nursing school was hard

and for many out there it was even harder to get into a nursing program. for me, not so hard. when i actually put my mind into something and do my due diligence...i actually get what i had wanted. well, in most cases. a great book (one of the few) that very much influenced me in my adult life was one by a young steven k scott entitled 'the richest man who ever lived'. lots of bilical references which i like, and it really opened my eyes and my mind.

there's lots of disappointment in life and we get upset. we get upset over what went wrong or why something didn't go our way. the book highlights those reasons, and the main one goes to the effect that you...me or we, didn't do our due diligence. meaning that we didn't cover all of our bases before we went forward in expecting the positive and correct (for us) outcome.

i've been pretty successful in implementing this into my life. still some holes, but im working on it. and i do see a difference in my personal outlook on life, not only with the way i see things, but also the way they effect me. all in a positive way.


ok ok, a little rant but there's some reference to the main topic there. the story is that i wasn't a good student. i slept in class, right in front of the teacher. i was late, i didn't do all my work. i sucked at school. which is a strong reason i originally dropped out during my first semester in college. i went the, what i thought was, the easy way out and enrolled in something i liked....automotive school. my first day on the job i knew that i couldn't do this all of my life.

i met a very nice man...knocking on 50's, living at home with mom and dad, no girlfriend, wearing suspenders, talking to himself and driving what he called a 'chick magnet'. ok super run on sentence there but if you've read any of my entries from previous you know im about thought, not the process :p anyway, it was to get the point through without interruption....i just couldn't do it. i didn't want to end up like this. don't get me wrong, he was the nicest guy, he'd help you out and stick up for you. he lent me any tool that i needed especially the most important one, his mind. super smart guy, he was, a great technician and probably the best i've known in my 6 professional years of automotive.

anyway, i went right back to college when i saw this guy and boy was i motivated. motivation or not i didn't have the best starting grounds. my gpa...wow did it suck. it was just above a 2.0 and barely at that. way before i rear Scott's book i had done a little due diligence of my own. "how could i get my gpa up?"...and not only get it up, but enough to get the schools to want me, and do it quickly, easily, and CHEAP! after all i had funded all this on my own. well...at any local community college there are classes for the 'community'. and not everyone in this 'community' is an academically minded person. but the schools want to make money and gear courses to the masses. these courses still look and work like regular classes and i saw that and i ran with it.

check this quick ehow i wrote up

listed there are the courses i took: TENNIS, ART 1 & 2, and ARCHERY, yes archery. my gpa went from the bitter low it was to a 3.3 and it kept climbing. of course i had other courses to do mind you, but i did my work in those as well. i did an over all 180 and took the highway to a high gpa. that kinda rhymes.

as soon as i completed the required courses and my FUN courses i had a 3.6 gpa and i applied. dont you know i got accepted preliminarily right away while thousands, yes thousands were turned away as fast as i was accepted. the program i entered took 100 students total from an applicant pool of well over 3500. the school was renowned for its ability to take its student body and create an extremely high percentage of passing board certified RN's. its rank easily outdid that of the local and not so local 4 year programs and even ivy league facilities. so as you can see they were in high demand, and would of course only take the best applicants.

doing as i just told you, i slipped into that community of 'best'.

now of course while in the program i would go up and down. as is my nature. i was still not the best student as i am lazy by nature when it comes to studies. i still slept in class, i was still late by the maximum allowed days, and i lived by the creed 'C equals RN'.

i know my teachers saw that i was not a book smart student, but i also know that i shined on the hands on part. and that does count a lot with nursing. you can be a very book smart person, but if you cannot apply it you will be very limited in the office work available.

well, i skimmed by and along came finals. people passed and a very limited number of one failed, doomed to repeat the next year. no that wasn't me, but i was close. i didn't find out my final 'decision' rather than grade until 2 hours after the others did. apparently a meeting was held on my behalf, i was put on hold to wait for that decision. 2 hours is a long time when you're waiting for something like this. TWO HOURS. i am not a drinker, but a handful of classmates took me across the street and easily did i take down the majority of 2 pitchers.

i didn't get a grade so i don't know if i actually failed, or if i just barely passed, i dont know, although by the story one might discern one versus the other. what i do positively know is that i was told after 2 hours of waiting that i would need to return during the summer....to walk for graduation!

i should hope that i need not extend the feelings flowing through my body at that point in time. indescribable. yet imaginable.

i'd like to let it be known that i AM a good nurse, i AM a compassionate nurse (where it is due), and i am ever grateful to the faculty's time spent during those 2 hours on the topic of my passing. and not to boast, only so you know i didn't let you down, i was given the award of nurse of the year by all the residents in my department...a level 1 trauma center, one of the busiest in the united states. thank you