College can be hard when you are navigating the path alone. During my time in nursing school things changed when I became friends with people who were often in similar situations. We stuck together, studied (a lot of) late nights, and truly encouraged one another so that we could all walk that stage together. Nursing school was no walk in the park. It was one of the toughest challenges of my life. I can’t thank my motivators enough during that time.
I started graduate school in January of this year and it has been another challenging experience. If I am going to be honest with you and myself, I will tell you that I was not prepared to be accepted into graduate school. It was always on my list of things to accomplish but, I had planned to work as a travel RN and see the world! I applied while I was temporarily in Florida thinking it was a shot worth taking but convincing myself I would not get in…but could say to myself “at least I tried”. Well, God had other plans for my life. I got accepted and here we are, eight months in and two semesters down.
During my first semester, I had a REALLY hard time. I worked full time as I did during undergrad but, was quickly discouraged when I failed one of my first exams. I wasn’t sure if it was a lack of having a study group or the changes that had occured so fast: Moving to a new state, starting a new job, AND a new school. I even questioned if I had made the right decision of going back to school and thought about dropping out.
A very good friend of mine was my voice of reasoning and really reminded me about myself and how far I had come. Bluntly telling me during one of my cries out to her: “The Kare I know, IS NO QUITTER. So get your act together because I have seen you overcome worse! You wouldn’t be there if you weren’t supposed to be there! You earned it and truly deserve it.”
She was right. It was a much needed reality check.
Her words still echo in my ear and help guide me. I really re-analyzed my circumstances and shut down my own “pity party” by reminding myself that I had not been in school since 2014! Why was I being so hard on myself?? I needed to get back in the groove of things. Manage my time better and really re-learn how to study. I was using my IG as a personal blog at the moment, and got another message that I needed to hear, the message read:
I need help! I am in my last weeks of nursing school and really need to know what is the best way to study for the NCLEX?”
What is so ironic is that I personally needed to re-learn how to study again. I reflected back to what study habits truly helped me and gave them an appropriate response. But, then I started to think what if there are people who may be contemplating dropping out, or struggling to continue their classes?This is what inspired me to write this post.
In case there is anyone else reading this who may be struggling to learn a new concept or trying to figure out what you’re doing wrong here is some advice: The first step is to stop the negative talk you are feeding yourself. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to, and telling yourself you are a failure is not getting you anywhere.
Secondly, knowing and truly understanding your learning technique is critical. Are you a person that learns best by seeing, listening, doing, or both? Understanding your learning can help maximize your study time making it more efficient and effective.
I personally have a mixture of all three (visual, kinesthetic, and auditory). I tend to combine listening to my class lectures and writing my own notes but then teaching someone else the material in order to apply it. I have been down the fancy Ipad pro and Apple pencil lanes but, have found that good ol’ fashioned handwriting ✍️ helps me retain the information best. Everyone is different. For example, one app colleagues of mine use (and swear by) is the GoodNotes app. It makes very neat and pretty notes compared to my scribbled messes but it wasn’t helping me to retain the information.
Ultimately, you have to find what works best for you. But, knowing this information can help ease any anxiety you may have about new material (I’ve been there and it can be overwhelming if you don’t know where to start). Here’s a pro tip: Joining or starting study groups is also a huge help! Your peers are in the same position you are in (empathy points) and bouncing ideas off one another helps make things easier on the workload for you all. Also, someone might teach you something in a new way and can help you retain the knowledge better.
Humans are often creatures of habit. Getting out of my comfort zone and into a totally new environment reminded me that even though I failed one exam, it was and is not the end of the world. So for those of you thinking Grad school is not for me, I ask that you reconsider. **Thanks the Universe for it’s affirmations** #KNOWLEDGEISPOWER 🧠🧠
