Nursing Student needing ADVICE!

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Hello. This problem I am having may need quite a long introduction, but I will summarize as best as I can. What I need is genuine advice. Last year I was a very hard working student and I got a 4.0 GPA and go accepted into my university nursing program. Now this year, I ended up having to get paired up with a random roommate in a dorm room because I do not have a car. This first semester has been a downhill spiral for me. Last year, my roommate, who ended up having to transfer schools for her major, was perfect. She was never in the room really, and when she was, we were friends and she was quiet as could be, so I could STUDY. Now this year, I thought that getting assigned to a random roommate in a small dorm room would not be horrible, but it has been. My roommate is not that bad of a person. She initially started off watching TV all teh time in the room and it was hard for me to adapt to since last year I was able to study without any problems. We ended up working out it out where she uses headphones while watching TV now, but I still find way to get distracted, like when she is opening and closing drawers she is really loud and just kind of careless where my roommate last year was always courteous as can be and dead silent. Also, she does not care about school and it is hard for me to be in this environment. I have tried and tried to switch room and it has gotten to the point where I feel I NEED a single, but there is not a single room available on campus. I have no car, so I cannot go anywhere off campus. Now it is to the point that whenever I go and study in my room, or do anything, I just cannot do it. I get so much anxiety inside of me and I just have a panic attack. The library is a 10 minute walk from my dorm every single day, and I just fear that I will be unhappy there. My roommate snores each and every night too and it keeps me up and I have to use ear plugs and ti still does not blcok it out. What do you suggest I do to cope with this situation? I really need advice because I can see my grades and motivation slowly but surely slipping through the palm of my hand. Next year I have plans already to life with 3 people and I will have my own bedroom, but I just fear I will not be able to get through this one more semster with this girl and I feel that things will go downhill to the point where I have too many issues where I may have to just go home. Please, I need genuine advice here.

My friend swears by the rain, white noise

She says better then silence

Good luck

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Thank you for all of your posts. Do not worry about seeming as though you are "ganging up" on me, it actually is beneficial for me to see people's thoughts on this from an outsider's perspective because I know very well that my thoughts right now are very skewed from reality. I appreciate all of the advice and words of wisdom, I have favored some of what you all said and am using it as inspiration to get myself out of this rut. I apologized to my roommate and we seem to be on a lot better terms. I told her how appreciative I am of her using her headphones to watch TV and she said it is not a big inconvenience to her so it is working out well. I am trying to make studying in my room work because this is where I recieved my 4.0 GPA last year, and I feel so much more comfortable here. When all else fails, I will resort to my study room on the floor above me and lock the door where no one else can interrupt or else take the walk to the library. Thank you all for reminding me of my options and my strengths which have gotten me into this program. I appreciate all of your advice.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

Invest in some earplugs if you want to stay in your room...otherwise, make a trip to the campus library or some other place that is quiet. For my first two years, I lucked out with roommates who respected my study time. My first roommate was almost never there...for my second year, my four other roommates and I were best friends but again they respected my study time. My third year, however, was horrible. The roommates I had were ALWAYS loud and the place was always trashed, etc. I either retreated to my boyfriend's place or to the library where I could focus and get some peace and quiet. Also, walking is good for you! ;)

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What is the worse that will happen? You will simply just have to take the class over again. That's it! And once you do, the new grade replaces the old so your GPA will then be where you want it to be. It's really not as bad as I'm guessing you think it is ;)

Breathe...

First of all, I agree that the OP is being unreasonable. When I first went off to college, I had 3 roomies. I shared a room with one girl, and the other 2 girls shared a room. We all shared the bathroom/living/kitchen area, but mostly stayed in our rooms where our beds were and they were SMALL! It was literally like being a kid and sharing a room with a sibling.

That being said....I spent a lot of time in the library. I would've never thought it was realistic to ask my roomates to change anything. It's just part of the college/dorm lifestyle....you go to the library to study, period. Now, there were the nights (right before a big test) where I would stay up all night and sit out in the kitchen while everyone was sleeping. Either way, it was never an expectation that I'd be able to study in my room without distractions. Most colleges that have dorms have libraries that stay open all night, or at least really late because that's the nature of the beast.

On the other hand...regarding your comment above....it's not usually just as simple as taking a class over again and having the old grade replace the new one. Every school has a different policy, but at my school, if you failed one class then you had to go in front of a board and explain why you failed and what you were going to do to fix the problem. If you failed a second class then you were out of nursing school....for good. Not to mention, certain classes weren't offered every semester. So, it's possible that if you failed a class then you would have to wait a whole year before you could retake the class. That's a huge burden if you live on campus where you're expected to be a full time student. Unless you plan on taking random, bullcrap classes for a year...which I don't know who could afford to do that...failing a class in nursing is a major setback. Just FYI.

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Just an FYI - that set up is exactly how I have it now.. lol.. I share a room with a girl and it is so small it just fits beds and a desk and then we share a small bathroom area with two other girls who live next door, and I mean very close next door. I am not in some high quality dorm where I have my own room and then my roommate has another room but I still consider her my "roommate." I am in a place where the maximum distance between my roommate and I can be about 5 feet lol so yeah.

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Hi Sarah,

Did you ever try really talking to her? I mean like a serious talk? Tell her that you are in fear of your grades slipping and you cannot allow that to happen. I have to tell you, this issue would drive me crazy... TRY TALKING TO HER ABOUT IT! GOOD LUCK AND CHIN UP !

Moe.

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Alright everyone I have one more question. I am not finally adjusting myself to studying in my room and I am starting to use my noise cancelling headphones and listening to: SimplyRain - The Best Free Rain Generator on the Internet. every time I study. Now, I am just curious if any of you are able to study without that dead quit or are you able to put headphones in and listen to music or noises like the rain link I sent? I just want to know that other people can do the same thing so I do not feel nervous about doing this. I am using this while reading nursing textbooks where I need to comprehend everything and I just fear that with this constant rain noise it will not allow me to fully comprehend my reading. I am just curious what is the "norm" here.

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When I do study at home, I have some background noise. I can't study in pure dead silence. I have an aquarium in my bedroom, so there's the sound of running water from the filter, and I usually keep my tv on very low as background noise as well.

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Thank you. That is good to hear. Anyone else have a comment about this? I am curious to hear others study habits in regards to music/noise generators online/ etc.

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Specializes in Public Health, Women's Health.

I always have music loud (headphones) to study. Otherwise I would get easily distracted and pure silence makes my mind wander even more haha.

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I used to be one of those people that had to study in dead silence...which is why I went to the library or studied after everyone was asleep.

Then I had kids!

Well...when you don't have any choice to adapt then adapt is what you do. You just have to make yourself focus. Take advantage of times when you're alone. Otherwise, just go to the library!

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.

Dude, I have an entire HOUSE to study in and I go to the library to study. Rather than trying to control my family into absolute silence and stressing myself out over it, it's much easier to just go and sit in a group study room by myself and chill. Even when my house is completely empty I still leave or ill suddenly have overwhelming urges to wash dishes and do laundry and suddenly my day is gone.

Work smarter, not harder. I cannot imagine trying to study in a tiny room with other people!

I will say there's something different about almost silence and constant noise. I can handle studying at Starbucks because I can tune out the music and chatter. What I cannot stand is dead silence that's interrupted frequently. I posted a rant about a day I went to the library to study and a guy wouldn't turn off his phone. So it was completely silent and thing DING! An email. And then silence. And then BEEP! A text message. I felt like I spent the whole morning just bracing myself for the next noise. Terrible.

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