June: One Big Life Decision

   Overall, June was boring. Nothing exciting or worthwhile really happened besides one big life decision. For the most part, the month of June played out like this every week.

Monday: Nothing
Tuesday: Chemistry 1-4
Wednesday: Nothing
Thursday: Chemistry 1-4
Friday: Receptionist 6-9
Saturday: Cashier 7:45 am-GOD KNOWS WHEN
Sunday: Nothing

   Now that I look at this schedule it seemed like I had a lot of free time, but I remember always being busy for some reason….

   Now this big life decision was a scary decision to make. Beginning the third week of May I started my summer session one class. Now at the time, my SS1 class was Anthropology 105 (just basic cultural anthropology) and my major was also anthropology. The weeks before my SS1 began I was struggling with my major. I knew that I loved learning anthropology, but was it something I wanted to make a career out of? I was frustrated everyday because I had no career goals and had no idea where I would be in five or ten years. If any of you have been through that type of situation I sympathize with you! But anyways, after my anthropology class began towards the end of May, I had an epiphany while sitting outside on campus.
   I was reading an assigned research article for A105 while I looked up and saw nursing students walk across campus in their scrubs. I thought, 'hmmm, wearing scrubs everyday would make me feel super cool!' And that ladies and gentlemen, is what started off my interest in becoming a nursing major. I am by no means saying that was the only factor, I am just saying that is what kicked off the interest.
   After seeing the scrubs, I started thinking about my previous major choices…..I went from psychology, to education, and to anthropology but I still wasn't satisfied. One thing I always wanted to do for sure was help people. I wanted to make a difference in someones life, but I just didn't know which route to take in order to do that; but I had never considered nursing. Perhaps I never considered nursing because I started to become a queasy person or I didn't want to deal with blood, puke, guts, etc. But after seeing the scrubs, it shed a whole new light on the profession for some reason. It was obvious that God was trying to guide me towards a career in the nursing division.
   The number one thing that shined bright on the professor for me was the fact that I would finally be able to help people! On top of that, my grandmother that passed away before my birth was also a nurse. My dad always used to tell me to look into nursing since it was a great profession and his mother loved it; but every time he would tell me that, I already had my heart set on another major. But now everything was different, I truly looked deep inside to see if I could handle or succeed at being a nurse. The answer was a semi-strong yes.
   The reason I put 'semi-strong' is based on logical inferences. Psychologically, I feel as though I could handle taking care of peoples lives. Physiologically, I am very unsure of whether I will be able to handle blood/guts without getting nauseous. Hence, these are the reasons I put semi-strong. This is actually something I worry about often. What if I can't handle puke or blood? What if I get through much of my schooling and then realize nursing isn't right for me? What if I'm horrible at nursing? All of these questions seem to float around my brain frequently.
   I try to condition myself as often as I can. For example, when someone in my house cuts themself or has any medical problem I go and assess the situation. Often times I bandage the person up, fetch medicine, etc. This type of exposure will hopefully help prepare me for the brutal world of nursing. One thing I continuously tell myself is that, "If you are in the process of trying to save someones life, you are not even going to worry about the blood/guts/puke/etc. you will remain strong and do your job!" And believe it or not, telling myself this actually helps.
   After having these epiphanies and revelations during the first week of SS1 classes, I realized this profession would be right for me. The other phenomenal thing about nursing is that there are so many areas to branch into. If I don't like one area, I can transfer over to another, and I can always advance my education in the healthcare field. There were so many wonderful pros contributing towards becoming a nurse, that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be a nursing major and save lives.
   All within those 48 hours or so, I changed from an anthropology major to a nursing major, I dropped my A105 class and quickly added the C110 class for SS1.
   I researched my university's nursing program and saw that I basically had all my prerequisite classes done for a pre-nursing major besides Life Chemistry and Anatomy&Physiology. Lucky for me, I was able to squeeze into that Chemistry class for summer session one right on time. From that moment on I have been meticulously preparing to get into the School of Nursing.

   So looking back at June 2013, there wasn't much going on event-wise, but there were many giant life-decisions happening. I am so pleased with my decision because I now have lists of career goals and I now have a vision of where I will be in five to ten years. Of course my oncoming years of education will be difficult, but I am willing to jump those hurdles in order to achieve my goal of saving people lives.



Oh, I completely forgot! I had also turned 20 this past June! Yay!




Love,
April Dolores

Here's the Plan

I know, it's been a very long time since I've made any posts. Sure, I updated you about my class schedule at the end of August, but that doesn't tell you anything! And the time before that, I was just updating you about my chemistry final at the end of June! Nevertheless, I will not deny you the right to learn everything about my life between then and now! (Well not absolutely everything, but you get the gist)

I've done everything between being in a pierogi parade in July all the way to planning my trip to Boston for a conference in March. Those aren't the only exciting events in my life though, there is a lot more worth telling you about.

There is no humanly way possible to write about everything that has happened in my life in one post so I devised a plan. While on winter break, I shall make multiple posts. Each post will be dedicated to one individual month. June, July, August, September, October, November, and December will all have to be covered.

Compared to last year, there is much more going on this year that is worth staying tuned in for! I hope you will enjoy!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

April Dolores

First Day of School

Good morning everyone,
Today I embark on a new adventure in my wonderful life, the beginning of my sophomore year of college. It should be interesting an interesting semester considering I am beginning the nursing curriculum and I am curious of whether I will love it or not. Nevertheless, I will try my hardest to succeed!
Here are the classes I am taking this semester:
Anatomy and Physiology Lab
Anatomy and Physiology Lecture
Anatomy and Physiology Discussion
Biomedical Ethics
Children's Literature
Psychology Statistics

Did I forget a class?
Oh yeah, BALLET!
Technically, I don't need it for my nursing major, but my friend who is a law enforcement major is doing it with me and it's going to be CRAZY!
We seriously have no idea what to expect, but we will make the absolute best of the situation.

All in all, life is going well right now and I feel extremely blessed.


Sincerely,
April Dolores

Chemistry Final from Hell

  From the time that I started learning hardcore science, I have stunk at it. I haven't failed or anything, I just didn't completely comprehend it. No matter if I study for eight hours straight, I still do not get A's. I just don't know what it is. In any other subject I am able to catch on if I read and study, but for chemistry I just can't get it.
  I know I haven't updated on anything lately, but I have recently changed to a nursing major which meant that I had to take chemistry C110 as a prerequisite.  At first I was deceived since the first week or so was very simple stuff, but I was easily mistaken. We started learning a whole bunch of stuff that wasn't even explained well in the book. On top of that, my professor can never answer your questions, he goes off on rants that have nothing to do with chemistry, and he has a heavy french accent. So all in all, going to class doesn't help either. I am usually an independant studier, so going to lectures doesn't always benefit me, especially for chemistry since he can sometimes confuse me even more.
   I have no idea why I am entering a blog post right now considering I have a final in less than three hours right now. I studied last night, but I just could not focus at all! The final is a cumulative test over the last three exams. You might think, 'wow that's not that bad, only three tests worth', but you my friend are wrong. These exams have so much darn information stacked in each exam that my brain feels like it is going to explode.
  The final is around 55 questions, so each and every question is important to get right. I need at least a B on this final so I can maintain a B in this class. Just put me in your prayers that I pass this horrendous test (well I will pass without a doubt, but I want to get a really great grade)!

Adam's Departure

   I know...it's been a while since I have posted, but better late than never.
   Anyways, here's a little update on my life.
   Adam, 18, my brother has officially left for basic training, and I miss him....ALOT!
   I never thought I would miss him this much, but I do.
   But I guess some context about the situation would be of much help.
   For starters, Adam just graduated high school and is going to Purdue University next year to study engineering. The original problem is that we can't really afford taking out five billion dollars in loans (sarcasm) for him and I to go away to school, but Adam had a plan.


Adam's graduation ceremony, June 5, 2013

   Adam's plan was to join the National Guard and ROTC so that he could go away to Purdue since the state of Indiana will pay for his tuition. I don't exactly know all the details because it can be a little confusing, but long story short, he has to go to basic training for the summer.
   Adam left on June 10th to take a plane down the Atlanta, Georgia. For starters there was a hour and a half delay since there was severe weather in Atlanta. Luckily for him he got to meet some WNBA players while he sat in the airport. Anyways, when he finally got on the plane and finally landed in Atlanta he went to go get on the bus that was supposed to drop him off at Fort Benning, but it wasn't that easy. He waited for the bus for FOUR HOURS!!! He wasn't nervous that he missed it since there was around one hundred other soldiers waiting to catch the same bus with him.
   He finally arrived at Fort Benning for infantry training that night of June 10th. We haven't really heard from him yet besides a couple little tiny weeny letters and a couple of two-minute phone calls.
   It has finally hit me that he is gone and I hate it. I never thought I would miss him this much but I do. I was always used to him being gone since he was always with his friends, but this is completely different. I cannot see him in the mornings, I cannot see him after school, I cannot text him, I cannot call him, I cannot see his tweets, and I have no idea what he is doing!
   When he graduates basic training and finally arrives at Purdue, I will try to visit him alot. And even though he might not admit it, we are actually pretty close siblings. For god sakes, we are only 13 months apart!



Getting Back On Track

Hello world,
I have been a horrible blogger and I apologize for that nonsense. But I am here not to inform you of anything, I am here to yell at myself for being a horrible person.
Now I am not talking about horrible as in mean or nasty, I am horrible at dieting.
I joined Weight Watchers in January and joined a new gym by my house in March. Weight Watchers was an immediate success and I lost 17 pounds by the end of March, but that success soon plummeted. During my Spring Break I fell off the deep end. I was just so bored and my boredom led to a life full of food for that long week. By the following Tuesday (my weekly weigh-in day) I had gained four pounds.....FOUR POUNDS...how did I even manage to do that, and how did I not have a heart attack from gaining all that in such a short amount of time!?! Let me just say it this way, the results of that week scared the life out of me, and I got back on track that following week.
But the well behaved week didn't last...
I fell of the deep end again and I haven't been able to get back up yet!
This past weekend has been the worst though. My parents went out of town for Andrew's tournament, and I was bored and alone so I decided to eat. I know some people like to indulge in potato chips or pizza but I indulge in one thing....SUGAR. I'm just obsessed with sugar no matter what it is in. And the result of the incredible sugar consumption was feeling like total crap. I seriously just felt so bad, sick, gross, and lumpy.
Tomorrow morning is my weigh-in and I am so scared. Since I lost those wonderful 17 pounds I gained  seven of those back already. I'm spiraling way too fast, and I need to get my booty back on track, because I feel and look disgusting.
Perhaps the worst thing is that I haven't worked out. In my defense sometimes I cannot because I have those annoying foot procedures done where I cannot walk for a week or so, so that really throws me off, but hopefully those procedures won't happen as often anymore. But nonetheless, I must start working out though to get those endorphins flowing. One of the main reasons I need to work out again though is because I pretty much have a double chin right now and it is so embarrassing. Like seriously, how many 19 year olds can say that have that...not many!
With a cherry on top of all of this wonderfulness (complete sarcasm) my acne is worse than a 13 year old going through puberty. Like for real, it is HORRIBLE. My dermatologist is trying to help me, but everything is drying my skin out really bad without producing any results.
So all in all, I guess it is safe to say I have absolutely no confidence in anything right now and my blood sugar levels are skyrocketing so it is hard to get back on track. But I am going to try my hardest, especially since finals are coming up and I don't want to feel sad and disgusting during that already stressful time.
But I will keep you updated about my hopeful successes in my weight, exercise, acne, and finals.

Update

My room is officially done except for one piece that I have just ordered online. Everything is in place, and my room couldn't look any more modern/chic/classic/fun/colorful even if it tried.
I would take pictures and post them now, but I want to wait till I have my final piece hung up.
The final piece is an art piece that is desperately needed above my desk. I found a beautiful watercolor abstract painting on www.art.com. It's a poster and needs a frame, so I also have to do that. I got a poster of it because it would be like five hundred thousand dollars if it was an original on canvas. (Okay, I know I exaggerated, but it would have been seriously way too expensive)

I know I say that the only thing left to do in my room is getting that picture, but I know of one more thing my room could use....a television.
I guess I don't really need one, but if I did invest in one, my room would officially look just like a studio apartment (without the kitchen).
I have enough money saved up to buy one, but I have one problem, I don't have a cable plug in my room (or whatever it is actually called). I'm not so sure on how that all works, but don't they make those tv connection cords that don't have to be plugged into anything, they are linked to one main server.
Okay, now it just looks like I'm oblivious to how televisions work, so I'm just going to stop talking.

What I'm going to do know is go research all that television stuff, then come back and sound smarter about all that subject matter.

But all in all, my room looks great, when I put the finishing touches up, I will take pictures and post them.