So I have viral bronchitis. Not a big deal, just really inconvenient. I'm one of those people that does not go to the doctor until I absolutely have to. Well last night I felt like someone was stabbing me in the chest every time I took a breath, not to mention the chills I had despite flannel pj's, flannel sheets, and 6 blankets on top of me in our 70 degree apartment... I decided it was probably time to see the doctor, so I went this morning. The doctor prescribed some intense cough medicine and told me to rest and "wait it out" for the virus to be gone. I came home, took a dose of cough syrup and slept for over 3 hours! Then I woke up and chatted with one of my new roommates. She was concerned about how I was feeling and offered to buy me soup while she was at the store. My other roommate also bought me Kleenex just in case I would need them while hacking up so much phlegm. I realized how fortunate I am to have such awesome roommates!
I recently thought about how many different roommates I have had in college, and the number is quite high! I have had 11 different roommates in my four years of college (and probably two new roommates coming this summer). Despite having so many different roommates I have never had a single roommate conflict. There have been times I've been frustrated with my roommates obviously, but I have never actually fought with one. I have never had to fill out a roommate agreement, or talk to an RA or anyone else about an issue. Considering the very different values and beliefs of some roommates compared to mine, it's really amazing to me that I've never had a disagreement. My family history of roommates is absolutely terrible, so coming to college I expected to also have difficulties. That has definitely not been the case, and I am so grateful for that! I have really been blessed to have such great roommate experiences!
Monday, February 17, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
A Semester of Boredom
To say it's been a while since I blogged would be an understatement. I think it's time to start back up again just for my own sake of keeping track of all the craziness that this semester will be. Most people are aware that I am a senior and getting ready to graduate this year. My track is a little different than some nursing students, but it has turned out to be the perfect plan for me. I dropped a difficult class and decided to retake it the next semester. This decision put me "behind" a semester from the other students in my class. It turns out almost a 1/3 of my class had to do the same thing. At the time I was really upset about this change in plans, but like I've been reminded several times in my life, this plan was what God intended and has turned out to be much better for me. I ended up learning that I am meant to be a maternity nurse. Seeing babies delivered is the most wonderful thing I have ever experienced, and I don't think it could ever be anything less. By having my maternity clinical a semester later than orginally intended, I was placed at Mercy Hospital with a clinical instructor that was new to SLU. I learned through my clinical experience that Mercy Hospital is my DREAM hospital to work at as a maternity nurse, and my instructor will be a great contact to hopefully get a job there. Having my clinical any other time would not have put me on this path of knowing exactly what I want to do and where I want to do it someday, not to mention a great contact to help me achieve it. I had this clinical as well as my pediatric rotation last semester. It was my best semester yet academically. I am really proud of how well I did and how much I have improved since last year. Nursing has its own language and its own type of test question. I finally feel like I understand both and with practice I actually feel confident about taking my boards later this year, which is not how I felt this time last year.
So that brings me to this current semester. I am finishing all of my theory courses and will walk at graduation in May. Then over the summer I will finish my clinical portion of school and technically graduate in August. In theory I should be really busy this semester because of all the classes I am taking and all the studying for the NCLEX I am supposed to be doing. The thing is, two of my classes are online, two classes do not meet every week, and the other two classes are mostly just review of everything I've learned in nursing school. This means I go to class 2, maybe three times a week and I have clinical one day a week. The rest of the time I do nothing. I shouldn't complain about all my free time, but I'm going to. I'm the type of person that needs to be busy. I need to have pressure on me to get things done. I need an excuse to wake up and be productive. The problem is I have all the time in the world. Therefore I do nothing. This is the first time since my freshman year of high school that I have not had a job. This is the first time I have had so much time I don't even know what to do with myself, and I hate it. I feel like I am literally wasting my life away because all I do is sit around and study a little all day, every day. It's too cold to even go outside and take a walk, or just chill, so I sit in my apartment all day. It's so repetitive that I have trouble keeping track of the days. The only upside to so much free time is that I have been able to make it to daily mass (I could make all 3 times every day if I really wanted to). This has been a blessing, and yet sometimes I feel like I'm just using it as an excuse to get out of my apartment, not because I actually have a desire to receive the Eucharist. There are even days I miss mass because my afternoon nap gets in the way (usually a nap after only being awake for a few hours). Honestly though, without this excuse to get out of my apartment, I'd be even more stir crazy than I already am. I convince myself that it doesn't matter the excuse for being at mass, as long as I'm there, but I'm hoping to start going because I really want to go.
I may be rambling a bit, but I want people to know having nothing to do isn't necessarily a good thing. I would trade anyone in a second to have an overwhelmingly busy schedule instead of my overwhelmingly empty schedule. Sitting around with an open book or practice quiz all day every day is boring. It is hard to be motivated. It is hard to stay focused. I expected this semester to be difficult, but it is difficult in a way I definitely did not expect. So if you ever need a buddy, for anything, give me a call because chances are I am eagerly waiting for something to do!
So that brings me to this current semester. I am finishing all of my theory courses and will walk at graduation in May. Then over the summer I will finish my clinical portion of school and technically graduate in August. In theory I should be really busy this semester because of all the classes I am taking and all the studying for the NCLEX I am supposed to be doing. The thing is, two of my classes are online, two classes do not meet every week, and the other two classes are mostly just review of everything I've learned in nursing school. This means I go to class 2, maybe three times a week and I have clinical one day a week. The rest of the time I do nothing. I shouldn't complain about all my free time, but I'm going to. I'm the type of person that needs to be busy. I need to have pressure on me to get things done. I need an excuse to wake up and be productive. The problem is I have all the time in the world. Therefore I do nothing. This is the first time since my freshman year of high school that I have not had a job. This is the first time I have had so much time I don't even know what to do with myself, and I hate it. I feel like I am literally wasting my life away because all I do is sit around and study a little all day, every day. It's too cold to even go outside and take a walk, or just chill, so I sit in my apartment all day. It's so repetitive that I have trouble keeping track of the days. The only upside to so much free time is that I have been able to make it to daily mass (I could make all 3 times every day if I really wanted to). This has been a blessing, and yet sometimes I feel like I'm just using it as an excuse to get out of my apartment, not because I actually have a desire to receive the Eucharist. There are even days I miss mass because my afternoon nap gets in the way (usually a nap after only being awake for a few hours). Honestly though, without this excuse to get out of my apartment, I'd be even more stir crazy than I already am. I convince myself that it doesn't matter the excuse for being at mass, as long as I'm there, but I'm hoping to start going because I really want to go.
I may be rambling a bit, but I want people to know having nothing to do isn't necessarily a good thing. I would trade anyone in a second to have an overwhelmingly busy schedule instead of my overwhelmingly empty schedule. Sitting around with an open book or practice quiz all day every day is boring. It is hard to be motivated. It is hard to stay focused. I expected this semester to be difficult, but it is difficult in a way I definitely did not expect. So if you ever need a buddy, for anything, give me a call because chances are I am eagerly waiting for something to do!
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