nursing school = life sucker

As I become more and more absorbed in the nursing program, my life becomes less and less interesting. Which means there's just not much to say here. I talked to my friend J last night and he was giving me the run down of what all he's been up to since we last talked - things like croquet and cook-outs and fun in the sun and light and happiness - and then he asked, "So what's been going on with you?" Um ... well ... I get up, go to school, come home, work on school stuff, and if I'm lucky I collapse in bed by midnight. Often, bed doesn't happen until 2 or 2:30. And then I'm up by 6 ... IN THE MORNING. I'm sure I'll say this many, many times throughout my nursing school experience: NURSING SCHOOL IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH. It's sucking the life right out of us all. The lack of sleep coupled with the incredible level of stress is enough to send anybody into the world beyond. Before it's all over with, I'll probably be begging to be put out of my misery.

This past week I had the privilege and honor of taking another Patho exam. All I can say is that my plan for world domination is coming along much better than my plan for being valedictorian of Pathophysiology. I passed the test, barely squeaking by again. But at least I'm not the girl who was sitting outside crying afterward. She did not pass the test. Nor did she pass the first one. If I didn't know that she had gone out with friends on the Friday night prior to our exam, I would have felt a bit more sorry for her. But still, I do feel a little sad - not just for her, but for me and everybody else who are working our butts off just to barely scrape by.

I am seriously thinking of dropping my study group and, therefore, forfeiting my 10 extra points. On the one hand, I REALLY NEED THOSE POINTS. On the other hand, if I weren't spending so much required time with my ineffectual group, maybe I could make more progress on learning this stuff. Last weekend I sat in with a different study group, and MAN! the difference was amazing. I honestly believe that my time with those folks is what kept me in the passing range. Of my assigned study group? I was the only one who passed. And our group leader? She has a really bad attitude. She's pissed because she's not passing. Sorry, sweetheart, but while Daddy can buy you a really nice condo, and really nice furniture to go in it, and a really nice SUV, Daddy can't buy you a passing grade in Dr. G's class. And if your daddy could do that? I would totally sleep with him and get him to buy me one too. (Mom, that was a joke. I would NEVER do that. You can start breathing again. I censor a lot of "brilliant" sarcasm from my blogs out of fear that I'm going to kill my mother, but sometimes I just gotta let loose ... sorry Mom.)

Health Assessment class is going well. I aced my first medical terminology quiz ... SCORE! I needed that win after getting beaten up in Patho. And, I also kicked butt on my first skills check-off, even though it involved doing a math formula problem on the fly. Totally NOT prepared for that! It took me an embarrassingly long time to work through that problem, all the while my professor and lab partner were looking on in eager anticipation. But I did it, even though my hands were shaking.

The on-line class is still the big pain in the butt that it's been from the start. Only now, the Wizard has turned up the heat a bit. I like to think of the instructor as the "Wizard" simply because nobody seems to know who she is. We've never seen her, and on her first internet introduction she said, "You shall refer to me as Teresa." I used the real name she gave here, because I'm not convinced it's actually her real name at all. I mean, who says that unless they are protecting their identity? I was very tempted to respond to her internet introduction with, "And you shall refer to me as Her Majesty"

Keep all the prayers coming, or rubbing the Buddha bellies, or burning the incense, or whatever ... because this little girl who wants to be a nurse when she grows up needs all the help she can get.