The New Girl.

               It’s been awhile since I’ve published anything to the blog; June to be exact in the lead up to Cars 2. ‘twas to be a banner experience with Evanito’s first trip to the movie theater. Although that was, in fact, the case, it turned out to be more. With both Cheryl and David wanting to catch the new movie, along came little Nolan who, at the time wasn’t quite 3 months old yet! Surprisingly, he tolerated the movie well, only happening to squawk a couple of times. Evan enjoyed most of the film. However, it was an ambitious endeavor to expect him to sit for more than an hour, in the dark. Despite an errant M&M he chucked in my direction, Evanito did well.

               Although it was June when I last published a post, I have been working on other blog items. Unfortunately, none of those concepts, at the time, had the content or weight I really wanted to deliver. Granted, some of my posts of late haven’t been the deepest entries, the introspective (arguably psychoanalytical) and frank nature that y’all have come to expect was definitely missing in the last few ideas. The last few months have provided ample fodder for introspection and frankness as I’ve traversed the nursing school path. That said, the 2 regular followers of Darryl’s Digest, aren’t lost on the fact that the nursing stories are speckled with my romantic (and not-so-romantic) adventures and misfires. I’ve really come to relish these experiences because they provide the best stories. Haha. What better then, than a story that attempts to combine them both? All it took was time to gather enough coherent (arguable) and connected (once again, arguable) thoughts and experiences, let them marinade and stew, and finally serve ‘em up hot…Order up!

               I suppose, in reality, the story isn’t being served up hot. Rather it’s a story that’s waiting to be put in the Crock Pot and slowly cooked. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…While sitting in school, studying and catching up on some reading, I got to thinking about my overall school experience and its most recent developments.

               I started at National University (NU) in the second quarter of 2009 with some prerequisites, after exhausting other nursing program options. Introductory Psychology and Sociology classes went by without a hitch. Along came the science prerequisites, about the time that the 100 days of Heidi came and went. Those provided a tiny bit more of a challenge and were a good basis from which to frame the future nursing classes. In my science prerequisites, such as Anatomy & Physiology and Microbiology, I met a few friends who I would eventually see in the nursing program. I finished the science courses with a respectable showing and finished up my prerequisite courses with a few non-science courses. The last course of 2009 was Oral Communication/Public Speaking. As with previous classes we were a motley bunch, haha. Our first assignment in class saw us paired up with a classmate to conduct an interview and then introduce them to the class.

               I was paired up with a girl/woman/female(…take your pick) called Megan. As our interviews began, one of the immediate impressions I got was that she was extremely intelligent which made it easy for me to pay attention. Keeping my attention was further aided because Megan also happened to be my kind of cute (ahem). In a previous life Megan studied Anthropology with a focus on death at USC; one of the few facts I got to share with the class. I was surprised to learn from her that one of my favorite stories, J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, was actually a death story. Over the course of the month-long class, I got to meet and interact with everyone else, which was fun. The most notable thing I took from class, however, besides our instructor’s propensity to focus on bullying was a little crush on somebody I probably wouldn’t see again; right?

               Finally, with the last few classes complete, I was ready and able to apply to the nursing program at NU. I was set to try to start in October of 2010 with Cohort 24. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case as my academic advisor unintentionally misinformed me about the GPA requirement and its calculation. I would need one more class to be able to qualify. I ended up taking a public health class. Luckily, my grade in that class earned me the opportunity to register for the entrance exam, the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS). Having little else going at the moment, I made sure to make use of the coming opportunity by studying for the TEAS. I spent a month brushing up on topics as I waited for my TEAS date, set for July 2nd. In the meantime, having enjoyed my public health classes, I decided to take more public health courses, eventually enrolling in the Masters in Public Health (MPH) program, thanks to the bachelor’s degree I already possessed.

               I showed up to my TEAS exam, ready to blast it to smithereens, which I did. Whew! An unintended and unexpectedly great consequence however, to taking the exam then was running into Megan, just as I remembered her. Well, not quite. At this point, the divorce process she was in the midst of during our December class was now finalized and a certain little someone, who happened to be one of her two daughters, was now sporting a feeding tube. What a difference 7 months makes! Though I recall that things were pretty much the same before filling in the details. Haha. The same, indeed. Anyways, it was nice to run into a familiar (and pretty) face; granted, it took 7 months. Squirrel!

               20 days after the TEAS, my acceptance letter was mailed out. I was going to nursing school! Yippee! At the same time, I wondered to myself, what have I gotten myself into? That MPH program I mentioned above started in September, giving me something to do while waiting for the nursing program to start in January. November 19th was to be our orientation. When orientation finally rolled around, 58 or so nursing students reported to orientation. Less than 5 months after our last encounter, there she was again. Within a couple months we’d be seeing each other on a weekly basis. Fantastic! But, what the heck was I really going to do with that?

               Apparently, I was to do nothing for the first couple weeks/months as we all settled down into the program as the new cohort on the block. On occasion, I’m sure, there were amicable exchanges buried amongst the schoolwork and other commitments we all faced. Well, at least some of us. Doing well in school was my only task, so I padded my schedule with visits to Evanito and my sister, pregnant with the future Nolanator; always great fun! Megan had her own two little munchkins to tend to, amongst other things that kept her sufficiently busy. Fast-forward to June when while sitting next to each other in class we became Facebook friends. The good ole Facebook friend request method worked like a charm. Pffft! :P Without a (public) wall but a bunch of photos, I was left to learn about my new Facebook friend from random pictures. Eventually, after hopping onto Facebook for one thing or another, Megan showed up online. I figured it couldn’t hurt to say hi. Right?

               Eventually she started responding. Haha, sucker! Just kidding. Anyways, we’ve taken to getting to learn a tiny bit more about each other via our online chats and weekly opportunities via class in real life (IRL). I suppose, the big question in this drawn out silly blog post would be, why mention Megan, aside from the infatuation or little (maybe not-so-little) crush? Well, ultimately that remains to be seen. It would be quite premature for me to make any declarations or professions of undying love (haha), it’s definitely not too early to mention that I remain quite impressed and definitely interested in getting to know her better and seeing just how far this goes. For now, I’m content to play along and see where our decisions and circumstances take us. Follow along, if you’d like! Well friends, that’s about it for now. Any questions?