Day One - Orientation, Anxiety and Sleepless Nights

For the last few nights I haven't been sleeping well and last night I just couldn't relax. I don't think I've ever been so scared about a first day in my life. I wonder if I am doing the right thing, if it's going to be too hard and what I am doing going back to school.

I'm 28 years old and have floundered around in my working life, so going to nursing school is a big change - and one that I've been looking forward to (even if it is sometimes with fear). Today was my first day of orientation at uni and I was terrified about it. This morning I woke up from the little sleep I had gotten and packed my bag. I caught the train and went to catch the bus. I was already nervous, and when the bus didn't turn up on time I was verging on panic. I didn't want to be late for my first day. After making a few calls to try and arrange a lift the bus finally turned up - only 15 minutes late, but it felt like hours. I cancelled the lift and was on my way.

I arrived at my uni and headed up to one of the lecture theatres where an introduction to the uni was being held. I'd been running a little late, so I didn't get my bag of information until later, however I did meet a midwifery student who was close in age to me, so I had somebody to talk to and sit with through the day. Once I was sitting down and listening to all the speakers I relaxed somewhat. I was really doing this. I was taking steps towards becoming a nurse.

I did all the first day things - signing up to get my ID, touring the campus, signing up my interest in a couple of different groups/activities and buying my books. Everybody I met was friendly and I even ran into somebody I know! So I guess it's a good start.

Although the pile of text books is kind of daunting, I'm sure that at least some of them will be interesting.