Amen!
This week has been a bit of a learning curve and it doesn't stop! Next week we start our real schedule. This week was somewhat of a fake schedule. Think Syllabus week on the strongest steroids available. Every day we were on campus from 8-4 except the day we didn't have clinical. (Sidenote: HOW did I survive in high school? That's such a long day!) The day our respective group didn't have clinical we left at 12. Every day we had lecture in 2-hour blocks with 5-10 minute breaks squeezed in there. We had lunch from 12-1. That one hour break was a game changer. Fresh air (eating outside) + being able to walk around and talking to people in an effort to make friends all helped so much.
Every day this week I woke up at 5 with the goal of leaving by 6, at the latest. That didn't always work so I unintentionally conducted an experiment to see if there's any way to finesse a few extra minutes of sleep. There's no way, in case you're wondering. I left one day at 6:10 and got to school at 7:30. I left another day at 6:40, the day of an exam, and arrived at the Golden Hour of 8:00. I made it in time for my exam, full sprinting up 3 flights of stairs, mouth breathing and all. When I leave at 5:50 I get to school at 6:45. I use that extra time to review lecture notes or just listen to music. I've started packing all my snacks + my lunch after I finish studying and get ready for bed. It saves an incredible amount of time so I can solely focus on putting myself together the next morning. Although I'm currently "in between homes" this schedule will probably stick once I get situated. It's a nightmare finding a parking spot in the Nursing building parking lot after 7:15ish, so even though I'll be MUUUUCH closer to school I'll more than likely keep my same routine.
I talked to a few Seniors/ New Grads from my program and they told me the biggest thing that makes Nursing school difficult is time management. My planner has been CRUCIAL this last week. On Monday night I sat down and went through all my syllabi highlighting all assignments, exams, and days I need to bring my laptop or textbooks. Once I was done with that I transferred over the "essential information" (exams, quizzes, homework, papers, and project due dates) over to my planner. I really do have to check my planner + our online system (Canvas) daily.
My face when we were told we should be studying at least 42 hours a week for the material, after factoring in sleep, time to meal prep, and my commute.
My favorite part of the week: Clinical! We did a learning style assessment this week and I am a combination of a visual + kinetic learner. Show me + let me experiment. If you only tell me, there's a 97% chance I'm zoning out. Clinical is my favorite because it forces us...me to talk to new people! We met SIM man this week and it creeped me out! It was the fact that our professor mas making him talk and tell jokes to us when we weren't expecting it. I listened to his heart, breath sounds, bowel sounds, palpated and counted Radial, Carotid, and Pedal pulses. Technology is amazing! On Thursday we got to work with 2nd year DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy) students in clinical. They taught us proper body mechanics when turning and transferring a patient. Your back = your career. We briefly went over proper body mechanics at orientation for being a PCT (patient care technician) in the hospital but it was really nice to get an in-depth lecture about it. We also had to use each other as the patients, which was hilarious.
Look at my babes!!
My least favorite thing about this week: Learning how to take notes again. I'm trying a combination of things but I'm having to "re-learn how to learn".
Over Achiever Nk is in full effect.
Hopefully, I figure out what works best for me before I start having more exams!
Also, I learned that I cannot study with music that has lyrics. It's entirely too distracting. I'm already hyper + silly enough. No need to be having full blown concerts when I should be learning the stages, signs, and symptoms of a pressure ulcer. Definitely going to look for soothing instrumentals or even jazz music. No music is getting the job done for now.
My professors are all so dope! I feel like I'm back in elementary school all over again. I'm genuinely excited to go to school every day; It's definitely reassuring!
It'll be interesting to see the difference between this week and next week + the rest of the semester! I'm going to try listening to lectures on my commute home. This week I just listened to podcasts and music as a way to decompress. I also have to experiment with going to the gym and studying at the library. Starting this week, on Fridays I only have class from 8-10AM majority of the semester. It would be foolish to only come to campus for that. I'll spend more time sitting in traffic than sitting in lecture. I get work done at home but not as much as I do when there's not a bed within a few feet of me. I don't have Tuesday class until the end of the semester so I'm going to experiment with still coming to campus to use the gym + the library. It's going to be one big trial and error sequence but once again, hopefully, I'll figure it out quickly. Balance is about to be my favorite word for the next 2 years.
In terms of today's balance: I woke up at 5:20, I'm about to eat shrimp alfredo ravioli for breakfast, watch "Power", do laundry, knock out some homework + study, and do my hair, FINALLY. If I get all this done I can reward myself with watching "Insecure" but there is an overwhelmingly high possibility that I'll watch it Tuesday on lunch break.
I need to stop wasting time doing my hair and get box braids from now until graduation.
I think that just about covers all the highlights of this week. Anything I'm "forgetting" will more than likely have a more detailed post of its own in the not so distant future!
Happy Sunday + new week!
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