First off, nursing school is hard.
Secondly, you will feel like quitting.
Thirdly, you will never sleep, and you will eat anything and everything, whenever you get a single (rare) moment to do so.
Many times I feel myself slipping from reality, as I go through this whirlwind called nursing school. Beforehand, the current senior nursing students, and fellow nursing friends told me to say farewell to my life... I didn't believe them then - but I sure do now!
Everyday consists of a million tasks you must complete before the next day, on top of work, eating, and the actual time spent in class listening to lectures. Everyday consists of a hundred different looks you share between your classmates. Everyday consists of a thousand different texts between nursing buddies to see if we actually did the correct assignments. Nursing syllabi are confusing sometimes... You can't tell the difference between the assignment due that day, or assigned that day - they are all intermingled.
My body has learned to live off of 4-6 hours of sleep a night. My brain has learned to fit more information in it... but usually it hurts a lot. My eating habits are rabid, and my social life.. well, let's just say it's sitting on the shelf collecting dust.
Never take for granted the quiet moments you have to yourself before nursing school - they very quickly get put on hold.
Frequently, you find yourself running over terms, definitions, diseases, the homework you did last night and the homework due tonight - rather than thinking about the next scheduled break.
Sometimes all you will want to do is sit still and close your eyes - not to sleep, but to just be still.
Sometimes all you will want to do is sleep - it is okay to feel this way. It's even harder if you don't drink any caffeinated beverages.
As a nursing student, you have no time.
As a nursing student, all your time is spent studying, reading, quizzing yourself, taking tests, doing checkoffs, and charging your laptop.
As a nursing student, you will fail a test.
As a nursing student you will do things that make you uncomfortable - do not forget what you are in school for.
Hold on... why am I saying this? Why would I say these negative things? Why, if I feel like this, am I even still in nursing school??
Well, ladies and gentlemen. It is because I love it. I love my professors. I love my classmates. I love the information we are learning. I love this time in my life, where I am learning how to live the rest of my life.
I have learned that one failing grade does not define what kind of nurse I will be. A smart nursing friend of mine once told me, "It is not a grade that defines your future as a nurse, it is your heart and your desire that makes a good nurse. You can not teach compassion."
That. That is why I am still awake, sitting here, studying my little heart out for this journey called nursing school. Yes, it is true, all those things I said, BUT that is what makes this journey all worth it. Having 25 other people on the same road as me, makes it encouraging because we're all in this together. To be able to make it to graduation, victorious, and know what I came through to make it?
PRICELESS.
So, if you are going to be a nursing student this spring, or next fall. DO IT. Do not back out, do not let anyone tell you what you can or can not do. This is a decision you have to make on your own and for yourself. If you do not believe in yourself, then you will not make it. If the Lord has started a good work in your life, He will see it through until completion.
So, get out there, and become a nurse. That's what I am doing, and this crazy, crazy, CRAZY time in my life? Well, I wouldn't trade it for anything else. I know I am writing this at 2 am, but I know I am being serious!
