Thoughts on 9/11

Of course, I remember, as do we all, where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news about 9/11. What I had forgotten until now was that it was the events of 9/11 and the aftermath that reinspired me to want to go to nursing school. If there was going to be a disaster, or an anthrax epidemic, or some other horror to be gotten through, I wanted to be one of the ones taking care of other people.

Shortly after 9/11, I applied to the Johns Hopkins school of nursing (where my great-grandmother had been in the first graduating class and where I was working at the time). I was very excited about the possibility, but JHU apparently was not. I was not accepted, and I thought, "well, I guess I just wasn't supposed to do that." I put the idea aside for 7 1/2 years and did other things. Then on February 13 of this year (yes, Friday the 13th), the company where I was employed lost the contract I worked on. My good friend, Marge, who also works there, brought up the possibility of going to nursing school. I thought, "well, maybe I should give it one more shot." And the rest, as they say, is history.

So, the third week of school went pretty well. One stressful day in 3 weeks is a pretty good average. Next week is our first test, and I'm busy studying for that. Working on a presentation that's due the following Monday along with another test, and then finally, a third test the week after that. Then I'll only be a month away from my first clinicals. I've gotten my uniforms all ready and most of my supplies - stethescope, etc. Dale gave me a nice little watch with a white band to wear for work.

I can do this.

Two weeks down

The first week had some very stressful moments, but the second week went pretty well. Learned how to wash our hands and prepare a sterile field. We've already had at least one dropout: one of my project partners...not quite sure why, but apparently she intends to come back next semester. We have our first test in a week. Just one day of lectures this week and the rest seem to be labs. Labs are kinda fun. Have to work on my presentation, due on my birthday. Now that there are only two of us for the presentation, there will be a little more work to do. Mostly took Labor Day weekend off, but did my reading this afternoon and this evening. Now it's time for beddy bye. Nurse Ratchet is tired!