I cannot
believe it’s almost already here. Next Monday, I’ll be starting nursing school.
It is surreal. It’s going to be one heck of a year. Because of the nature of my
nursing program (as in, they expect us to ONLY BE DOING SCHOOL for the next
year) I am still not 100% sure of how my schedule is going to look starting
next week. I am prepared for anything.
I have a
mentor with my program, and I met with her about a week ago to pick her brain.
Meeting with her eased a little nervousness, but also made me highly aware of
how on-top-of-it I need to be this next year. Some things on my mind as I get
ready:
Schedules and planning = essential
Because the program goes at such a fast
pace, things are due all the time.
I’m kind of crazy about list-making and writing things in my planner already,
so I should not have to worry about this too much. I use a Moleskin planner, and when I’m in
school, I usually schedule my days to the hour. I know it can be crazy, but I
will literally forget to go to class if I don’t have it written down (Hey,
don’t judge. Even Einstein said that we should never memorize anything we can
just look up). I just hope I have enough space in my planner!
·
Studying, note-taking, reading…
It took me a while, but during my undergrad
I found a system to take notes that really works for me. Generally, I read and
outline material in my notebooks before
I go to lecture, spend lectures mostly listening and taking very few notes
(only filling in the gaps that I missed in my outlines), then reading and
rewriting/typing notes later. I am a little concerned about having a good
handle on some of the material—it’s been a couple years since I took classes
like Anatomy and Physiology—so I have a feeling I’m going to have to do a bit
more prep work than I’m used to.
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·
$$$
I feel like everyone stresses about this,
so I know I’m not alone. Nursing school is expensive. Life is expensive. I am
up to my eyeballs in scholarship applications, so hopefully some help comes through. But if it doesn’t, I’m taking out loans, both
federal and private, to get me through the year. I’m just going to have to live
cheaply (shouldn’t be too hard since it sounds like my social life is going to
be at a low for the next year) and take comfort in the fact that it is very,
very likely that I will be able to find a job as a nurse when I graduate.
·
Health
I really like to be healthy. Really. A lot. I
like to exercise at least once a day and I eat what I think is a pretty healthy
diet. I am a firm believer in quiet, alone time to myself (usually at 5am with
a cup of coffee… don’t talk to me before that). I have always been all about
balance—school is important but burnout is a real thing. I am really hoping
that I can maintain balance while I’m in nursing school. I’m currently training
for a half marathon, so at the very least I need to keep up my running for a
weeks (Colfax Half – it’s on May 18), and after that I want to keep a regular
exercise routine. Again, this is when keeping a schedule is probably going to
be so important. If I stay focused I think I can stay balanced and healthy (and
not lose my mind … haha)
So that’s the scoop as I get ready to go back to school.
Anyone have any thoughts on these things? Advice? Please?! As crazy as it all
is, I am really excited to get this started.
