Unfortunately, this is not a blog about how graphic and disturbing beautifully accurate and inspiring the BBC show Call the Midwife is...it is, however, a blog to announce that I will be pursuing a Nursing degree! For those of you that don't know me very well, your reactions were probably something along the lines of, "I couldn't care less." or "Does she really think she gets to wear the dress with puffed sleeves?" As for those of you that DO know me, your reactions probably looked more like a giant synchronized dropping of mouths, the mixture of milk and cereal that you were formerly shoveling into your mouth spilling all over your keyboard and your brain thinking...."Huh? Madeleine Van Arsdale? The girl who has been very adamant and even more vocal about not wanting a career? The girl who has wanted to be a "mommy and a mermaid" since the third grade? The girl who hasn't even watched 10% of Grey's Anatomy?" Well QUELLE SURPRISE to you all! I have most definitely made up my mind. (I do realize that I won't be able to don the incredibly fashionable periwinkle dress with the puffed sleeves and crisp white apron as my official uniform but I shall try not dwell on the negative here.)
Why? What made this even begin to sound appealing? I don't particularly enjoy needles and let's be honest.....scrubs covered in SpongeBob SquarePants are not the most beautiful, nor flattering, things we've seen. But that's not why people choose to become a nurse is it? After watching Call the Midwife and reading Jennifer Worth's memoirs which the show was based off of, I began to think about how awesome her job was. To be a midwife in the east end of London during the 50's sounded incredible. Not beautiful or glamorous, but definitely incredible. Obviously, things are different now and nurses don't make house calls on their bikes anymore. So my interest became sort of stagnant. A couple months after finishing the show and the books, I became friends with a nurse in the Neuro-Oncology field. We've been meeting up on a weekly basis and getting to hear her talk about her job and her patients re-sparked my interest in the medical field. It sounded so appealing to me and I couldn't have really told you why until later. At this point, I was purely interested. The thought of actually pursuing the interest didn't even cross my mind. It wasn't that I didn't have the desire to get a nursing degree but as I said before...a career was never ever something that I thought I wanted so I'm not kidding when I say it didn't cross my mind. It sounds like I was just going to college for the infamous MRS degree but don't even get me started on that topic because that is a completely separate and probably longer post. Long story short, I originally chose to major in the Classics. Not because I knew there would be security in that job-wise, but because I adore everything that it entails and my passion is to learn and become knowledgable. Then, only a couple weeks ago, discussing how cool I thought nursing was on my way home from the delectable Torchy's Tacos, a friend just jumped in and said, "Well why don't you double major?" Instantly my reaction was the same as all you people who know me. "Huh? Madeleine Van Arsdale? The girl who has been very adamant and even more vocal about not wanting a career? The girl who has wanted to be a "mommy and a mermaid" since the third grade? The girl who hasn't even watched 10% of Grey's Anatomy?" If I had currently been eating a taco my mouth would have dropped open and it all would have just tumbled to the floor.
Talk about so far out of my comfort zone.......DOUBLE major? Aim for a NURSING degree? I STILL HATE SHOTS! It took about 5 minutes for me to realize that was exactly what I wanted. I was so giddy and nervous. I could not believe I actually wanted that. But I do. I very much want it. What else am I supposed to do with the abnormal amount of maternal and nurturing instincts I have? Mother my Intro to Ancient Greece classmates? I just don't think that would go over very well. But nursing! Ah, nursing. It is the most perfect outlet for it. When I realized that it is abnormal to look forward to the first time your husband gets violently ill and throws up his guts so that you can nurse him back to health, I was really disappointed. But as a nurse, it is your JOB to retain your composure while this happens. It is your JOB to be a breath of maternal and nurturing fresh air! It is your JOB to nurse people back to health when they are violently ill and throwing up their guts and I am absolutely ecstatic for it. I've always believed that when people are passionate about something it is what they are best at. Passionate teachers are worlds different than teachers who could care less. A passionate nurse is worlds different than an indifferent nurse. The fact that I would willingly wear a SpongeBob SquarePants scrub set if I knew that it would make my patient feel even the tiniest bit better should show you just how ecstatic I am. So, regardless about this being lightyears out of my comfort zone, I'm making it public and I'm inviting you all (if "you all" ends up just being family members then I'm okay with that too because that means no giant group text reassuring you all that I'm still alive every so often) to join me in seeing how this ends up. I do not ever set goals for myself when I am unsure of the outcome and I am 100% unsure of this outcome. God is about to teach me a whole bunch about trusting Him because I will either become a nurse or work my butt off only to be 110% rejected. So many new learning opportunities! Blech.
So here's to my occasional blog posts and here's to keeping the family up to date! I have no idea how often I will post or even what it will be on. If I do get into the Nursing College I would definitely write about our clinicals because I have a feeling they could end up being super funny. I have also had a desire to write a slightly satirical review on Wuthering Heights and the redeeming qualities of each character because I absolutely hate the book and happen to think that not a single main character possess any redeeming qualities whatsoever. So we'll see!
xoxoxoxoxoooooxxxoxoxoxoxoxo, me.
