Newbie w/introductions

[soingal]

hello, everyone! i wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. i am not a stranger to allnurses in general but mostly lurk and read posts. i've been a member for a few years.

i am a 42 y/o mother of 3 children, ages 13, 10, and 8 years. thankfully, they're in school! i became interested in working in healthcare because of my "medical follies," as i've affectionately dubbed them. i've had over 10 surgeries total and consider myself a "professional patient." this is what started it all...lol

i graduated from an accelerated diploma medical assisting program in july of 2010 but was unable to find a job. however, my real desire/goal was to attempt nursing school. i have had a little bit of a math 'phobia' in the past; i gained confidence during my ma program, which enabled me to continue attempting to pursue going back for an actual degree, which i do not currently have, only diplomas.

i was going to go through iupu's bsn nursing program but knew that a pell grant wouldn't cover much, esp. during each semester. it would cost over $40,000 if i went through their program. i met again w/a nursing advisor and was given more options about my future goals. i decided to start out at ivy tech, and, if everything went as i planned, i would complete their asn nursing program and then bridge over to a bsn at iupu.

i was fortunate enough to receive a federal pell grant, as well as a frank o'bannon grant (indiana). the pell covered my tuition w/ money left over. my money will be refunded to me, but i won't receive it for 6-8 weeks after this fall semester starts. the o'bannon grant will be refunded to me as well.

i found my books online at amazon for 90% cheaper than at the bookstore. the only problem that i had w/this is that one of t he 3rd party sellers used fedex smartpost, which i do not recommend if you're antsy and want the book quickly. lol

i am very excited about starting this journey monday and look forward to interacting with the members of allnurses for encouragement and support.

elaine

[iaomai]

I start my classes tomorrow. i have chemistry and government this semester.Ugh!

No worries on the math tho, you can do it! I stopped going to school in 5th grade(long story) and made it thru all my math classes with 4.0. Just do all the work and attend class.

I kno how hard that can be with kids too, I have a daughter(13) and a son(11), my husband works out of state, so doin it on my own really.

I really want to be a nurse and never thought it would be possible till one day I tried and believe it or not im almost there. My nursing program excepts people by GPA, so i have to keep a 4.0gpa if i want to get in. I only have chemistry, microbiology, psycology,government and nutrition left to complete my pre-reqs. if you have any questions let me kno.

I look forward to hearing more about your journey this semester! It encourages me!

[Phoenixbyrd]

I just found out we're using Marieb and Hoehn's Human Anatomy & Physiology. My professor sent an e-mail telling us to read the first chapter by the first class (next Tuesday). I'm going to pick up the book tomorrow.

Looks like we'll be dissecting rats at some point. That's a bit lame - I've heard other classes having at it with sheep.

I echo Iamai's comment. For some reason, your initial post was inspirational, so I decided to come out of the (lurker's) shadows and introduce myself. I feel real pumped about becoming a nurse.

I wish everyone As this semester.

[soingal]

ILooks like we'll be dissecting rats at some point. That's a bit lame - I've heard other classes having at it with sheep.

I echo Iamai's comment. For some reason, your initial post was inspirational, so I decided to come out of the (lurker's) shadows and introduce myself. I feel real pumped about becoming a nurse.

I wish everyone As this semester.

RATS??!! YIKES!! I better be sedated for that one! LOL

We're off the first 2 days of this week; however, I'm already off on Tuesdays. I have my first math test this Thursday. I "walked away" from it for a few days last week and had a MAJOR brain freeze last Thursday right before class. I was trying to help another student out w/ a problem. Got half of it correct...

I met a woman in my computer class who is also taking the same math class as I but through a different instructor and on different days. She's thoroughly confused, and I offered my assistance. She lives in the same town as the main Ivy Tech campus that I go to, so I am going to try to touch base w/her in a short while to set a time and place at the college to meet.

I have 2 work/study interviews set up for Thurs. as well. One is w/the admissions office; the other is w/the financial aid office. There is a notification from Ivy Tech that they will only accept financial aid as payment for bookstore items no later than tomorrow. I find that contradictive since Sep. 12 is the earliest that anyone can expect a refund. Ah, well, It really doesn't matter since the actual refund is mine to do with as I please, and it's going into my personal bank account.

Had a real fun time (NOT!) getting the computer class online lab figured out last Friday. Turns out, students have to buy an access code for myitlab online; I didn't realize this. You can either buy it from the bookstore (around $40, from what I was told by another student), or pay $110 thru Pearson Education. To make a long story short, I purchased it from the company and put the tab on the spouse's debit card. Didn't have too many choices there...

We had an open-book quiz in that class, and I scored high, so I'm happy about that. I might not have scored as high had I not had the book. The 2 books were actually supplements that I borrowed from the instructor's boss.

We are reading the book "Tuesdays With Morrie" in the English composition class. I will be ordering it directly from Amazon so that I can receive it within 48 hours. We're having a substitute fill in for tomorrow's English classes.

I'm glad that my classes start as late as they do. It allows me to get some things done. I visited a massage therapist earlier this a.m. I have 2 disc bulges: one in my thoracic and the other in the cervical spine (most likely due to the aging process). Surgery isn't warranted, so I have to do the next best thing. I do feel better and more limber and will continue to visit the massage therapist. It's right down the road from my family doc .

I was fortunate enough to discover a boatload of books in the Ivy Tech library last week. I wasn't focusing my eyes on that corner of the room; that's why I didn't see it till then. I checked out different nursing books. I did stumble upon a book by Elaine ... Marieb. It's easy to remember the author's first name since it's the same as mine. Go figure. LOL

Not too much else to report about my classes. I may visit the tutor again to go over the math problems. I just need to practice it EVERY day or I will be in trouble.

I'm glad that I am able to inspire you! It has taken me at least 5 years when I first thought about pursing a healthcare career; I don't think a person can have enough research. I just need to work on organizing the million pounds of paper...LOL

[soingal]

Well, I'm back w/some new news. LOL

First off, we got our grades last night for our first math test. He gave us a curve, and, because of that curve, I was 1 pt away from a very low 'B.' Ah, well. At least I passed it. I got hung up on the distributive property...

We had our hands full in last night's class. Can't remember the exact topic's name, but it has something to do with having both sides of the equation even. Go figure. LOL I need to see where I went wrong on the test and then type up some new notes.

The Math 015 (present math class) and Math 035 (next semester's math class), I found out, won't count toward IU Purdue or Indiana Wesleyan University's RN to BSN program, so I will be taking Essentials of Algebra I and II, which, in total, will take a year to complete--all of the math courses. Whew!

We're reading the book "Tuesdays With Morrie" in the Reading Comp class. Part of that assignment is due tomorrow after lunch.

As for the Intro to Microcomputers goes, the Pearson Education online simulation/software is not user friendly, making this a frustrating class! It was supposed to be RELAXING for me, not frustrating!! I'm off today, and I decided that I will have around 2 days (tomorrow and Thur) to try working on the online practice simulation at the[closer] campus.

Hopefully, my refund will arrive this week. I've already added quite a few items to my 'priority' list.

I don't think the Calendar feature in the Ivy Tech email system is saving my calendar entries. I gave up on relying on it and am storing it in another web-based calendar (Zoho Calendar).

I have a follow-up eye appt w/my doc tomorrow morning. I had strabismus surgery on July 11. (eye misalignment). Whether or not my Rx changes, I've got new frames picked out at a local Wal-Mart store.

We worked on resumes in last week's New Student Seminar class. The instructor had a sub working w/us...

Not too much else to report. I did find a book re: MS Office 2010 online and am going to purchase it soon. I can't learn it the way I want to w/this simulation from heck...

Have a great day!

[Iridescent Orchid, CNA, LPN]

Yay! Welcome to allnurses! This is by far the best community I've ever been a part of! I love it here and feel as if it's becoming my second home. I wish you the best of luck while embarking on your journey, and I hope to see you around! Good luck! :)

[soingal]

Yay! Welcome to allnurses! This is by far the best community I've ever been a part of! I love it here and feel as if it's becoming my second home. I wish you the best of luck while embarking on your journey, and I hope to see you around! Good luck! :)

Thanks for the encouragement!

I pass the word around about this website to people. It's the only nursing website that I frequent.

[Phoenixbyrd]

rats??!! yikes!! i better be sedated for that one! lol

the rat was huge, but i have to say, i have never been as fascinated as i was yesterday when we sliced it open. my rat was pregnant, too. i counted 7 tumor-like structures in its pelvis.

now on to the sheep's brain later on.

[soingal]

the rat was huge, but i have to say, i have never been as fascinated as i was yesterday when we sliced it open. my rat was pregnant, too. i counted 7 tumor-like structures in its pelvis.

now on to the sheep's brain later on.

i dunno how i would deal with a dead rat!!

i'm not doing well in my computer class. what?! you ask!

i got discombobbled (not spelled right) and need to get my grade up. last thurs evening i successfully d'loaded ms ofc 2010 to one of our home xp computers. it's a 60-day trial. well, my refund (yay!) is coming tomorrow, so i'll be getting my laptop tomorrow. i think i can d'load the software from microsoft's website for around $99. i may have to go to the main ivy tech campus tomorrow to finish my computer homework for this week.

math...ah, that dreaded word!

we started talking about fractions this past monday. i'm cool with that, but the instructor was using the factoring method to reduce. my brain tends to want to go on strike in that class. go figure. i think our next math test is next monday. i am going to do my best to get an a on it.

i'm doing well in the english classes. they start in a few hours.

i just colored my hair but have to wash the goop out of it and apply conditioner.

it's tough being a woman...

i may visit the math tutor again tomorrow. i get anxious around them because i want to 'be perfect' about solving these problems. sometimes i think i may be better off trying to analyze it myself...

chow for now!

[Nursing24/7, LVN]

Welcome back. Good Luck!