Twelve hours from now, I will be in the middle of orientation at the University of Rochester for their Accellerated Program for Non Nurses. Two weeks ago, I running between UPS and my apartment trying to ship the contents of my room across the country. I don't really have a problem with my lack of summer vacation since I think this will be the most rewarding choice I've ever made, but it's a little crazy to think that three weeks ago I didn't have a degree and now I'm starting a second one.
We drove down on Saturday, through the Adirondak forest of course, and I finished unpacking and decorating my room on Sunday. I tried to be concious of where I placed things on my wall so it wouldn't look quite as helter-skelter as my other place did (pictures will come soon! Cass already had the video tour when we Skyped). I'm missing recent pictures of everyone, but I'm sure I'll make up some excuse to go to Walmart and print them out instead of studying soon. I have all of my summer books (most of them I had ordered before graduation) and some of them are pretty intimidating. Luckily, it seems like those are the books that are required for the year and not only a single class. I'm crossing my fingers that the pharmacology class won't be like psychopharm was last semester - it will take an amazing amount of will power to pay attention if it is. It seems like some of our classes, like genetics, are online, but I guess I'll find out tomorrow! I have already started reading for my Nursing Assessment class. I'm an over acheiver? I think it's more paranoia - I can't recall a class that I ever actually read for at Pepperdine - sorry Brewster, Vandergon, et al.! My lack of motivation to read doesn't mean I liked you any less. Of course I would look up certain topics in the texts for micro or biochem, but it wasn't like I actually read the entire chapter like I was supposed to. Hopefully that will change this year... or at least this summer.
My roommates are amazing. Two are from Washington and actually went to the same school (but didn't know each other and graduated in different years) and my other roommate is from Chigago but originally from Ghana. I, of course, am the baby of the group. I think I'm at least 2 or 3 years younger than all of them though. I could be the youngest in this program (which I am very tempted to believe) but even some of the stuff my roommates have done makes me jealous. Two of them have worked with HIV/AIDS patients (in clinics and hospices) and the other has been a treatment counselor. What did I do? Wait for a plate reader from Finland for an entire semester. Faux volunteer at Venice Family Clinic. Student wedding assisting. Fitness classes. PVC special events. The list of crazy jobs goes on. Really? Really. At least I'm not the only one who didn't study abroad! I have already made goals of things I would like to learn from my roommates. From Aundrea, I would like to learn patience. From Nic, I would like to learn Vietnamese and from Anna I would like to learn Twi, a language spoken in Ghana. We all want to find the gym to make sure we don't get too stressed out and we all share a similar sense of humor so I am very optimistic about our year together.
We have done a little exploring so we know where Target, Walmart, Best Buy and the mall are (they're all close together), but got completely lost trying to explore downtown. Nic fell asleep in the back seat, so Aundrea and I were left to wonder what the heck the Inter-Loop was and why the lawyers on the billboards were so creepy. There are a lot of parks within the city and campus is really pretty. Our campus (the medical one that has the Schools of Nursing, Medicine and Dentistry) is within walking distance, so we will be getting some exercise each day going to class. We found the soccer stadium (go Rochester Rhinos!) and a baseball stadium as well. Rochester apparently has professional lacrosse and U of R has a football team (!) - goodbye summer camp, hello college! I'm more than sure this program will be super intense and a little crazy at times, but if I can't find a way to relax I will go crazy. Besides, after junior year I can handle anything.
I keep expecting Cassandra, Dana, Sansone and Seed to pop up from behind a bush or ring the doorbell. Eventually that expectation will go away... I think.
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Good to hear that you're settling in over there quickly, though I suppose moving across the country is no big deal the second time around. Hope the 'real college' doesn't take too much out of you (though honestly, I think you're being paranoid with the reading).
ReplyDeleteGood luck!