Focus.

I suppose I somewhat have a focus for this blog now, one that I most definitely can live with especially when it comes to sharing. For a while my future has somewhat been up in the air. I always intended to go to college I was just never completely sure what for. Thankfully I'm a little more squared away now.

I originally started out as a physical sciences (Chemistry/Biology, I forget which one) major when I first entered college after high school, but when thinking of ways I could complete all my education at the same school, the University of Montana, I opted for a major change and went the way of being a Pre-Pharmacy major because UM has a Pharmacy school on campus, but after a year it was pretty clear to me that this was not the real path I wanted to go down.

As I began re-evaluating the best major change for me I took stock of the Nursing programs offered at the College of Technology for the same university and decided my first plan of action was to obtain a licensed practical nursing associate degree and then continue on in their 2 year registered nursing program, but in reality with as much as I had to put into a 2 year registered nursing degree it seemed more applicable to just go for a full out 4 year bachelors of science in nursing degree (BSN).

I spent the remaining 2 years I was not studying Pre-Pharmacy working on pre-requisite classes for the LPN program at UM-COT and for the RN program at MSU. Luckily a lot of the classes for each different program have the same base, so it's like killing two birds with one stone. A lot of my pre-requisites from my Pre-Pharmacy days counted towards some of my general educations requirements, but a bunch did not count towards my Nursing pre-requisites, but luckily the classes were still beneficial overall.

I lived in Missoula, the home of UM for a total of 3 years and I can honestly say at least 2 of those years were some of the most miserable times of my life. Missoula was and will never be my home, it will also never be a town that 'gets' me. I drive my SUV with pride while people in Missoula love their bikes and their hybrids, well good for them but I don't need it shoved down my throat. When it came time to apply for a placement at the COT I realized I really did not want to be in Missoula for another 2 years, so I opted not to apply into the LPN program there, but instead in my hometown where there was a program at my local community college. Luckily most of the needed classes for FVCC were pretty identical for UM-COT.

Thankfully and luckilyy I was accepted into the LPN program for Fall Semester 2010, which is a load off of my back for sure. This means for a year I will be able to live back at home, in an environment I'm extremely comfortable with. I'm also looking forward to have very small class sizes. The LPN program here accepts 20 people, up from the 10 they used to accept, which means there will a good environment in which to learn. I'm hoping this environment will help prepare for what comes after this academic school year.

This summer I'm working on reviewing Anatomy & Physiology since it's been about a year since my initial A&P I class. I most definitely need a review. While I did learn while in the initial class I was distracted from being in Missoula and some of it fell through the cracks, but luckily I'm hoping the review will come quickly. I'm most definitely not looking forward to reviewing muscle and bone nomenclature and functions, but I must.

It's also with great excitement I get to say that I've been accepted into Montana State University - Bozeman's Registered Nursing program starting in a year and a half. After my LPN program is done I will take my NCLEX-PN and hopefully pass. By taking the LPN program I both fulfill my academic requirement for Bozeman and will be able to use this degree as a job opportunity during my RN schooling.

In Summer 2011 I start my lower division nursing classes and then in Spring 2012 my upper division nursing classes start. I still don't know where I will be placed until August 31st. I'm hoping to either remain in Kalispell or end up in Billings where my Aunt and my Uncle live and where I will at least have family. That was what sucked so bad about Missoula was the lack of hardly anybody I knew. It's very hard to feel connected to reality when you feel so alone.

Overall I'm excited for the next 3 1/2 years of my life and I finally feel like things are coming together and I hope to be able to share my experiences.

-Courtney