Tags
BSN, career change, celebrate, children, college, degree, faith, family, joy, mom, mother, new beginings, nurse, random, school, service, sophmore, starting over, student, wife
Taking a moment to ponder, location, Boston Commons Fountain
When you see an open door before you, literally or figuratively, how likely are you to use it? Do you just walk right through with confidence, or peek around to the other side. Maybe it’s a door you use everyday, but maybe you are in a totally new building all together. I think I have made past mistakes of both walking past open doors, and also jumping through without consideration. Life is nothing if not a series of choices for better or worse. What choices are you making today?
I have been presented in the last week with a whole myriad of doors with all sorts of possible reward or consequence. They all have their merits and their set backs and I am doing the best I can to make informed decisions, and consider my husband and kids as I go. It’s really not easy, in fact, it’s maddening. I find it helps to consult outside sources, but they too pose their own obstacles. Chances are you can guess what they will say and so one has to be careful not to only seek the opinions of those who will see one side. Am I speaking in code, well I guess. I would more call it being vague.
Case in point, I’ll be specific. I will be interviewing tomorrow for a volunteer opportunity that I think would help to expand my clinical experience, deepen my understanding of the different cultures that surround me, and sharpen the nursing skills I am trying so hard to learn. It would look fabulous on a resume of a new graduate, and help me to get my first nursing job. The door I am considering is the chance to volunteer at the Philips Neighborhood Free Clinic. It is run entirely by the students of the medical campus working with multiple disciplines and exercising our leadership skills as well as our practical learned skills. I could work side by side with medical students, psychology students, dietary students, and my fellow nurses under expert guidance and real life scenarios. My dad is against it. Do you know anything about the Philips Neighborhood? It’s not exactly on the nation’s top ten safest places. In fact it can be down right dangerous. My dad cares because he has worked his whole life to shield my brother’s and I from the life he started in. He did not grow up on the Philips Neighborhood directly, but the environment was basically the same. He wants to protect me because I’ll always be his little girl. Because he’s my dad and that’s his job. My husband is not jumping up and down for joy about the idea either. It’ means more time away from home. Not a lot, but these days every hour seems to really count. What would you do?
I will talk with people who already volunteer there when I interview tomorrow. I have to say I am excited about this opportunity, but also trying to slow down and really think about the effects of my choice. There are two sides to every coin. I have to see them both before I take a step forward. This is just one door, just one choice before me. I am trying to see them all and balance them while I also prepare for my first round of intensive exams and papers. Being a student is a full-time job, no question about it. I hope by the end of this week to know more about what that job will entail.
Adventures of a Mom in Nursing School 