Ahh, yes my blog. Hi, how are you (as Daniel Johnston would say)? It's been a while and a weekly recap seems inappropriate. But I did wrap up the first semester of my nursing school career and am looking forward to starting my second next weeks. So how about a semester recap?
Unfortunately, like many of my other entries I didn't quite rock nursing school as I would have liked but that's life. I did learn a lot about who I am, what I want and how me and my goals fit into the nursing world. Over the course of the semester I had a lot of difficult weeks, that almost always involved three quizzes (one in each of my classes). This was a pretty difficult setup for me. I just felt like I never was able to catch my breath. As soon as one test was complete, another was on its way. But it is over, for now and I have different professors, will their own teaching style, and test schedules. Not to say that I didn't like my professors or that they weren't very good, I just wasn't crazy about the testing, every week, every damn week. The other thing that probably contributed to my overall funk of spring semester was my lack of exercise. I seriously did not exercise. I mean not at all.
One of the best things that I discovered during the semester was lunch lectures. Although I go to the University of Colorado, the health related programs (dentistry, medical school, nursing, etc.) are on a completely different campus - the Anschutz Medical Campus. If you look hard enough I bet you can find a lunch lecture every day of the week, most of which include a free lunch. This may be shocking to you, as it is shocking to me, there are not a lot of people that attend these lectures. I guess I am mostly attracted to them because I am not the biggest fan of the "Western" model of medicine and am looking for alternatives to "traditional" nursing roles. Many of these lectures address research, rural health care, public health, diversity within the healthcare setting, LGBT community, etc. The best lecture that I attended was by an old doctor who started practicing when an American journalist went to China and had to have his appendix removed. The used acupuncture to numb the site and he was completely awake during the procedure. This doctor was really interested in the whole process and quickly became certified in acupuncture and continued to practice medicine. He now does a lot of political advocacy. He talked a lot about complementary and alternative medicine. It was by far the best lecture I have heard. There was one thing he said that really hit me, "Where the truth is, is where we'll go."
There is so much about that statement that means so much to me and my journey to become a midwife. I am really struggling with how my view fits in with the medical model and how I can accomplish my goal of become a "traditional" midwife. A midwife that practices in a birthing center or assists in home births. After much contemplation and research I have decided that I really don't want to go to a traditional University for my Masters in Midwifery, and that I would rather go to a program that is more in line with my beliefs, despite my American need to have "qualifications" and be employable. Rather that pursuing my Certified Nurse Midwife degree, I will be pursing my Certified Practical Midwife certificate. I know such subtleties. But CPM is based on the apprentice model and will not allow me to work in a hospital. The CNM is more in line with the Western model of medicine and will allow me to be a midwife in a hospital.
Another goal I am working on is to get my CNA certificate. Despite what I just said, I do think that it is a good idea to build my nursing skills. I am one of the many people in my program who have no experience in health care and have no clue what goes on in a hospital setting. I would like to expand my knowledge base while I am in school. I hope to have my certification by the end of the summer, and start looking for part-time jobs.
Another goal of mine is to go through a yoga teacher training. Along with being a midwife I would really like to be able to teach prenatal yoga. CorePower has opportunities to clean the yoga studio for trade of free yoga, and to also get a discount for the yoga training program. I have been out of practice for a while and would like to practice for a while before going through the teacher training. Within the next year I would like to be done with teacher training or in the middle or maybe even on my way.
-Another, for a while now I have been wanting to learn Spanish. I should know it and I don't. I have taken classes but really don't feel comfortable with the language. Next summer I am planning on doing a study abroad in Mexico, that requres that we have conversational Spanish. My goal is to get to that point by next summer.
Finally, I would like to volunteer for Planned Parenthood. I don't know how possible this is. I have already given notice to my boss in preparation for my CNA job that I don't have. I hope to have more time in my future. I really want to be involved in Women's Health as well as Reproductive Health and PP seems like a great fit. There are probably a lot of other women out there thinking the same thing... We'll see about this one. No time frame, I just hope to get it done. All of it
So that's that. Next block starts on Tuesday. I am really excited, and happy that my first semester is behind me. Happy summer!
