L'aventure américaine

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it." -Helen Keller This quote is posted on the powerpoint slide in the OB seminar that I am currently in. I think that I could have learned a lot from the presentations that we're receiving (acupuncture, stress relief, community support, aromatherapy), but I find that with my internet access that my friend, Lee, is providing, I'm much more productive by not paying attention. Learning new things versus catching up on my life? Catch up always wins, doesn't it? Life has been full, but good, of late. I find that I'm tired the majority of the time, although I hate being the "I'm tired" type. I have started a new SNE position, which is a glorified tech position in the hospital. I'm also still campaigning, although more behind the scenes than actually harassing people right now, and nursing school takes up a good chunk of my life. Friends and the new Art Boy have f...

We're baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack... "Are you registered to vote?" This sentence rings through the campus center again as Students for Barack Obama has set up the table and plans on sticking around between now and November 5th. Happy Election Year, everyone! Moments of today included: "Don't ask me now. Especially while I'm eating." Stated with disdain and disgust... The returning heckler who keeps saying, "Don't vote for change" and hangs around our table. He has yet to say anything substantive about why he's voting for McCain. A concerned voter who is leaning toward Obama, but very concerned because her church insists that he is the Antichrist and has been showing newspaper articles that match up with passages in the Bible. Whichever she decides... she's now registered to vote. Two and half months left. Don't forget to register.

This week I had my new job orientation. I will be working as a Student Nurse Extern (SNE: pronounced snee) at University Hospital. It's like a glorified tech with more privileges and I'm pretty excited about it. So, this week I had job training from 8-4:30 for four days with other nursing students. These included students from the traditional program at IU, Purdue, Anderson, Ivy Tech, etc. I had become accustomed to the students in my program: my classmates whom I love. They're smart and serious students with varied interests and I had projected our diversity onto the rest of the nursing students. This week, I realized that that wasn't quite the case. Obviously, I get offended when people try to stereotype nurses, but some of the students that I met this week really represented that stereotype. It's true, they're extremely kind and sweet people who will be good, caring, empathetic nurses. But, I felt that they were missing that something extra. For exa...

You know that you're about to take a trip with a girl when... You spend a good portion of the morning preparing snacks. You worry about which book to read and debate which library is on the way out. You discuss whether or not hair dryers will be in the hotel. Off on a trip with my mom! We've got quite the Hoosier storm showing us the way, but I'm not worried. We've got plenty of snacks...

Today is my last day of my second summer session. The part of nursing school that our program warned us about it almost over... 6 hours away from finishing. I wouldn't say that nursing school is the most efficient program. I have spent the majority of this clinical session (of psychology), trying to figure out how to pay attention and foster interest versus letting my mind wander but maintaining a focused facial expression. Also keeping my contempt of time wasting under wraps. That's been a challenge. Sometimes I've succeeded, and as my classmates can attest, sometimes I haven't. But, now, as everyone else buckles down for the start to the school year, I'm getting ready for my vacation. I have one whole week (slightly more, in fact) in which I have no work to do and no studying to do. I'll do some campaign work and I'm going on a trip with my mom and my second week of vacation will be full of job training, but when I finish a day, I will get to read ...

Evenings like this make me reflect on college. Evenings before I had several tests, when I felt tense and ready for the next day to be over. I hate to wish my life away, but evenings like this make me wish for time to go faster. My tests now are certainly not as stressful as other tests have been, but I do feel the familiar tensing. Tomorrow I have two exams and a presentation, but I think that I am prepared and I'm pretty sure that the studying is over for the evening. Only "The Office" reruns await. This poem makes me appreciate even days like this. I'm lucky to be 25 in this summer in Indiana. The Life of a Day - -Tom Hennen Like people or dogs, each day is unique and has its own personality quirks which can easily be seen if you look closely. But there are so few days as compared to people, not to mention dogs, that it would be suprising if a day were not a hundred times more interesting than most people. But usually they just pass, mostly unnoticed, unles...

I know what you're thinking... What issue isn't near and dear to her heart? But, this was perhaps the first issue that I become politically aware of and certainly the first one in which I became more pro-active. This is because our friends, the Tokarski's, have been fighting the highway for too many years now, in addition to which, the project hit too close to home when IN-DOT announced that our home and land was in the 2000 foot corridor where the new I-69 is planned. Here is a current op-ed from the Indianapolis Star regarding the highway. I also included it for your convenience. Read it. Write a letter to your congressman . Pass it on. My view: Jesse Kharbanda Let's make Major Moves for 21st century Gasoline prices have been rising for the past four quarters and political instability abroad probably will increase these prices even more. In response, Indiana is taking some foresighted steps to foster smart alternative...