Summer is flying by...

It's hard to believe how quickly time goes by sometimes! While I was studying, investing in a long-distance relationship, keeping in touch with friends & family around the world, making new friends here in Binghamton, and trying to sleep, a whole term of Nursing School has flown by! Yeah, that's right, I'm already into Term II, which is CRAZY...but exciting, because now it means that we're moving out of the classroom and into practical experience. Finally!!!!

But I don't think that I would have made it this far with my sanity left were it not for two very important influences: God and Andrew. I know it sounds cheesy, and you can roll your eyes if you want, but it's true. Our God is so gracious in sustaining us even when we don't realize that He's doing it, and in teaching us even in the midst of our constant distractions. And He also provides us with one of His best gifts - His PEOPLE - to share in our joys and struggles, to encourage, support, convict, and sharpen us. There are countless people who fit this profile in my life, and if I were to name them all I would be here all day. But today's post is especially for Andrew, for his support and encouragement, for an unforgettable summer break spent together last week, and for calling me beautiful even after I flipped my kayak, fell in a river, and was soaked and muddy from head to toe. (Perhaps that's a story for the next post...) :)

Back to school again!

Well, 2 weeks back into my return to school (for a 1-year accelerated BS in nursing), and I think I've finally got my groove back! :) Although hopefully I'll be able to stay away from some of the BAD study habits I used to have...like procrastination...So far so good.

One thing I'm still getting used to is that, by nature, Binghamton University is VERY different from Houghton College! Its size makes all the administrative, paperwork-type stuff that we have to do a lot less personal and more of a hassle, and running around on a wild goose chase takes a lot longer because of the size of campus...But the good things are location (lots of things to do in our spare time...oh, wait, we don't have any spare time!), and diversity. I have classmates from all over the world - Russia, Ghana, Kenya, China, Japan, Vietnam, Israel...it's so cool!

So far, the content hasn't been that difficult or new, but the hardest part is the pace of the course. Since it's a unique, intensive program, designed for people who are switching into the field and already have a bachelor's degree or higher in another field, we already have a lot of our academics out of the way, so we need to cram all the nursing-specific stuff PLUS all our clinical hours into 12 months. We haven't started clinicals yet, but once we do, THAT is going to be the real doozy. Hooray for living in scrubs starting in July! :)

I'm sure I'll have all sorts of interesting stories once I start clinicals! But for now we're just talking about really fun stuff in class. For example, today we had a whole lecture on bowel disorders and stool. (Yes, for all you lay people, it was about poop!)

Our first exam is out of the way, and I was surprised at how well I did - but I'm not getting too confident, because next week we have 3 midterms, so we'll see if I'm still smiling after that! In the meantime, though, we have 2 weeks down and 3 to go in Summer Term I, then a wonderful week off for the 4th of July...I hope these next 3 weeks fly by as quickly as the last 2 did! I'll keep you posted on any fun stories. :)