dimir

i'm a first semester nursing student at SDSU. a little bit of background: i don't even remember when i decided that i wanted to be a nurse. it's been a part of my life for so long that specific dates don't really matter anymore. i think a big part of this is having a family background in nursing - my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family and friends are primarily in the nursing field. so, it's always been common in family parties to have a group of nurses discussing their jobs. choosing to become a nursing major was something that came natural to me. i'm not saying that i didn't have any doubts and tribulations that i had to overcome, because i did. and, sometimes, i still do. i've always been someone that held education in a high regard. in high school, i took a rigorous college preparatory program called the International Baccalaureate and graduated with an IB Diploma and receiving enough credits to just barely miss the credits requirements to become a "sophomore." i participated in a variety of leadership and extracurricular programs including student government and tennis. i've volunteered in the Veterans Home of California in preparation for nursing school. in terms of college courses and prerequisites, i dedicated myself to doing the best i could so i would get a certain acceptance to the impacted nursing program at my school. so, i currently have a 4.0, including my sciences (bio, chem, A &P, and micro) and statistics. i was pretty apprehensive starting this semester, anticipating the stress and the difficulty of the program. but, i'm finding that i'm liking it more and more and that i'm fairly certain that i'm going to end up loving this. so, that brings me back to why i'm here. in the first chapter of my first nursing textbook, there was a portion on "continuing education." i've always known that i was going to get a master's or a PhD someday. and, now i know exactly what that advanced degree is going to be in. CRNA was the thing that jumped out at me when i read that portion - everything else just paled. i liked the autonomy, i liked the idea of working one-on-one with patients, i like that i would be taking active and direct actions in the process of helping a patient, and, for some reason i'm not so sure yet, i've always always had an interest in anesthesiology. so, the thing is, i know that i'm barely starting out in my career as a nurse. but, i've always been more of "think of a future" kind of guy than and i want to start preparing to become a CRNA now. today. this very moment. i would appreciate any advice as to what to do now and subsequently as a first semester nursing student wanting to apply to CRNA schools and to have a career as a CRNA. and, please be as detailed as possible [though i would appreciate any response, stuff like "get A's" or "get through school first" wouldn't really help that much ] i'm pretty freakin' excited. thanks everyone!