#nursingschool (First Semester)

I've been packing up my textbooks and dropping them off at UPS to be shipped back. I rented them all which worked out really nicely except I somehow feel emotionally attached to them now! I actually had a hard time boxing up my books. After seventeen weeks of pouring over these books - reading & re-reading & studying & quoting & making new discoveries, they are so familiar. I've been counting the days until Christmas break and anticipating the things I will be able to do without the guilt of "I should be studying right now" - but I'm realizing that I actually really enjoyed my textbooks!

I came to value them more than I realized.

I started the semester totally terrified and discouraged. The first two weeks, I came home crying every day - convinced that this was too hard and I would never make it. Isaac was an amazing support and took over pretty much everything around the house. I keep struggling through and about six weeks in, something flipped and I started feeling like I was getting it. My grades improved as did my confidence and my love for what I was learning.

It ended up being a really great semester! Highlights include:

- meeting Katie on the first day at orientation and becoming fast friends. I had no idea then how much time we would spend together throughout the semester pouring over new information - basically learning how to be nursing students. We shared tears in our failures & challenges, laughter in our mistakes and pride & gratitude in our successes. We also shared lots of starbucks. :)

- working a flu shot clinic! It was my first experience that made me feel like "I am a nurse!" It was absolutely thrilling to be trusted to give real people in the community a real shot. :)

- my first clinical rotation in the hospital. I had so many learning and growing experiences. I have fond memories of many of my patients - definitely faces to associate with conditions I have been studying. Also, my clinical rotation had a great group of fellow nursing students - and we all just loved our clinical professor.

No doubt about it, even with the slight sadness at boxing up my textbooks - I'm so grateful to have this first semester behind me!! It pushed me farther than I thought I could go. I worked harder than I have ever have before. But in many ways, I have experienced the pleasure and excitement of learning and growing as a person like I have never before.

I'm looking forward to Christmas break & brand new textbooks & a whole new adventure with semester two. :)