The Bluegrass Festival

It’s summer time here at NACC and we decided to kick up the heat with the first Bluegrass Festival. Although it was a very exciting event, I had mixed emotions because it was my las event as a presidential host   The bands were all great and it was fun meeting the new presidential hosts that would be replacing me (although some consider me non-replaceable) such as Karis, whom I though had one of the coolest names ever. I had a hard time with the name at first because of its similiarity to Paris but it all worked out, and I had someone new to pick on.

All of the bands that showed up were great, this time, working seemed to me more like attending my own private concert. The last band to play Cadillac Sky, was awesome and played a non-traditional style with a country/rock twang and had everybody cheering for them. Afterwards, I even got to have a few words with the band and they were all pretty cool guys, they have a new CD coming out on Aug. 19 in a Wally World near you! Although I am now done with the nursing program, and won’t have Mrs. Hopson to remind me to update my blogg, I will try to fill you in once in a while so you can track my progress through the nursing field and back into the RN program next year  -ZDRAK OUT

So Much, in so Little Time

With the summer semester at NACC being so intense… time just flew by…..

Before I knew it I went from a high school graduate, to being days away from my nursing finals, the most important tests this far in my life. The anxiety levels were rising, anticipation filled everyone after we took the dreaded tests. Some came out confident, while others walked out with the appearance of defeat washed over their face despite the fact that we were all still clueless on our results.

Finally after waiting, the moment of truth came, we were escorted to the computer lab and were taken out individually in alphabetical order from our clinical groups. It was difficult to sit still, I was overwhelmed with nervousness and anxiously tapped my right foot on the ground as I waited for my moment. I was finnally called back and when Mrs. Bruce told me that I had conquered the odds and passed the finals. After I recieved the news, I waited outside the front doors and joined the rest of my class who had also recieved good news and was celebrating with me. Despite the excitement and celebration, some still recieved news that they had failed, a few by just 2 points and just had to walk away, trying to keep their emotion hidden, not wanting anyone to see a tear fall from their cheek.

Overall, there were mixed emotions, but those of us that had made it, by luck, skill, knowledge, or the grace of god, where all excited that we would be able to graduate. Graduation went well despite my “candle dysfunction” in which I somehow managed to disrupt the traditional candle lighting ceremony by putting out everyones candle in the front row and making everyone shake with laughter while trying to regain their composure. Luckily, Mrs. Bruce saved the day and lit all of our candles individually.  Instead of a nice congrats! from my dad, the fist thing he said after I walked off stage was ” I got it on camera!”. It made a good conversation piece for days if nothing else. Now I am on a new quest to pass my state board exams, and get a good job….so I can retire by the time I am 40     -ZDRAK OUT

Spring Break in the SCT

How was spring break in the SCT? Thats a local name for my hometown of Scottsboro for those who don’t know. After the round of snow, what did I decide to do for spring break? Did I go to the Bahamas? No. Did I get wasted in P-City Florida? Of course not. As usual, I went fishing. Despite my vast amount of pictures collected during my trip to lake Weiss I somehow managed to accidentally delete every single one of them. The trip to lake Weiss was still a success despite the tragic loss evidence of my catch. The first night, after arriving at the hotel, we went to “The Hogs Den” to fish underneath the pier lights. As soon as it was dark, the fish turned on I managed to catch almost every species of fish on the lake. Totals included 1x Catfish, 3x yellow perch, 1x hybrid bass, 2x largemouth bass, and 2x crappie. After a barrage of fish, the wind picked up and the fish turned off so we headed back to the hotel. Sleep was difficult due to the matress being coated in some kind of plastic saran wrap looking stuff that made the sound of someone crumpling up a sheet of paper at even a hint of movement, very annoying. Needless to say, it was a long night, good price doesn’t meen good deal on lodging I guess. After getting up and drinking my weight in coffee, we headed out on the lake. Windy conditions contributed to little success until we hit a small area of floating weeds about the size of a ping pong table. Fishing this loaded us with a total of 14 fish from this tiny area and made the day a lot better. Sadly, few fish were caught after this.

 After returning home, most of my spring break consisted of long hours of studying for a new round of tests. This time, trouble is comming in 3’s with a mon/fri/mon tests. The nursing program is getting tougher, but I know it is going to pay off. Time also seems to be flying, finals will be coming upin a few weeks and then it will just be one more semester until I am an LPN. Its hard to believe less than a year ago I was a high school student, it hasn’t really sunk in yet. With all this stress I have learned one of the most important things to do….RELAX!!!! The most important thing to do, no matter how crazy your schedule is, how many tests are comming up, or how many things that you need to accomplish, you need to find something you enjoy, and get your mind clear for a while. Sometimes just sitting back, closing your eyes, and clearing your mind will be more effective than an hour of cramming. Test number 1 didn’t turn out so great for me, after taking some time to recover from this set back, I am trying to remain positive, although that is the hardest thing to do after something bad has happened. I have regained confidence in myself and feel prepared for this next test. The only thing you can do when moments like this happen is reccognize your mistake, correct it, and don’t let it happen again, that is what I hope to do. Wish me luck.

Anyways tune in to see how things roll with these tests, and the life of your friendly neighborhood, classic rock loving, NACC student -Z Drak Out