hello 2010

Oh my poor, neglected blog!
Oh my poor, neglected readers three people who read this blog in an attempt to assure I have not gone off the deep end!

It's been so long (three days shy of three months) since I last logged in I forgot my password. But I am back. At least until next week when classes resume.

You are surely giddy with excitement over my return and eagerly awaiting the updates of all the wonderful and exciting things going on in Nurse Kelly's life! Without further ado, or in the words of Captain Sully: "Brace for Impact"...

I made it through first semester! I won't discuss quality of my life these past few months, you would all need a prescription for Prozac after reading about it, but I will tell you that I got straight A's (still waiting on the grade for one class) and got a job promotion (now I'm senior bed pan changer staff nurse). I'm pretty impressed with those two accomplishments given that I'm working full time and going to school full time.

I decided that I don't like Columbi@, but that I'm going to stick it out. I actually realized my dislike of the school my first day of orientation, but was in denial until midway through the semester. At that point, I marched myself into the office of dean of students office, sat in his chair, and very articulately, but respectfully expressed all of my concerns with the program and the inadequacies of some of the faculty. Essentially, I don't feel like I am am developing a skills set that I can take away from the program and I'm very troubled by the fact that I sit in a seminar class for three hours, taught by the "best professors in the field", yet they are unable to engage the students in discussion. It's painful. I should be excited to there! I told him that I wouldn't hesitate to leave and change schools. I think he was shocked, but he actually thanked me for my feedback. I'd like to mention that now, whenever I have a question or concern, administration is much more approachable and willing to work with me. I didn't go to the dean for special treatment, I went out of genuine concern for me and my classmates. We are spending a lot of money ($55,000) to get an education. Second semester starts next week, we'll see how it goes.

I didn't have to work on Christmas this year so I went home and celebrated with my family! It was the best Christmas present ever. I didn't realize how lonely it had been these last two years coming home to an empty apartment on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Spending the holiday with my family was the highlight of 2009!

I rang in the new year in my sweat pants after a long day of work. It may not have been a night full of glitz and glamour, but I was able to sit back and relax and a night like that was LONG overdue.