Graduation

This week I completed my last final exam and submitted my last paper.  I have completed all requirements for both degrees and within a few days will be officially graduated.

What a strange feeling – to be done with school but not yet completed.  Before I can work, I need to pass the certifying examinations. At least to work clinically I need to pass the certifying examinations and then wait for the state to license me. I finished my last nursing class and took my final exam in May.  I’m not saying all the information is out of my head, but I am saying a review before the exam would do me well.  If I had only done one program, I would be ready to take boards tomorrow, or at least that is the theory.

So now starts a time of limbo – without a job and without the opportunity to apply until I get a license. It didn’t have to be this way.  Several of my classmates were offered positions at the practice that precept ed them. But I wanted different – I wanted to have as many different experiences as possible.  I think it was a good move – I am incredibly flexible in my skills.  I can work with very few resources and can adjust to different working styles and environments.  I’ve trained in a birth center, public hospital, a private hospital and in two public hospitals in low resource countries. I’m ready and capable.  It just means this first few months will have a shadow of uncertainty about my future.