Blog #17: Study Abroad

If I were to study nursing elsewhere, I would choose somewhere abroad as opposed to nationally, with the one exception being North Carolina. I have a lot of friends in North Carolina and it would be cool to get to visit them for a whole semester. Otherwise, I would probably choose Spain. One of my huge goals throughout college is to become fluent, so visiting Spain would certainly help me with that. I would love to go to Australia too, although I have no reason other than because I like it.
My favorite part of my service site has definitely been how much I've been able to help my mentee. She really seems to look forward to when I come. I helped her make a huge study sheet one day for her math exam. She hasn't gotten her grade back yet, but I'm really hoping what I did with her helped!

Blog #16: Leadership

I define leadership as taking charge in a large group of people. For instance, when you have to do a group project, there is usually at least one person in the group who will step up and make suggestions. I would view that person as the "leader" of the group, so to speak. I've ended up being a leader in many projects, especially during high school. I always seemed to get stuck with people who didn't care about making a good grade, so I stepped up. My senior year in high school, I would have been eligible to be a leader in HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America); however, our teacher decided to stop having leadership positions due to bad past experiences. Becoming a leader in HOSA at the college level is definitely something I would consider as a junior or a senior.

Blog #15: Diversity, Part Two

Prior to coming to the University of South Carolina, when I thought of the word diversity, I thought solely of race. In my high school, racism was common and seeing it was an every day occurrence. While the same problems occur here at USC, there is diversity in other ways as well. Financial and intellectual diversity are common here too. Instead of being in an AP class where all the students study and strive to do well, I find in my theater class I am one of the few that actually takes notes. One girl actually told me the day before our midterm that she hadn’t kept any of our past quizzes, never took notes, didn’t read the book, and carelessly missed the study session. I can’t even fathom how someone could let themselves fall so far behind, knowing that they have to pass the class to graduate. Clearly she will have to retake the course, but she could have easily prevented that. It amazed me that there was such a huge difference between the two of us.

Blog #14: Diversity

As far as South Carolina traditions go, I attended First Night Carolina on the night of move-in. However, it did not go exactly as planned. It ended up raining all night and soaking everyone. I also participated in reading Into the Wild. While the book was somewhat interesting, the gathering at the Coliseum at eight in the morning was not. I would much rather have been able to sleep in. My favorite tradition will probably be the tiger burn. I have heard it’s really fun and exciting. Plus, a number of my friends go to Clemson, so hopefully we will win! I am also continuing the “tradition” in my family of going to USC. Most of my relatives have attended this college as well. Becoming a nurse also runs in the family and is related to USC. When I graduate in 2014 I will be the third generation.

Blog #13: Alcohol Education

During our Alcohol Education class discussion, I learned a few things, like how much alcohol counts for one drink.  I also had no idea that Four Lokos were actually four to six drinks a piece; this explains all the horror stories I’ve heard about them from my friends.  Next semester, I’ll be taking the required Nursing 226 (which I think is Nutrition), along with Biology 243, Sociology 305, and Spanish 122.  With one open class, I might take another math course.  I’m really good at math and I need the highest GPA possible to get into upper division at the end of my sophomore year.  An easy math course would certainly boost my GPA.  For fall break, I’m going back to Irmo tonight (Wednesday) and coming back midafternoon on Sunday.  Friday night some of my friends and I are going to the fair!  Other than that, I don’t have any specific plans yet – just seeing friends. :)

Blog #12: Service Site

So far, mentoring hasn’t been that bad.  My mentee (let’s call her Jennifer) is really sweet and talkative. This week, I helped her organize her binder (which was a HUGE mess) and her bookbag.  I got out of organizing her locker because she doesn’t use it – lucky me!  She said her biggest problem is organizing and math, two things at which I’m very good at, so we seem to be paired up well. I’m really glad I ended up with a mentee that is well-behaved.  I’ve heard horror stories from other people and the only problem Jennifer has with behavior is that she’ll draw during class instead of paying attention.  My strengths will definitely be math and organizing, which like I said are the two things she has trouble with.  Jennifer really wanted me to have this castle silly band for some reason, so I gave her a cocky one in return and she was ecstatic.  I’m thinking about bringing her some candy or something at the end of this if she keeps everything organized.

Blog #11: Mid-semester

It’s hard to believe I’m already halfway through my first semester at USC. The school year definitely goes by way faster in college than in high school. Looking back, one of my favorite memories has to be moving in. Jessi (my roommate), her family, and my family were all trying to fit in our small room. Everyone was moving furniture as Jessi and I were trying to decide how to arrange our room. It was absolute chaos, but reflecting back it was hilarious. :) If I could change one thing, it would be some decisions I made regarding certain friends of mine. One of my goals at the beginning of the semester was about keeping a really high GPA. I’m proud to say I’m definitely meeting that! I even upped my goal from a 3.6 to 4.0. With hard word and a serious study schedule, I certainly think that it’s possible. That hardest thing will be to make myself write papers. I tend to procrastinate with those because I hate writing them. I’m actually going to go start making outlines for the 3 papers I have due next week right now. Bye!

Blog #10: Fair & Brain Rules

Overall, I thought the Student Major and Information Fair was really interesting. I was disappointed though because the College of Nursing chose not to attend.  The closest thing to nursing was exercise science, so I spoke to the woman at that table for a few minutes. I noticed that the classes were way different than those required for nursing and the lady explained that nursing students who transfer to other majors are almost always behind – good thing I’m staying with nursing! I also spoke to a woman at the pre-advisement table about becoming fluent in Spanish. I can’t minor in anything while being in nursing school, but I still would like to find a way to speak Spanish really well so I can put that on my resume. She told me about a program where you go out to lunch with a student who speaks Spanish and wants to learn English; so in a way, you help each other. Brain Rules looks good so far. Parts of the novel are medically related, which I found intriguing. Some of the parts get a little boring, but it picks back up with another story or scenario shortly.