Reflections On The First Semester of Nursing School

Recharging

I slept in today and woke up very late. Then I laid in bed and did nothing for a bit before stretching and then rolling over to lie on my side for a bit longer. I did some thinking, rolled some ideas in my head, and finally eased out of bed. It was really nice!

Cleaning The House

After that, it was a productive day of washing windows and horizontal blinds. The dirt really builds up in one year because of all the pollution of being near the highway. After washing 6 big windows and blinds, I took a shower and headed out for some Christmas shopping.

Fighting Germs

I think I'm coming down with a bug since my skin hurts and my tummy has a dull ache that doesn't go away. Sometimes the ache is in the front, and sometimes the ache is in the back. It's very odd. I've had it since sometime during the exams.

I tried to look it up to see if I could figure out what it might be, but scary diseases and illnesses come up, so I decided to stop looking so that I won't become a hypochondriac that thinks I have every disease in the world. I'll just pop in to see the doctor when she gets back from vacation. I have a feeling it's just stress-related.

Grades

The grades came out for all my courses and I actually did really well this semester. I had told myself that it wasn't realistic to get great grades for first semester, but I ended up getting them anyways. It was such a huge relief for me when I saw them. I was really worried that I had bombed the final for one course, but it was A-okay.

By tomorrow we'll find out which hospital we'll be assigned to for next semester. I'm hoping for the hospital nearest to me since it will be easier to get there for 6:30 am start times.

Classmates

While Christmas shopping, I've bumped into a couple classmates. We always rush to ask if the other person passed all their exams and whether they'll be moving on to second semester. The relief is mutual when we've both confirmed that all is well and that we'll be seeing each other again in January. I feel like my classmates and I have been through a lot together. It binds us together even for the students that I didn't interact much with during the semester. I don't think that some of my friends really understand that about me yet. However, I feel like my family understands. My family has been really supportive this semester and I'm really thankful for that.

Worries

Sometimes I feel really scared about becoming a nurse. I walked away from a good job with good co-workers, and I think that being a nurse will be much harder than being an animator. I have had almost 5 years of being an animator, but I have only 1 semester's worth of training as a nurse. I worry that I'll make a mistake and that people will get hurt, and I worry that I don't have what it takes to be a nurse. However, if grades in school are any form of indicator (and I don't think they are, but I'll just pretend they are so that I feel better), then I am unnecessarily worried. I freaked out all semester and I probably made myself sick because of it, but the grades are excellent.

Plans for Semester Two

So, my plan for second semester is to work hard, stay focused, but to also worry less. I am growing more certain that I can do this and that I can handle it, and I have to hold on to that because I can't keep being so stressed all of the time. It's not healthy, and it's not beneficial. I need to exercise more so that I am physically fit and able to handle the hard work of being a nurse, and I need to learn to relax and just drop the stresses because it will make me more efficient and effective.

Even talking about that now makes me feel a little better.

Thanks for sticking around as I work through all the challenges of making a career switch. It's nice to know that I come here and write about it. Hopefully, this can help someone else out there who might be thinking of making a similar change in careers (or of becoming a nurse!)

Have a great week!

The Cat's Out Of The Bag - Off To Nursing School We Go!

Yep, that's right! The choice has been made, and it's off to nursing school for me! Yippee!

I always hear about how hard it is to get into nursing school, so I was ready for a letter of rejection for my application. Lo and behold, I got in!!! It's amazing!

But I took a long time to think it over. A career change is a big thing, and FOUR MORE YEARS OF SCHOOL is, well, it's quite daunting. Plus, I rather like my new job as an animator and I like the group I'm working in. It's really too bad that I have to leave.

I told my workplace on Friday, about a month in advance. They were really nice and said I could come back if I ever changed my mind. They were hoping to renew my contract because they said my team really liked me and they were happy with my quality of work. (That's very nice of them to say, huh?) I will miss them very much when I'm gone.

But I've made many new friends there, and I hope they'll stick around because I like them. Meanwhile, I have to start registering for classes and buying school supplies. I even have to buy a nurse's uniform! My school colours for that are evergreen with a pale, dusty green trim. I could opt for the reverse colour combination, but I think the darker green will be more practical. For some reason, I feel giddy to think that I have to wear a nurse's uniform soon. It seems awfully fun!

So it seems I have finally reached the crossroads. I had been avoiding it for so long. Coincidentally, I kept meeting random people on the bus and skytrains that just happened to be nurses - go figure. My co-workers encouraged me to pursue the nursing path too as they felt it would be a "real job". It's funny, isn't being an animator a real job too?

So I'm pretty nervous stepping back into the shoes of a student so I can grow into the shoes of a nurse. Will I like it? Will I hate it? I don't really know yet. My friend who is also going into nursing this year knows exactly what she wants, and she's so sure of her chosen path. It makes me feel abnormal to be so hesitant, but I know that I want to to try becoming a nurse and that I would make a good one. I fear that I will suck at it, but I know that I'll be okay.

My main worries are that I'll become calloused from dealing with death and suffering daily, and that I won't care as much as I do now about all the little things in life. With certainty, I'll grow a tougher skin and grow up a lot. One thing that I hope for is to learn skills to be able to save lives and help people. I think it would be meaningful to make a difference in people's lives everyday.

Anyhow, I thought I would update you on what's happening since I haven't said a peep for a while about this. Are any big changes going on in your life? Let me know!

Take care,
Marie

Out And About Working And Learning (And Collecting Olympic Coins)

It has begun - work that is! After much deliberation and a prolonged application process, I accepted a 6 month contract as a 3D Animator. My first day was this Monday!

So far, everything has been a dream. Everyone has been so nice to me, and they are taking a great deal of care in training us newbies :) I couldn't be more delighted. On the first day alone, one of the managers gave us red pockets for Chinese New Year. And what was inside? A shiny, golden Olympic loonie!

I've been collecting the Olympic quarters in circulation since the weekend when I traded my normal quarter for the Olympic quarter-of-the-day at the Royal Canadian Mint downtown. They gave me a special folder to collect all of the 2010 circulation coins, and there are spots for two Olympic loonies. I figured I would never get one of those, so I was resigned to leave the spots empty for all eternity. Lo and behold, I now have one spot filled! Hurray!

I've also been petitioning my brother and sister (and their friend) to trade their Olympic quarters for my normal quarters. I can proudly count 5 Olympic quarters in my collection now. I just need 8 more.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Good Job, Everyone!

I was very impressed today when I came online and noticed 124 entries already for the super awesome designer soap giveaway by KreatedbyKarina. So I thought I'd give you all a thumbs up for entering. *Thumbs Up To The Awesome Peeps!*

I really love having giveaways on this blog for my fellow Etsians, and I know you all love to win free stuff and find out about cool shops and good things for your life. So if you have a shop and you want to run a giveaway here, please let me know. Note that I *AM* selective about who I promote here. If I don't think my readers will find the shop worth visiting, I will actually turn you down.

However, I'd be happy to give you feedback on what I think would make your shop more attractive to the readers here. I'm not a pro by any means, but I can offer my opinion. I would also recommend asking other Etsians for advice and feedback. Some of them really are seasoned professionals in selling and buying online.
That's another thing - you'd be surprised how much you can learn about how to improve your own shop by buying online. You'll find out pretty quickly what impresses you and what disappoints you when you receive a package in the mail, and you can compare it to what you are doing in your shop to see if you can improve.

As an update to what's going on with me this past week, I've been a busy school gal. My teacher accepted my application into his course, so I am officially registered for his Human Anatomy and Physiology class. It's a lot of work and there's tons to memorize, but I am really enjoying the subject. He's also a really good teacher. He doesn't go too fast, and he has lots of interesting tidbits to share.
The laboratory portion is also surprisingly fun and I am learning so much! A lot of the first week was a review of first year Biology, but it still took me a bit to remember it all and to get into the groove of things. I have discovered that I love learning slowly but thoroughly. It means that I really understand the topic, and I can teach it to others! I spent most of my laboratory time teaching the students seated around me how to do what I had just learned. I felt so helpful, and they actually appreciated that I took the time out to help them out. Maybe I'll make it a habit to stick around the lab and help other lost people out.

I'm still trying to figure out if I should become a nurse. I met a doctor at school and we somehow got into the topic of what I should do with my career. After I had described my situation to him, he asked me to consider whether it would be better for me to spend 5 years to become a newbie nurse, or to invest 5 years into upgrading my current education/training in digital art and animation. The answer in a practical sense was to invest in my art training, but when we added the factor of meaningful work and the need to help people, the answer became clouded.

My new attempt is to find a career path that combines my art education with helping people. Things that I am considering are art therapy (but I will need a LOT of psychology/counselling education), rehabilitation therapy (because I'd get to move around and maybe do some art projects), and motion capture in medical care and analysis (because I know some medical facilities use motion capture, and it would be cool if I could figure out how to get involved with that since I know mocap so well).
I'm also reconsidering teaching in some capacity. As I mentioned in regards to lab, I have a natural tendency to teach what I know to others. It might be why I write so many gardening and art tutorials on this blog. I also wrote training documents in my previous job, and trained my outsourcing team online and in-person. I would bet that you could ask me to teach you something, and if it was a topic I was familiar with, I would happily teach/tell you about it.

That's something I have rolling at the back of my mind. Part of why I want to become a nurse is so I can become a nurse trainer or nurse teacher. Ironic, eh? But SOMEONE has got to teach the subject! Why not me?
So this week will include my first quiz for Human Anatomy and Physiology, and lots of applying for various volunteer positions. Hopefully I can teach some art or visit some fine elderly folk. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Good luck with all your endeavors!

New Year, New Beginnings

Monday arrived and everyone headed back to work... except me. I didn't have work to go to. "Eeeks, " I thought to myself, "I better hurry up and get a JOB!"

So I started job hunting again, and on trying to decide what to do with my life. Surprisingly, this kept me pretty busy. I created a new art portfolio using a Blogger template (using THIS blog template actually!) and I succeeded in accidentally deleting this blog's template instead. Drats!

So I had to rebuild this blog template before I could make the new portfolio site. Luckily, I still remembered how to convert the mimina template into 3 columns and how to tamper with the column sizes and background colours. I came across some other nifty tricks and tools and added them too (like the search bar from Google to search this blog). You can ask me about them if you're curious.

I also decided to take more action instead of just sitting around thinking and planning.
I was thinking about applying for nursing school, so I looked up the deadlines and requirements. It turns out I need to take Anatomy and Physiology. The class was available, but it started on that day. Ack! So missed the first class, but I hurried to the school to sign up today so I could make it in time for the second class. OF COURSE the course is full by the time I get there, and now I'm on a waitlist. So I still get to attend class on Thursday, but I might not get in.

So Plan B is to check out the other local schools that offer a nursing program to see if I might be able to get in without Anatomy and Physiology, or with an alternate course. I better hurry. I don't want those other classes to fill up too before I can sign up.
Plan C is to consider an alternate career path, like teaching. I love teaching, as you can see from all the tutorials I write here. I'm not sure if it's the right path for me either, but I'm not waiting around for any sort of light bulb. The deadline for application is Jan 15th, I discovered today. I don't think I'll make it in time for that. I'm missing classroom experience and 2 reference letters from real teachers that have seen me teach in a classroom. Oh boy...

So while all these Plans are in action, I have to concurrently get volunteer experience. First for nursing (so I'm applying to volunteer at hospitals and clinics), and second for teaching (so I'll need to find a school...). Oh, and did I mention Art Therapy? Well, I figured it would be a good combination of my love of art and my wish to help others.

However, I called an art therapy school today and I didn't get the impression that art therapy was a growing field or a viable career option. Her first comment was, "Well, you know this is a very small field..."

It seems that art therapy education is best paired with something like being a counsellor or a rehabilitation therapist. There are art therapists out there, but they are not as common. She mentioned that one rarely sees art therapist job postings out there, and your success as an art therapist really relies on your ability to sell people on the value of what you do. So if you know someone that's an art therapist, let me know. I'd love to find out more about what they do and how they manage to succeed at it.

So, my little adventure continues.Oh, I was at the library reading Anatomy and Physiology books today. Did you know that we have a TAIL when we're growing in the womb? And some of our faces look like they're separated right down the middle! It's CREEPY!Yes, that ugly looking creature above will become a cute, giggly baby one day. For now, it looks more like a gross insect larvae. I can't imagine looking like that once, can you?

Finally, the weekend!

What a busy week it has been for me! I have been negotiating with my managers for more responsibility and better opportunities and, lucky me, I got one! So I've been working diligently to make the most out of my chance to prove to my managers that they made the right decision in giving me a big project to manage. I've been sending emails out daily, talking to folks abroad, and I've been training up employees on new procedures and documenting the processes in our wiki. I must say, a wiki is a magical thing. It's absolutely essential for documenting new processes in a business, and it's great how it can be edited by wiki users at any time. We can all compile and share our knowledge at work, and future employees can benefit from our documented experience.

I feel like I did a great job this week in managing my new project, and I'm proud of all the new knowledge I've gained. I'm also happy with some new tools that I've built to streamline the process. I've been at my company for 3 years now, and I've been creating extensive documentation and tools all along. However, I'm also really quiet so I guess no one knows what I'm doing.

With all the high housing prices in Vancouver and the rising cost of living, I realized that I'd never be able to support myself on my own with my current job. I set myself the goal of trying to buy my own place one day - it can even be tiny! - and it still came down to being impossible. The bank told me flat out that I couldn't afford to buy my own place. They told me that I'd either have to wait until I'd saved a LOT more money, or I'd have to make a LOT more money. Truth like that can be painful to hear.

I became convinced that I'd have to move up in my company to a better paying position or get out and find a better paying job. With nothing to lose, I approached my manager with my proposal for an opportunity to prove myself. I let him know that, with 3 years of no promotion or recognition, I was ready to either move up or move out. He seemed surprised, but he promised to speak with his superiors to see if something could be arranged.

Last week, I began to work on a new project. I think my manager's superiors were reluctant to really release the project to me in full. They kind of kept me at a distance, figuratively speaking, and gave me small assignments at a time. I was intent on taking this project seriously however, and I worked really hard at doing a good job on each small assignment. I also made new assignments for myself that I knew would benefit the project. If I learned a new way to make the process simpler, I would go ahead and implement it, making sure that everyone involved was aware of my progress.

By the end of the week, everything was running smoothly, and I felt good about myself and my value to the company. I guess everyone wants to feel like their work is important, and I hadn't felt that way about the regular work I was doing. This new project was the perfect fit for me. One of the other managers walked up to me and told me that he had been really glad when I was assigned this project. I had done some work for him in the past and he felt that I would be the best person to take it on because I was so organized. He thought it was the best situation for this project which needed someone to really get in there and manage it and watch every aspect of it. I felt so happy to hear that I had his support.

I can't say whether this good streak will continue, but I have learned some things about making my work situation better. I have learned that I have to be proactive about my job. I can't just go to work every day and do what I'm told. I have to find out about new opportunities at work that I'm interested in and offer to help. People rarely turn down help. Then I have to do a good job with those opportunities and see what I can do to make things better. It seems that there is always a better way to do something. If I can find out what it is and implement it, I will feel proud of myself for my achievement, but I'll also have more value to my company. Lastly, I have to be more vocal about what I want and about what I have achieved. I'm my own best advocate at work, and if I'm not promoting myself and my achievements, then no one is. There might be people at work who notice what I'm doing and recognize my skills and potential, but if I don't take steps to move forward and be heard, they seem to keep quiet too.

I'll keep you posted on how things go. One thing's for sure, it's not easy. I am sooooo exhausted now and super glad it's the weekend!

Cheers!

Pick a Career You Will Love

I bumped into a student on the bus today and she asked me what it was like to work - why people always say that going to school is more fun than working. I explained to her that, in school, you learn many different subjects and topics each day. Every day is fresh and exciting because there are new concepts, new ideas, and often very different ideas. At work, however, you are learning the equivalent of one subject every day for 8 hours each day. You might get very good at that subject and become a specialist in it, but it is the same thing every day. She didn't like the sound of that. I think everyone likes variety.

It's funny how students work so hard to get to the working life, only to become embittered over time by the monotony of their career.

What can be done? Here are some ideas:
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1. Choose a job where you'll do something you wouldn't mind doing every day, 8 hours a day. If you really, really like the subject that you're working on, it won't be so bad.

2. Take breaks. Sometimes working folk forget to take breaks. They work, work, work, work, work, and then burn out. If they took more regular breaks, they wouldn't be fried by the end of the day.

3. Make friends at work. It's fun to have people to share experiences with and to vent with in case of a bad day. You're going to spend most of 5 days a week with your co-workers, make sure they're people that you like working with.

4. Try out new opportunities. Maybe you're thinking about a change in career, or there's something you've always wanted to try out? Go ahead and taste test these opportunities. Take baby steps by taking a part-time course, doing some freelance work, attending some related groups or workshops, or taking on a volunteer opportunity. Sometimes, the little changes are enough to make working life more enjoyable.

5. Worst case scenario, get a new job. Sometimes you'll really hate your job and nothing about it will make you happy. It's okay to get a new job. Most of the students in our generation will end up changing their careers sometime in their life. If things really aren't working out for you, get out and start fresh. Don't force yourself to stay in a situation that might make you ill overtime because it's stressing you out so much.
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So there's my two-bit on working life and how to make things better for yourself.
Cheers!

Thinking about Life

I've been reading Think Like a Billionaire by Donald Trump lately and I've learned a few things. First of all, billionaires work hard, but their work is not all that different from any other typical managerial/foreman position. Meetings, phone calls, decision making, reading letters, talking to people and family... it's kind of amazing how much they're making to do something many of us do every day for so much less. Second, billionaires can be quite full of themselves and they make a lot of money by promoting themselves and their business every chance that they get. I can't help but wonder how much money and extra advertising Trump is getting through talking non-stop about how great all his buildings, restaurants, and employees are. The entire book is basically a massive advertisement for everything Trump. That's pretty cool. He just got a LOT of people to actually pay for something that is meant to sell more to the purchasers. And every time someone talks about his book, they're promoting both his book and his stuff. I love it! That's fantastic and amazing business thinking. Maybe I should write a book about Mytutorlist.com :P

What did get me thinking, though, was Trumps view that billionaires don't take vacations. Trump thinks that if you don't love your job so much that you never want to take a vacation from it, then you're in the wrong position. What do you think of that?