It has almost been one year since I started nursing school and it has been a really exciting, interesting, irritating, fast wonderful year. Aside from being somewhere and doing something I never thought I would do, our family has also had many changes.
Jerome graduated from school last December, spent four months looking for work, spent the next four working for a firm downtown, was laid off, and now, two month later has been employed for the past two weeks.
Today, I started building a box for compost and asked myself, "What am I doing?" So I thought I might take this time to write down where I am and what my goals are.I am happy to say that though I may not be kicking ass in nursing school I am happy and still striving to making changes in my life that will bring me closer to my goal of becoming a midwife. In my last post I discussed wanting to get my CNA license, yoga training, and learning Spanish. Well, I did get my CNA license, I did find a yoga training that I am interested in, not the one previously mentioned, and I still want to learn Spanish. I've spent some time talking to the admission counselor at Bastyr and she encouraged me to get involved in my homebirth community, to improve my chances of admission. I know it seems obvious but how might I go about doing that?
My first new goal is related to one of the requirements for Bastyr that I need to fulfill. The first: take a doula certification training workshop. It is not required that we become certified doulas, but I am doing a lot of the work, so I might as well go all the way. And by the way, this might be a way to become more involved in my homebirth community. There are not many doula certification classes but one instructor I found that offers classes, is a midwife, and is based in Albuquerque, just a short drive south (and my in-laws live there). She is one the same page about birth as I am and am looking forward to taking her class. So that is part one of one, take the doula class, the other parts are: get certified through DONA, become a member of the CO Doula Association, apply to become a doula apprentice. And finally, donate my doula services in an exchange for homebirth experience.
My second goal is studying abroad/learn Spanish. I am still interested in CFHI. There is a language immersion program in Mexico that I am interested in and another that focuses on Reproductive Health in Ecuador. I would be up for either but am hoping that wherever I end up that I can increase my Spanish language skills, expand my cultural awareness, understand health disparities at a higher level, and maybe catch a baby or two :) I plan on applying in December, and start fundraising at the beginning of the year.
Finally, I am still interested in yoga, the power of yoga and the power that yoga can have one women during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. I found a local yoga training center that I feel pretty good about. It is a little more laid back. It is also more in tune with my budget. After completing my 200 hour yoga training, I would like to complete my prenatal yoga training from Yo Mama Yoga in Boulder. Though, yoga is not necessarily a goal that is directly related to being a midwife, I feel as though yoga is something I can do while in school, and will be able to add to my midwifery practice.
So right now I am working on my doula certification, I have an interview next week for an ACP position at University hospital. An ACP is a position created to help nursing students get experience and skills in nursing. If I get the job I will be required to do one 12-hour shift a week. It would be pretty awesome.
