Second Semester

During my last Nursing Rounds, I told you about my first semester of college. I hadn't even started learning about nursing yet. Just getting the pre-requisites out of the way.

I took Speech, during the summer, between first and second semester. I had been told that Speech, during the summer, would have a smaller number of really young students. That was true. But I still didn't like public speaking. And it was nerve wracking. But in the end, I did okay. The Professor was a bit of a "lecherous old guy". It was a well-known fact that to get an easy A you just needed to wear a skirt. I never wore a skirt. And I still got an A!

Time to start second semester. This time, I was going to have to work too. I worked for an inventory company. You have probably seen them in stores with their "counting machines" and lots of tags. Mostly we worked when stores were closed. So that worked out for me to work late evenings and still be able to go to school and occasionally see my kids. By this time Richard was firmly a fixture in our lives. I couldn't have done it without him. 

During this semester I took Anatomy & Physiology, English II, Abnormal Psychology, and Parenting. The last class was to simply round out my hours which was for the scholarship requirement. This was the hardest semester of all of my college years. A & P almost kicked my butt! It was hard!!! And I received my first C. But, I didn't stop. (I wanted to quit). A fantastic nursing counselor told me a C was acceptable and to quit being so hard on myself. 

The labs that accompanied A & P were the greatest. We dissected many things: a fetal pig, a cow's eyeball, a sheep's brain, a rat to name a few. With the exception of the rat, I loved the labs. It was beyond fascinating to me. Another good lab partner (Thank God for Tom) saved me from having to view the rat. He dissected it and then covered up the head and tail. You all remember my fear of mice?? Tom was in my nursing class. He finished nursing but he went on the be the Supervisor of our Paramedics at the hospital.

My boys have stories to tell about this part of my nursing education. We were allowed to bring home things to help us study. I warned them not to look in the plastic butter bowl in the refrigerator. They didn't listen. Imagine their surprise when they saw a sheep's brain. Ha! Ha! They still talk about it.  

I loved English II as much as English I. And I was lucky enough to get the same Professor. This was my first introduction to The Great Gatsby. I'll be revisiting this book later this year for book club. 

Abnormal Psychology was BORING! Maybe a different Professor may have helped. The one I had lectured in a monotone and showed a lot of boring videos. But it helped fill out my schedule.

Final Summer before I start actual nursing classes. I took Microbiology. Along with a lab. I learned some fascinating things in this class. Like, do you know what the dirtiest thing in a public bathroom is? We swabbed lots of bathrooms and grew the bacteria in a petri dish. I'll give you the results in my next Nursing Rounds.