Life after nursing school?

Being in nursing school is the best. Really, it is. I get to learn how to take care of people, how to serve individuals and their families in the most vulnerable positions. Being in the hospital is scary and hard. People want to leave, they are frustrated and don't know what to do, they want to help, but can't. Needless to say, sometimes people aren't always on their best behavior in the hospital. It's hard to see families and patients suffering, but it's a good feeling knowing that I get to help them during this time. I am studying so that I can take care of them with the best possible care and technology. I also have the blessing of being at BYU studying this, with the emphasis on the "Healer's Art", allowing the Spirit to guide my care and provide me with the tools and guidance to give the holistic care.

However, on that note, there are also a lot of . . . gross things that go along with it. I've done and seen and smelled things that I never wanted to, and I'm supposed to be professional about it! It's really hard sometimes not to make faces, pretend like what happened isn't really embarrassing, and make someone feel comfortable when they have absolutely no privacy and are completely exposed. It's a really interesting experience. I'm really starting to get used to things I never thought I would be able to handle, it's amazing what changes once you've done something enough times. I just can't believe that I'm graduating in just a few months!! I'm really excited to start spending my weekends doing something other than reading textbooks and trying to stuff my head full of disease pathology, nursing implications, diagnostic procedures, and treatments of diseases named after people who died a long time ago. In just a few short months it will all be over and I'll be let loose on real patients! Kinda scary (ok, really scary), but really exciting too!!

Anyways, I've begun to start a "when I graduate" list. This is a list of things I want to do, places I want to go, and things I want to buy once I have a job, a little money, and maybe even a life!

First, I would like to buy a road bike. I love working out, especially outside when the weather is so nice. Next I would like to travel around Europe, hopefully with my mom. My next few favorite stops are in Newmarket, England (maybe get a little more family history done), London (I must see Mary Poppins this time), Paris, Florence, Rome, Venice, and Sienna. I've always wanted to go to Greece, so I really hope we can go there as well. There is a ton of art in Spain that I would like to see as well, I guess we'll just have to see how it all works out! I would also like to be certified to teach classes at the gym. I love going to a good "Chisel" class (courtesy of Kathleen, of course), "Tread" (by Julie or Trish), and spinning – I love spinning. I think it would be a fun little hobby, especially since I'll only be working 3 days a week. And I don't know why, but I think it would be so great to work at the makeup counter at Nordstrom's. I'm not even very good at doing makeup, but I think it would be such a great job! Of course I'll be saving for grad school and life in general, but these things are my "in a perfect world" scenario – hey, a girl can dream, right?