Friday, June 16, 2006
that's it!
I took my last final yesterday and am officially done with my first quarter of nursing school. I know I should feel elated, but mostly I just feel tired. Part of that is probably exhaustion from the whole whirlwind experience. Part of it has to do with some psychological issues I'm dealing with myself (don't worry, Mom, I'm not hugely depressed - I'm just struggling with the ongoing anxiety). Part of it has to do with some stuff R* and I have been dealing with together (again, don't worry Mom, we're just dealing with finances and they're tight and money makes me anxious!).
But now summer is here! And I'm starting my new job on Monday morning, at the assisted living place. I never heard back from the mom of the little girl - I guess that means she wasn't interested. Well, whatever. I'll work as much as I can at... hmm... I need a new work alias. Let's go with Old People Hotel. So yeah, I'll work as much as I can at the Old People Hotel and that will help our financial situation, and I'll work on all the home projects I want to do, and go to the gym a lot. The gym is more or less between the Old People Hotel and home, so I can probably trick myself into working out by going there after I work a morning shift, because I'll get off at 2:00. Then in August/September I already have some babysitting work lined up, so I'll be able to earn a little extra on top of my job. It's even possible that I could keep 2 shifts a week or so during the next quarter of school, which would ease the financial burden on R*. That would be good for both of us, I think.
We got email today telling us what our clinical assignments will be. I am in the least-desirable clinical group - at a big hospital downtown with clinical on Thursdays and Fridays. Parking at this place is $5/day, and if I were to take the bus, it would cost me $2.75/day and take more than 2 hours of commute time. I may carpool with one of my classmates instead - she lives fairly close and we discussed it today. And she would probably pay for parking in gratitude for not having to drive downtown. We are in clinical with one of the Problem Children from our class and we are both dreading the experience. We've agreed to remind each other to stay calm and professional, even when Problem Child makes us want to scream.
Another part of the email was the textbook list for fall quarter. It looks like I'm going to be able to spend less than half of what I'd budgeted on textbooks because I have the opportunity to shop around and order them early. The campus bookstore is such a ripoff! But first quarter I had no choice because I had to buy books the day classes started.
Out of the 30 students who started this quarter, we ultimately lost 7. One dropped out voluntarily and the rest failed one or more parts of the program. That seems like a frighteningly high attrition rate... I hope it's not like this every quarter. There is a core group of people who I really like and want to stick with - I should write them an email proposing that we get together and join forces to get through the program! Maybe we need a secret handshake or something...
But now summer is here! And I'm starting my new job on Monday morning, at the assisted living place. I never heard back from the mom of the little girl - I guess that means she wasn't interested. Well, whatever. I'll work as much as I can at... hmm... I need a new work alias. Let's go with Old People Hotel. So yeah, I'll work as much as I can at the Old People Hotel and that will help our financial situation, and I'll work on all the home projects I want to do, and go to the gym a lot. The gym is more or less between the Old People Hotel and home, so I can probably trick myself into working out by going there after I work a morning shift, because I'll get off at 2:00. Then in August/September I already have some babysitting work lined up, so I'll be able to earn a little extra on top of my job. It's even possible that I could keep 2 shifts a week or so during the next quarter of school, which would ease the financial burden on R*. That would be good for both of us, I think.
We got email today telling us what our clinical assignments will be. I am in the least-desirable clinical group - at a big hospital downtown with clinical on Thursdays and Fridays. Parking at this place is $5/day, and if I were to take the bus, it would cost me $2.75/day and take more than 2 hours of commute time. I may carpool with one of my classmates instead - she lives fairly close and we discussed it today. And she would probably pay for parking in gratitude for not having to drive downtown. We are in clinical with one of the Problem Children from our class and we are both dreading the experience. We've agreed to remind each other to stay calm and professional, even when Problem Child makes us want to scream.
Another part of the email was the textbook list for fall quarter. It looks like I'm going to be able to spend less than half of what I'd budgeted on textbooks because I have the opportunity to shop around and order them early. The campus bookstore is such a ripoff! But first quarter I had no choice because I had to buy books the day classes started.
Out of the 30 students who started this quarter, we ultimately lost 7. One dropped out voluntarily and the rest failed one or more parts of the program. That seems like a frighteningly high attrition rate... I hope it's not like this every quarter. There is a core group of people who I really like and want to stick with - I should write them an email proposing that we get together and join forces to get through the program! Maybe we need a secret handshake or something...
Labels: CNA, nursing school
