Pep talk...

[Beckylydon]

I decided to go back to school for my BSN a year ago. It's been a tough year working through pre-requisutes and trying to juggle studying, working, toddler life and wife life. Luckily, my husband is vey supportive. Although, I do wonder if he truly understands what life will be like (me absent) once I'm actually in nursing school.

Anyway, I'm almost finished pre-reqs. I received two B's (I'll probably have one more B to add to that) by the time I finish in 2 weeks. So, I may have to retake those classes. But, I'm having some issues with confidence. And, I'm wondering if this is playing a role in my inability to pass a freaking exam with an A! I am really awful at math and science. I'm also a terrible test taker! Although, coming back to it has been different than earning my BA years ago. Still I have this lingering doubt that I can't seem to shake. I really need to get over this because I can feel it affecting my life in many ways.

I've never been one to have low self esteem. But, I'm really struggling. I just feel like I have so much riding on getting into a program and succeeding that I am putting a lot of pressure on myself.

Anyone have a recommended book for me?? I'll have some time for a personal book after I finish this semester in two weeks. Any tips or recommendations are welcomed! I need something to pull me out of this funk and give me the confidence I need to survive! Otherwise, I'm worried I won't!

[xxstarrynitesxx]

I can't give specific tips as I am not quite sure how you study for an exam, but something I did was to stop saying I was "awful" or "bad" at a particular subject. For example, I had a honors English teacher during my freshman year of high school who said I was a terrible writer. I carried that with me the rest of my high school years and part of the way through my first semester of college eleven years later. I took Advanced Placement courses for English my junior and senior years of high school and got 5's on both. Even though I outperformed the better writers, I was still in that mindset.

During my first semester back, the first class I took happened to be a writing intensive history class. I'm not going to lie, the moment she said we'd only be writing essays and reading books all semester made me almost run out the door. I pay for my own school so I decided to just stick with it. I did the first paper at the last minute and barely scraped by with a C. We had the option to redo the paper and turn it in later fortunately. I decided from then on that I would not wait until the last moment. I wrote papers early to get them looked over and corrected. It took time, but I went from an "awful" writer to someone capable of getting perfect scores. I changed my mindset. I'm still not the most confident writer, but I know I am capable of doing A work and willing to put in the extra time. I went from not caring to caring. So, math and science might not come easily to you, but tell yourself you can do it.

Some other things I may suggest is getting a tutor, visiting office hours for each professor, buying books with extra practice problems, looking over old exams, etc. Looking over old exams in particular might help you figure out how you are tested. Does the professor go off the textbook, lecture, PowerPoints, or a combination? This is something you can sometimes pick out. Visiting the professor during office hours not only builds a relationship with him or her, but it also shows them you want to do well. He or she may even have extra problems you can do. There is a section on here with study tips (a lot on YouTube too). Perhaps you need to change up your study methods.

Lastly, make some time just for yourself every once in awhile. You are a mom, wife, and student all in one! Individually none of those are easy. You are rocking it in my opinion. Keep working hard and best wishes.