2012 was the year that I…

• Took classes that I truly enjoyed in university
• Took my first distance education course (purely online, even the final!)
• Finished off my very last semester in university with high grades (!)
• Graduated. Walked across a stage. Have a funny cap and a piece of paper with my name on it that says that I accomplished something (sort of)
• Went on vacation for the first time in years (because apparently a 4 day trip where I spent most of it on a bus doesn’t count)
• Went spelunking for the first time and had a lot of fun
• Got into nursing school
• Yet again worked as a customer service rep
• Stood up for myself and reported my supervisor to Human Resources (yeah, that did not work out well – still glad I did it)
• Started nursing school – met so many people, learned so many things about myself and others – finished with an A average for term 1
• Turned 23

And what’s in store for me for 2013?

I start up at school again on Monday, I have a new clinical placement that’s going to be mildly hellish to get to for morning shifts if I start at 6:30am (7:00am won’t be as big of a problem). I’m taking 6 courses (pharmacology [online], pathophysiology, microbiology, clinical skills, group learning, and clinical). I’m going to be on campus three days a week, thank goodness I have a locker in a decent location (already got my schedule – that I still need to print out). Of all the classes, the one that’s new to me is microbiology- so that shall be interesting. The only new textbook that I need to get is the one for microbiology, and the instructor is really pushing for the ebook because we need to do online quizzes (via the publisher’s website) anyways. The website says it’s $70, which isn’t bad at all… But the thing I dislike the most is that I can’t resell it when I’m done! The reason it’s so cheap isn’t actually because it’s an ebook, it’s because we’re not getting all of the content. The ebook of the entire text is the exact same cost as a physical book. Which is ridiculous (in my opinion) because they should have saved some money on not printing and binding the damn thing and made the ebook cheaper. So I’m glad we don’t need the entire book, because it would have been $200 otherwise.

Other excitements in my life include getting a new laptop, a new bag (purse, not backpack) and a couple new dvds. The non-excitement is learning how to use Windows 8 because it’s a new operating system and I’m not used to it at all. My new laptop is not a touchscreen, so I find the Start Menu a bit tedious, to be honest, and I miss having a Start button. Also, it actually took me a while to find the ‘shut down’ button and I ended up  having to read in the book where it is! They’ve completely hidden it (under Settings, FFS), not user friendly at all. One thing I do like about it is the Instant On feature. Takes seconds for my computer to go from black screen to the me being able to log in – which is pretty awesome, if you ask me!