That was easily the hardest quarter I've faced in nursing school yet. I would be a fool to say that it'll be easier from here on out, but I certainly hope that is the case. Nursing school has taught me a lot about myself and how I learn and how to ask for help and how to make sure I'm getting the right kind of help. All super valuable lessons, probably somewhat at the expense of my GPA. Today at the end of going over the last exam of the quarter, I paused to talk to my teacher for just a minute. I have felt like I have been on her nerves most of the quarter and just stopped interacting in class actually. Something compelled me to speak to her today though, and I'm glad I did.
I told her that was probably my worst exam, but I passed and I was happy for that. I told her that this has never happened to me before. I feel as though I could easily walk her through any body system and explain things in a way she would understand, but none of that knowledge is demonstrated by my exams this quarter. She said, "Who cares?! If you know the information, keep building on it. No one ever needs to know your GPA. What's important is that you have a solid knowledge base to keep adding to as you progress."
I'm glad I mentioned it as I was walking out! It was a nice jolt of encouragement. I learned more this quarter than in any other quarter in nursing school. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for my study group! One person coordinated rooms for us to meet in and having those set times helped me so much. Plus, they had ideas I never would have come up with that helped me study so much better. We all had a set of pictures of the microscope slides, diagrams, anything that was on the lab exams especially, to use as flash cards. You can take pictures on your phone, get photo prints wherever, and punch holes in the corner and put them on a key ring and take them with you anywhere you go. You can write directly on them with fine point Sharpies and make notes on the back that way without leaving indents on the pictures. Genius!
It's okay that straight science is not my strong suit. It's still important for me to learn the material as best I can, but it's also important for me to know where I can find that information when I need it. It's okay that I think in pictures and can write papers for days about any topic you give me but am horrible at labeling diagrams of cells from memory. I'm glad to finally know this about myself and embrace it. It's okay to despise a class or subject but still learn it, too. Instead of stubbornly being annoyed, I can stubbornly learn something and pass a class even though I don't want to.
There are times when I want to hit pause on school and work for awhile and come back to it. But I think I'm learning very valuable things about being a nurse by continuing with school right now. When I am working as an RN later and have leadership opportunities, I will know better how to handle them and to help those around me.
This is good stuff. It makes me think of a A League of Their Own. Dottie wants to quit because it all got too hard. And Jimmy tells her, "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."
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