Juggling school and life is not as difficult as it used to be. When i first started the Practical Nursing program, I had no time to sleep or eat. Being a mother of two, working up to 12 hours on the weekend and studying full time in a fast paced program took every bit of energy I had, and it was not pleasant. At school I was a student and when I was at home, I had two kids on each side of me while studying for my exams. Now though, in my third term of my program, I have found what is right for me. Learning about time management in the first term through classes like professional communication helped me understand where my priorities are. Although hectic, my schedule consists of me coming to school at 7 in the morning and leaving here at 4:30pm, when the class ends. This not only gives me time to finish all my readings and homework at school, but gives me the advantage to concentrate on what i am doing without having screaming kids by your side.
Once 4:30 hits and I arrive home, all my attention is to my children. Juggling life and school is very hard, but I am so grateful that I have the support from my family. My children are being watched by my husband and because I know they are safe all I have to focus on is school. On the weekends working at the airport, I have the opportunity to take my homework and finish it when there are no flights.
As of right now I don’t have a social life. My social life consists of my classmates and my peers. But I know my friends outside of school understand and are there for me when ever I need them. This program is very fast paced. Although it is not hard, it is a lot of hard work and going out and partying most of the time is not reasonable. There are some moments in the week that you need a breather in which the work load allows you to go out and have fun, but most of the time you are at your desk studying. There are some techniques I use to reduce the stress load. I meditate, I go out for walks and recently I have started to talk about my stress to my spouse. This allows me to vent and to reduce my stress level without holding anything in. It is very important to in my opinion to have a friend a family or a peer to talk to about the level of frustration you are going through. If you keep it to yourself and hold it in, it takes a toll on you emotionally and physically and it makes it that much harder to complete an intense programs such as the PN program. The school provides its students with support systems such as adviser and councilors that the students can talk with. Because I know how important it is to complete this program to the best of my ability, having a motivation helped me a lot to get through those rough days. Some day i feel guilt of abandonment to my children, but in my heart i know that in the end of the day my education if for their future. It gives me a reason to accomplish this program to the best of my ability.
Through out the course of my program, I have had the ability to gain knowledge in the class room and outside of the classroom. With learning about therapeutic ways to communicate with clients and involve them in their care, I have been able to use the same techniques in my everyday life. Using these ways, I have had the chance to change my way of thinking when a conflict arises and this has improved my marriage and friendships drastically. Not only am I able to solve a problem with little or no conflict, I am also able to gain peoples trust. This is a great accomplishment because it gave me insight on the way to communicate with different individuals. Another accomplishment I has was making a change in my family. Because my family comes from a background in which education is not seen as important as find a job, I have changed the way my in-laws think about society now a days. They are very traditional and because of my communication and education, I have educated them on aspects of health care that they did not know or refuse to be aware of. I have set an example for my daughter and son, in showing them that they have the opportunity to be anything they want to be and that education is never ending. My family and friends have seen my success and how changed of a person I have become for the better, but they also have been their for me for my struggles. There were moments in my life through out this program, where i have broken down, yelled at my family and friends and portrayed myself as being psycho becuse of the frustration. In term two during my final oral exam on medication administration, I broke down once I passed the case study. but I believe if you have the support system, and patience from family and friends you will get over it. No matter how hard it is, no matter how long it takes, there will be ups and downs; there will be moments of success and failure, but if a person has the motivation and the drive they can be successful in their future.
Check out this video of our Practical Nursing Program.
