Pre insanity

I love these first few weeks of school.  Why? Because I still have a social life. My mind is not yet completely consumed by stress and anxiety over classes, projects, and tests. 

This past weekend I got to enjoy two events plus a leisurely day of football and studying. 

Friday night consisted of a football paint war 

Who wouldn't want to spend 3 hours throwing paint on each other while playing football. It was a great night. Even though it took me an hour in the shower to get all the paint out of my hair. 

Saturday consisted of college football and the white county fair. You can not go to Harding/ live in searcy without attending this event at least once. We went with Eric's sister and her husband. We spent the evening consuming gross amounts of fried food, playing typical fair games, and ended up winning 3 gold fish. 

Soon though the papers will pile up, clinicals with start, and my mind will slowly start slipping away. For now I'm enjoying these nights. Hopefully they won't completely disappear here in a few weeks. 

I love my school

I can't say this enough, I love my school. Now it hasn't always been true. I absolutely hated this place my freshman year. I surprised a lot of people by coming back as a sophomore, but I did. I am so thankful I stuck it out. 

I have met some of the most wonderful people here. People who would drop everything to help me. People who challenge me to live for Christ. People who encourage me to stay positive and always do my best. People who are intentional with their relationships. 

A lot of these people came from my club. Pi theta phi. Yeah I knew it's a weird Greek name, but welcome to harding. We do things a little differently here. These women have been the biggest blessing in my life. They have been my safe place to go when it feels the world is caving in. My shoulders to cry on in bad times rand friends to rejoice with in good times. This week marks the start of the pledging process for our new members. I can not wait to see what wonderful girls we get to join us this year.  Here's a picture of my roommate from last year and I at our first open house. We pledged together last year and she is just wonderful. 

The 5th semester

Junior year has begun. I feel like the last 2 years have absolutely flown by. How can I be halfway (well 2 years and a semester) away from graduating. That much closer to the dreaded NCLEX. But also that much closer to my goal, my dream, becoming a nurse. This summer and past semester were both challenging ones. Full of hard conversations, tears, and finding myself. I look back on who I was when I first started this process. I have grown from an awkward insecure freshman to a more confident and independent person. I have made friends with some of the most amazing people. People who challenge and uplift me. People I hope to maintain friendships with the rest of my life.

But enough about my personal life

School has begun. Papers, tests, and projects have already been assigned. My First validation of the semester is out of the way and I am already feel more confident in this class than I did last semester. Repeating a class is never fun. And at times its embarrassing. But its not as uncommon as your might think. Science classes are HARD! Figuring out how you study and manage your time is a task in its self. Unfortunately I had to fail a class (or two) to figure it out. In the past two years I have learned that I have to say no. This is not something I am very good at. I love being involved with things. I love helping people and being there when someones in need. Which is all very good but at times I have to say no. I have to put my school work first, put my self first, and buckle down. I love what I am learning about. I love learning how the God made the human body to work and how we can use science to fix it. I can not wait till I actually get to put all this studying and late nights to use. But until then, Ill keep studying, I'll keep validating and stressing, I'll keep changing old peoples diapers and giving bed baths. One day it will all be worth it. When I have that RN next to my name.