Back at Biola.

I've arrived!

Yep, tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM, I start my 2nd year of nursing school (and fourth year) at Biola. Our schedule deems that from 8:00-5:30 we have Mandatory Orientation, with a break from 11:45-12:30 for lunch. When the day comes to a close, I will have finished IV Initiation, reviewing skills from last year, and some IV practice. The schedule all seniors in college dream about when they plan? Not exactly. But, nonetheless, I am definitely excited to begin and see how classes go this semester. My first rotation is possibly at St. Francis. I am in "Advanced Nursing of the Client/Family" until September 26 and that's the hospital that I last heard we were scheduled in to have our clinicals. I've heard that it's a good rotation to get out of the way first.

So far so good as far as settling in goes. It's a huge year of transition for me, but I'm enjoying all the new things immensely thus far. New roommate, new room, new building, new people around. I feel almost like a freshman getting used to the area. I spent time in the building last year and I know a lot of the people here, both of which are huge pluses as far as transitioning. The dorm has a new lounge area and new carpet throughout, which means that we have amazingly comfy chairs and carpets in our room that are still scotch-guarded (translation: a spilled iced coffee doesn't make as much of a mess). Amy and I are unpacked and have a little decorating to do, but not much. We have a massive wonderful couch that you melt into and my papasan chair for relaxing. Yesssss. haha. The girls on the floor that I am living with are some of the most outstanding girls on campus. They've invited me in completely and I am getting to know them little by little over meals and by hanging out in their rooms.

Yesterday I went to lunch to Chipotle with about 10 or so others, had coffee with a friend and then played volleyball for two hours after dinner on the sand court that's up the hill from our building. My forearms and ankle are a tad sore today, but it was worth it (don't be alarmed, I'm fine and my ankle turned out to be nothing serious). Volleyball was so much fun that we're talking about forming an intermural team with some guys from our "brother floor" and playing on a B League this semester. Brilliant. The sprinklers came on about 9:30 and although the court wasn't in danger of being drenched, the game stopped and we decided that running through the sprinklers would be the perfect way to end the evening.

One of my favorite things so far has been being reunited with some of the girls on my floor last year. I had a difficult end of last semester and it was a challenge to see if I was making a difference in their lives and truly helping them. I've had one former resident visit me here in my room and another run across the parking lot to give me a huge hug, plus I've gotten countless other hugs and (excited) waves. I'm planning on coffee/meal meetings with a few of the girls that I've seen and am so looking forward to hearing about their summers. I'm visiting Sigma (old dorm of 3 years) this weekend after things calm down to see more people and spend time with people that I have missed this summer.

Well, that's life recently in a nutshell. I hope to be updating this blog at least weekly to keep everyone sort of informed about my life. I didn't do such a great job of connecting with family and friends at home last year and I want to to change that. I'll be making more phone calls, too. Starting the year off with a blog and don't be afraid to call me on not keeping up if I stop writing, k? = )

Love you all, and I'm off to work on some math for Thursday's test. G'night.