Long Post Part A: I was tired. All the time, I mean. I’d wake up first thing in the morning, go to my classes, eat lunch, take a nap, go to afternoon classes (fall asleep in class) and then come home and study before I’d sleep the next 10-12 hours. Seriously? I was exhausted. At first, the doctors said, “It’s just adjusting to college life, it happens to young people who don’t know how to manage their time…it’ll pass as you adjust. Maybe you should consider living at home with your parents or something?” They didn’t understand, my parents were in the United Arab Emirates…as in, ACROSS the WORLD. I was hours from Granma’s house, I was on my own and, oh by the way, I wasn’t an idiot, I managed my time just fine thank-you-very-much. I wish that was the only problem I had at the time. I’d just come through high school and straight into college (ie. I had a two week span to pack and move from South Carolina to Texas) so I could start on my nursing pre-requisites before ROTC began. I was working hard before most students even considered college dorm locations because I knew when ROTC and Nursing collided, it wasn’t going to be pretty. Turns out I was so right it was scary. My first semester in college, the cadets in charge felt I wasn’t a team-player. I was too arrogant about being the only nursing student who was dual-enrolled, I wasn’t supportive of attending the ROTC functions, and I barely participated in the volunteer activities. In all honesty, I was brought before a board of my peers and told they didn’t think I could hack it and they were recommending me for separation and removal of my academic scholarship…immediately. I had one acquaintance that I’d met in the gym over the summer, not a friend per se, but a guy that was an upper-classmen I’d met on the treadmill. I am sure he thought I was cocky and arrogant too, but for whatever reason, he listened to me lay out my schedule with Nursing and ROTC and trying to handle this all while sleeping 14-16 hours each day. I’ll never forget what he told me, “So, what, you’re just gonna throw the towel in and quit? Won’t that show them they were right about you?” I was furious. I spent several days documenting (hey, I was a nursing student, it’s what they hammer home for us) how I’d not missed any required activities and that I was participating in everything that I could – given my schedule, and I fought for my scholarship as hard as anyone ever had. Fortunately, I had a Major at the time who also believed in me, she sat and helped me work through my course schedules and make sure that I could do both. Both of these people still hold incredible positions in my life today – as a result of their support the paperwork and recommendations were tossed out and I just had to figure out the perception issue of not being a team player. Oh but wait, there’s more. The courses I took in Nursing the first few years were designed to weed out those who couldn’t hack it. They were tough on purpose and I’m confident there weren’t that many A’s earned in my day (we checked…yeah, I’m a little nosy like that). But as a result of those classes, I finally had found out that my sleeping stuff (and the weight gain and hair loss) weren’t the Freshman Fifteen or an adjustment period or anything like that. One of my classes talked about hypothyroidism and I seemed to fit the criteria so I made my doctors specifically test for it. TA-DA! I’m not an idiot after all, my thyroid was as dead as a cockroach at a family reunion picnic. Anyway, the finals got closer and closer and I got more and more worried. My grades had been okay, but not stellar…an absolute first for this gal, I skated through high school for the most part (French class is another topic for another day). I could see where the confidence and cockiness came falling down as I realized if I didn’t get a 70 or better, I wouldn’t keep progressing. The finals day came and I had stayed up until 4am at the IHOP studying with one of my good friends. I was absolutely certain I nailed it! I walked out victorious and ran into one of the teachers and began gushing my enthusiasm. I was met with a face that told me to shut up and fast. She told me to come back tomorrow because we needed to talk… To Be Continued... Please Like, Comment, and Share!
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 00:59:56 +0000
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