Iron sharpens iron...

Iron sharpens iron. This is talking about how the character of those we spend our time with will rub off on us and our character on them. You may be thinking, how on earth does this apply to nursing school? And yes, it may be a stretch but all I can do is speak from experience. I know firsthand that by surrounding yourself with friends who will push you to be the best you can be, support you, and encourage you (and by you doing the same for them), you will be able to manage the stresses of school and life more effectively and enjoy your experience. On the other hand, by doing the opposite and surrounding yourself with people who are "negative nancies" and not encouraging, your experience may not be as enjoyable.

I was able to live with other girls from my program, which was amazing because we understood the pressures and demands of the program and were able to be there for each other. As well, I have been able to develop close friendships, and through countless coffee and lunch dates have been able to talk about our successes and struggles and be a support and encouragement to one another.

Although I valued and cared for them dearly, I didn't fully understand how privileged I was to have this support until I moved home during my last year and was no longer able to walk across the hall and talk about my day, or drop by a friends house on the way home from school. I really missed them and had to work hard to overcome the distance. It then became about maintaining these friendships and building new ones.

For me, I have seen the value of surrounding myself with people who have inspired me to be a better person...not just a better student. And hopefully I have been able to do the same for them.

Who are you surrounded by? Who are you sharpening?

Yours Nursingly,
L

Be well-rounded...

This concept is a pretty simple one, and no it's not encouraging the Freshman 15 many of us experience in first year. All I want to express with this point is try and do more than eat, sleep, breath school. Get involved. Whether it's with an intramural sports team, a club on campus, or something else extracurricular, take the time to get involved with something other than school. Why? Because you never know what doors might open up for you in the future because of the things you are getting involved with or doing as you go through school. Even more importantly, living a balanced life filled with many different things is healthy. It spices life up a bit!

Yours Nursingly,

L

65 hours + no sleep = BAD IDEA

So here it is...the typical time management speech. We all know that managing your time wisely really helps keep the stress level down, but truthfully how many of us actually do? I'm going to keep this pretty short as the title of this post is pretty clear. I wish I could say I learned this time management lesson the first time, but this is not the case. The moral of the story is leaving three final term papers (all of which were due within 48 hours of each other) until the very last possible moment to start writing is not a healthy choice and can result in absurd behaviour like going without sleep for 65 hours. Let me tell you...your mind starts doing funny things when you've been without sleep for this long :) Unfortunately it took me until fourth year to really understand how good time management makes your life (and I have to assume the lives of those around you) a lot more enjoyable!!

Anyways...I say all that to say be kind to yourself...sometimes we self inflict the school stress upon ourselves by wasting precious time away and not being diligent with our time. Maybe I am the only one who has had this problem but then I remember my all-nighter buddies and know this isn't so.

Yours Nursingly,
L