The first week of the semester was overwhelming! I got through it, and now find myself at the end of the second week already. Time is flying! Week two was getting our group together to get started on the presentation we have coming up. We are the first group, and thankfully have the presentation just about complete. We have a date this Friday morning to do a run through of the 75 minute presentation. Sounds so fun...riiiight. At least we will be done with this project and not have to worry about it the rest of the semester! That is what I keep telling myself. We have also had more peds lectures and I love them! I love learning about kids, more about the well child, but I am getting excited for my first day in a children's hospital. Back to week two...we had Monday off for MLK day. We then were preparing for another snow storm. Apparently they are now naming winter snow storms...this one was Janice. Weird. Anyway, Erin got the call Tuesday morning telling her school was closed. Not a single snowflake had fallen at this point. The forecast was saying heavy snow beginning sometime between 9 and 11am. We were expected to get anywhere from 6-12" of snow! I got up and headed to school at about 7:15 that morning. I didn't see a single flake. Many schools in the area had closed or announced they would have an early dismissal. I go to class, and the professor makes a light joke about the impending snowfall. She also made a comment on how we were in an auditorium without windows so we were sure going to be in for a shock at the end of our three hour lecture. I was checking my phone and my email to see if the college was going to close. To my (not so) surprise, we got an email a couple minutes before lecture ended stating classes after 11:30am were cancelled. It was about 11:04 when I got the email. At the end of class, I quickly got out of there and headed to my car. There was already about two inches of snow, so I had to clear my car. As soon as I would clear it, it was already getting covered. Whoa! I left the parking lot at 11:18am to head home. I was prepared for a long commute. Typically, this time of day I would make it home in under a half an hour, sans snow. It's a bit over 12 miles from school to home. Well, the roads were AWFUL, it was basically a white out. I went about a mile and never went over 15mph...so I started eating my lunch I had packed. After about an hour, and maybe a couple miles into my drive, I was realizing this was going to be a lot longer than I thought. It ended up taking four and a half hours to get home!!!! There was so much snow, and traffic. In those four and a half hours, I never went over 15mph. I was at a dead stop for who knows how long, multiple times in that journey. I also chugged my entire water bottle, so about two hours in, I needed to pee. I also had to keep my defrost on full blast or my windshield would freeze and I couldn't see. I was sweating like crazy and tried to peel off as many layers as I could. That may have been the worst car ride of my life. I really wouldn't wish that on anyone and really, really hope I never have to experience that again! My dad kept texting me, which helped my sanity. My wonderful Erin also shoveled a parking spot for me too. When I came inside I just threw my stuff (sorry Erin) and let off some steam. I also realized, once I was home, just how stressed I had been. I was shaking. Whew, so glad that is over with!! At one point, during that hellish commute, as I was sweating and trying to think of anything but peeing my pants, I looked to my right and saw a bunch of people in the freezing wind and snow, waiting for a bus. I was at a dead stop at this point and stopped counting after I had watched the traffic light turn green about 15 times and I didn't move an inch. I was so grateful that I was in my car, sweating, and not stuck waiting for a bus that may not have been coming. It can always be worse.
Needless to say, we also had a snow day on Wednesday. I was supposed to go to the hospital for orientation. Instead, I got some work done and ended up going to bed ridiculously early Wednesday night. I was in a major funk; probably due to major stress and exhaustion. I slept well and got up ready to face the day on Thursday. Friday, we had our orientation for clinical, including a math test, which I was in a panic about. Erin, the amazing teacher that she is, stayed up with me Thursday night going through practice problems. I couldn't have passed that test without her!! Glad that is over with. The orientation was interesting, we got the run down of what our days will look like in the hospital. My instructor, who still intimidates me, is great. I know I will be learning a lot! I am nervous for my first day in the hospital, but I am actually excited! I can't wait to see pediatric nurses in action! I also hope I get assigned to an infant or toddler for my first day...we shall see!
This weekend, I am focusing on studying for my first peds exam. I went to a test review session and feel pretty good at this point. I have a lot to study, but I know my child development, so I feel I have an edge. I mean, my first degree was in child development, so I should know this stuff well! It's all the illnesses and disorders and the child immunizations that are tripping me up. Must. Study. More.
I have a few more days to prepare and I need to make the most of my time. This week my parents are flying in and staying with Erin and me. My sister is doing her doctoral defense on Thursday! So proud of her! I need to get my studying done so I can relax and enjoy time with my family. I am also missing my first ever class to go to the defense. I spoke to my professor and got it all okay-ed so I feel good about it. I can watch the lecture that I will miss online :) I can't believe I am eight months into this program and have yet to miss a single moment of school! Woo!
Next up, Peds clinical!
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