Hey this is Julie from the admissions office finally got my blog set up!

First week of classes are over and it's Friday! That makes everyone happy! The first week went well just a bunch of Gen Ed classes :P Can't wait to get into the more hands on stuff. Nothing big planned for my weekend, going home (Bloomfield) to help with a chicken feed for our new medical clinic that is being built...pretty exciting :)

*Julie*

First Week of Classes

Coming straight out of high school, I began my first week of college classes on Monday the 24th. I am almost done with the first week and have felt a bit overwhelmed. After getting all the syllabi and even having homework the first week I've been pretty stressed out. College is definitely going to be a lot tougher than high school and I am going to have to spend many more hours studying. I am sure once I get into the groove of things and get my schedule worked out, it will get easier. But over all, I am very happy with my decision of coming to college here at Bryan. All the faculty and staff have been very welcoming and I have already made new friends. Mckayla

Hello from Illinois!!

Where Abe Lincoln practiced law.

I have officially moved into my apartment in Springfield IL to start my full time clinicals for 8 months! My parents helped me move and we did some sight seeing, hence the pictures. Today was my first day at St. John's Hospital here in IL. It was so much fun, I got to see a lot of things I haven't gotten to see yet, which made my day that much more exciting! (If you haven't been keeping up, I am doing my adult cardiac sonography full time clinicals, as I am in my second year of school). We do all sorts of procedures believe it or not (not just same old same old, phew!). We had one echo in the cath lab, so I got to see some blood squirt out of the femoral artery as they were placing the catheters in and up to the heart. I also got to see them check out a fetus heart (so a baby still in the womb), which was incredible to see as well. I also got to see a couple stress echos, which Lincoln doesn't do a whole lot of, so I am glad I get to experience it here. These are where the patient walks on a tredmill until their heart rate reaches a specific rate and we compare baseline and stressed heart. Ok well this is getting long, obviously it is a lot of fun and I'm excited to get back and see more and scan more as well!

Apparently it is good luck to rub Abe's nose...hence the reason his nose has been rubbed raw haha.

Me in front of the old capital building.

Until next time....

~Kt~ :)

Fun Facts About College

Hi Everyone! I am Mckayla and I am a new Student Assistant in the Admissions office. I came across this website and thought you would enjoy some of these funny facts about college life. Enjoy :)

1.)5$ is a lot of money
2.)It's amazing how long a pair of pants can go without a wash.
3.)It's amazing how long you can go without a wash.
4.)You can't live off of ramen noodles all semester.
5.)You pull an all nighter so you can make it to a morning class.
6.)Registration is like taking a trip to the DMV.
7.)You learn the value of a text book.
8.)You go for piles of change and pick out all the quarters
9.)You pay for things with exact change.
10.)Bring sandals for the shower.
11.)Road trips can provide much needed relaxation.
12.)Student discounts work in the strangest places.
13.)Visiting new friends homes is always an experience.
14.)It might just be impossible to go to college without a student loan.
15.)Two words... Spring and Break.
16.)Ragu tomato sauce can serve as a replacement for ketchup.

Last Week Here

I am officially moving in less than a week!! Summer just started on August 8th and is shortly about to end August 24th. Classes ended well, I am excited to officially be done with classes (maybe forever!). I'm excited to get out into the clinical setting and have fun putting my new knowledge into real life.
I've been running around like crazy this week with last minute errands for wedding stuff, moving, etc. My fiance has already moved to Des Moines and I miss him like crazy already, it may be a rough 8 months, but it will fly by fast! I am excited to move and learn a new place and people, I'm just not excited to be living alone, but it will make me stronger I'm sure.
I got myself some new running shoes today so I can keep motivated to workout now, and while I'm in Springfield, yeah...gotta fit in my dress ya know (May will be here before I know it)! ;) Alright well I need to get back to working on my capstone paper (yes class is out, but we have these huge paper/presentations due, bummer I know). I am doing my topic on Ostium Primum, a congenital defect that can go undected and found in adults later, which was what happened in the case I am presenting on. It is pretty interesting, I love researching it! Makes me think I may actually get into Pediatric echos someday, it really keeps my attention, but it is scary because a tiny life can be at the mercy of your skills...eak!
Until next time...
~Kt~ :)

Week off

My week off was very relaxing! I didn't do much of anything besides laying around and occasionally going to the lake. It went by pretty fast and going back to work yesterday was pretty tough. Now I only have three weeks from today until classes start and in a way I'm looking forward to it! My schedule will slow down a little once classes start because I won't be working as many hours. I finally ordered my books and that made it reality of how close summer is to really being over! Before we know it there will be snow and ice on the ground.