post-school nerves?

[imhorsemackerel, LPN]

So this will be my first topic. YAY!

If you've seen my posts, you'll know they can get lengthy. Feel free to pull up a chair and make some coffee. You've been warned!

Without going into more detail than I have in the past, I graduated in April from a LPN program. It took about a month before I got my ATT. Once I got it, I was excited to have found a spot about 20 minutes from my house about 2 months away. I figured it would be great to knock out an online class at my local CC. No problem, right? Wrong! The class kicked my behind way too often. I never knew what this professor wanted, and I just wanted to drop. But I persevered.

Fast forward to the night prior to my NCLEX. I was the most nervous I've ever been. Well, I collected myself and went into the site. "I don't see your name. You're not scheduled to take it today."

So apparently I was so excited to even confirm the date I wanted. I didn't get a confirmation email, and I didn't realize that. So I go home, yell, and finally schedule to take the test. Yes, I get my confirmation email. I decide to take it on a Saturday immediately after work. I'm not a morning person when it comes to tests. I'm one of those people who will wake up 3 hours before the alarm clock goes off. I figure going to work first would ease my anxiety. I work at a doctor's office, and I swear everyone devised a plan to make it the busiest morning ever.

I take the exam. And of course I'm nervous. Between the time I got my email confirmation and the day I took the NCLEX I spent probably 3 days reviewing. I was over it. I try to walk off these nerves to my car. Thank goodness I parked so far. Should I do the PVT trick? No, I've only spent half an hour in the parking lot dreading the drive back home and the next 48 hour wait. My test ended at 85 questions and the last 20 questions were easy. It could have gone either way. Wait, I still have that online class to do. Alright I will have to just make up something for that case study and the written assignment because my brain is fried right now.

I come home and immediately work on my classwork. I don't finish until 11:40PM. I check the PVT.... looks good so far!

The next day I see my grade for the online class. The module I got a 0 for my case study and full points for the assignment. With this professor's grading, I assured myself I would at least get 1/2 a point (out of 3). And I want all the points I deserved. He responded to my email the following night saying that I didn't send the case study. I replied explaining my case study was submitted with the assignment. Nothing.

Well, 2 days pass, and I pay for quick results. PASS! Yes!!! But I still have this class, and this professor who doesn't want me to get 1/2 a point!

About a week later (2 modules later) I resend that email. I even ask him if there is a way I can improve on the case study. 2 days later, the grades were updated. He read my email, and I suppose he realized he missed my work. I guess it would've been nice had he at least apologized. But whatever.

10 days after the NCLEX I finally get my license number. In the meantime I applied to a few places, but many asked for my license number. So I had to hold off on a few applications. But once I got that number, I sent the applications. I also finally got to submit my application for the LPN-RN program at the CC I'm interested in.

There was a problem with the school, though. The program requires I take a general Microbio class. I took an upper-level microbio class (still a 200-level class, though). The class was made to transfer to a university I attended. I had asked if the class I took can substitute the general class. My professor who taught the class said it should be fine. She asked the chair of the bio department, and they approved the substitution. I asked the nursing department as well who referred me to my bio professor. My bio professor emailed the chair of the nursing department. Even though I don't have their correspondence, I had an email from my professor who said that the chair said it was ok to substitute.

If I did have to take the class, I would have been fine. I signed up and managed to save a spot just in case. Yeah, I waited until midnight and spent the next 2 hours refreshing my browser until I saw the class had an empty seat. It finally had two. Well, I didn't need that anymore, so I dropped the class.

A week after my professor says she submitted the substitution waiver paperwork, I'm at the autoshop. My car started making weird noises. Cost was about $500. The day prior I got an offer per diem from an assisted living I interviewed with. AWESOME! But on this day, I finally get a call from the dialysis clinic I was waiting for. The assisted living wouldn't allow me to extend my training beyond two months and both trainings conflicted with each other, so I didn't accept their offer. The hiring manager did say that if I wanted to, I'd be able to apply again in the future. But I needed benefits and experience. The pay is less, but I'm content and blessed to have found something after school.

Don't forget I'm still at the autoshop. And to make this day better, I get a call from the dean's secretary that they will not accept the substitution because I'm not matriculated (only matriculated students can get the waivers approved) and ... I have to take the class. Well that doesn't make sense. I drive to campus. On the way to the dean I stop by the nursing chair's office. Unfortunately she was out until the following week. I would've asked if she could write a letter saying she'd allow the substitution, or if she even needed the form that the chair of biology signed. Well, the nursing chair's secretary said that it would be up to the bio department. Ummm...

Anyway, I wait for the dean. I waited about 2 hours with my stomach grumbling the whole time. The dean explains that the waiver should come from the nursing department as it is their program. She did not want to approve anything unless she knows for sure they are ok with it. I explained that they were as per my bio professor. I even showed all of the emails (highlighted all relevant information, stapled email strings, paper clipped all of the papers). She then said that it was something I had to ask admissions. I explained that no one knew who I had to refer to. So we go down to admissions. She matriculates me, and I don't have to take this class.

And this is where I am today. I have to wait until the end of September. Hopefully I get into the LPN-RN program. This week was my first week of the new job, and I cannot wait. It's going to be a lot to take in, but everyone seems friendly. I just want to know the status with school, so I can finally relax for 5 seconds. I also have to CLEP US history still.

Do these nerves ever truly end because it doesn't seem like it.