2023 – Working Towards New Goals

2023 started in an interesting way for me. I began nursing school at Columbus State Community College (Associates Degree Nursing) and Ohio University (RN to BSN Early Start). My thoughts behind this decision is a little controversial but it made the most sense to me. After working at Nationwide Children’s, I wanted to focus my career in providing service and care in pediatrics. Nationwide Children’s Hospital has a tuition reimbursement for employees enrolled in a nursing program and I wanted to take full advantage of that. In my first 2 semesters of nursing school I learned a lot regarding pharmacology and simple skills such as obtain a manual blood pressure and as well as develop critical thinking skills for acute situations. However, as I went through my program, I soon realize that there are a lot of of gaps in medical knowledge and reasoning. It was during this time I took the chance to re-explore other fields in healthcare.

 

I shadowed a pediatric nurse practitioner as well as a osteopathic surgeon from my unit; I took this time to ask about difference in the level of practice, what a day to day life looks like, the amount and quality of patient (and family) interactions they have in their respective practices. This will help provide me a better sense on what each occupation does and if it is a good fit for me. After graduation, I took the time to carefully reevaluate my path. OSU has been a great experience for me but somewhere along the way I started to lose sight of the bigger picture, I started losing pieces of myself constantly comparing myself to the class averages and others around me. 2023 really gave me to time to rediscover myself away and I have been grateful for it. I am excited for what 2024 has in store for me as I head into the new year with excitement and optimism.

2022 – Tough Decisions

So I graduated in May. Funny thing is, my parents came up a few days before to get graduation photos taken and I caught COVID-19 for the first time just 3 days before graduation. So I wasn’t able to walk. I was a little sad about it but I think my parents were more upset as they were probably more excited than I was. I started at Nationwide Children’s Hospital after graduation.

2021 – Uncertainties

I am a bit nervous as I am nearing graduation next semester and I just feel like I do not have my life in order. I guess that’s always how it is going to be. I did pick up sand volleyball over the summer and I found this group that I play with on the weekend. It’s actually pretty fun, work at Grant has been steady but I just feel like I am ready to move on to something that will allow me a little more patient contact and care. Fencing has been interesting. We got new people who are very eager to take on leadership roles for the following year so I guess that has been handled. Not much happened this year, but I guess we’ll just play things by ear.

A night of TopGolf with the volleyball group. I am really bad at golfing.

2020 – Dealing with Change

Well spring semester was cut short due to COVID-19 and all of my classes got moved online and we had to go home for the semester. Honestly, 2020 was a hard year. My research lab could not continue with trials and everything was just cut short. I spent all of spring semester and the summer at home and honestly it was rough as I had to learn to live with my family. It was a tough adjustment. For fall semester, I did move off campus and classes had started back up. It was very weird to have blended classrooms where some classes were taught in person while others were online. Things were just confusing but I did begin my job at Grand Medical Center so I can also be of help for others during the pandemic. I wanted to do something that actually made a change.

Something very exciting that happened is I got a DOG, he is a 1 year old Golden Retriever Mix named Bentley! My family has never allowed me to have a pet before so this was all new for me. My dad broke his leg back in October so I brought him home for the first time without my family knowing and honestly my mom was furious at first. But eventually they both fell in love with him as I did. He honestly saved me this year. I’m hoping next year I would be a little more eventful.

2019 – Year of Progress

I think after fall semester, I realized that I would need to focus a little more on my schoolwork especially when it comes to chemistry. That is my Achille’s heel. I ended up joining OSU’s fencing club and I really love the people there! I actually got to go on my first tournaments at OU for their spring open. I eventually lost of one of my teammates when it came down to elimination but I still had a good time. After the semester in the club I became the secretary for the club, in that role I began outreaching to other schools in Ohio to begin conversation between school clubs. I also stayed in Columbus over the summer to take a few classes and continued to work in my research lab. My grades in chemistry were still not what I wanted them to be but I did enjoy the club activities for the year!

I did get to go back and visit my grandparents in China, it has been years since I have visited and honestly a lot has changed in my hometown. My parents and I did not stay too long at my grandparents as we went to Hai Nan for a short vacation. I really enjoyed winter break and it will be a while before I get another chance to visit.

 

2018 – A Rough Begining

The very first semester of Freshman year has come to an end and I only have a few stories to tell. I wished I could say that everything went smoothly but it did not. I am a very organized person and I find comfort in my day to day routines, living with three other people was not a part of my daily routine, creating new social circles was not a part of my previous routine, and the biggest change of all is learning how to properly time manage without a person to structure it for you. I had to move dorms in the middle of October due to conflicts with my roommates at that time over proper cleanliness and hygiene. I moved into a double at Baker Hall-West to finish the rest of my semester.

I did join the tennis club at OSU but their practice is from 10P to midnight, I don’t think I will be continuing next semester because I scheduled myself for a few 8AM’s next semester and balancing that with the stress of the research lab and classes has been difficult. I did find an interesting club though, I was at the RPAC and I stumbled upon the Fencing club while they were practicing and it looks really interesting. I may join next semester but it looks like their practices are over by 11P which is better for my sleep.

Overall, first semester has been really difficult for me and my transition to college life started out rough. I am looking forward to next year and await for any opportunities that comes my way.


[OSU Club Tennis Buckeye Team 2018]