My final "What I Have Learned" post

            This semester has been very different from my others at TCU. As my first semester with clinical days in the hospital, it has been my most applicable learning experience yet. When I decided to change my major from pre-med to nursing freshman year, I was very excited that the nursing track was filled with hands-on and practical learning.

I have learned the basic skills of nursing care in my fundamentals class and practiced them for hours on end in the lab. But then I was able to go even further and put these skills to the test in the hospital and perform them in real situations. This has been the most rewarding and beneficial experience for me in many ways. First of all, it has put some of my anxiety and nervousness to rest. Thinking about how you are going to take care of real patients can be very nerve-racking, especially for new students. Being able to gain experience with patients while following a nurse was the perfect first step towards doing this on my own.

My clinical experience has also helped me improve my interpersonal skills, which is something I never expected to gain from it. I am a pretty introverted person to begin with, but it isn’t easy for anyone to just walk into a room and strike up a conversation with a stranger. By watching my nurses do it in every room they enter, I have picked up on some of the things they do to establish a connection with their patients almost instantly. It’s important to me to form relationships with patients so this is something that I need to continue to improve upon.

The teachers told us in August that this would be the most transformational semester for us and they were right. Looking back on the first time we stepped foot in the hospital I don’t even recognize myself. I have gained confidence in simply being in the room with a patient. I have also improved my knowledge in both drug administration and how to take care of the daily needs of a patient.

The most important thing I learned this semester did not come from my clinical experience, however. It came from a 5-hour shadowing experience in the neonatal intensive care unit at Cook Children’s Hospital. Since before coming to TCU I have been inclined towards working with babies in some sort of health care profession. Though that has changed from being a doctor to being a nurse practitioner, the desire to work in the neonatal field has been the same. Prior to this semester I had never actually stepped foot in a neonatal unit before, so when I did I was pleased to find that I instantly fell in love. Part of it was the hospital itself, but I knew after being there for only a few minutes that that was where I was meant to me. It sounds cliché but if you have ever had one of those same moments, you know what I am talking about. Being there gave me the motivation I needed to get me through the final month of this semester.

Although it has been a very challenging semester in every way, it has been enjoyable and I look forward to the rest of my time at TCU. Beyond my nursing classes, this Lit & Civ class has given me the opportunity to reflect on my learning as a student. Before this class I never took the time to reflect on each semester and how it affected and changed me. This was a good time to start, as I feel like I grew tremendously over the past several months.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

            Laughing is all about who you are with. One of the things that bind friends and family together is laughter. When you can laugh with someone, it makes being in his or her company much more enjoyable. I have already told you about a time that my family broke out into uncontrollable laughter, so now I am going to tell you about one such time with my friends. It has been said that laughter is the best medicine, which is the premise for the story I am going to tell you.

            Finals are an extremely stressful time for just about everyone. Students are studying for hours upon hours, finding only enough spare time to eat and sleep. In my opinion, finals are an unrealistic way to get you to shove as much information into your brain as quickly as possible, only to be forgotten shortly after the test. Nevertheless, they are something we have to get through semester after semester and I have found that the best way to survive is through laughter. Yes, it is very difficult to stay focused and study for that long, but everyone is in the same boat and if you find a way to laugh through it then you just might make it out in one piece.

            During my first round of college finals freshman year, I became much closer with someone who is now my best friend. We are both in a science-based major, so the type and quantity of studying that we had was about the same. We were both going to be there until Friday and on Thursday night we felt like we were the only people that still had finals left. We had been in the same study room in Scharber every day since dead days and we were simply burnt out—and probably slightly delusional.

            At about 10 o’clock that night we decided to take a 30-minute break before we powered through the rest of the night. We turned on some music and danced like idiots and after a couple minutes we were laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe. Part of it was probably because we were so tired and stressed we couldn’t think straight, which is a prime example of the relief theory of laughter. It was so nice to be able to not think about school for a few minutes and release some of that tension we had built up. Another reason we were laughing was at the lyrics we were making up to the songs. This fits in with the incongruity theory and the wildly inappropriate response method of humor outlined in The Comic Toolbox. We weren’t making any sense and everything we said seemed so funny at the time.

            This fit of laughter served two major purposes. First, it acted as a stress reliever and made light of the serious situation we were in. It also allowed us to focus again because we felt better overall. Secondly, and most importantly, it strengthened the bond between my friend and me. It was still early in our friendship and we were at the point where we weren’t really sure about who we wanted to be friends with yet. But, ever since finals week that year we have been inseparable.

Laughter is a powerful thing, especially when you consider its ability to bring people together and give them something in common. I believe that people who laugh together generally stick together.

Learning from Pharmacology

            This semester has challenged me more academically than any other up to this point. The class I have undoubtedly learned the most new information in is Pharmacology. Throughout the semester we have learned nearly 200 drugs, most of which I had never heard of before. I have learned the drugs that treat infection, diabetes, high blood pressure, mental disorders, cardiac disease, gastrointestinal problems, and much much more. The craziest part about it is that I actually still remember all of them.

            In previous classes I have felt like I crammed a lot of information into my head right before each test and then lost it all almost immediately afterwards. This is fine for getting good grades but not very practical because I am going to be using everything I am learning for the rest of my life. Nursing is a profession where you are actually going to need everything you are learning in school. When I graduate from TCU in a couple years I am going to be a registered nurse. This means I am going to be taking care of actual patients with actual problems and illnesses and I’m not going to have my teachers there reminding me what I learned in class sophomore year. I didn’t really come to this realization until this semester but I’m so glad I finally did because it has helped me become a more efficient studier.

            Instead of looking at a drug chart and trying to memorize every word, I have learned to think of situations where I would use the information and how I would act. One of the most important things we have to know for each drug is the potential side effects. It is important to know what to look for when a person is taking a certain drug and monitor for potential effects of the drug that can be harmful and even fatal. It is helpful when I’m learning these to think about how a patient would present them in a real setting. This method of studying has been much more efficient and successful for me and I am going to take it with me for the rest of my time at TCU.

            Pharmacology has taught me a few things outside of the content as well. At the beginning of the teacher I absolutely hated my professor. After the second exam I truly believed I hated her more than anyone I knew. Her tests were extremely difficult despite studying for close to 50 hours prior to them, she yelled at us for things that seemed pointless to me, and she had everyone too scared to answer her questions in class that she decided we needed to have quizzes every class—as if we weren’t doing enough.

As time went on I began to like her more and more. I don’t know if we began performing better or she just felt bad about being so hard on us, but she started complimenting us and laughing with us in class. No one knew what to do. She even gave us extra credit one day for coming to class! What this experience taught me is not to judge someone too quickly. It’s clear to me now that all along she just wanted us to reach our full potential. She felt like we were slacking off and she knew that in this major and profession that wouldn’t be acceptable. She is now one of my favorite professors I’ve ever had, despite the rough beginning that we had.

Pharmacology has given me practical knowledge I will use for the rest of my life as well as tools and skills I will use while I’m at TCU. It has taught me not to judge people too quickly, which is something I know I need to work on. Though it’s been an extremely difficult course, it has been rewarding.

Final Meeting

            On Monday Terrence and I had our final meeting at a Chinese restaurant near campus. We met at the bookstore and he gave me directions to the restaurant. The whole way there he was asking me what kind of food I liked to eat and what my favorite meals were. It was obvious he was excited to show me this place because he hadn’t been that talkative the entire semester. Before we got to the restaurant he told me he had to ask me a question. He asked if it would be okay if he bought my lunch for me. He told me it was Chinese custom but that he didn’t want me to be embarrassed. I thought it was very nice that he offered and I told him he could.  

            We pulled up to a somewhat sketchy looking restaurant way down Berry Street that was named “Chinese Food”. Needless to say I was a little skeptical, but I was trying to be open-minded. As soon as we walked in Terrence went up to the counter and asked for the man who speaks Chinese. He told me that he could only order in Chinese. I told him what I wanted and he started talking to the man in Chinese and it took about 5 minutes for them to straighten out the order. When we sat down I asked what took him so long to order the food and he said he had to explain how he wanted it prepared. He told me he wanted it made the way they did it in China.

            Terrence told me about other restaurants he had been to near TCU that he liked and there weren’t many. He said he mostly just ordered from this Chinese place when he didn’t want to go to the BLUU. When our food came out I was surprised how much he had ordered. There were dumplings, vegetables, a plate of beef, rice, and the chicken that I ordered. The vegetables were interesting—it was some kind of lettuce in a sauce. When I asked him what it was he had to search the Chinese term for it in Google and translate it for me. It was Chinese cabbage. The beef he ordered was cooked but it was served cold. He kept encouraging me to try everything that he ordered so I did and it was surprisingly good.

            We didn’t talk much while we were eating, which was very different than the meals I usually have with my family or friends. It was interesting because I didn’t feel like it was appropriate for me to talk while he was eating. He was eating with chopsticks so he had to hover over the bowl and he hardly ever looked up unless he was taking a drink. Every time he did look up he asked if I had tried everything and liked it. He told me that in China it was customary to order a bunch of different plates and then share with everyone. He seemed annoyed that I only really wanted to eat the plate that I ordered.

            The food was different but I really enjoyed trying something new. When we said goodbye I found myself sad that I wasn’t going to get to meet with Terrence anymore. I told him that I would contact him next semester and that if he ever needed anything he could send me a text. Overall, I had a great experience meeting with him throughout the semester and I learned a lot about him and his culture.

Fifth Meeting With Terrence

            I met again with Terrence last Tuesday for a fifth time. He wanted to meet at the bookstore but as soon as we sat down he made plans to go to a Chinese food restaurant next time we meet. I learned a lot from him this time, especially about what it’s like growing up in a Chinese household.

            For the first time since we met, Terrence brought up his girlfriend. He told me that they came to TCU together, which sheds light on the reason why he hasn’t gotten homesick much since he’s been here. I was under the impression that he didn’t know anyone when he came here and with how family-oriented Chinese culture is, I thought it was weird that he hadn’t gotten homesick at all. He also mentioned for the first time that he was excited to go home for winter break in a few weeks. Up to this point he hasn’t seemed excited to go home because he was enjoying his experience here so much.

            Since he brought up his girlfriend, I asked if most of his friends back home had girlfriends as well. He told me that it was very rare for two people to date in high school. He said that the schools were very strict about boy-girl interaction and they weren’t even allowed to hold hands, much less date. I asked why that was and he wasn’t able to give me much of an explanation except that it was looked down upon by just about everyone. Parental approval was the most important thing, which is why Terrence was able to date someone. He said his parents were very open-minded about most things. Even if it is something abnormal in Chinese culture, he told me that they would always consider it and work through it with him.

            He said that most parents were vastly different than this though. Punishments could be as harsh as physically hitting for something like dating a girl behind your parents’ backs. I asked what else kids could be punished for and everything he listed off was related to academics: cheating, not doing homework, bad grades, etc. He emphasized again that getting caught with a girl was far worse than any of these though.

            I think that parental control over children has gotten less strict in America than it used to be. When my parents were growing up physical punishment was not out of the question, even by teachers or other authority figures. Nowadays it is much less common—I don’t recall ever being hit when I did something wrong as a child. In my experience as a nanny I have found that punishment in general doesn’t take place very often anymore. The parents I have nannied for were too busy with their own jobs and own lives to take the time to punish their kids. Rather, they would just give them whatever they wanted in order to keep them happy. I’m sure this isn’t true in every household but it is something I have noticed in the several I have been exposed to.

            The rest of the time Terrence and I talked about school and some of the projects and assignments he has had to do. Right now he is writing a paper comparing texting versus talking on the phone. He thinks that texting is more efficient for him because when he talks on the phone in English many people can’t understand him due to his accent. I think it is interesting how texting can mask the fact that he isn’t a native English speaker and is in fact still learning the language. When he texts me I wouldn’t be able to tell that he was originally a Chinese-speaker except for a few grammar mistakes here and there.

            I am looking forward to our final meeting following the Thanksgiving break!