Just Making It

I just graduated!!!! Yes....there were many times when I had my doubts about making it. I even woke up in the middle of the night on many occasions wondering about my sanity in regards to my decision to pursue a career in nursing.

My advise is to organize your life. Eliminate wasted time (fun is not a waste as long as it is in moderation) and learn to say no to others. You can't eliminate all stress, but you can eliminate some of it just by taking a quick survey of your life and making a few adjustments. One of the biggest stress producers for students is procrastination. I often found myself refusing to let my mind even entertain the thought of procrastination or even think about how much I didn't want to study. Negative thinking just snowballs so it is best to just prevent it.

I knew my learning style, but many of my classmates used a program provided by the college that helped determine their learning style. This is very important if you are to get the most out of the little time that you actually have to study.

I know it is hard, but sleep, eating healthy, and laughter are very important.

I felt like that very often while taking the pre-requisites. I did most of what feisty suggested and focused really hard. This will not be the first time you'll feel this way. In fact, some days as an actual nurse, you will question if you can make it through the next hour. Keep your chin up, focus and leave the distractions to the side.

Yes, from time to time I doubted about making it through school.... The cardiac stuff about killed me off. I remember after one test I failed, I barely made it to the bathroom before the tears came.

What helped me through those doubts was to let my mistakes go as quickly as possible, and to remind myself that it really was not the end of the world to miss a few on an exam or quiz.

Look to the future, and know that like everything else, "this too shall pass"......... I wish you incredible perseverance on this journey.

Every semester I wonder if I should be an lpn instead of constantly paying for instructors to tell us that our lives are now theirs. I get to clinical and find out the rumors are true and I have Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for my instructor. After a few weeks, it all calms down and then the semester ends and I feel like I can walk on water for a brief second. I have one more semester (1 more yr, I'm part time), and then I'll be free

Yes! I also just graduated, and I felt like that often! I even did not pass one of my classes so I had to wait a year to get back into it. What got me through it was being determined, KNOWING that nursing was what I was meant to do, and prayer! Support of family and friends, and staying focused. I also agree with not procrastinating. One of my big things was to not get distracted-- I literally joke that I had no life when I was in school... I went out occasionally, but I mostly stayed home and studied, and I worked. I didn't really date, because I was looking at the big picture--I didn't need anything to distract me from my ultimate goal. I am not saying anything bad against people that do, but I didn't want to get distracted. Don't let it get you down, think positive thoughts, and know that you will have your days after school or after a test when you go home or check or test grade and just start balling... but you can do it!!! Every sacrifice I made was TOTALLY WORTH IT!!! Good Luck!!!