Proceeding

I mailed a request for my USI transcripts on Saturday. I just received them today. I'm glad I requested two. Official transcripts have to be in a sealed envelope. I opened one thinking there was a sealed envelope inside. That was stupid. The mailing envelope is the sealed envelope.

Jason picked up two books from the library to help me prepare for the TEAS test. I hope there are no holds on them because I think I will need to keep them for a bit. I originally stated I wanted to take the test before the end of the year. But when I think about sitting down to review, I realize my chemistry work needs to take precedence. I think that will be the trend until my final on December 19. Then campus will be closed for the winter break. My spring course, microbiology, is on Friday of the first week. I'm thinking the ideal time to take the TEAS would be just before my first microbiology class. That would give me several weeks over the holidays to only work on the TEAS and then stop thinking about them and switch gears for my class.

And speaking of chemistry, I have my third exam this Saturday and then a week off for Thanksgiving.

I can officially proceed.

When I first considered going back to school to get my RN license, I was told I needed to attend the Mandatory Nursing Information Meeting. There is one meeting per month and I can not get an advisor or take the TEAS test until I have attended. However, I was still nursing Willow at the time so I thought I would wait until I was done in August to sign up. When that time came, I went to sign up and found to my dismay that there was a 6 month waiting list. I couldn't get in until February. The February one was during the day and the March one was in the evening so I opted for the March one so I wouldn't need a babysitter. In the meantime, I explained my situation to the secretary and she arranged a meeting with Susan Dye, the chair of the nursing department. That meeting was very helpful and I believe I wrote about it on this blog here.

Moving on, seven months later, the week of my meeting, my mother past away. Her visitation was at the exact time of my meeting. I called to reschedule and plead for sympathy and found none. I signed up for the next available meeting 8 months away in November. So now you see that I have been waiting for this important meeting a long time and I finally attended it last night.

Here are a few things I learned:

Applications for the nursing program in the fall of 2010 are due between March 1 and April 1, 2010. I would like to have mine all ready by March 1st so I have just over 3 months to get it ready.

My application needs to have official transcripts from classes at USI. That means I get to call them and ask them to send it to me in a sealed envelope. Seems easy enough if they cooperate. I'll do that within the next week.

I have to take the TEAS test (Test of Essential Academic Skills). It tests reading, math, science and English. I think it costs about $35 and I can take it up to three times, but only every 30 days. So if I don't like my first score, I don't have a lot of time to retake it. I should probably get this done before the end of the year. It's a good thing I like taking standardized general education tests. Weirdo.

I also learned the point system for acceptance into the program. The process is completely objective and based on numbers. I get 30 points each for my A's in Anatomy 101 and 102. Great. But the bad news is that I only get 20 points each for psychology and English because I took them at USI and only got B's. I was just a stupid kid back then. What sucks is that English is by best subject. I wrote a paper about my faith in Christ and my teacher gave me a C and said, "Never write about that again." So my grade ended up as a B. I can't believe that is going to come back to bite me in the butt 15 years later. So I am starting out already down 20 huge points. Also, I get 3 points for living in the area. Whoopity-do! The only other points they consider is the TEAS score.

I was told that most of the people accepted have A's and B's and typically get between 85 and 90 on the TEAS. So the average person has probably around 195-200 points out of a perfect 223. Since I've already lost 20, the best I can do is 203. And I was told that no one has ever gotten 100 on their TEAS. Yeah, well, watch me. I now have a goal and one I'm crazy-mad about. I won't settle for anything less than a 95 on my TEAS and my goal is to be the first 100. That'll get their attention.

I guess I should explain, though, that there's no clear number for a cutoff. All the applicants are ranked by their scores and then they take the top handful depending on the student-teacher ratio (which needs to be 10:1) and depending on how many spots are available at the clinics. The last two semesters they accepted 30 students each out of maybe 80 to 100 applicants. So no matter how good I do, 30 people could do better than me and I'm out. Getting B's is haunting me 15 years later. Let that be a lesson to you kids.

Did I Say "Hate"?

To this day I regret not following through on my pre-med degree. It was that wretched chemistry that forced me to run away with my tail between my legs and join the education department. How is it that now this stuff makes sense? I know this is basic chemistry, but I'm understanding things now that I know tripped me up in high school and college.

I currently have the flu. I went to bed with 103.6 and can only assume I slept at some point. When my alarm went off I immediately downed two Aleve and a cup of bold coffee. Then I headed off to class covered in a cold sweat. I managed to stay upright through the lab and review. Then I took the test that kills weaker men, a test of nomenclature (naming formulas). I'm so glad I've been studying for this chapter for 3 weeks because I wasn't learning much the last two days. I could have waited to take the test, but I was ready and I wanted to get it over with.

I admit the test was pretty easy. Some of the questions were word for word off of the study guide, but I guess that's an advantage of studying. I flew through the test one time and then double checked my answers without changing a thing. It all made sense even through the fog. And it paid off. I got another 100. Oh I could have been a doctor!

PS: My teacher felt it necessary to remind me that people die of the flu. Good to know.

Here we go.

So far, there just hasn't been much to talk about. We had a substitute one week and got out of class 2 hours early. Nice, but not interesting. This last week we started talking about compound nomenclature. I have to understand ionic charges and covalent bonding in order to name compounds correctly. This is the stuff that I've gotten lost in before. I'm going to try to stay on top of it this time. We'll be spending the next several weeks on just this and then testing on October 31st. I should probably read the chapter soon.

Test One Done

I didn't blog about last week's class because it was pretty uneventful. The only noteworthy item was that we were assigned to read chapters 3 and 10, do the chapter review questions, do a cumulative review and online practice test and finish up by completing last weeks lab homework and and next weeks pre-lab questions. Then, first thing next week would have a test over all of that. What? We aren't going to go over this stuff, just test on it? No problem.

All that sounded bad and it definitely took a long time to get it all done. But really, it turned out all right in the end. I got an email mid-week that the test would be at the last part of class with a review first. That helps, but the concepts were still a bit tough. I felt like the textbook did a terrible job of explaining things. But I did everything I was told and then some to be as prepared as possible.

We got the lab out of the way first thing Saturday morning and ended up with a relatively lengthy review before the test. Fortunately, very few of those "tough concepts" would be on the test. It was mostly math. I knew how to do all the math stuff, but quite often I made mistakes (some stupid, some I just didn't know) with significant figures. I knew the formulas and some of the important conversion factors just from doing a thousand practice problems. In fact, the teacher said no one would get a perfect score but it was easy enough that we should do well. That's encouraging, not really. Keep in mind that my teacher does not teach the textbook or the power point slides. He does it his own way. That may be all well and good, but he doesn't write the tests. Another teacher who happens to like the textbook writes the tests.

It took about 5 problems in to the test before my brain really started working. I was more nervous than I usually am before a test. I just hate chemistry. I did all the problems once through and then went back and did each problem a second time. One major complaint was that there was stuff on there that was never mentioned in class. Is brass a mixture or a compound? What is tungsten? (other than that it coats light bulbs, I have no idea) When converting a height of 5.0 feet, 6.5 inches to meters, how many significant figures are there? When I asked for a better explanation of some of this, my teacher smiled and said, "No comment." Um, wait a minute. It's your fault that this stuff wasn't covered in class and is now being thrown at us for the first time on this test, but all you can say is, "No comment"? I got pretty mad and it took me a few minutes to be able to focus on the test again. I did my best to answer everything and ended up being one of the last to turn in the test and I got the heck out of there.

My grades were posted online yesterday. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I got 100%. After all that complaining and anger I got them all right. I guess I'll shut my mouth. But I will say that one of the main reasons I got the 100% is because I made a ton of mistakes on my homework. I learned how to be really careful and a lot of my mistakes exposed areas that I just didn't understand and was able to correct. I guess homework really does serve a purpose.

Scientific Gibberish

Last Monday I took Luke and Willow to Ivy Tech to get some of my errands done. I first dropped off my form and got my parking permit. Fortunately, there were people there. Then I went to the library to update my ID. But I'm stupid. I forgot to bring any proof that I was enrolled. They don't want just anybody claiming they go to Ivy Tech. So the kids and I had to get online and print off my schedule first. I must say that Luke and Willow were exceptionally well behaved. So I took them upstairs and showed them my lab and bought them some Cheese-Its. They loved it.

We walked over to the bookstore to check out the prices for lab coats and goggles. I had already priced the coats online at $20-25 before shipping so when I found they were $24 at the bookstore I went ahead and got one. I also found the goggles were $3 at Lowe's but I was willing to pay $4 at the bookstore rather than make another trip.

The first chapter of the chemistry book was lame. It was basically the author begging the student to not hate chemistry. I didn't hate it fully until I had to do the 16 chapter questions. Each "question" was made up of about 4 or 5 questions within it. Several of them were redundant. "Name five ways chemistry has enriched your life." "Name five chemical reactions you use everyday." "What's the difference between a law and a theory? "What's a theory?" "What's the difference between a theory and a hypothesis?" I was writing the same stuff over and over again.

I had my second class yesterday. Our quiz was over the scientific method. One of the questions was "What's the difference between a theory and a law?" Good thing I did that one several times. The way our teacher describes it is different than the way the slides describe it which is different than the way the book describes it so I answered it in my own words. I got two points taken off. So I asked Millsium why it was wrong and he gave me my two points back. See, that's how you get me to not hate chemistry.

We did lab work in class. All of it was with water. We were learning to measure with cylinders, burets, pipets and thermometers. None of it was nearly as difficult as the lab book made it sound. I had to read everything 3 or 4 or 5 times to figure out what they were asking me to do when it was really simple. I hate books like that. And my teacher didn't seem to know any better than the rest of us what the lab book said so his instructions were confusing and often contradictory. My lab partner was just as confused but we eventually got through it after translating everything into non-gibberish. "Oh, just get a beaker and put water in it. Why didn't they just say so?"

I know the content is going to get much more complicated. I just hope I can figure out what everybody is saying. I felt so stupid all morning. And I looked stupid too because, even though we only worked with water, we all had to wear our goggles. After being on for two hours, the goggles left a line on my forehead that didn't go away fully until after I went to bed that night. So I went to Schlotzky's, Hobby Lobby, Value City and church with goggle lines on my face. Thanks, Chemistry!

Only 60 more hours to go...

My first four hours of chemistry are behind me now. Saturday I arrived at Ivy Tech early, around 7:40, hoping to get my parking permit and ID updated before class. As it turns out, that place is a ghost town on Saturdays. Scrap that plan. I went to my third floor classroom a little early and got a good seat facing front and in a corner. This is not a regular desk classroom, though. We spend the entire four hours in a laboratory. It's only a little intimidating.

My teacher, who prefers to be called Millsium, said I looked familiar. I hope that is a good thing. He taught at Gibson Southern for 42 years, so I'm not sure how I would know him. Despite his somewhat lame jokes and penchant for talking too much and saying things that are borderline offensive, I think I'm going to like him. He not only has an obvious love and respect for chemistry, he has a passion for teaching it to people who haven't got a clue. He has a conversational style and does not assume too much about what we know.

We spent a long time just discussing Observation, Law, Hypothesis and Theory. I must admit, I got a little confused about Law. We then went through the power point slides that I am comfortable with thanks to last semester with Dr. Murphy. I think I was the only one in class who printed off the slides for taking notes. Rookies.

During the 10 minute break, I ran back downstairs to see about that parking permit and ID again. Still, no one was there except one security guard who pointed out the parking permit form I could turn in to the business office. But there's no one in the business office. I guess I'm coming back during the week.

The second half of class was lab time. We talked ad nauseum about safety and signed a paper promising to be good kids. Our outfits were inspected and given pass and fail grades. My coat and tennis shoes failed. Too bad on the shoes. It's pretty much all I have. And I wouldn't need the coat if it weren't 50 degrees in the building. We were also told we needed to acquire before next week a lab coat and safety goggles. So when you see an Ivy Tech sign bragging about how you can get a degree for less than $3000, don't believe them.

We managed to squeeze in some time do some actual lab work...sort of. We measured our textbooks so we could discuss significant numbers. He asked us to work together. Yeah, right. We don't start talking to each other until around the third class.

We then went over the homework. This was not what I expected. We had hardly anything to do outside of class for anatomy. I spent lots of time reading and rereading and doing the chapter questions but none of it was technically an assignment. But in this class we had 4 different lab sections to read and fill out, chapter one to read, 16 chapter questions to do, and several extra pages of stuff to review. I'm not so much whining about doing it. I would have done it anyway. I just don't like being told to do it and I especially don't like that other people are doing it. I count on people's natural laziness to make me look good.

Sorry this post is so long. I'll cut it short and tell you about my mid-week return trip later.

Books

I've purchased my chemistry books. I guess I gotta go to class now.

I went to the Ivy Tech bookstore to find out what books I needed. I found the textbook new is $167. Used was around $120 or something. The lab book was around $95. So I wrote the names and editions down and went to find my books online. I found the textbook from a vendor on Amazon for around $90 new. I found my lab book at Barnes and Noble for around $70 new. Both arrived within a week in great shape. I refuse to pay the full outrageous prices for these books. It just takes a little looking around to save money. If only I could get my tuition cheaper online.

Time to start blogging again.

The summer is almost over and I have had several friends ask me about my plans for school this fall. I realize that means I need to start blogging again. I'll tell you everything I know up to this point, but until school starts, there won't be much to say.

A quick recap: My plan is to start the RN program at Ivy Tech next fall (2010). This will put my graduation and subsequent job starting in line with my youngest starting school full time. I just finished Anatomy 101 and 102. I have two semesters to wait and two classes left to take. I will be taking Intro to Chemistry this fall and Microbiology in the spring.

I registered online for my Chemistry class. I did not like my options. Most of the classes were on two different days at two different times. With three young kids I need to keep things simple. I opted for the Saturday morning class. Starting August 29th I will be in class each Saturday from 8am to noon until around Christmas. I'm not a fan of chemistry or 8am so this will be long semester.

Soon I will run over to the Ivy Tech bookstore to figure out what books I need. Then I will try to order them online to save some money. It worked well last year. Also, in November I will be attending a required meeting for all students wanting to join the nursing program. It's a big deal because there is an 8 month waiting list. So if something goes wrong and I miss it, I am in huge trouble. After that I take my TEAS tests (don't know anything about them yet) and then I work on my application for the program. The deadline is the beginning of April and then I find out if I am accepted in mid-May.

That's pretty much all I know for now. I may have a post or two in the meantime, but otherwise this blog will be quiet again until August 29th.

The End...for now

I can't believe my first year is over. I loved Anatomy. If I never take another class again, I will not regret taking Anatomy. I loved the content. I loved making my new friends. I loved getting out once a week. I loved using my brain again. It was all worth it.

I need to sum up the last three weeks of class. That should be easy since I can't remember what happened. I did not study a lot for my 4th exam. It was on the urinary system. I crammed a bit and walked into the test feeling unprepared. I walked out of the test with 125 points. I'm not sure how that happened.

For the lab practical the next week I got a little over confident. Most of it was over reproduction. I've done that a few times so I thought I knew it better than I did. I blanked on a few and got 99 out of 100. I can't complain about the score but I could have worked a little harder to be ready for that one.

For the final, I spent most of the week preparing for my daughter's birthday instead of the final. Every time I studied it felt so redundant. I had a hard time focusing. I crammed a bit on Thursday afternoon because I had a babysitter for Willow for a couple of hours. I guess it helped because I got 125 on the final.

I registered for my class for next fall. The schedule options for Intro to Chemistry suck. It has a 2 hour lecture and 2 hour lab like Anatomy. But most of the classes have those split up into two days and sometimes at completely different times of the day. I thought Ivy Tech was geared towards working adults. I consider myself a working adult since I have three kids and none of the classes worked for me except for the Saturday class. I hate the idea of going to school every Saturday from August to December, but it was the best choice. I should be done by noon each day, though. I think I can deal with that for one semester. I hate chemistry. I'm going to miss Anatomy.

I'm going to miss my friends. Michelle gathered us together at her house last night for supper. I had a good time seeing Terri, Laura and Michelle again. The odds are slim that we will see each other in school after this. Well, they might if they all get into the nursing program. I'm a year behind so I won't see them. We'll have to make an extra effort to stick together outside of class. I'm really looking forward to hearing if they got in. I think they should find out in about two weeks.

There's going to be a lot of down time on this blog this summer. Thanks for keeping track of me this past year. I'll keep you posted if anything relevant happens.

In a groove

I've forgotten to post here lately. I've been in a comfortable groove with this class. Nothing noteworthy has happened. Well, technically I've taken a lab practical and a lab exam. Right after my last post I got a nasty flu virus. It attacked the whole family. I had it for a week and then had a sinus infection for a week. Needless to say, March stunk. I actually had the flu for my lab practical. I loaded up on Aleve and dealt with it. It really wasn't bad at all. I managed to get 105 out of 100. I think I should be sick for all of my tests...or just high on Aleve.

The following week I had a lab exam. Once again there was a question on it with more than one right answer. I showed this to Dr. Murphy after I saw the grade and showed her my point in the book but she preferred her answer. I don't get that. Mine is right. One wasn't even more right than the other (in reality). Authority always wins. I got 121 out of 120. I guess I shouldn't nitpick, but right is right is right... I do like Dr. Murphy. I have enjoyed talking with her after class and she has even laughed at my jokes.

Last week's lab was about male and female reproductive systems. I picked up a few things I didn't know. So that was fun. There were lots of plastic models. Also fun.
Not much happening this week but then the ride really gets going. I'll have three weeks left and each week is a test. Then the ride is over.

Good talk.

I finally got my grade back from my test. 119. I'm not happy with that. I know of one that I missed that I think I should have gotten credit for, but I have no idea what the others were. I'm afraid they were stupid mistakes. I confess I did not go back over my test. I lost all concentration and just wanted to get out of there and get to class. I already had a late start. I had made an appointment to take the test at 9am. I got there and signed in at 9:02. There were two people in front of me. Neither one of them had made an appointment and one of those people didn't know her class number or professor's name and she didn't have a student ID. Needless to say, she took awhile. I, on the other hand, had the appointment, the ID and all the necessary info, yet I had to wait until almost 9:15 to be called. I was supposed to get 60 minutes to take the test but after the test I still had to drive over to the other building and get to my class before 10. I sort of rushed through it. I should have double checked my answers.

Once I got to class I asked about two of the questions on the test. On one, I pointed out what I knew to be the answer but was not sure which choice was referring to the answer and I told her I made a note of it on the test because I would have asked her about it had I taken the test in class. She didn't care. So I know I missed that one. The other one I asked about was one where we had to choose the one that is not an answer. I had read the chapter and knew all four choices were right so I didn't know how to answer. She agreed that technically I was right but it was not the way it was on the power point slide. So she gave everybody 2 points but made sure I knew it was nit-picking. I disagree, but enough on that. I could tell Dr. Murphy was mad and somewhat defensive again so it was time to back off.

Other than that, class was uneventful. I got a hug from Terri and talked with the girls about my mom. One of the students from the early lab said there would be no lab quiz. Good. I hadn't studied for that at all. Then I met Jason for lunch and went to lab.

In lab we grouped up and did some respiratory exercises and experiments. I was the guinea pig for hyperventilating and hypoventilating. After hyperventilating, I was able to hold my breath for 78 seconds. Not too shabby, I suppose. Actually, I have no idea what is good. Then I hypoventilated (breathed into a bag to limit oxygen) and I held my breath for 57 seconds. The next day I had a pain in my side. I wonder if it was connected.

After lab, Dr. Murphy approached me to tell me she wasn't mad at me but at two girls who had come to class and then told her they hadn't taken the test. She was mad that they had all week to make arrangements. I said, "Since you are being honest with me, I'll be honest with you. I was a little afraid of you." I told her I felt like I wasn't supposed to talk with her about the test but she said this is her first time making tests and she knows she'll make mistakes. We also got a chance to explain to her why not knowing who made the test really screwed us up on the first test. I still sensed some controlled defensiveness. But we told her we are all nerds who are sort of obsessed about getting an A in this class and we have a lot of competition. It was good to get the communication lines open again. I think it really helped all of us.

I have a lab practical this Friday. The content is probably the easiest we've had so far. But I know one fact, never underestimate your opponent.

Let me sum up...

A lot has happened since my last post. That Friday in class we did not get our tests back. Dr. Murphy wanted to get through every slide before the next test. So we still did not know what went wrong. I wanted to ask Dr. Murphy about the test, but she seemed a bit angry and defensive in class and I felt like it was a bad time to bring it up. I'm guessing she had been harassed about the test already so I left it alone.

My plan was to start studying for the next test on Monday afternoon. I had no idea my life was about to change forever. My beautiful mother passed away Monday morning. My family and my sister's family stayed together with my dad all week. Our closeness is the only thing that made the week survivable. We were like a tripod.

Needless to say, I did not study for my test and I did not go to class Friday. Dr. Murphy was very helpful. She sent the test to the workforce training center and said I could take it anytime this week. She also arranged with Pam Puckett for me to attend lab on Saturday.

I went to that Saturday lab. It sucked. We had to run some experiments in pairs based on where we were sitting. After getting the instructions, I went to my "partner" and introduced myself. She said, "Okay, I've taken 102 before so I'm just going to make sure it's the same as last time and just copy it." She didn't even tell me her name. So I started the experiment on my own. I had to wait a long time in line just to get to the table with the stuff I needed. While in line, I saw the lady flipping through my notes. Some other people doing the same experiment as me decided to do it where I had been sitting (but was now waiting in line) and they left the stuff right there. So as soon as they got done I was able to have my spot back and get started. What's funny is that my no-name "partner" decided to work with those other people. She basically blew me off because she didn't know me and went to another pair to work as a threesome while I worked alone. I waited the allotted 30 minutes for the results only to be reminded by Pam that we were not supposed to use the original stuff but the new stuff. I had used the old stuff because that was what the other people had left for me. I had totally screwed up and wasted all that time. Pam said we had to time to start over but I was upset and fighting some emotions so I just left. I got the info I needed, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

I'm planning on taking last week's test this Friday morning before class. My friends, the 4, said that this test lines up a lot more with what we talked about in class. There are also 5 bonus questions, thanks to Michelle having the guts to ask for them. Michelle also mentioned that in Friday's class they finally discussed the last test. Apparently two questions were wrong so everybody got an extra four points. That puts my grade at a 112, which is an A. It's not a 125, but it will do.

I don't know what happened...

I'm not really sure what happened. It's kind of a blur now. I remember our teacher telling us right before handing out the tests that she looked at the test she was supposed to give us and decided she didn't like it so she wrote her own. I studied Pam's study guide, the online flashcards and online notes, took online tests and did online labeling exercises. These are the things I did last semester when I aced the tests. I also studied the chapter objectives given in the syllabus because that is what Dr. Murphy told us to focus on. In fact, my problem is that I studied too many things. I had no focus. So instead of learning a few things really well, I learned a lot of things sort of well. I was having a hard time focusing the entire week I studied. Things weren't sticking and I was starting to get stuff mixed up in my head. I'm not smart enough to memorize or understand an entire chapter (two chapters for the test). So when she said she wrote the test I didn't know what to expect.

Once I started the test I realized I was in trouble. Last semester I took each test in 10 minutes and spent 5 minutes double checking (and never changing a single answer). This time I spent probably 20 minutes taking the test and 10 minutes going over it and changing a couple of answers because I had completely misread the question. I even guessed on a few. Some of the questions came out of left field. There were things I don't remember ever seeing on any of the stuff I studied and some things I remember just glossing over in lecture but there it was on the test. I found that several remarkably complicated subjects that we were told specifically by Dr. Murphy to know were completely absent from the test. These were things I spent time studying at the expense of other, more obscure things that I did find on the test. (Some examples, there was a question about the vagus nerve speeding up or slowing down the heart. I couldn't remember if the vagus nerve was sympathetic or parasympathetic. That was from last semester. So I guessed wrong. I looked back and couldn't find a reference to the vagus nerve in the chapter objectives, Pam's study guide or class power point slides. Why was this on the test? If it is important, why wasn't it emphasized in class or the text? We were told to know the clotting factors for extrinsic and intrinsic clotting. That was really complicated to learn. They were not on there. I learned the plasma proteins and their function. She only asked what organ produced them. I don't understand how that is more important.)

I haven't seen the test yet to really figure out what went wrong. I just know I got 108 out of 120 and there were no bonus points. That's a 90%, a B. Looking back I know I could have studied harder, but there was no way I could have known what to study short of memorizing the entire chapter (and I would love to do that). There were just enough obscure questions to throw my grade to a B. What really frustrates me is that my friends, the 4, are really smart. They all got A's last semester. They all got B's on this test. I saw how they studied and worked each week. They deserved A's. Their grades do not reflect what they really learned. And they need A's in this class to get into the school of nursing this fall. Something just isn't right here. I don't know what else to say.

Surprise!

This is my consolation prize for losing a semester of school and a year of my life to house arrest. Her name for now is Sunny. I know that name is boring and not at all funny and clever like I had hoped. It is, however, warm, happy and simple. I guess we'll keep that name until something better comes up. She's 4 months old according to the Vanderburgh Humane Society. She seems to go back and forth between affection and fear. She hasn't eaten or used her litter box yet and she seems to be really tired right now. I'll try to get a better picture of her when she comes out from behind the dryer. She tried to take a nap under Abby's bed but Abby crawled under there with her and read her a long book. I decided to just leave her alone, but I'll admit I'm a little sad that we didn't hit it off right away. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

As for the lab practical, it seems I got 105 out of 100. I really thought I had missed something. I actually went over all of my answers twice just to make sure because this stuff is easy to get mixed up. Anyway, I'm happy.

New Plan

I was pretty upset Tuesday, if you couldn't tell. When I decided to go back to school, my original plan was to graduate just before Willow, my youngest, started kindergarten. That specifically meant graduating in the spring of 2012. I wasn't sure how many classes would be required of me to get to that point. I didn't even know how the nursing program worked at all. I just went to the orientation for information. I talked to everyone willing to talk and discovered that I could theoretically start the program after one year of pre-requisites. I got pretty excited and filled out an application that day.

I knew in the back of my head that I would most likely not push it to get in that early. Willow had just turned one and the program is full time and intense. I had 4 non-program classes I needed to take. I knew I could stretch the classes out and pace myself to graduate at the right time. But once I got going I really wanted to speed this up and get a job as soon as possible. I made a compromise goal of waiting one and half years and graduating a semester earlier. I settled into that plan even though I always wondered how I was going to make it work.

If you read the last blog post, you know that Luke's full day kindergarten fell through and plans have changed. There is no healthy way of starting the nursing program full time while Luke is in half-day kindergarten. I have to wait that extra semester and will start the program in the fall of 2010. I will take my chemistry class this fall and my microbiology class next spring. This was the way it was supposed to be in the beginning so I'm trying to not be upset about it. The thing is, it's not just the nursing thing that's frustrating, it's also the half-day thing. When Abby was in half-day kindergarten, the sign-ups were at 9am. I went there at 9am and they said the morning classes filled up before 8am. I was mad at the system but I dealt with it because I knew I was flexible as a stay-at-home mom and it meant I could sleep in. But as the weeks went by, I found I was absolutely miserable with the schedule. I couldn't leave the house and that wore on me. If Luke is going to be in half-day this fall, I am getting to the school at 7am to get him in the morning class. That way he can ride the bus with Abby and I can pick him up at noon and be free to do stuff after that. It's my only hope.

Being a mom comes first and always has. There are days that I'm cool with that and days where I think I will go crazy if I spend one more day here. I get frustrated at the sacrifices that I have had to make the last 8 years but I know I wouldn't have done anything differently. (Well, I would have gotten my nursing degree the first time around, but I'm talking since becoming a mom.) I feel bad that I let myself be so sad about this small change, but for some reason I just felt the weight of all 8 years on me and I started to spiral down.

I knew I needed to get refocused quickly. I still have an anatomy class I need to ace and I didn't want to make my family miserable for the next year and a half. You may think I'm crazy but suddenly I wanted something and thinking about it made me happy. I found a picture of it and sent it to Jason...a few dozen times. Each time I did I felt better and better and was able to study on my lab practical. Later Jason told me to get over it and I started to sink again. It turns out he wanted to surprise me with it.

I have my lab practical tomorrow. It's worth 100 points and is all fill in the blank and labeling. These are tougher than the lecture exams usually, but I think I'm ready now. I'll post my results and a picture of my surprise this weekend.

Just forget it.

I'm pretty sure we can just forget everything I've said. I did some research and found out that Warrick county is out of money and will not be starting full-day kindergarten in the fall like they had originally thought. That means I will need to be home around 11:30 to get Luke lunch and ready and out the door by 12:05 to have him at school by 12:15. Then I have to be home again by 3:30 to get them off the bus. Yankeetown is out in the middle of nowhere in the opposite direction of civilization. When I took Abby to half-day kindergarten I was miserable. I felt like a prisoner the entire year because I couldn't leave the house to do anything. There wasn't time. I hated it and I can't believe I have to do that again now. There's just no way I can start the school of nursing in the spring. Just forget the whole thing. What a waste of time. The next time I get excited about something, just punch me really hard in the stomach. It will feel better than this.

Thinking about summer

Nothing much new in class. We learned about the fetal cardiovascular system. It makes sense that it would be different. Our blood is routed through our lungs to pick up oxygen. Babies not yet born do not have oxygen in their lungs. They get it from their moms through the placenta and umbilical cord. So they have some extra veins and openings that we don't keep after birth. It was pretty cool.

One big event of the day is an answer to a big question. After anatomy 101 and 102, I have two more science classes that I need to take. I could technically start the school of nursing this fall but I'm intentionally slowing myself down since I want a little extra time with Willow. Actually, I'm just adding a semester so it's not much. But I want to get both of the science classes done before I start nursing. I have been thinking a lot about which one to take this summer and which to take in the fall. The summer class would last the entire summer from the first week of June to the first week of August and would meet two days a week for 4 hours a day. That was really bothering me because I want to spend lots of time with the kids this summer. I feel like the clock is ticking. Abby is getting so old so fast. Luke will be in school all day from the fall until he moves out as a grown up. That's crazy. Soon I will be in school all week and then working 36 hours a week. I want to savor our last few summers together. That class would take up a lot of my time and my focus.

I talked to some friends (the four) at school and looked through an old schedule and I discovered the answer. One of the classes, intro to chemistry, is a hybrid class that only meets the last 8 weeks of the semester; but it's a lot crammed in. That's funny. I thought that's what it would be during the summer. If I can do that in the fall, that would be much better. I can take both the microbiology and the hybrid chemistry at the same time and only be doubled up the last half. I think I can handle that, especially since the last half is when it's cold and yucky outside and Luke will be in school. I'll have plenty of time. It all makes perfect sense now and I'm so glad to have that big question off of my shoulders.

That frees up my summer also to get prepared for my TEAS test. I think I spelled that right. It's a test I need to take to get into the school of nursing. I'll write more about that when it gets closer. I'll also have some time to paint some rooms in my house and take the kids to Holiday World. Now, If I could just get through the rest of the winter.

I take back all the nice things I said...

Friday's class was pretty uneventful. I printed off my first copies in the library. That's sort of weird because I had to pay cash to put credit on my student ID. Then I used my ID to get the printer to work. At least now I know and can mark that one off my list of things to do as a student.

Jason and I rode together in the van because of the icy roads. I dropped him off which means he couldn't bring me lunch. I had lunch with Terri and Laura of "the 4". I stuffed myself with an enormous tray of nachos. That has to be the only edible food there that doesn't come out of a machine.

In lab we talked about blood typing. I found it fascinating...honestly. I'm O+. That means I have no A or B antigens on my red blood cells but I do have a D antigen (the +). That also means that I have antibodies towards A and B and my body would reject A or B blood like an illness. I can only have O blood. People with A have a B antibody so they can't have any B blood and vice versa. Since I don't have A or B antigens, I can donate to either. People with AB don't have those antibodies so they can have A, B and O blood. The + and - is a D antigen or lack of and the case is the same. Also, A and B are dominant genes and O is recessive. I love this stuff. What's your blood type, anybody?

Halfway through lab we took a field trip to the other lab. We are studying 5 kinds of white blood cells and there is a good poster of them in that lab Dr. Murphy wanted us to see. While we were there, Pam (not a doctor) Puckett of 101 fame came in. Dr. Murphy told her why we were there and she generously said we could take a poster to save her the trip. She couldn't untape the first one so she came to the one by me and I helped her get the tape off. I then offered to carry it back. Mind you, this is a somewhat old, laminated poster. When I reached out to receive it, Pam (not a doctor) jerked it back and said in a gruff tone, "No, Jamie will take it." I looked at Terri and her mouth dropped open. Pam (not a doctor) squeezed around me and took it to Dr Murphy (Jamie) and handed it to her despite the fact that she had her hands full of blood samples for our lab work. Terri and I left and Dr. Murphy came out in the hall and jokingly said, "Anybody want to carry this?" I pulled my hands back and said, "No way, I'm not allowed." We joked the rest of the walk back about how she still has no idea who we are after all of last semester. But by the end of lab I was starting to feel less funny and more hurt. That's just not how you treat people, whether you are in a position of authority or not. Teachers in middle school don't even talk to kids like that and last time I checked, we were both adults. What was I going to do with a poster of white blood cells, sell it on ebay for $2.00? It was ridiculous. I take back all the nice things I said about her in her defense. Someday I'm going to be a nurse (making more money than her) and she's going to get older and sick and need the help of some of these nursing students that's she's alienated and angered over the years. I guess she hasn't thought that far ahead. As Michael Scott says, "Business is the most personal thing there is and people will never go out of business." Okay, that may not apply very well, but it's what I thought of and I'm terrible with quotes. When in Rome...

Optimism anyone?

After the second day of class I am starting to feel even more optimistic. I really like the new teacher. She stayed to chat with the "four" after class again. The "four" is this group of women that were somehow drawn together last semester and ended up together this semester. We sit together in the labs now and are (and were last semester) the last four to leave every week. This week after talking to Dr. Murphy for awhile we ended up talking in the hallway for a half an hour. As it turns out we are all Christians, or more specifically, we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and through him we each have a real relationship with an otherwise unattainable God. My question now is, did God bring us together for a purpose or were we just drawn to each other because we are different? I think both, somehow. I enjoy seeing these women each week and they are all smart and hard-working. What's so great about that is that we help each other and seem to make each other better. Also, we can trust each other. I know none of them would cheat, quit, etc. They each sincerely care about learning everything they can in this short time we have. I have also discovered that some people in the class do read the textbook. For some reason that makes me feel better.

I have a new found hope in the future of nursing.

"The First Day" or " We Could All Use a Little Change..."

We were not off to a good start. I parked in a crowded parking lot a long way from the door. Maybe it was just the first week of class or maybe it was because it was 10am instead of 9am. Either way it sucked since it was 10 degrees. I found my classroom across the hall from last semester's lecture hall. They crammed almost 50 of us into a room designed to hold 40 max. I got there at 10 minutes till and there were only 3 seats left. And it was table style, not lecture style. I was in the back of the room looking around people's heads to see a power point projected onto a shiny dry erase board. The teacher appeared to be around my age and introduced herself as a chiropractor doing her first teaching as an adjunct this semester. I'm not sure if she said her name, but for future reference, it is Dr. Murphy. She didn't have the syllabus or a study guide for us but did let us know that the tests would be made by the same teacher that made the 101 tests. She did have pages of power point slides shrunk down to the size of a postage stamp for us to squint at. They are straight out the textbook that everyone owns but no one else reads. Then she struggled to talk to us. She was so casual and clumsy in her style that my autistic side started to panic. This isn't Mrs. Puckett. I immediately let the judgments fly. I thought she had no idea what she was talking about and therefore I will not be learning anything. She struggled to turn the lights off. That's it. I'm shutting down. She told us how she wasn't feeling good. I'm outta here. Where's Mrs. Puckett? I dropped my pen and stared out the window. This is going to be a long semester.

Earlier in the week I had planned on reading all of chapter 15 to be ahead. One thing led to another and Thursday ended up being the only day I got to it. Of course, chapter 15 is a few thousand pages long so I didn't get very far. This worked to my advantage in class, though. My teacher only talked about what is in the chapter and she stopped at exactly the same point where I stopped. Mrs. Puckett, on the other hand, knew the textbook front to back and had no problem throwing in all kinds of stuff and going completely out of order as she saw fit. I never once made it through an entire lecture without being utterly confused at some point. Score one for new teacher.

Jason brought me some power food at noon, a spinach calzone from Angelo's and some brain juice also known as Diet Dr. Pepper. We talked about the difference in the teachers and as I explained it, I started to feel somewhat optimistic. Why am I fighting what appears to be an easier, more likeable teacher? She sticks with the text, uses lots of pictures and small words and she's not nearly as scary as Mrs. Puckett? My fear of change had reared it's ugly head but I managed to reason with it over lunch and in the end my fierce loyalty to logic, reason and reality planted a seed of optimism.

Our new lab is much more intimidating. It's a chemistry lab so every surface is covered in ridiculously expensive equipment. I found my friends and we managed to sit together in one row with a microwave, dishwasher and buffet server thing. It's an odd place. There's also a raised counter in the middle at eye level blocking our view of pretty much everything. But in this room is where Dr. Murphy really started to grow on me (not literally). The atmosphere was much more casual and she was able to walk around and talk with us more. I also realized she does actually know what she's talking about. It may not be as book detailed as Mrs. Pam Puckett, but I can understand that given their backgrounds. Dr. Murphy is a doctor, not a teacher and this is her first class. Since my friends and I are always the last ones there we were able to talk with her for awhile before leaving. She actually made an effort to learn our names.

Pam who?

Friday

It's official. I have paid my tuition. I have reconfirmed with the babysitter (mom). I bought a new binder. I guess I have to go to class. This week I will get my binder organized and my backpack ready. Then I will spend my normal study time reading the next chapter on the cardiovascular system. Maybe I can stay ahead of the game. I'm clearing off my scores from last semester. I'm done basking in that glow. I'm back to 0. I'll post my grades again this semester, good or bad. I'll update the blog about once a week. So check back in this weekend and I'll let you know what I think of the teacher.