57102--It was only a paper heart

[zyzyly]

We had family and friends night on campus this evening. We have it during the first semester, and our students can invite their family (and friends) to come and see where they will be spending the next 16 months. We have tours of the classrooms and labs, and a panel of recent graduates who give family members advice about how to support these nursing students. It's a great thing, and it gives us a chance to see what kind of support systems our students have. It's an intense program--four semesters with only about a week break between semesters, and we go right through summer. I sometimes wonder how our students get through it.

Our secretary, Courtney, had the idea to have a kid's room this year with some crafts for the children of the students to play with while we gave tours. She got a big roll of butcher paper and made some cut-out organs. The idea was that the kids could lie on the paper, and she would outline their bodies with a marking pen. Then they could color them in and decorate them with the organs. It was a big success. Courtney's awesome.

I get to stay home from work tomorrow, but it's not a free day. I am taking an all-day online webinar course to prepare for the test for Certified Nurse Educator. The course is taught by the woman who wrote the textbook I used for a good part of my graduate degree in nursing education, and it is one of the best textbooks I have ever come across. Hopefully the class is good too. I am planning to take the certification exam over the summer. It's supposed to be a tough test, but most certification exams are. If it were easy, everyone would be certified.

I took my old car in to work today to show my coworker. We used it to go to our site visit. I had forgotten how nice it feels to drive it. She asked how much I wanted for it, and I don't know. Does $100,000 seem excessive?

Comments

[anita-margarita.livejournal.com]

That is such a great idea for a kids' party activity!

[liminal-space.livejournal.com]

Courtney does sound awesome!

100k for the car? Sounds perfectly reasonable! :)

[pasticcio.livejournal.com]

Marketing studies show that numbers like $99,999.00 tend to sell faster than $100,000.00 .. ;)

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

I sometimes wonder how our students get through it.

I think the program attracts students who can manage it, and who value getting through quickly - I don't get the impression that we lose students at a higher rate than other programs. The first semester I really wondered. After that it was fine. While a little more time off between semesters might have been nice, sitting around idle through summer break would have frustrated me.

They didn't start the family thing until after I went through, but it sounds like a great idea. Especially for the kids, so that school isn't just some black hole mommy/daddy disappears to all the time.

[gracegiver]

Hey Mike - I hope you had the chance to view the timelapse video I posted. you were the Face That Couldn't Be Denied.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

We looked at it tonight--It was great! I wanna get one of those things!

I think that venue was perfect for this.

[rockbirthedme.livejournal.com]

We did that to teach the kids anatomy. We had a book called, I think, "The Body Book," that had drawings of all the organs in it, and it was permitted to photocopy. We had the kids cut out organs, color them, and glue them onto the body silhouette.

The kitchen was interesting for a while, with all those colorful body parts on display.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

I'll bet! But what a good lesson.

I didn't really learn about this stuff until I was in college. I remember being so amazed at how the GI system worked.