Study buddies

The first day of nursing school we attended an orientation where students a few semesters into the program offered advice and answered questions. The overwhelming theme for success was to study with a group. I can't tell you how many times we heard this the first few weeks of school. This concept was a bit foreign to me since I mostly studied alone during undergrad, but in the beginning we had a few assignments (like partnering up for physical examinations, etc) that required getting to know people, and friendships were quickly formed.

So, after a few short weeks into a 2.5 year program, I got to know these amazing girls really well....

We suffered through first semester going over an unimaginable number of powerpoint slides, learning the art of studying together, which truly did prove to be the most effective tool of nursing school. We played "would you rather" games during our study sessions, deciding if we would rather have diabetes or herpes, COPD or liver failure, and so many other things. Second semester we assigned antibiotic classifications to each of us, making up stories about our lives that corresponded with side effects and uses of the drugs. We made the most of our study sessions by rewarding ourselves with good snacks or pool time during nice weather.

And now the time has come that we have finally successfully completed everything required of this rigorous nursing program...and I'm truly doubtful I could have done it alone. I can hardly remember what it is like to study alone anymore. Talking about difficult concepts, explaining it to one another, drawing funny pictures on the white boards, etc made studying bearable, and dare I say enjoyable.

We were fortunate enough to have clinicals together every semester, suffering through the stress of the beginning of our med/surg semester, experiencing the joys of OB and the crying kids of peds, giving glances to one another across the room during a group session in our psych semester, teaching crazy classes in public health, and finally all feeling at home during high acuity. I knew that the constancy of these girls in my school days would help me get through, even at times when I was not enjoying it.

I'm proud to say we did it!

Thank you girls for amazing friendships, countless hours of laughter during study sessions, Chipotle lunches, saving seats, and so much more.

It all started to feel very real when I saw this hanging in the hallway of our building...College of Nursing, class of 2012! Congrats :)