Day One - Lectures, Tutorials and Timetable SNAFU

So here I am, at the end of day one exhausted, but happy. It was a long-ish day starting with a lecture at 9am and finishing at 6pm (again with a lecture). Three of my five lectures covering four subjects were on today, in addition to two tutorials and a pre-seminar meeting.

The first lecture was pretty much just an introduction to the subject (anatomy and physiology/microbiology) which was a nice start to the day, however following right on from the lecture I had to sign up for my seminar assessment topic which has ended up being in week 3 - hence the pre-seminar meeting. So in week 3 I will be completing my first assessment, a 20 minute seminar on the structure of the neonate skull.

After a break of about an hour and a half, my first lecture should have been followed by a tutorial. I turned up for it, as did the rest of the tutorial group... but not the tutor! Seems there had been a first day timetable SNAFU and the tutor thought she was starting at 4pm, not 12.

After the missed tutorial, it was off for another lecture - followed by another tutorial, and then my last lecture of the day. It doesn't sound like much when it's put like that, but it feels like it right now!

So many thoughts going through my head and my eyes keep on demanding that they be closed, so it's a half-hearted entry today and some much wanted sleep.

Although on a quick side-note there is awesome coffee! And they have good soy milk! Did I mention the coffee was awesome? Because it was! And they were so nice to a dorky first day student that asked for soy, had the lady behind the counter collect more soy and then realised she didn't have enough money to pay for the coffee (I thank the coffee gods for the kindness is letting me have a discounted coffee).

<15 hours until my first lecture

Wow! It's almost here, my first actual day and it's going to be a long one... I have three lectures and two tutorials starting from 9am and finishing at 6pm. For cone though I'm actually pretty organised and I'll really be getting into it all tomorrow.

And I'm not so worried about my studies and my classes - I'm just worried about the sillier things - like is there going to be any food on campus that I can eat? Or any drinks that are not ethically problematic? I'm not expecting there to be much, but it would be nice... Although when you consider that not only am I vegan, but I also appear to be gluten intolerant it does make thing a little harder, so packed lunches it will be.

So what's for lunch on day one? A pasta salad - brown rice penne pasta with semi-dried tomatoes and mushrooms cooked lightly in oil with fresh basil. Snack wise there's some nuts and dried fruit and of course my typical bottle of water. I'm still deciding if I'll pack some extras like corncakes with hummus.

The desk I was doing up was finished over the weekend and my sitting room is now transformed into a sitting room/study. And the desk looks awesome! It's hard to believe that it's the same one that was $25- from the op shop (opportunity shop - ie thrift shop). I've got all my books put in the cupboards and pens read to re-write lecture notes when I arrive back home tomorrow night.

Continuing in the disjointed format of this entry I am excited about starting my classes tomorrow. I will recognise one or two people and I'm sure I'll get over the initial 'I don't know anybody and feel out of place' soon enough.

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.