Pinning Ceremony

The pinning ceremony has been a long standing tradition in the nursing profession. Newly graduated nurses are welcomed into the profession during this ceremony. While my classmates and I did not graduate after passing our NCLEX exams, we were welcomed into the nursing profession with a pinning ceremony. I asked my professor Donna to be my designated pinner. Donna has been an amazing support for the last year and I wanted to acknowledge her part in getting me through this program. Donna is also the lead in our trip to Haiti.

The Haiti girls with Donna


The pin E and I really wanted to get ;)

Enough Already!!

Picture Story of Winter Break

Winter break consisted of shadowing, shopping, getting my toes painted with my sister, L's b-day dinner, seeing family, watching The Descent and Craigslist Killer, a little quality time in J's cube, breaking in J's new condo on NYE, and lots more....

Haiti

"Men anpil, chay pa lou" (With my hands, the burden is light) -Haitian Proverb

Just over a year ago Haiti was devastated by an earthquake that brought chaos and loss to the already impoverished nation. Since then Haiti has been devastated by an endemic of cholera. Two months after the anniversary of the earthquake, I will travel with 8 undergraduate nursing students, 3 fellow masters students, and a handful of faculty members/NPs/other adults to provide medical care in the villages surrounding Port-au-Prince and Leogane.



Starting in the fall our traveling group has worked hard to fundraise for the necessary medical supplies that we will be bringing with us to Haiti. Fundraising efforts included a 5k run on campus and a Mad Men themed party. And what a success they were!





The trip was originally scheduled for January over our winter break. However due to political violence, conditions in Haiti were unsafe and the trip was postponed. Thankfully, with the blessing of the dean to miss a week of school, our trip was rescheduled for the end of March. We will have to repack our bags (carefully balancing the weight so as not to pass our limits) and I may need to brush up on my suturing skills, but at least the trip has been rescheduled.




I am nervous about the poverty and loss that I am going to witness, but I am excited to share my skills and to witness the optimism of the Haitian people. Stay tuned for the post trip post :)

Also to get a sense of what we will be doing in Haiti watch this video.

Resolutions

According to dictionary.com a resolution is defined as:
1) a resolve or determination
2) a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group.

So as the leader of the group Me, Myself, and I, I hereby pen these resolutions for 2011:
1. Finally create a quilt out of the thousands of betting shirts I acquired in my 4 years of rowing at Williams College
2. Learn how to snowboard
3. Graduate from NP school!!
4. Take an amazing photo, have it framed, and hang it on my wall
5. Run a half marathon in under 2 hours
6. Make a list of 5 people who have influenced my life and write them a letter
7. Drink more water