Tales of a Nursing Student

-The temperature rose above freezing today!

-I got over 100% on my first (and possible one of my hardest) finals last night

-I'm going home in a week (hopefully this time next week I'll be in Bloomington!)

-The change of the seasons from chilly to freezing cold is a mercy from God and a sign of His faithfulness to His promises. Also that the promise of spring is not vain.

-Classes are done for the semester, and after Thursday I'll be done completely with 1/8th of my nursing education

-I am wearing a Purdue Hoodie on top of an IU shirt. =)

Praise God for His many blessings!

That's right, I said being evangelized, not doing it. But first things
first.

If PETA ever got wind of what goes on in biology labs across the nation they would have a fit. Take last night, for example. We have just started studying the circulatory system and so we naturally want to see veins and arteries with the blood still flowing through them. One of the best ways to do this is on live fish. So, we took a very alive, large gold fish out of his tank and put him in a much smaller tank of anesthetic until he turned on his side, completely out. (We only killed two last night out of lots and lots of fish examined!) Well, my lab partner and I were the last to see the fish. For kicks, one of the TAs picked the largest fish out of the bunch. The poor little guy kept fighting the anesthetic. He kept beginning to go to sleep, turning on his side. Then, he would suddenly rally and start thrashing around again. Finally he was down and the TA started to fish him out with a net when he started thrashing around again! The crazy fish would not go to sleep. Well, he eventually lost enough strength to stay still on the microscope so we put him on there (wrapped in very damp cotton to keep him moist) and observed his blood flowing through the blood vessels. The entire time, though, his mouth was moving, making faces that were much more amusing than his blood vessels.

Earlier this week, I was wasting time between classes, eating an apple on Memorial Mall. Apparently I looked more available than most of my fellow college students because I hadn't been there more than five minutes when a professor-aged man asked if he could sit down with me. I said sure, and he proceeded to talk for the next five minutes about the Bible, sin, and presented the gospel. When he finished I told him I was already a Christian and I came to find out that we have several mutual acquaintances including Pastor Bayly. What a small world!

This afternoon was wet and miserable in most students' eyes. But it didn't dampen my spirits. I'm going home tomorrow!!

Being in nursing school is certainly challenging in many different
respects. However, there are perks as well. This week I was introduced to the freakiest and coolest things involved in the school. They are the simulation men (or women, depending on what parts you put on or take off, or if it is pregnant) who reproduce different health crisis. Essentially they are all robots who talk, cough, breathe, have a heart rate, sounds, lung sounds, etc. I held one of their hands briefly when I met one of them and it was so strange! It almost felt real, except that it had a hard, mechanical inside. The newest sim men arrived late last week and do everything from bleed, cry, have snot come out of their nose, and saliva come out of their mouths. Oh, and they also die on nursing students. That's why we have them, so we can learn not to kill them. =) They can be used to simulate almost any medical emergency from heart attack to labor and delivery; they can be in-tubed (put on a ventilator) and they have IV sites, and so much more. The only thing they can't do is get up and walk. The new ones are wireless as well so they can simulate a cardiac arrest in the hallway of the nursing building as a pop quiz for the poor nursing students who happen to be there.

"If girls realized their responsibilities they would be so careful when
they smiled that they would probably abandon the practice altogether.
There are moments in a man's life when a girl's smile can have as
important results as an explosion of dynamite."
P.G. Wodehouse, Something New

I have a habit of checking the Department of the Interior web cams of
national parks quite frequently. This morning, after my 7:30 class, I
checked them and this picture is what they showed the Smoky mountains looking like. Stunning! I cannot wait to go visit them in a week and a half as long as it doesn't rain.

The above statement is something I have found very true this last week while I have been trying to memorize all 206 bones in the adult body. Thankfully I’m not aspiring to be a pediatric doctor, or there would be even more to memorize!

Ever since I was little I have learned kinesthetically, meaning that touching and doing something sticks in my head more than reading or hearing it. In consequence, all morning I have been spinning around on the floor touching each bone in order and saying its name and then checking my book to make sure I was right. Amazingly, it really works; I can now tell you the names and numbers of each bone in your body! Bruce Springsteen really helps me keep rhythm while doing this. Lets just hope the same tactic works next week for muscles. =)

By the way, I also have a skinned knee because of this... Oh the pains we endure for higher education.

Weekends are fantastic to have again. While I was in B-ton I almost always worked at least 8 hours on Saturday, leaving almost no time for play. One of the niceties about being a student and not working is the free weekend hours that I am sure will fill up with homework soon. But for now, I take the time to go biking and go down to the local farmer's market...

...like these guys, for instance. After asking them if I could take their picture, they started talking to me about life and I found out that they were both Christians. The guy in the overalls told me a short story of his life. He was first married to a lovely woman named Marilyn, who was ten years older than him and wore a size ten shoe. He loved her dearly, but she developed liver cancer and died of it. He didn’t think he would ever marry again. But a few years later he met and married another beautiful woman. Her name’s Marilyn, she is ten years older than him, and she wears a size ten shoe. “The Good Lord knows I don’t like change!” was his only remark about that. They were both very encouraging to me about my studies and were just overall fantastic! I’m going to visit them until the market ends in October. =)

After Market, I went to the Tippecanoe County Public Library, where they were having a book sale. I discovered that I probably shouldn’t be allowed to go to a book sale by myself when I am starving for a ready supply of kids books. Thankfully, they almost all fit on my bookshelf. =)

Along the way home, I stopped to take pictures of my new, sometimes bewildering, surroundings.

The Courthouse

On the bridge over the train tracks right by the Amtrak train station that I have to cross to get to Lafayette. It’s pretty fun to stand on it when the train is moving because the bridge vibrates!

The Wabash on one of the overlooks. I love riding down by the river!

One of the best things by the river are the flowers that grow there! God’s creation is amazing and beautiful, and I love it because it points to His glory.

Later that day Jessica and I went to a RUF picnic. The most exciting thing about that picnic was that the hosts own a quarter share of a 4-seater airplane and he gave rides! Jess even flew it some, which was both cool and little scary for the passenger in the back seat. I was pretty sure we were going to start to role in the air. All-in-all it was a lovely day.

To start off this blog, I think it fitting to introduce the newest member of my family, Annie Sunshine Hobbs (my darling niece), born yesterday at 12:51 pm, weighing 6 lb 14 oz, and 19 inches. Praise our merciful God for her safe delivery!