Overachievers and All Star Students

dudette10, MSN, RN · Oct 31, 2010

I wish I could do something good for society at the moment but I don't know if I could manage.

You can! Volunteering (not running things...just volunteering your time) can be as little as a few hours a week, and it doesn't even have to be every week. Many organizations like those that run soup kitchens and homeless shelters are just happy to have warm bodies, and they will be willing to accomodate your schedule.

Just google "soup kitchens" or "homeless shelters" with your city as a keyword, and you should be able to find some. There might also be service projects that different student organizations in your school run.

You can also just donate to coat drives or clothing drives advertised in your community or at a church/temple/etc.. That's helping too! With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming around, many houses of worship have a number of charitable activities going on.

The key here is understanding that donations of goods (use or new) and your time as you can manage are just as important as "running things."

RN9742 · Oct 31, 2010

I have found, (as well as adopting this practice), that those who do well, and seem to accomplish it all, are very well organized! Something I so admire, and have been striving for. I keep a schedule, a weekly to-do list, as well as a daily to-do list. I know it seems overkill, but honestly it has been keeping me sane since I started doing it! Each Sunday I take a few mins to write out what is due for the week, and I go into some detail. I schedule in study times around family, church, school, etc. I also sync it with my blackberry, so if I am out and something changes I can easily look to see what I need to adjust in the schedule. Keeping the to do lists helps me stay focused on what I need to get done for the week/day so I can prioritize my time as needed. The sad thing really is, that when I started doing this, I also started seeing how much time I wasted worrying about all the things that needed to get done, watching TV, and just being lazy in general. Yes their are times to be lazy and have fun but now it is easier for me to find that time without neglecting the things that need to get done as well.

2ndyearstudent, CNA · Oct 31, 2010

After the ceremony I met one of the students and she seemed so calm and relaxed.

I think this is the key for some of us. We are calm and relaxed because we enjoyed the ride.

I get frustrated by some things (exam structure) in nursing school, but overall I really do enjoy it. I also work (probably too many hours) as a Home Health Aide and it is a great job to have during school. I do good work and the clients appreciate it. I have a blast volunteering at my old nursing home.

All these things are challenging, but they are not burdens put upon me - I want to do them, I like doing them. (No one made me sign up for any of it.) I get great satisfaction from just doing these things - not necessarily what I get out of it.

The students I see with the most stress seem to dread and hate everything - studying, lab, clinical, papers, volunteering, work. They seem to look at these things like obstacles put in their way - things preventing them from getting what they really want - that NURSING LICENSE.

You know those hokey, cheesy phrases everyone repeats?: "It's the journey, not the goal" or "You get out of something what you put into it"

Turns out they are true. It took me a long time - decades - to learn this.