Into a new Frontier

November 2010, I attended Bridge Bound at Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing. I was beginning my journey to become a nurse-midwife! Excitement, nervous, trepidation; these were the feeling going through me as I prepared for my trip. I traveled with 2 crossing students (students who had almost completed their bridge year) and 2 other bridge students, on a 14 hour drive from my home to Hyden, Kentucky. A bridge student is someone who has their Associates degree and will complete classes equivalent to a bachelors degree and will then start right into Master's level classes. Frontier does not grant a Bachelors of Nursing science but will grant the Masters of Nursing Science upon successful completion of the program. So my first year of classes were considered the "bridge" year. At bridge bound I met women who would help me through more then just my classes but the ups and downs of life as an adult online student. I also met my instructors and the Dean and associate deans. This was important to me so I understood who they were.
My bridge year certainly brought it's ups and downs. stomach bugs plaged us in both my winter and spring terms. I coached a DI team during the winter term. My husband was taking 2 classes his spring term. Together we have 4 active children, at the start they were 9, 7, 3, and 1! Sometimes I had to leave the house to get school work done. Other times I went to work early to work on papers or take tests. The most challenging and rewarding aspect of this first year was learning to write research papers. I had written one research paper in my life. In nursing school I wrote care plans and small papers but nothing like what I would write the first year! Also, writing is not something I do well so I had to learn how to write a paper, starting with the basics. One thing I learned was to write exactly what they want, nothing more, nothing less. Do that one thing alone and my papers were acceptable usually getting me an A.
School has brought a whole new level of insanity to my life. I have never been super organized but I always knew were things were and payed my bills on time. Well since I began school, I have had 2 overdrafts (luckily the bank covers the check and just charges me) and misplaced many things. The house certainly has slipped and I can't handle the mess. I have had to stop doing something and do others better. It has been process that has helped me grow.
I attended "Crossing the Bridge" in November. This was a time of presentations and celebration. We presented our community projects to our instructors. I was also reunited with my Frontier sisters! This was so sweet. It is amazing the friendships you can build with people that you met once and communicate with online via Skype, Facebook,emails and occasionally by phone. These ladies are my lifelines, my confidants, and my frontier sisters for life! For the most part, all my instructors have been great. Sometimes you have to figure them out a little bit and some of them you feel connected with immediately. Several of them have helped me through some difficult times and I so appreciate their honest and advice.

This brings me to the present. Frontier is now Frontier Nursing University. I am in the first term of all my core courses, Reproductive Anatomy and Physiology, Nursing Theories, and Role of the Nurse Midwife and Birth Centers. So far classes have been good, I have great learning team members and a wonderful partner for a power point assignment! I still have a problem fitting everything in and I have to prioritize but I am learning and making headway! Unfortunately I have learned my most productive time is after 9 or 10 at night. This is  so frustrating because I like to go to bed early but I can't stop when I am on a roll. Maybe this is preparation for my nurse-midwife days ;)