Jennifer Harmon, [almost] RN

“Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves.”

I've spent 5 years getting a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing. I have a ~very~ sought-after job: I am an RN Intern at UAB. I start orientation on the 13th. These past 5 years have been *absolutely* insane. These years have been the both the BEST and WORST years of my life. I have made amazing friends; these friendships will endure for years to come. These people have supported me in so many incredible ways. My friends have been SO very important to me these past 5 years because they have helped me learn to grow when crazy things happened to me and whatnot, rather than me not meeting the challenge.

This Friday, I will not just celebrate graduation from UAB with a BSN.
I'm celebrating:
--the incredible friendships I made, and the amazing old friends I've kept.
--my family that supports me in what I do.
--the fact that I worked through some difficult sh*t. you have no idea.
--the individual successes all along the way in nursing school.
--hitting all the important nursing career milestones. giving REAL chest compressions, having a patient die on me, starting my first IV, getting blood when the person is a REALLY hard stick, having so many "firsts"...
--the fact that I don't have to wear that heinous all-white uniform anymore
--not dying from mono. or another something something I won't mention here... or even yet another something... or when I totaled my car.
--that I learned how sometimes you have to just let people go out of your life. Its better for you and better for them.
--wearing out my first pair of nursing shoes.
--that I can genuinely love people.
--that I love who I am.
--my compassion.
--that I LOVE what I do.
--I will have time do more things that I love and spend time with people I love.
--that I have a job in this rough economic time!!!
--that I learned to use a planner.
--I learned how to learn. I learned HOW to think. I learned how to REALLY read.
--my appreciation for the arts, music, singing that I gained.
--my emotional, mental, spiritual, and social growth.
--what is to come.