Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Alleluia!


Springtime has finally arrived!!

I do not think it is possible for me to adequately describe how happy I am right now and how much I love this time of the year. So much is happening for me right now and it is resulting in the culmination of years of hard work finally paying off in ways that still seem to good to be true. God has always blessed me and I have always been a happy person, but right now I just have so much to be thankful for and so much to be happy about!! Ok...so you get it...I'm happy. :)
A few of the myriad of amazing things in my life right now include the fact that I received admission into the University of Washington's School of Nursing - the #1 School of Nursing in the nation. Out of 475 applicants this year, only 96 were admitted. You are reading the blog of one of those 96. :) My aunt gave me a nursing school regulation stethoscope at Easter along with a really beautiful card and those little things are what make this seem so real and exciting!! I just cannot believe after literally almost 6 years of hard work, careful planning, dedication, tough decisions and often times the neglect of more age-appropriate pasttimes, I finally am able to follow my dream. I realize the hard work has only just begun - nursing schools grueling and I don't forsee having much of a life outside of academia for the next two years, but I am so prepared to work hard at this. :)
The downside of receiving admittance on March 30th is that this quarter is basically BS for me. I'm only taking one class (and one summer quarter) and all I need is a 2.0 to retain my offer of admissions. Obviously I'll try for something higher than that, but I don't need to because my gpa is now irrelevant. Even for grad school - I've been told that graduating from UW SON is prestigious enough by itself that grades aren't really that important. I'll still try to get decent grades, but it's nice knowing that the school on my diploma will speak for itself. :)
On the heels of my nursing school admittance came my first layout in my ultimate-playing history. Technically speaking, a layout is when a player dives headfirst for the disc and it's pretty damn epic. However, the thought of diving headfirst for anything, especially when I know people who have broken bones, sustained concussions, or at the very least received BA turf burns, turned me off for years. However, I kept telling myself I would layout, and that conviction finally paid off at OnionFest 2012 in Walla Walla. I actually laid out twice and in full disclosure did not catch the disc either time, but now that I have overcome the mental block associated with laying out, I am confident that this summer will be a summer for the layout books. :)
In addition to laying out, I am really jelling with my UW team and can feel myself improving, even though the process is very gradual. It's the little things - like reaching out to catch something behind my back just out of instinct, or throwing a disc with exactly the right amount of spin exactly where I wanted it to go, or reading someone's hip positioning and poaching the hell out of their shoddy d. I even threw a hammer yesterday during scrimmage! (Again full disclosure: it was uncatchable. But I had the presence of mind and confidence to at least try it!)

I have always considered myself a confident person, and never really had an issue with self-image or insecurity or caring too much about other people judging me. When I started at UW, I got kind of a reality check because being 1 in 40,000 students leads to a very public sort of isolation. People kind of put on this hard, impersonal exterior and basically pretend like no one else exists. It's really weird, but I felt myself being sucked into that mindsent a little. I think part of it was my crippling insecurity and doubt about nursing school and what I would do with my life if I didn't get in. However, now that I'm in, and that it's Spring and that I am so happy, I just feel my self-confidence bubbling back and I am surprised at how contagious a good mood is! I know I won't be this happy forever, but I am loving life right now and damn well want to make the most of it.


Well, I think this post has gone on quite long enough. As always, I could write for pages more, but I will refrain out of respect for the time of anyone who chances to read this, although, let's be honest, probably no one does. :)

Alleluia! He is risen! He is risen indeed!!