A better student

Here's a little family story for you. When I was a baby, my parents took me to Michigan (where they are both from) so their parents could all see me. My Grandpa Owen held me and looked at my parents and said, "She's a Valedictorian" 

Now, obviously, I did not achieve that in HS. But since his passing in 2002, I've wondered why I didn't get closer to his prediction. I eventually realized it was just a matter of one thing: work harder.

In 2008, I decided to head back to school to become a nurse. In High School I was a good student. I graduated in the top 25% of my class but I didn't really try very hard. I did my homework but I never really studied. If I'd have applied myself, I think I could have made top 15%. Anyway, so when I decided to head back to school, I was determined to be better. There was a 2 year wait for me to begin in the actual nursing program but that actually worked pretty well for me since I needed to continue to work full time. I began my general education classes. For the first 3 semesters I had a 4.0. I was very excited. Then Anatomy and Physiology came along and slammed me back to reality. I got a B. Then Advanced A&P really tried my patience and I got a B/C. (Stupid cell metabolism.. one day, citric acid cycle, I will get my revenge.. one day..)

Then last fall, the big day arrived. I was a first semester nursing student! I had Nursing Skills, Pharmacology, and Intro to Clinical Care (I had taken Fundamentals of Nursing over the summer, got a B) Skills was great. I got an A in that. Clinical was also great, I got a pass in that (pass or fail, not graded) ...then pharm. Ugh.. pharm was difficult for me. I got a B/C.  All in all, my GPA fared alright and settled in at a 3.4. Not bad.. but not a Valedictorian either.

This semester I was determined to try harder. My class list this semester: Clinical Care Across the Lifespan (Med Surg/Maternity/long-term care), Health Alterations (online), Health Promotions, and Microbiology. So far, clinical is great. Micro is going well too...though we're revisiting that stupid citric acid cycle again. At least I understand it now. But my theory classes (alt & pro) are proving to be more difficult. I had my first two exams in those classes earlier this week. I had read all our readings, completed our objectives, used online textbook resources (online quizzes from the book) and I felt ready. Well.. not so much. I got a D on both exams. Which, in the nursing student world, means you failed. All exams must be a C or higher to "count."

I felt devastated. Defeated. All-in-all... like crap. But then I remembered that I've got 3 tests left in each class. Plenty of time to turn it around. All it means is that I know how *not* to study for those exams, right?

Now that I have all that cleared out of my mind... back to studying. :)