Akin and Politics

This may not be directly related to my life as a nursing student but I really need to say something. I am individual who believes in women's rights and it was actually this belief that led me to wanting to pursue midwifery. Since then my believes in the rights of women has only grown. I now know more than I ever did about women's rights as it relates to their health care. It is no secret that I am pro-choice. I understand that you may not be and I accept that we can disagree. But to say something as ridiculous as Akin did about rape is disgusting and appalling. Eve Ensler, one of my heros, wrote a beautiful piece in the Huffington Post to Mr. Akin about his statement. She ended with this eloquent tidbit: "I am asking you and the GOP to get out of my body, out of my vagina, my womb, to get out of all of our bodies. These are not your decisions to make. These are not your words to define. Why don't you spend your time ending rape rather than redefining it? Spend your energy going after those perpetrators who so easily destroy women rather than parsing out manipulative language that minimizes their destruction. And by the way you've just given millions of women a very good reason to make sure you never get elected again, and an insanely good reason to rise." Amen. To read the entire letter click here.

The End

I am entering my final semester of undergrad and am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have been able to reflect about my time as a nursing student and what even more time to think about the next step - grad school (more to come). I entered nursing school knowing that my ultimate goal was to become a midwife. I cannot believe how naive I was and how lucky I am that it has all worked out. I thought casually that I would just get my nursing degree, you know, no big deal. Well, it kind of is a big deal. Nursing school has not been easy. Over the past 18 months I have had so many wonderful/horrible/scary experiences that have really made me appreciate the nursing profession and the wonderful people who are a part of it. I never thought of myself as a nurse but as a midwife but as I enter my final semester I am proud that in about 6 months time I too will be a nurse. It is not something I thought I would enjoy or be good at, to be honest, I never really thought of it at all.