Nursing Orientation

I had my orientation for nursing school a couple weeks ago.  It was surreal to sit in that room and see my classmates and meet my nursing instructor;  so much of the last couple of years has been about getting into nursing school, it was hard to believe I'm actually "in" it now.  (Classes don't start until September 22.)

We received our schedule for Fall, including our clinical schedule.  I am very happy with my clinical schedule this quarter--Thursday and Friday mornings.  Overall, I should only have to figure out after school childcare for 6 days during the first quarter, and I've had several friends tell me they'll have the girls over for playdates to cover those.  

They did tell us that there is a different grading scale for the nursing program.   If you get less than 78% in a course, you FAIL.  As in buh-bye, you are out of the program Fail.   And then they said, "If you are proud of the 4.0 that got you into this program, you need to get over that now.  You will not see a 4.0 again."  

On the one hand, it would be nice to think positive and assume they mean everyone else in the program but me, that this whole nursing school thing isn't going to be as difficult as everyone keeps telling me.   But I'm not delusional.   I read something recently that said when you know what to expect the stress associated with a new situation/transition is reduced.  I think it's better for me and my family to have realistic expectations--this is going to be tough.  Really tough.  It's going to be tough on me, tough on Kolby, and tough on the kids.  But hopefully we'll be able to play enough on my breaks from school (so glad I have summers off!) and the two years will go by quickly.  And I really do think the end result will be worth it.