Thursday, October 16, 2008
Lord help me, I applied for the military.
Yes, it's true.
Here's the scoop: if I get selected, the Canadian Forces will pay for my tuition and books, and pay me a salary to go to school. During school, I don't have to do anything except school. During the summer they will fly me out to Quebec for military training. I can finish my education at my wonderful college and I will graduate with no debt.
The catch? 5 years mandatory service. That, my friends, is all.
Let's weigh the options here.
Civilian: Graduate in 4 years with approximately $50,000 in debt, before interest. Work 22.5 hours a week while juggling school and those f'ing "extracurricular activities" that might make me worth a scholarship. Work for 5 years to simultaneously pay down said debt, put money to RRSP, put money to first house and car, and cross my fingers that I don't get knocked up in the process - 'cuz wouldn't that just be ducky!
Military: Graduate in 4 years with perhaps $25,000 in savings. Be in awesome shape from Basic. Be an f'ing Nursing Officer. Be deployed to various awesome places to administer medical aid to those who need it. Work for 5 years getting experience in floor nursing, and then either love it or leave it.
Now, some of you may be thinking yeah, ugrn, the perks are because you might, uh, die.
A valid point.
However, I might also die in a tragic car accident next week and/or get a stingray to the heart when I next go snorkelling. You just never know!
But really, Canada's bloodlust isn't exactly roaring these days and the Tories say we're supposedly pulling out of Afghanistan by 2012. Even still, I would be second-line and pretty unlikely, by military standards, to bite it.
So that's my news for today.
Here's the scoop: if I get selected, the Canadian Forces will pay for my tuition and books, and pay me a salary to go to school. During school, I don't have to do anything except school. During the summer they will fly me out to Quebec for military training. I can finish my education at my wonderful college and I will graduate with no debt.
The catch? 5 years mandatory service. That, my friends, is all.
Let's weigh the options here.
Civilian: Graduate in 4 years with approximately $50,000 in debt, before interest. Work 22.5 hours a week while juggling school and those f'ing "extracurricular activities" that might make me worth a scholarship. Work for 5 years to simultaneously pay down said debt, put money to RRSP, put money to first house and car, and cross my fingers that I don't get knocked up in the process - 'cuz wouldn't that just be ducky!
Military: Graduate in 4 years with perhaps $25,000 in savings. Be in awesome shape from Basic. Be an f'ing Nursing Officer. Be deployed to various awesome places to administer medical aid to those who need it. Work for 5 years getting experience in floor nursing, and then either love it or leave it.
Now, some of you may be thinking yeah, ugrn, the perks are because you might, uh, die.
A valid point.
However, I might also die in a tragic car accident next week and/or get a stingray to the heart when I next go snorkelling. You just never know!
But really, Canada's bloodlust isn't exactly roaring these days and the Tories say we're supposedly pulling out of Afghanistan by 2012. Even still, I would be second-line and pretty unlikely, by military standards, to bite it.
So that's my news for today.
Finished at last
Midterms, that is. I technically have one more on Monday, but it's English and therefore impossible to study for.
On Tuesday evening, I ended up writing that damn essay for hours. The words just would not come. I finished at 21:00 and then hammered out a few hours of Discipline of Nursing studying, which worried me.
There's a lot to know, like all of the founding women of nursing... Florence of course, Jeanne Mance, Snively, d'Youville, Gunn, Shaw, Mussallem, et al. Also many theories of nursing - we are expected to use the McGill model in our practice.
I left for school at 0640 and arrived at school way early to print off my notes and study for my test, except that the computer lab was not open until 0730! So I grabbed a coffee and waited for about 20 precious minutes. The lab opened, I grabbed a computer (which, of course, had to run its little updates and took about 7 minutes for me just to log in), and hit print... out of toner. Asked the girl to change it, all the while looking at my watch, and she didn't have the key. So I didn't get too much studying done yesterday morning.
But it was ok, because I kind of winged the test (I mean, I did study all weekend and the night before, but I didn't feel like I knew the content cold) and hey! This test was really easy! It was just the kind of test I was expecting on my last midterm. "Which is an example of a theory?"
Zing!
And as for the essay, I showed it to my prof 4 hours before class and she said it was crap. She told me what to rewrite, so I basically spent another 3 hours on it, and I handed it back in. Here's hoping it works! I have learned to DO MY ASSIGNMENTS as soon as they are assigned because if I put it off, it tends to get in the way later.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Procrastinating...
...While watching 101 More Things Removed From The Human Body.
Today, I:
- Voted in the Federal Election (NDP, woo!)
- Wrote a brief essay on why unions kicks ass, as part of my submission for a $750 bursary
- Skipped Foundations in Health to write the union essay
Today, I still need to:
- Write a crappy English essay
- Study my ass off for Discipline of Nursing midterm
You may remember my angst regarding my English professor. I have determined that the only solution to this issue is to write my paper, and then bring it to her for inspection. Whatever changes she makes, I will submit. Standing up for myself and my opinion? Nah. Kissing ass? Probably. Better mark? Better be!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Still in Midterm Madness
Studying hard this weekend for my next midterm on Wednesday, the Discipline of Nursing. I got my marks back in Anatomy - 89% and Physiology - 88%! (Class average was 68%!) I earned those, and I'm very happy. Foundations I'm a little concerned about because it was a whole lot less 'fluffy' than I was thinking... instead of questions like, "Which is an example of epidemiology?" it's more like, "The LaLonde report identified the need for what?" and gave 4 very-plausible-almost-identical answers. So yeah, it was tough; and no, I didn't study nearly as hard as I needed to.
Anyway, here's hoping this week turns out better.
Yesterday was spent going over half of the readings that I didn't do for class, making notes on them, and sharing them with another girl who is doing the other half. Whilst doing the readings, I was thinking huh, that abstract concept makes a lot more sense now that I've read this about it.
I have learned important lessons from this set of midterms:
- I need to be doing my readings before class, ergo, I should do the next one on the day of the previous class, and then they are done. Saying Sweet! No anatomy for another week! does not facilitate reading the night before the next class.
- Some concepts were not explained in class because they were so obviously written out in the text. Going into the class on those days was like going in blind, and leaving bewildered. Reading = important.
- Making notes on what I read. I've never done it before, but even just capturing the gist of the chapter will make it a lot easier to review for a test.
- Highlighting is good. Going back to read over a solid block of text is intimidating; a highlighted block of text is not nearly as scary!
I just got back from my grandparents' place where we had a supergood non-turkey Thanksgiving dinner. There was oodles of pie and yummy things and so. much. food. I got lots of leftovers! :)
Friday, October 10, 2008
To your left,
you will see me, wearing a mask and snorkel.
I figured that my nouveau-Florence above is getting a little worn and isn't all that personal. So I changed it on Twitter and then I put it here too. Please don't be a creeper and stalk me like that one guy did. I'd put up a more, uh, normal picture except that I'm planning on being honest on this blog and don't want to deal with any instructor drama if I'm ever 'outed'. After all, Not Nurse Ratched, whom I have a huge Apple crush on, has already been down that very unpleasant road... I'd rather not go there too.
The snorkelling was in some Cuban waters... my first time in the sea! God, diving is hard when you are buoyant. I'm holding a shell in the pic, which you can't see, and I was very proud of actually getting to the bottom to grab it.
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