First semester of Nursing School

I am currently in my first semester of Nursing School here at Chico State. Right now it is week three. I will start clinicals soon, which is very exciting. I joined the Chico State Nursing Club to be a mentor to pre-nursing students who need guidance for applying to the nursing program. I am also involved in faculty meetings for the Nursing program and I have my first one this Friday. It is going to be one busy and exciting semester! I love my classes and it feels like a job already. It is a change of pace, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. I am taking an evidence based practice class, a fundamentals of nursing class, and my skills lab. In skills we have performed shaving, brushing teeth, tying restraints, making beds, applying oxygen masks, and putting on compression hose socks (TEDS). I can't express how grateful and enthused I am about this school year. It is a lot of hard work, reading, and dedication, but I know it is what I want to do! I studied abroad this past summer in Thailand before the program began. I took Buddhism in Thailand, Thai Style cooking, and a Hill Tribe Field Study. It was truly the best experience of my life and I would do anything to experience it again. I am so thankful for the opportunity to travel abroad before I began nursing school. I would highly encourage anyone who is even thinking about studying in another country to do it. It is truly a life changing experience. It opened my mind to new things, experiences, and culture. I definitely see it as something that will improve my skills in my career! There are so many things that have been goals of mine to do during college and I am doing my best to accomplish all of them!

New Adventures

I can't believe I have completed my sophomore year of college. It seems as though time flies faster every year I get older. I'm happy and proud to say that I was accepted into the Chico State Nursing Program for Fall 2018. It was a few nerve racking months for me before finding out the results. Next year will be a new adventure that I am very excited to embark upon.  A huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders and it was so relieving to see all my hard work pay off. I have pushed myself more than ever before in my first two years of college. I have made myself grow as a person and expand out of my comfort zone. This past semester was my most enjoyable set of classes because they were all science based, consisting of Microbiology, Organic Chemistry, Nutrition and Food Science, and Health At Every Size. Now, I will be going further into my career path and taking nursing courses. My classes seem to become more enjoyable the more they get narrowed down. This summer I will be traveling abroad to Thailand and taking the course, Buddhism in Thailand. This will be another experience that will make me step out of my comfort zone and expand my horizons. It will be a very eye opening and life changing experience. I have always wanted to study abroad, which stemmed from hearing about my sisters' trips abroad. One of my sisters actually studied in Thailand and she is a nurse practitioner, inspiring me to go down the same route! I will be there for exactly seven weeks and my mom will be visiting me in my last two weeks there. Together we will be traveling to Bangkok and Phuket. It feels like seven weeks will feel like forever since I have never been out of the country for that long, but I know that once it's near the end of the trip I am going to feel like it wasn't long enough. I can't wait for all of the new experiences, people, and culture I will be introduced to.

I wrote this post before my trip and added these pictures after I got back :)

 

Time for 2nd Semester!!

Wow, this winter break has been a huge refresher for me. After my hectic, fall semester, I needed some time off. During the Fall of 2017 I was working 24 hours a week, taking 16 units, going to the gym 5 times a week, and somehow maintaining a social life. You could probably conclude that I didn't get much sleep and spent way too much money on coffee. This Winter Break I still took an online winter course and worked, but had plenty of free time. I stayed at school and all of my friends went home, so this is what gave me a lot of down time. I was able to start preparing myself for next semester. I will be taking Microbiology, Organic Chemistry, Human Nutrition, and Health at Every Size. Microbiology is a requirement for the Nursing pre-requisites and the other three classes are filling the nutrition minor requirements. I will have a heavy course load next semester, but I am excited because all of these classes interest me. They are all science based, which is what I find I enjoy most. During this semester I will also be prepping to study abroad in Thailand in May and July. The class will take place in Chang Mai for approximately a month. After, I am going to travel on my own to Bangkok, Chang Rai, Phuket, and a make some other stops in different towns I find intriguing while I am there. The course I will be taking abroad is Buddhism in Thailand, which fills one of my GE requirements. Also, I am currently finishing up my nursing application for Fall 2018 and hope to have it turned in before school starts. I have been trying to get as much done as I can to lessen my load when school begins. I always put a lot on my plate, but I strive to push myself and reach new heights.

Life Update

I am now back in school, taking on my second year here at Chico State University. When I came back to Chico, I was feeling a little stagnant in my life, compared to this summer. So I made a change and started applying for new jobs that were geared towards my career. Currently, I am working as a caretaker and I absolutely love it. My passion has always been to help others and I am able to do that through this job. It will help me to be more prepared for my career in Nursing. I am beyond grateful to be able to do something I am so passionate about almost every day. Also, I took a CNA class over the summer. I passed the test and received my license. Accomplishing this made me feel like everything is starting to fall in place, and that hard work does really pay off. This past year has shown me how driven I am. I am so thankful to have the parents I do, who have made everything in my life possible. They support me through all of my decisions, even when I sometimes put too much work on my plate. They have inspired me to work hard and chase my dreams. I can't wait to continue on my journey towards my nursing career.

Hard Work Pays off

Today marks one of the biggest milestones thus far. I took the TEAS test today for the 1st time and scored a 90%. I spent over two months preparing for this exam and was extremely nervous. I pushed myself this summer to limits I didn't even know I was capable of. I worked two jobs, obtained my CNA certification, and prepared for this exam. My first job was with Home Depot and my second job was with The Senior Helpers. At Home depot I worked as a cashier. For the Senior Helpers I went to different client's homes and took care of them as needed. There is nothing more fulfilling than helping people and seeing their faces light up with gratitude. I loved both of my jobs and am sad to leave them while I go back to college in Chico. My parents have always been my biggest supporters and motivators, especially during this part of my nursing journey. I feel such a big relief after today and am beyond ecstatic to start my sophomore year of college at Chico State University. This summer has been one to remember and I cannot believe how fast it went by.

Summer 2017

This hectic school year is finally coming to a close, with finals 3 weeks away. I have learned an immense amount during my first year of college. This semester I am in English for ethnic/religious writing, Sociology for ethnicity and nationalism, Physiology, Art history (survey of America, Africa, and Oceania), and Child Development. The English, Sociology, and Art history class were all different from anything I have ever taken before. They were very eye opening classes and gave me knowledge in areas I was unfamiliar with. My freshman year has been a wonderful experience and I can't believe how fast it has gone by. Living in the dorms was definitely a great experience, but I am also glad to be moving into my own place. This semester was stressful because I was preparing for summer and the next year, making sure I am on track. I will be taking a CNA class this summer that runs from the end of May until Early July. While going to school I also plan to work. This summer will be busy, but I love to have a set schedule. I think it will be a very successful summer and I see myself accomplishing a lot. As for next fall, I have already registered for classes and will be taking my load down to 4 classes because it will be my first time working while in college and I also have to take out a lot of time to study for the TEAS nursing test. I also added a minor in Nutrition to my Major this semester. Nutrition is something I have also had a passion for since I was a sophomore in high school and I want to keep learning more about it. I realized this while taking my first nutrition course this year because the information was something I felt so interested in and came easily to me. My other goal for college is to study abroad. I looked into it this year and attended an information session. Ideally I would love to go to Thailand in summer 2018. I am not positive what I will study abroad yet, as it is dependent on what needs to be completed before I apply to the nursing program. I will be applying to the nursing program most likely in my second semester of sophomore year. Lots of work to go, but it is always fun.

What's new?

I am going on my 9th week of school and the semester is already halfway over. At first I felt a little over loaded with the amount of work because I wasn't used to the transition for college. I also didn't know what to expect with tests and I always want everything to be done to the best of my ability. Now I am starting to have a really good feel for all of my classes and what is expected for each. I always spread out my reading and knock some out the weekend so I have time during the week if anything comes up unexpectedly. I have been doing really well in all of my classes and find them all very interesting. This week I had a total of three exams, so at times it can still get pretty stressful. In my anatomy class we have been using cadavers to identify different muscles. It is extremely fascinating and something I have never experienced before. I have been spending a lot of time focusing on my schoolwork and volunteering for CAVE. CAVE is a volunteer program at Chico that has many different places and things to volunteer for. It began in the last week of December and continues until the end of the semester. There are different sections of CAVE and I chose the tutorial program. It consists of tutoring kids from elementary through high school. I have tutored government, biology, and math so far. I love to help people and working with kids. The time for registering for spring classes is also near! I know what I want to take, but it all will depend on what is available when my day for registration is here. I really like my classes and my professors this semester. I love learning new things, so having new classes will be very exciting.