excited and happy about the way they turned out, as there are some great dancers who will be choreographing next year, as well as some of my closest friends! Also, tap elections took place and because we had only one senior officer who was leaving, the spaces to run were limited. However, I am pleased to say that I will be the next vice president of tap ensemble and am already excited to start tapping again next year! It seems crazy to think that soon another group of seniors will be graduating, but it is also exciting because it means I am getting closer to graduating as well!
Here are some pictures of the Orchesis excitement!

Classes are quickly coming to an end, as I took my LAST lab practical for anatomy tomorrow and I have a test on Monday...but thankfully its the last one! I am eagerly awaiting the end of this term and the start of term III! In nursing right now we have three clinicals left, and then we are finished our clinicals in long-term care for good! Next term is the medsurg clinical, where you take care of people who have had surgery and need intense care. This will be a really exciting clinical as I have heard that I will have opportunities to see surgeries! Until then, I have to focus on my nursing class at hand especially because I will be passing meds again tomorrow to a patient. It is really good that we are able to have so much real practice here at EC because it allows us to really be prepared for when we are nurses in the real world.

Lastly, this weekend is my birthday! I am excited to celebrate, however I have to attend a Nursing Symposium all morning on Friday, which is of course my birthday. But on the plus side, SAB is sponsoring a dance and all of my friends are planning on getting together to celebrate! It should be a good break from all this work and studying! But in the meantime, it is time to get refocused and back to work! Don't forget to check out my final project blog for Women in Society at the link http://womenreppinwomen.tumblr.com/ ! Next week I will recap my birthday weekend the final week of classes before finals!

STILL 80 Degrees and Sunny?!?!?!

Yes, that is correct. It is currently 80 degrees at Elmira College, and half the campus is out playing frisbee, sunbathing, kicking a soccer ball, or laying by the fountain (that unfortunately has no water yet). Feels a lot more like Term III then the end of Term II, but on the plus side, this wonderful weather we are having here is definitely putting a good mood on everyone across campus which is a very good thing considering the end of Term II always proves to be the hardest. We are just about in the home stretch now, just a few weeks left of classes and then...finals.
Soon the library will begin extended hours and final projects will be due. But then as a reward for working soooooo hard to finish finals....APRIL VACATION! But until then, there are a lot of things going on right now.

First, Orchesis show is tomorrow! This week has been filled with practice, practice, and more practice. Tonight is dress rehearsal and I am excited to get started and perform three shows this weekend. My family is coming to watch, and after all the hours all the dancers have put in, I am sure the show will be awesome! I will post pictures next week!

This is my second to last week in clinical, and tomorrow I will be staying after clinical an playing bingo with the residents for the second time. Last time I really enjoyed myself, and my bingo partner won numerous times and seeing the residents enjoying themselves and feeling happy made the extra few hours well worth it.

All of my classes are wrapping up, and I am working on some final projects, papers, and presentations. Don't forget to check out my final project for Women in Society, my blog, at the link http://womenreppinwomen.tumblr.com/. I will be posting a few more times with important issues, and in a few weeks I will be presenting to the class. I am eager to see the other projects as I know there are a variety of different types.

Off to dance, studying, and later sleep!
Tomorrow will be beautiful too, so I am hoping to enjoy some sun!

Term II...70 Degrees and Sun!

Could this really be Term II...70 degrees and sun for the past TWO DAYS?! Why yes, it is in fact the middle of Term II, and more importantly, the middle of MARCH! But I am not complaining, and neither is the rest of the student body. The past two days have been filled with sunbathers, homework outside on blankets, and yes, even some classes held outside! I have taken a slight break from my busy schedule to enjoy the lovely weather we are having here in Elmira and ate dinner outside sitting on the campus center walls yesterday. An absolute treat after a pathetic winter. But, shortly after I was back to work because Term II is still going, and is busier than ever!

In nursing, we are at clinic and giving meds this week. After practicing injections, pills, ointments and various other medication administration, the time has come to put what we have learned to work. I am anxiously awaiting my first injection and I am excited to further my understanding of the process of giving meds. This is the first step to mastering nursing, so this week will prove to be exciting. I have been working with the same patient now for a few days and I very much enjoy being around her. This past weekend I went to the hospital and played Bingo with the residents, which they enjoyed very much! I also had a good time, as my partner and I won twice! We are busy working on care plans and getting ready for the final stretch. I am enjoying nursing very much, and am definitely happy I picked nursing as my major at EC.

Anatomy is continuing on...just got our test results back, and I am pleased to say that sacrificing my Saturday to study was well worth it. This week we are doing digestive physiology, a unit that I am enjoying thus far. Next week we will be continuing on, and I am sure that unit will be just as interesting.

My other classes are busy as well, and my Women Studies class is still as intriguing as ever. Like last week, I will post the link so that incoming students can see what current students are learning about and working on. Interested in my Women Studies project, check it out at http://womenreppinwomen.tumblr.com/. A blog focusing on issues involving women, and what women are doing about them! Each week I post, and I will be posting next within a few days! I am looking forward to seeing my final product, and hopefully this blog can raise awareness for women all around.

It sounds like a lot of schoolwork and studying this past week, but I was able to find some fun in my busy life. Orchesis is having its Term II show which I will be in next week, so this week, although it makes me life more busy, we have tech week which is lots and lots of dancing. Good thing I like to dance! This past weekend I enjoyed some typical college fun... okay, maybe not so typical, but still fun! Refer to the picture below for how college students like to spend their free time. Anyways, now it is back to real work! Next week will be Orchesis, so I will have pictures soon!