YAY!

I passed!!! And this weekend, I’m doing a little pole pumping of my own. **

Thursday was my exit exam from the nursing program. A three year cumulative test that determines graduation eligibility can be a bit intimidating, and I was SO relieved when I passed. Thank god for instant results… I don’t know how people survived waiting for their results back in the day. I went out with a few of my nursing friends last night and it was so nice to be able to fully relax. I will miss my fellow nursing students- classmates who turned into friends after years of classes and countless study sessions in the library. There’s a bond formed during stressful exam weeks and early morning clinicals that most students probably don’t experience. I’m glad we all got to celebrate passing together last night, and will continue to do so for the final few weeks before graduation.

Go ahead, ask- So, Vickie, what are you doing after graduation?

Well, I’m headed east to Maryland to celebrate Sissy’s masters and then hanging out with the DePriest fam (and more likely Oscar) as I spend the next few weeks studying for the NCLEX-RN, or my nursing boards. After that, I’m headed back out west to work at Riverview Bible Camp just outside of Spokane, WA for the summer. It’s the camp my Rolling Hills students are going to this year, so I’ll still get to see them, and close enough to Portland that I can (relatively) easily get back to watch my three best friends get married in July and August. After the third wedding, I’m headed back to Maryland where I plan on moving in with Liz and Billy short term as I search for a real nursing job in the DC/Baltimore area.

I’m excited. For graduation, and seeing family. For some time off and two cross-country road trips. For summer camps and watching my friends get married. Mostly, I’m just excited to see what the next stage in life has to offer. Bring it, world!

(** I wrote this at the beginning of the weekend, but have been fighting with blogspot for a few days, so it's just now being posted. In the mean time, I bowled, slept in, shakespeared, dance partied, toured, watched exciting baseball from right behind home plate (thanks Jeff!) birthday partied, songfested and congratulated my friends during the Outstanding Senior Award dinner... I'd say it was a good weekend! )

4 weeks til I’m a… college graduate?!?!

That’s right folks, four weeks from today I’ll be dying of heat exhaustion in a black robe in the ARC. (along with many of you, who will be annoyed that the CoN is last in the lineup) I still can’t wrap my head around it.

What I have noticed is a lot of “lasts” that I’ve been experiencing the past few weeks, and will continue to do so until that glorious? fateful? Sunday. This week I have my last college test ever (which happens to be a four year cumulative exit exam, no big deal) followed by my last SigEp dance party and my last class presentation (which includes the last time I have to write the Valpo honor code.) It seems like just yesterday I was excited about all of my “firsts” of college, and in the blink of an eye it will all be over. Yikes.

Practicum is going really well! Because I’m at an outpatient infusion center, I’m pretty spoiled. I get to pick my own hours, which aren’t midnights or weekends since they aren’t open then. We have drug reps that bring us yummy lunch everyday. I don’t really do much assessment or have to balance a normal patient load since all of the nurses and medical assistants work together. Those things will probably come back to haunt me, but I’m going to be amazing at blood draws and IVs by the time I’m done. I’ve already hit more veins (all but 1 successfully!) than many of my classmates will get to try and I’m only about halfway done. Ports are cake and so much more helpful when they go both ways (seriously Dad- much easier for the nurses). I have no doubt that I’ll be an expert at hanging IV drugs and pushing chemo by the time I’m done. I’m all caught up on the gossip at the office too, which I’ve learned is an important part of nursing wherever you go. The women that I work with are funny and very knowledgeable, and the doctors seem nice, but I try to stay out of their way. We usually have about a hundred patients come through our door each day, so we stay pretty busy.

We had our last Valpo Visit Day on Saturday, and it went really well, despite colder than ideal temperatures and fewer AIAs than normal. I’m training people to take over my jobs in the admissions office, and slowly but surely releasing responsibility- and it feels great.

Hopefully, a week from tomorrow, I’ll be done with all of my academic responsibilities, and able to just sit back, relax and enjoy my last few weeks as an undergraduate.

love and miss-