This Thing Called Life

     The other day I went to Barnes and Noble with the guy I'm currently dating so he could pick up textbooks for his new semester and it made me sad that I was no longer in school. After LPN school I kept telling people it drained me and that it would be too expensive to go back. Plus I feared my anxiety and depression would hold me back. But today I looked at the college site that currently offers the LPN to BSN program I've always wanted to attend and I have decided I will go back and get my Bachelors because that has been my long term career goal for the longest time. Yes, that means more loans, care plans, tears, stress, and hair pulling but I will do it. My plan is to pay off my community college, enroll again, take the placement tests, and knock out the prerequisites I need to apply to the BSN program. My plan after paying off my community college is to ask if I can have Mondays and Wednesdays off or Tuesdays and Thursdays so I can take more than one class to get t...

     I figured I would share some things you will encounter working as an intake nurse. These don't occur all of the time, but they do most.

     I'm only five months into my nursing career and I have learned so much! Every day I learn something new at my job and I love it. The hard work during and after nursing school is totally worth it!

     Hey guys! I decided to make a video entailing what a typical day at work is like for me. I love my job and I am so grateful to be able to help women take care of themselves!

     These things are literally what I did to pass my exam. The key is to breathe and take each question one at a time. Try not to overwhelm yourself and overthink! You have plenty of time to take the exam so do not rush.

     I took my NCLEX-PN exam on Friday, October 7. Due to Hurricane Matthew, I had to wait all weekend because of power outages on the east coast. I finally got my results later that week! All of the stress, tears, tests, quizzes, and laughter are well worth it. I am very proud of myself :)

     I have exactly one month from Today to prepare myself for the NCLEX! I am nervous and also excited at the same time. Prayers needed for passing on the first try :)

     It seems like yesterday the countdown on my phone for my LPN pinning ceremony said 247 days. We are down to just 14! Today in class we filled out the application for the NCLEX-PN exam and payed for that portion. Basically all we do in this class is take a lot of Kaplan tests and prepare for our role as a nurse and prepare to take the NCLEX. I plan on using Kaplan and the pn mastery app as well. The goal is to obviously pass the NCLEX on the first try. No one plans on or wants to retake it multiple times. I'm mailing my invitations for the ceremony tomorrow. I don't have many people coming for me, but the ones that are coming are the ones that matter most to me and that is what counts. 

     Today was payday and due to being short this month, I'm going to have to defer my car payment. I hate doing it but it is what I have to do in order to keep other things in line. I need $40 for my copay at my neurologist appointment Friday, my car insurance is due, and I also have to pay my phone bill. Part of life is learning from your mistakes and I have definitely learned from every single one of mine. I'm hoping my job has some opening this weekend and the week of the fourth since I will be off from school. This current money situation isn't working out. I need more hours. 56 days until I can begin working full time again and slowly start putting all of this debt behind me once and for all!

     Today we took our Pharm 2 Kaplan and I got an 80! That converts to a 94 so it brought my grade up from a 68 to a 74! We still have our Immune test next week and our final the week after so if I get 80 or above on both of those, I just might be able to pass by. This really gives me hope. I'm so glad I didn't quit earlier this week and switch to nights. I feel like I can do this. Regardless, I'm not going down (or passing) this class without a fight!

     It is taking every ounce of me to continue this program and finish. 95 days is not very long but battling depression during the process makes everything ten times harder. I am depressed because I have no life, no money, my boyfriend is deployed, and I hate having all of this debt lingering over my head. Plus I can't contribute to my relationship financially due to going to school full time instead of working. I t really sucks that my job doesn't need me on the days I have off from school and clinical. I'm willing to work they just don't need me. I know I've talked about this crap over and over again but it bothers me. 95% of my attitude, sadness, and stress would disappear if I could actually pay this debt off and start making a decent paycheck I want to be able to buy a lot of groceries to cook nice meals for me and my boyfriend. I want to be able to buy him anything he needs or wants. I want to be able to by myself new nursing supplies or Vera Bradley bags. I...

     During class today I realized that people care about things and worry about things they shouldn't. I keep to myself 99% of the time. If I say my piece on a situation it is most likely because you pressed my buttons somehow. I may not talk much and my resting bitch face is always on point but I'm always listening. People need to stop worrying about what others are doing and start focusing on themselves. These last couple of mods I have became closer to some of my classmates but they know my true team is composed of me, myself and I and that is it. I don't ask others for homework answers or copy work. If I can take the time to complete my projects and assignments, so can you. This is nursing school. This is the real deal. Expecting to go through nursing school not doing hundreds of tests, drug cards, and assignments is ridiculous. Nursing is more than just throwing medicine in a cup and asking someone if they feel sick today. Putting myself first during this progr...

     Today in class each student had to present a powerpoint on a chapter in the pediatric section of our book. I had to discuss low flow oxygen administration, oxygen therapy, tracheostomy care, tracheal stoma, mist tent, airway obstruction, and IV administration. It wasn't too bad presenting to only 14 people. I'm hoping it brings my grade up. I've brought it up from a 70 to a 74 but we took another test today (I feel like I did okay on it) and I'm hoping this presentation was an easy "A". She is counting it as a test grade so hopefully it will boost my grade even more. I can't believe our final is next week already. We only have two actual nursing classes left which is endocrine and neuro. After that we move on to leadership which pretty much just prepares us for the NCLEX-PN. This is exciting. I can't believe this journey is just about done. I have been ready to work full time again since I stopped. I can't wait to re-enter the workforce as an ...

     Today I received an email from my loan officer regarding my school loans. Since I was supposed to graduate last month and didn't, I had to update my enrollment status. I decided to look at my account details and see exactly how much my loan for them was....a whopping $19,933.70. I almost threw up. That is a lot of money. I'm already paying $50 a month on my Sallie Mae loans for school, and now seeing this number makes me nervous. It sucks that I am trying to have a career and make more money to take care of myself and buy myself nice things but for the next 5-10 years of my life it will all go back to paying off my student loans. I am proud to be going to school but at the same time, I see why people don't want to go to college or trade school. Everything in this country costs so much money and it seems like we are being financially punished for wanted a trade or a career with skills. So with all of this being said, I really want to try and work more to start se...

     The end of another term has arrived! This was one of the best terms since the start of my program. I learned so much. Next term to conquer is Cardiac which starts on Monday. I am 185 days closer to graduating and being able to hopefully pass the nclex on the first try :)

     For the last two weeks I had picked up extra shifts at both of my jobs in hopes of making enough money to actually pay all of my bills due at the end of each month instead of playing the "which bill is more important to pay" game. Well those hopes were lost quickly because guess who is short $300? This girl.      I've been applying for jobs closer to home and ones that pay the same or even higher. Between both checks I received $378. My car note is $280. That leaves me with $98 to split up and put towards my credit card bill ($25 minimum), my school loan payment ($25 minimum), and $38 left to go towards my furniture payment or my phone bill which is $46 total. Somehow I still need to find $115 for my car insurance, $131 for cable and internet, and the remainder of my phone bill. So needless to say that every penny of this paycheck is going straight towards bills and I will have no gas money or grocery money.      Si...