Peace Out, Nursing School.
A three year journey is coming to a close, and I don't know where to begin. I started with a year of per-requisites and wrapped up with 225 hours on an oncology/medical unit at the hospital where Nora was born. When I got accepted into my nursing program, I don't think I was able to mentally fast forward to this point. I have literally had to take nursing school a class at a time, a week at a time, a shift at a time, a day at a time. I can't count the times that I've wanted to quit and just be done, but today I'm beyond glad that I chose to stay the course.
Last week as I drove home from my last clinical shift ever as a student, I thought I would feel happy, ecstatic, thrilled, but somehow I just didn't. I felt more quiet, reflective, and relieved. An extremely tiring, challenging, and stretching time in my life is wrapping up, and a new chapter will be opening. To be honest, I don't know if I really believed I'd make it to graduation day. Maybe I've been so busy looking directly in front of me that I forgot to look ahead to the end, to the ultimate goal.
Nursing school is unlike any other degree, and I think few people outside of the experience can truly understand how hard it is. But with the hardship has come sweet relationships that I'll always treasure. There is such deep comradery for a group of people who walk through the same hard and daunting experience. I will not miss class on Mondays by any means, but I will miss my dear friends and familiar faces that I've come so accustom to seeing. And I'll miss lunch breaks on clinical days where we'd sit, all dressed in royal blue sticking out like sore thumbs, where we'd eat and talk and eat some more and talk about how much we love eating. I'll miss the whining about how much we all just wanted to be done with school, and I'll miss all the group projects we had to complete. Okay, that's a lie. We all hate group projects...unless you have Darren and Bonnie for partners, and then it's not so bad.
I've learned so much over the last three years and grown exponentially. I've realized the strength I have to keep pushing through even when I don't feel like it or think I can. I've learned what my true priorities are and how to let go of things that simply don't matter in the big scheme of things. I've seen areas of weakness in my own life that need attention and improvement, and I've seen God's grace for me in new and real ways. In a competitive environment, I've grown to realize that I am enough and don't need to meet the standards of others. And my eyes have been even more opened to what I have in Chris.
He has been my biggest support, my best friend, the most sacrificial person on my behalf. My heart is too full to express the depth of love I feel for him and from him. I couldn't have made it to this point without him, his encouragement, or his late night Blue Bell runs (you think I'm kidding, but I certainly am not). He has celebrated with me every victory and sat gently with me in the failures. I can't say that I have the best husband in the world because frankly I don't know all the husbands in the world, but what I can say is that I have the best husband in the world for me.
As I look forward to life after nursing school, I feel a huge weight off my shoulders. I'm excited to see what's to come career wise, and I'm excited to have a little more free time on my hands to do the things that I love with the people that I love. Nursing school, it's been real, I won't miss you all that much, and thanks for all you taught me.
Last week as I drove home from my last clinical shift ever as a student, I thought I would feel happy, ecstatic, thrilled, but somehow I just didn't. I felt more quiet, reflective, and relieved. An extremely tiring, challenging, and stretching time in my life is wrapping up, and a new chapter will be opening. To be honest, I don't know if I really believed I'd make it to graduation day. Maybe I've been so busy looking directly in front of me that I forgot to look ahead to the end, to the ultimate goal.
Nursing school is unlike any other degree, and I think few people outside of the experience can truly understand how hard it is. But with the hardship has come sweet relationships that I'll always treasure. There is such deep comradery for a group of people who walk through the same hard and daunting experience. I will not miss class on Mondays by any means, but I will miss my dear friends and familiar faces that I've come so accustom to seeing. And I'll miss lunch breaks on clinical days where we'd sit, all dressed in royal blue sticking out like sore thumbs, where we'd eat and talk and eat some more and talk about how much we love eating. I'll miss the whining about how much we all just wanted to be done with school, and I'll miss all the group projects we had to complete. Okay, that's a lie. We all hate group projects...unless you have Darren and Bonnie for partners, and then it's not so bad.
I've learned so much over the last three years and grown exponentially. I've realized the strength I have to keep pushing through even when I don't feel like it or think I can. I've learned what my true priorities are and how to let go of things that simply don't matter in the big scheme of things. I've seen areas of weakness in my own life that need attention and improvement, and I've seen God's grace for me in new and real ways. In a competitive environment, I've grown to realize that I am enough and don't need to meet the standards of others. And my eyes have been even more opened to what I have in Chris.
He has been my biggest support, my best friend, the most sacrificial person on my behalf. My heart is too full to express the depth of love I feel for him and from him. I couldn't have made it to this point without him, his encouragement, or his late night Blue Bell runs (you think I'm kidding, but I certainly am not). He has celebrated with me every victory and sat gently with me in the failures. I can't say that I have the best husband in the world because frankly I don't know all the husbands in the world, but what I can say is that I have the best husband in the world for me.
As I look forward to life after nursing school, I feel a huge weight off my shoulders. I'm excited to see what's to come career wise, and I'm excited to have a little more free time on my hands to do the things that I love with the people that I love. Nursing school, it's been real, I won't miss you all that much, and thanks for all you taught me.
Comments
Post a Comment