Pampered Pets.

The last class of my STEAM course is called Social Entrepreneurship. In this class, we learned about everything that goes into play when starting up a business. We went over things like incentives, marketing, the hedgehog concept, mission/vision statements, legal structures, pitches, and sales. We also read a little of the book E-Myth. All of that information was super new to me, but I really liked taking it all in. It was cool to learn about all this information that usually only adults know. We had great guest speakers come in and talk about their experience with business. The whole class greatly appreciated their time. For the action project, the class was assigned to come up with a business of our own. We has to create a pitch video explaining the significance of our work. We also had to include the different business ideas we learned about in class. I really liked coming up with ideas for mine. I hope you enjoy my video below!

How to survive.

The last Humanities course for my senior year is called Endurance. In this class, we focused a lot on certain challenges and learned how to endure them. More specifically our own personal challenges and goals. Throughout the whole course, we looked at different examples of endurance. Those stories ranged from holding your breath underwater, to being stuck on a boat for almost a year, and a journey to hell. For the third unit we learned about what coming back from hell can be like. This means that the hero came back from the journey. For the action project the class was assigned to write our own survival guide book for our future. It has to include the reason for this mission that we plan on going on, as well as materials, cost etc. We were also asked to complete a timeline to showcase how long it's going to take us to complete our mission. I had a lot of fun creating this because it feels so real. I'm actually going to go through this. I hope you enjoy reading below!

Accredited Online School 

What and Why:
My dream is to become a nurse. Obviously, I have to go through schooling to accomplish this dream, but there are things that I can do and things that I do do for the time being. For example, I already have experience taking care of children. Or at least I think I do. I already have the caring personality that’s needed to be a great nurse. I understand that you need to learn how to complete certain and specific medical tasks, but I also believe that part of being a nurse means you have a big, caring heart. I’m lucky enough to say that I have that.

Lay of the Land: 

In order to get to where I want to be, I need to graduate from nursing school, and then pass a test to get my licence. It’s going to be a difficult journey, I know that. But I’m willing and determined to get through it all. I have to take courses like anatomy, microbiology, chemistry, nutrition, psychology, and nursing practice and theory (Peterson’s College Quest). I also have to complete clinicals to get a first hand experience of what I’m going to have to know how to do once I finish nursing school. I plan to get a bachelor's degree (BSN), so it’s going to take me 4 years to finish. If everything goes as planned, I'll be 22 years old when I get my degree. I’m pretty confident about job options once I start my journey of looking for one. Nursing is expected to grow 19%, and is considered to be one of the most fastests growing careers. The starting salary for a nurse is $66,640 (Drexel University). I’m pretty happy with that.I have a few family members that are in the medical field, so I have seen first hand how difficult getting to where you want to be is. With that being said, I think the best person(s) I can learn from is my mom, or my aunt. My mom is a sonographer. I have seen her go through many nights studying, and many all nighters. I’ve even seen her cry because of how stressful going through school is. But she never gave up. I knew she was smart, but her experience going through school proved it to be even more true. I can learn from her. She went through what I have to go through in order to get to where I want. “There were many tears, and sleepless nights, but at the end it’s totally worth it, because now I actually enjoy going to work because I love what I’m doing.” I really liked what she said, because although I know it’s going to be hard, I know it’ll be worth it when I’m at work and I’m actually enjoying what I’m doing.

Timeline:

2017- Graduate High School.
2017/2018- Start College (UIC).
2019- Get into the nursing program .
2020- Stay on track in my studies, as well as completing clinicals.
2021- Graduate nursing school with a bachelor’s degree (BSN)
2021/2022- Pass the final exam, and receive my nursing license.
2023- Find a job in a setting that I’m most happy with.
2024- Build up my experience.
2025- Move on to more intensive care units.
2026- Find a permanent position.

Resources/Materials:

The main cost that is going to affect me is the tuition for school. The full cost for my 4 years would come out to $60, 494.98. This also means that it would take me 9 years to pay off student loans. I’m lucky enough to have a family that is going to help me out financially, and they do not want me to get a job while I’m in school. They want me to just stay focused on my studies, but I might still look for a job that doesn’t interfere with school. Or I’d at least try to look.

Non-negotiables:

My main goal is to finish in 4 years. If I don’t, I’ll be devastated. But I’m NOT willing to quit school. If I ever find myself not doing too well in one of my classes, then I’ll sacrifice going out and having fun. I’m sure I’ll be tempted, but I’ll have more time for that once I finish. I’m willing to spend most of my time at the library studying until I finally understand what I’m struggling with. I understand that this sort of action can affect my relationship with certain people, but I’m alright with that. My close friends should know that school is my top priority.

What if:

The worst case scenario is not getting into the nursing program at UIC. It’s one of the best programs at the school, which makes it hard to get in. If that does not work out, I’ll look into other schools that offer the program. I would even look at the accelerated nursing programs. This would allow me to receive my bachelor’s degree in just 2 years. More money is needed for that, but I’m sure I’d figure it out. Not passing the test to get my nursing license would be another hurdle. If this were to happen, I would just have to study my butt off again until I do pass. Another worst case scenario would be not being able to find a job once I graduate. It would really bother me if I put in so much hard work into something, and not being able to use the skills I learned out of it. It would seem like a waste to me. If this were to happen, I would probably find volunteer opportunities. This would give me a chance to maybe put my skills to use, even if I’m not getting paid. Overall, my backup plans are still leading me to my goal. It’s just a different route.  

Map:

Map. RD. 2017 

Inspiration:

A huge motivation is the people who I’ll be caring for. Like I said before, if you want to enjoy being a nurse, you have to have a big, caring heart. That’s apart of your job. Yes, you have to know how to complete certain medical tasks, but you also are going to touch many people’s lives. “They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” This is a quote from Maya Angelou’s poem describing what nurses accomplish. Your main goal as a nurse is to make your patient feel better. It’s really a win-win situation. I feel good by making others feel good. “Nurses are there when the last breath is taken and nurses are there when the first breath is taken. Although it is more enjoyable to celebrate the birth, it is just as important to comfort in death." This is another quote that I really liked. As a nurse, I’m going to experience so many different events and moments. The birth of a child is memorable, but so is the death of someone. It’s a mixture of joy and sadness, but I can’t wait to go home everyday knowing I made a difference in someone’s life. I’m not going to lie, another motivation is the money. There are a lot of things that I want to do, but I can’t because of money. I always think about the goal. I’ll be 22, on my own, just worrying about myself. All the money I make is for me. 

When did I first find out I wanted to be a nurse?

I was around 8 or 9 when I realized that I wanted to work in a hospital or doctor setting. Two of my family members got sick around the same time, which meant that I spent a lot of time in the hospital. I remember always analyzing the nurses and watching carefully to see what they were doing whenever they came in the room to take care of something. It was always super cool to me. I would even come home and play with my younger sister, pretending to be a nurse.