Pediatrics, a 12 hour shift Day 1

Just finished the first day of my 12 hour clinical rotation for the next six weeks! It's definitely a different population that comes with its own challenges and excitement. Not gonna lie, I miss med surg but to be a well rounded nurse I need to be able to care for the kiddos right? Just taking it one day at a time...

And enjoying the rare sunny day like today! 

Girls night out

Hello ladies! Last night a group of us celebrated the start of the weekend by going to the local theater, the Senator. It's this historical theater around the corner that was recently renovated from the early 1900's. Think movie theater from the 50's with a curtain for a screen for intermission :) anyway we went to see Divergent last night.. For the second time . Yes it was that good. It's wonderful to see a female hero and a male lead whose character is respectful of the wishes of the female. It's all women empowerment. Is there a surprise we loved it?

Anyway here we are. I'm sure the others did not appreciate our noise in the back haha but we had a blast!

A night on the town

Hello ladies!

I'm taking a night off and am at Centerstage awaiting curtain for Twelfth Night! Classy nights are the best!

Perks of morrissy is that this is only $5 :) 

Whoo-hoo! 

Scavenging around meletia

Hello ladies!

As you know Candra Liz and I went to Florida last week for spring break. We took some goodies back for Wendi and sent her on a scavenger hunt :) clearly, we did not want to do our homework! (Shhh!!!) 

Here are some candids from the hunt :) 

Oops...Wendi dropped Mother Mary's railing! 

In the meletia kitchen

She got sand, a shell, a thousands-of-years-old shark tooth,  and...

A remembral from Harry Potter world! "Does it work?!" Haha

A beautiful inconvenience

It's snowing just as I come out of classes! I wish it would stick otherwise it's just messy :(

"It's a nurse!"

Yep, that's right. The new fearless leader of Notre dame has a background in nursing. We welcome Dr. Marylou Yam as the 14th president of the university! I wasn't able to take pictures but I did find this awesome feature on our web page!

Welcome, Dr Yam and congratulations!

Spring equinox marks a new chapter in NDM growth

P14 will be announced today! Apt given that it is the first day of spring and a time for growth. Curious? Check out the Notre dame page at Ndm.edu

Okay I'm cheating that's an old picture but its cold outside! 

Brain food is green food!

Mms whole wheat pasta in the dining hall...

with pesto tonight. Perfect dinner for studying for my med surg final tomorrow!

It was also our last day of clinical at UMMC...

I'm so gonna miss these girls but moving on to peds :)

Returning to reality is bittersweet

Hi ladies! Tonight is the last night of my time here at our beach house ..and the last weekday of spring break. It's hard to say goodbye to all this but nursing school and Notre Dame beckons....

Hello from sunny climes!

Hello Notre Dame women all over the world!

Candra, Liz, and I just wanted to share a few photos of a classy college spring break down south on the beach. Wishing you all warm weather!

Bye bye Baltimore...for now

Roommates vacation! Happy spring break ladies!

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Today is as Ash Wednesday all over the world and the first day of the Lenten season. This is the time of the year where Catholics (well, Christians in general) remember and reflect on Christ's ultimate sacrifice for the world, himself, so that we will all be redeemed. Lent and Easter is the focal point of the Christian faith because it is, as one of my religious studies professors once said, what proved that Christ was the Messiah. I'm not going to give an Ash Wednesday lecture or Lent etc but I figured I should preface. If you're not Catholic, it may be more familiar to you as the time where people give up something for 40 days etc. (See this awesome video in case you want to know more).

I grew up Catholic and every Ash Wednesday, I would come to school with a mark like the one above on my forehead and the first thing I would hear was, "You have dirt on your head." I never went to Catholic school or Christian school until Notre Dame (kindergarten doesn't count, right?) and I remember always having to justify and explain to everyone what the cross of ashes on my forehead meant, how it was a mark of the beginning of a season of sacrifice. I still remember all my friends' confused faces every year. It's nice being at a school where I don't have to explain anything at all and where having ashes on my forehead is the norm (but it's cool too if you don't do that).

I think one of the coolest things about Notre Dame is that we are a Catholic school that embraces other faiths. It allows you to grow your own spirituality while simultaneously being exposed to Catholic Social teaching. As president of Lighthouse/Campus Ministry, one of my initiatives and challenges for my board this semester was to get us all out of the materialistic mentality of Lent and back to the essence of sacrifice, alms giving, and reflection of our blessings. By materialistic, I mean this whole "fad" of giving up candy or facebook or soda without really understanding what they're doing. During Lent, we are supposed to immulate, to a much lesser degree at least, Christ's sacrifice. (Have you ever heard of Christians not eating meat on Fridays of Lent? Well it started during the time when meat was only affordable to the rich. One year a rich community decided to buy the meat but rather than consume it themselves, they offered it to the poor, who could never afford it. Hence, we give up meat for a bigger reason!) 

We are supposed to be reflective and ultimately give something up for a greater good. I think the example I used with my board was that if they were giving up facebook, they should use those extra hours (let's face it, it's hours...) to spend time with their families. Or if they give up candy or whatever to use that money they would buy those things and give it to charity--something that serves those who most need help. We as a society have fallen trap to this idea of "hey, look at me, I'm sacrificing" and doing it just because it's the time of the year for it. As Notre Dame women, I think it is a part of our being and core to serve others and what better way to learn than with starting with this Lenten journey and lead by our example. So here on campus, Lighthouse is educating on giving up in service of someone in need or instead of giving up, doing something that enriches our spiritual self  (so in a sense, giving for something).

In my college search, I was a seeking a school that could educate me better on spirituality and my faith. I chose to be confirmed here on campus last spring and I am looking forward to becoming a (hopefully) Eucharistic minister in the fall. This campus has nurtured my faith through inquiry, acceptance of questions, and openness (and honesty) with responses. As a part of my personal journey of faith here on campus, I have chosen to be more reflective in lieu of extreme emotions, to (as Father Bob used to say) give up and let God. I am also hopefully going to be able to commit to a few service projects and spend some quality time with the SSNDs at Villa Assumpta, our mother house. This is my Lenten journey and I challenge you ladies out there looking at Notre Dame to become your home to think about Lighthouse's message of giving up in service of others. It doesn't have to be about religion--what's important is that we look beyond ourselves and see the bigger picture of a world at large that could use the compassion, talent, heart, and mind of a Notre Dame woman :)  

Need a dryer much?

This is the outside of our door at the moment. That's 4 girls' gear in the snow...haha

Meet Brody, our new snow friend

Hello ladies on this wonderfully snowy icy day. I say that because I got out of having to go to clinical today...I'll pay for it later this week haha.

It's not enough snow to remake our friend from the last snowpocalypse but I apparently never shared these photos...so here you go!

How are you spending your winter day?

Massive snowball fight between Wendi and Candra (L) and later, Liz finally lets us drag her along outside. 

Wendi and Brody :)

Brody, Wendi, and Cadra lol

This is my absolute FAVORITE photo of Candra and Wendi. This was taken at night during round two of the snow. I love this shot!

Yipeeee! More study time!

But for right now, packing for Florida aka roommate spring break trip 2014! Ill full you guys in later! 

Let the housing games begin

We're picking out rooms today! Look at all those residents eager to get a room for the fall!

Snacks while we wait

WATER games for the freshmen lol

And a photo booth somewhere lol

Notre Dame Women Bonding Time

Hello ladies and a special hello to the future class of 2014 and NDMU 2018!

We all had such a blast getting to meet you all at Scholarship dinner! If any of you want your photos, please email Meridith or call the office at 410 532 5330 to let her know you'd like them! They are mostly unedited and will have a watermark but otherwise, enjoy the photo :)

This dinner is usually such a great bonding time for the office. When we're all exhausted, it's been a long day but we're all keyed up, and there's a camera....fun ensues. Here are some behind the scenes of the event.

SA's Emily, Cortney, and Jaz. Transfer Counselor Marci thinks she can escape my camera lol

Em is happily (?) lol cleaning up. Our wonderful speaker, Tara, an alumnae, almost made the entire room cry when she pulled out saved notes from SSNDs when she first came here. And of course, our fearless leader, Dr. Coley! 

These were delicious....

Oops I got busted...

(When alums steal my camera... lol. a HUGE thanks to our alums! They give us hope every day that there is a light at the end of the tunnel called graduation).

Our fearless office. Angela was off somewhere on the right talking to someone haha. Emily, Mackenzie, Danielle, Meridith, Marci, Christine, and Guin.

She insisted on this picture...

"Charlie's Angels don't smile!"

There's Angela! and with Sister Sharon!!!!

Moments like these is what makes this campus so amazing. Bonding with out president over balloons...

And how can I resist not putting this up. Heidi and Dr. Coley while there was a lull in the program....Notice something on Dr. Coley's head...yeah lol