The end is here. First year officially finished with last night's amazing clinical microbiology exam. Whew!!!
Today, I have an amazing feeling of freedom. Of no studying, no textbooks to be looked at, no notes to review, no assignments to finish, no nothing school-related to do. What an amazing feeling. (OK, my impending return to the office is hovering over my head, but that's another issue...)
I am so grateful for so much. I am grateful that this year is over. While I learned so incredibly much, it is a year I would never want to do again. From here on in, there will still be classroom courses, but every single semester will include labs/clinical rotations. Never again will the entire year just be classroom-based. "Real" nursing starts in September.
Also, future years will never have so many 'firsts' and new experiences as this year had. I have now gone through the main transition of deciding to change careers and actually follow through with the idea. I now have an amazing group of friends in my classes, so I will never again face a classroom not knowing anyone. I now know that even at my age and stage in life, I am able to still learn and achieve amazing academic results (if I dare say so myself!).
And I simply know I am where I am meant to be. I love what I learned this past year, and it is only going to get better and better, the more clinical experiences I have.
So even though at times it was stressful, overwhelming and frustrating to be back at school, overall, the year has simply flown by. I am so happy it is over, and even more grateful to be doing what I am doing.
Now I have a free week to try to do as many items on my around the house "to do" list as I possibly can, and to spend as much time as possible with my 5 year old munchkin, before FT work awaits. This afternoon, I will be in her classroom again, volunteering. It is such a gift to me to be able to do that.
Oh, I almost forgot to explain the title. Now that I've finished one year out of the four year program, I jokingly referred to myself as being 25% nurse. My son explained to me that I am now a small "r", having finished a quarter of the studies. Next year, with second year completed, I will be a capital letter "R", end of third year, I'll be an "Rn", and finally when school is truly done, I will truly be a full-fledged "RN".
So for now I am thrilled to be an "r".
Onwards and upwards -- always.
:-)
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