This is a bit mushy and I make no excuses – OK, I do give the excuse of maybe OD’ing a little on the cough medicine as I seem to have picked up a cold from somewhere – which got me to thinking how generous little viruses are – they happily go along and share themselves with anyone. It’s good to share. And then another thought popped into my head – how in our class people share of themselves.

Working through some of the material that we are given to study can be daunting to say the least. Nobody learns the same way or at the same pace – but what makes me feel so fortunate is the support everyone in our class gives to one another both during class and after class. I’m not talking grand gestures, just the small things – a phone call, someone listening and sharing thoughts, someone explaining from their perspective. We have a little study group after school and today was fun – we all got something out of it. We have a number of those ‘tick lists’ to put to memory and were having some difficulty with them – so we tried doing something a bit different – today we took turns in adding movement to what we were memorizing and you know – it worked. Taking a dry topic and turning it into a physical thing made the difference and got the other parts of our brains working. Now I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see what we can come up with next.

There is another way to support each other in class, just by showing respect through listening and caring through supporting. A supportive gesture, a phrase or offer of a solution, it all helps! So NUC (Nursing Unit Clerk) 0809’s take a bow and a pat on the back – the work is hard and I think we all do a great job of helping and supporting each other. (….awww love ya man!)

Okay the mushiness is now over……

We are having our exam on Friday, which happens to be Candy Gram day! I hope everyone gets lots of candy – remember to wear pink to support breast cancer donations! We’re also having a potluck to celebrate the end of the module for SOT’s (I really can’t believe we are that point already)…..just four more weeks to practicum….

It’s moments of feeling inspired and moments of feeling defeated. Am I doing this right or wrong? More harm than good? Can I push a little more here, or should I hold back there? It’s “Why can’t I perform as well as that person seems to be doing?” versus “I think I’m doing well at some things”.

That’s what the first week of practicum has been like.

Work at the hospital has been a time of building confidence and watching for the areas that I need to improve in. It’s figuring out when it’s okay to forge ahead on my own and knowing when to stop and ask for help or direction.

It’s been a week of learning about the residents—their illnesses, their quirks, their likes and dislikes. It’s watching other care givers at work and gaining insight from them all, to some degree or another.

I discovered that I like the rush, the constant busyness. I enjoy seeing the lights flash on and off outside the resident doorways because it means that someone requires me to help them with something. I poke my head into their room and ask the person what they want and then, using my college training, I try to meet that need. It’s a good feeling.

I’ve found that as much as I know currently, there is more for me to learn. But that will come, with time and patience. For now, I will just walk towards the light whenever I see it flash.

Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.

I first learned of this quote from Summit where I do my volunteer work. This is kind of their life guiding principle. I found it very apt to my recent experience.

Well, the baby sitter for my 11-month old daughter had to attend to an important personal errand on the first day of my class’ sign language training. She told me about her plan the day before ‘my important date’. Isn’t it quite frustrating when your seemingly stable schedule is shaken? I felt so upset. But then again, there is no way I can prevent my sitter from doing what she wants to do. I had no choice but to take action! I called my friends and everyone they knew that could help me. I was on the verge of giving up. The thought of not attending the ASL (American Sign Language) introduction has already crossed my mind. Thank goodness, I didn’t succumb to my desperation. I tried my best contacting everyone that could lend me a hand. And I waited. I knew that somehow, someone would be available to take care of my daughter on my ASL day. Low and behold, it worked out and my first day was great!

Life as a student certainly has ups and downs. My stressing experience was not a unique incident. For sure other students encounter situations which are worst than mine. And even though I have that list of things to struggle with, I am still absolutely grateful because I was able to make sense of my difficulties. Having that mind-set allows me to easily adapt to the present realities of my life.

One of the highlights of our observation and recording module was the field trip on sky train. We travelled from Surrey Central Station to Waterfront and our assignment was to collect data on the different behaviors of passengers boarding the sky train. Since this is our class’ first outing, everyone was excited.

It also marked as a significant experience for each one of us because we were able to actually experience how to be an observant – to not look merely at something but for something. What we did was catch every little detail of the passenger’s behavior. Aside from knowing the possible details, we have to think of other things, related to that specific behavior, which we have never thought about before. You will think that observing would be easy, but mind you, looking beyond what is really there is a defying mission.

If you observed all the behaviors happening within the sky train, you would be overwhelmed. It is countless! We were adequately prepared of course with this scenario. Each of us had already chosen the target behavior we wanted to observe before our trip.

Our field trip was held during peak hours. The train was full and the seats already filled. I didn’t have a choice but to stand while recording the information I needed. The physical aspect of taking notes while standing in a moving vehicle was a challenge for me. Another difficulty was trying to be inconspicuous. We were intensely looking at the passengers, taking down notes and it surely created some reaction. Mostly, we got the wondering ‘look’.

We were taught to be less intrusive as much as possible, but as it was our first time of being an observant, out keenness definitely came through. Anyways, with this experience our observation skills increased. We not only learned to do the best we can when confronted with an unexpected situation, but mostly to open our eyes, be objective and be surprised by the present moment.

Gnomes have difficulty recalling the right word to express what they mean. Paula Abdul, being flakey like a blonde, cannot hold a thought in her head long enough to complete an action or a sentence.

I’ll explain the above two sentences in a minute, but first, a word on exams. Exams are like birthdays: They come whether you like it or not and it’s always a big relief when they’re over with.

Over the last few months I’ve envied the younger students in my Residential Care Attendant class, with their fresh brain cells, who seem to be able to flip through a textbook the night before a test and breeze through it the next day without blinking an eye.

Thank goodness Stenberg taught us right at the beginning of our course how to come up with good study habits that will work best for us, individually, as students. The fact that I still recall what these medical terms mean, even though class is over and the final exam is but a recent memory, is testimony to the success of such techniques.

Now back to gnomes, with apologies to Paula Abdul, blondes, and gnomes everywhere. These are examples of mnemonics (nothing to do with Keanu Reeves and Johnny Mnemonic)—a tool that I use to help me remember words and stuff. How else can I remember anomia and abulia? Or alexia and apraxia? And why does everything begin with an “a” anyway . . . something to do with Latin, apparently. Wow, I’ve learned Latin! Cool.

Being in class can sometimes be quite frustrating. Last week I was feeling fine and doing really well – positive, upbeat and ready to take on the world! This week I feel like I don’t understand a thing in class and am just plain confused. Maybe I’m having a mid-module crisis. We are almost at the midpoint of this module so we have had a lot of information given to us that my brain has yet to process. I feel I don’t know what I will need to know and I’m drowning in information that may or may not be relevant. It’s time to take a deep breath…..

Have I felt like this before?  Yes.  Did I get through it? Yes. Will I get through this? YES!

I promised myself in a previous module that I will not get myself all worked up over things I cannot control and will just work at things I can control. The exam is not till the end of next week, I have time – so worry about what I’m going to do tonight first. Decision made: I’m not doing the extra (not mandatory, just do it if you want to) homework – I’m taking my brain and doing the must do homework given (which seems like a fairly easy PO to transcribe) and then my brain and I will spend the rest of the time tonight going for a trip down memory lane and reviewing theory already given out.  I already feel better!

As everyone must have felt, I was saddened on hearing the news about the massive earthquake that struck Haiti . As we know, hundreds of thousands died or had been injured during this tragic event. Right now, the people of Haiti require all the help they can get.  

As a response to Haiti’s call for aid, our school immediately stepped up by organizing a raffle fundraiser. Students can purchase tickets to show their support. The cost is very minimal so I am sure everyone can afford it. The tickets will be raffled off for various prizes. The great part of this fundraiser is that our school will match the sum they collected from the tickets sold to students. This means that the support we will be giving to Haiti is doubled! Stenberg is really setting a good example for students by contributing not only their time and energy but by chipping in financially. I just feel appreciative for being a student in this school.

Hopefully, each student has already bought at least one ticket for the Haiti Relief Fundraiser. I believe this activity is a good opportunity for students like me to contribute in any way we can. Sometimes we are hesitant to donate because we feel that what we are giving is so insignificant. I think when it comes to helping we must always remember that though our effort might seem small, it can make all the difference.

I don’t wear pajamas in public: That’s a fact. But I do like pizza. Fact two (or three, if you’re counting): I don’t like intense pain. What have these things got to do with being a student at Stenberg College?

Recently while working at an animal shelter, I put my hand where it wasn’t wanted and was instantly dealt a painful bite by a ferial cat. “You better keep an eye on that,” the attending vet advised me. “My first bite became so infected, the doctor threatened to put me on an intravenous.”

That wasn’t going to happen to this chickie, I assured myself smugly. I had an exam on Tuesday (this was Saturday morning) and nothing was going to hinder me from writing it. Three hours later I purchased heavy-duty antibiotics for my swollen right hand.

Fact four: Resident Care Aide students like to ask you about your signs and symptoms if you are ill, or if you have a nasty animal bite. I’m happy to say that I got lots of sympathy from fellow classmates while being able to successfully write the exam.

About pajamas: Stenberg encouraged all of its students to wear pajamas to school on January 19th. The winning class would get a pizza party. Although I don’t wear p.j.’s in public, but I do eat pizza, I came to school appropriately dressed. RCA 0909 rocks, because we won!

And since my hand has healed nicely I’ll be able to hold onto my pizza slices without any problem.

Well, we started off SOT’s (Surgical order transcription) today – we haven’t really got into the nitty gritty of it yet and tonight the homework is not that bad. After a weekend off, today was a breeze.  I love it when we have a changeover from one module to another.  There is no set homework (though there is always the need to revise med term or pharmacology, this time I did NOT submit to the urge to pickup the books) – I spent this last weekend with my hubby and my dog – it’s been a while since we’ve actually just spent some old fashioned ‘quality’ time together – we went on a couple of small hikes and I feel reinvigorated.  It’s so important to take these precious ‘free’ days and allow you to take some down time, it’s worth it. We all need to recoup and take a break. Do something you haven’t done for a long time, see someone you haven’t seen for a long time because of the pressures of school. Not only will you benefit but the relationships with your family and friends will benefit too – we all had a great time and with my dog, it was like she remembered “Hey – yes this is what we do!”… Car ride+Tim Horton’s+ trees+hills = JOY (which manifests itself as one snoring dog on the couch once we get home).  I realized just how much I have missed us doing this – we used to be off every weekend to some location or other, dog in tow- exploring, but school has been the priority since August and time for doing this has been limited since then. (I don’t count the Christmas break as a holiday – when you have fourteen people for Christmas dinner; it’s not considered a holiday in my book). I know that by Wednesday this week, the homework will be back full swing and the pressure will be building toward the next inevitable exam – but that’s in the future – today I’m just basking in the reflection on what was simply a great weekend away from school – reality will be back soon enough.

Attached is a photo of some of our slippers from the Pajama Day – we had great participation, lots of fun  and people literally let their hair down – it was a great idea, the only thing missing was the hot chocolate – our class was almost falling asleep by ten o’clock!  

We didn’t win the pizza party – but congrats to the winners!!

One last thing, please don’t forget that we have the fund raising raffle for Haiti going on at the moment. There are no comparisons at all to the suffering and grief that is happening right now, so if you can please stop by reception and buy some tickets to help support this cause – every little helps a lot – thanks..

What can I say….when I applied for the student blog position I had lots of ideas in my head that I thought would be so great to write about – now as I sit here in front of the computer, my mind is blank (much like it is whenever I sit down to write an exam)! But I did do something rather cool on the weekend that I would like to share. 

We are very lucky that our instructors managed to get us a shadow day at Langley Memorial Hospital (LMH) so we could experience the mayhem that surrounds a unit clerk on shift. Like a little puppy dog I trailed behind my preceptor wherever they went and tried to make myself invisible when things got a little hectic (invisibility not being one of my strong points)! I wanted to soak everything up like a sponge. In the ’real world’ not everything is done exactly as we learn in the classroom, but having that basic solid foundation is SO important (LMH is on computer for requisitions….what a concept – ALL BC hospitals should have this system!) Overall the day wasn’t that busy (it was a Sunday after all) – but I had a really positive experience with some great people. You really see a slice of human existence in a small emergency room from the bizarre to the sad, and yes, as in Monty Python’s Flying circus there were lots of machines that went ping (ALL DAY!!). So after my eight-hour shift in emergency, I left feeling shattered (it’s crazy how you can get so tired though you don’t really do anything) – but very motivated and I want to go back and actually do the job. I wish everyone could have the experience of spending a day doing the job you are studying for so you can feel what it’s like…because it’s not like sitting in a classroom or role playing…it becomes real and brings lots of things into focus …so THANK YOU to all those who made it happen. Oh, and for those of you that may be interested, there were two really nice doctors on staff that day who were definitely Dr. McDreamies – sometimes life is good! Now it’s back to studying for our next LOT exam on Friday and learning all those requisition forms……groan.