The path to nurse-hood
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Please allow me to introduce myself. I gather that you have a few basic
bits of information about me already and this is my opportunity to help you
put all these “bits of me” into a more complete picture for you. I’m a
nursing student in the UAA outreach site of Fairbanks. I have been in the
program one year and I am amazed at how much I’ve learned and how glad I
am to be heading down the path to nurse-hood. After graduation in December
of 2009, I plan to obtain a job at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and gain my
initial nursing experience. I feel now that a critical care setting, public
health or serving underprivileged populations might be areas that I would
like to specialize in although I’ve been surprised before by life’s
twists and turns and I intend to keep an open mind. Some of the things that
I’ve learned in the last year include: better critical thinking skills and
that I have a lot of natural abilities to care for and be empathetic and
I’ve learned a lot about being a professional… I will be the first
member of my family to graduate with a college degree and I come from a hard
working, blue-collar family, so gaining an idea of this
“professionalism” was especially valuable for me. I believe nursing is
the medium in which I will be able to use my skills the most efficiently in
being a meaningful, deliberate and thoughtful member of this world.
I definitely plan on staying in Fairbanks; my husband and I are scratching
away at a cabin-building project that will serve as home until we outgrow a
cabin and move into house-like aspirations.
I grew up in a small town in Wyoming and Alaska was a natural migration
for a young woman who loved the outdoors. As my relationship with Alaska
matured, so did I and I began to feel a strong urge to acquire marketable
skills that would offer me the chance to create a more economically stable
life for myself.
I am involved in several university organizations. I am a member of the
National Society of Collegiate Scholars and of the Student Support Services
program, where I also worked as a peer tutor and mentor from 2005 until
September 2008. Outside of the university, I am involved with the Alaska
Skijoring and Pulk Association, the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks and I have
volunteered my time at the Animal Shelter as well as Mush for Kids.
posted in: Alaska