All the preparation has boiled down to this...... I used to check my email and my mailbox like a crazy person waiting for that acceptance letter. Then once it came, elation..... briefly. Then came Certified Background where my life was scrutinized for any moral slip ups I've ever made .... at least those that were recorded by the powers that be. Then came the lists of things to do, WITH deadlines and here is where culling the wheat from the chaff begins for nursing school. Some people procrastinated...... I have a feeling our class of 85 has already whittled down by a few who were unable to make the deadlines. So here we are..... one week away from the start of class. I have my clinical sites set up, took the hospital's tests online. No syllabus yet so no idea where to start reading in my giNORmous fudnamentals book or my pharm DVD...... My dreams (stress-mares, I call them) are now of instructors calling me to the front of class to point out that I have a scuff on my shoes or my hair is over my collar..... or making me do push ups to teach me a lesson, or making me say "Ma'am! Yes, Ma'am!" when I am asked to respond. I have perused nursing forums and looked at cutesy totes emblazoned with "I survived Nursing School" and all it has done is solidify my fear and jangle my nerves. I am excited, yes...... I am petrified, more. I am determined, most. Here's to two years of what I anticipate being the hardest, most exciting, most stressful, most fun, least fun time of my life. Initiate launch sequence........ Buckle up.