fluency

Perfect, thanks so much. I'll try this method.

Once you get lost in depression, a lot of your thought processes become diminished. Don't let the obstacles force you into depression, because all of your energy will be spent there. Instead, use the energy toward possibly sitting down with a professional at some of the schools you mentioned. You need assistance, and maybe you just haven't come across the right individual to offer the advice you need. Talk to as many people as you can to find out what alternatives you may have. Don't give up, you have to keep moving so you don't get consumed by the obstacles.

I've never heard of the 4x4 breathing technique. How does it work?

Breathing is one of the best lessons I've learned personally over the last few months. I recently completed a semester of Advanced Nursing, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology. My stress level was out of the roof. Absolutely insane. I wasn't eating right, or sleeping. Everything that I KNEW was wrong, but was doing anyway. I won't do that again. If I could offer any advice, it would be to stop, take a few minutes to decompress and actually focus on "breathing". Literally. I found a series of free videos online, some 15 minutes, some 30. I use them whenever I have a chance. Sometimes in the car between a class, to break-up a study session, to get my mind right before an exam, or to fall to sleep to. Anywhere that you can fit it in, I would advise you to do so. I never realized how joyous just taking a moment to breath and do nothing was.

I agree with some of the other commenters, high-lighters won't work for this class. You really need to dig into the concepts. I took A&P I and II with an amazing professor. She really knew her stuff and pushed us to know ours. I found Anatomy Revealed 3-D to be very helpful, as I'm a visual learner. I also used the CD's that came along with my anatomy book and scoured the web for videos that covered the subject matters to make them relevant. Seems that a big part of test taking for these types of courses, from what I'm learning, is what is the professor's expectation. Some seem to really want you to know what they present (in class and slide presentations), others go by the book. If you can get a handle on that, it would help tremendously. Once that is determined, make a strong study schedule, and also work with good classmates to do study guides. In my courses, I had a group of 4 and we took turns weekly preparing the study guides. As you can imagine, this was a tremendous time saver. A&P is high density, so if you can get a strong team together, you'll be fine. The class is actually very fascinating and a pleasure to learn.

You two need to figure out a way to make each other count. School is not going away for a while, and you can't lose your family over it. Not sure if this will help, but I just completed my 1st year of a 3 year program. Some of the things I've done to decrease the stress at home and keep my marriage deep into the positive are things such as, making my husband breakfast daily before he goes to work, we spend the time together in the kitchen in the morning, chatting, checking emails, joking. That one hour that we have carved out in the morning always puts us both off to a good start. I read a few articles that indicated study time should be limited to 45-min. sessions, and then do 20-min. I've implemented this and it has helped me tremendously. During my "break" time, I take care of my chores. Sweep a floor, wash a dish, throw a load in the machine, whatever. Somehow at the end of the week, my house is clean (and I get to do it all over again :) I have two teen-aged children, so they don't need as much attention. However, we do both make it a point to be available to them for any homework, sports, etc. as much as possible. If we both can't make it to their events, we'll take turns. Like so many others, finances are pretty tight since I'm not working. What I've done to compensate is bring date-nights home. I'll prepare a nice candlelight dinner, actually take the time to put on a dress, some "smell good" and sexy heels, and have a romantic dinner at home. Other times, I'll find a great "boy" movie and take the time to have enjoy that with him. Another thing you can do is to find something that you both enjoy that you can laugh about. There's some great 30-min shows that we watch (when time permits - that keeps us both in stitches). My strategy is to keep every moment I have with my spouse as pleasant as possible. We all know nursing school is extremely stressful and some days you won't be your best, it's going to happen. However, your home needs to be your haven. I'm sure you'll find some great ways to get back to enjoying your family life, you just need to hit each person where their heart lies. Maybe I'm just fortunate that my husband is simple in enjoying a great meal and a good laugh. Best of luck.