It's inevitable, the majority of my blog posts are going to be beauty related. If you are here, on my blog, I'm sure that's something you won't mind. However, at the same time, I don't want to be a faceless blogger, I want to find a way to reach out to my readers on a more personal level. I'm going to starting calling this series of posts Talk it Out Thursday :)
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| Me speaking at the Nursing Pinning Ceremony 2014 Photo Credits: Simplybokeh.com Photography |
During my first two years, I was a ¨pre-Nursing¨ student, so I was taking all the prerequisite courses required in order to be qualified to apply to nursing school. I feel like general education classes were easier than some of the classes I had in high school, especially the AP courses. But I can also say that I studied a lot during my first two years because I made sure not to forget the fact that my parents were paying for my full college tuition out of their own pockets, so I couldn't let them down.
In December of my 2nd year, I applied to my school's nursing program. And in May, I was told of my acceptance into the program. Honestly, I wasn't really sure if I should be happy about this or not. Personally, I chose nursing as my major because there wasn't anything else that interested me and because my mom and aunts were nurses. My first quarter in nursing was tough. I cried after every test and before every clinical practicum. Call me drama queen, but it was HARD! There was so much memorization and way TOO much critical thinking. I went to my adviser to see if this was it, if I should continue with nursing or choose a different path. I'm not sure if this was the best way to reassure me, but I remember her saying, ¨Gloria, to tell you the truth, there are people in your class that are doing so much worse than you are. I even asked them come see me during my office hours, and many haven't taken the initiative. You came to me first. Once you figure out how to answer NCLEX-style questions, you will do fine.¨
So that was that. I passed all my classes that quarter and moved forward. Of course, there were harder classes. There were still days I cried because I was overwhelmed and need more time to study for a test. I still passed all my classes and made it to the end... but HOW?
With friends, organization/time management, and pushing/motivating myself.
Once you get into your specific major, you are stuck with those people until graduation, so start making friends. The people in my nursing cohort were seriously the best. Of course, there were some people who I gave -____- this look way too often, but that's what gave our class character. I know I found my life-long friends here. They are people that I will never forget. We went through so much together and I'm pretty sure if we didn't have each other, we would have lost our sanity.
Organization and time management is honestly the one thing that will make you successful both in school and into the rest of your life. Learn what works for you and what doesn't. Do you like taking notes on a laptop or do you like the old-fashion pen and paper? Do you study better alone or in groups? Do you highlight, underline, or have photographic memory? Are you a night owl or do you get up as soon as the light peeps through your window? Take all these factor into consideration and make your own schedule. Once you're in college, you will have a class once or twice a week (It's not like high school). Take all of your syllabi and write down what you have to do for that week. Check it off as you go. I can assure you that it's very therapeutic and it helps keeps you on track!
Push and motivate yourself. No one knows your own limit better than you. Study 30 more minutes before going to sleep. Wake up 30 minutes early so that you have time to eat breakfast. Drive out to school, so that you motivate yourself to study. Buy yourself new highlighters, pens, notebooks to keep yourself motivated. But REMEMBER to take breaks! Exercise, watch a Korean drama, turn on music and have a mini dance party! :)
You will only be an undergraduate ONCE, so make it count! If you need help, don't forget to ask! I love you all and wish you luck!
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