When being treated by a nurse, have you ever wondered how they got to that point? Through many laborious hours at college, internships, and labs they finally got to become your nurse. Becca Varhula is one of the many aspiring nursing majors at Bloomsburg. She is a freshman and has anatomy and chemistry, the routine classes every nursing major needs to take to graduate. Becca excels in the classroom and still continues to be a great person.
Anatomy, a class most students describe as hell, starts off Becca's day. Theres nothing like waking up and going to your hardest class at 8am just to be greeted with a sana, "My lecture hall is awful, it gets so hot in there because there are so many people." Becca sighs. Becca's lecture class consists of 200 students packing into a just big enough lecture hall at 8am. The rows continue 20 deep and a dark green carpet with black circular drawings. Two girls sitting in the back look at each other and comment on how confused they are. "I thought the answer was cytokines, not whatever that is" exclaimed the one girl to her friend. When going to leave the hall a large orange couch with greet your eyes. Along with the orange couch, student helpers are sitting and waiting for students in need of help. All of the student helpers have taken anatomy before and carry a notebook or laptop. They circle the room looking for desperate student in need of help from their assigned row, “No, I don’t have one due to my row number, they skipped us”. Becca sits in the only row in class that has no assigned student helper. They are instructed to look out for each other, and at the end of the discussion period the answer and reason behind is discovered. Becca describes this time in a joyful manner, "I enjoy it, I like talking to people, and I think I learn things better when I talk it out with people instead of listening to the professor." Becca thinks getting something wrong is a learning opportunity to learn and grow. This shows her optimistic attitude towards any hurdle that comes her way.
In the direct middle of the lecture hall, Becca sits in a tan tight shirt, light gray leggings, black glasses, and curly maroon hair coming to her shoulders. As students converse one student said to the other “I have no idea what is going on?” Most students have a similar demeanor throughout the class, due to the difficulty of anatomy. Although Becca thinks of herself as shy student in class, she doesn’t struggle with quizzes outside the classroom. She is a confident test taker and studies only “two hours a week." Nursing students have a hard time consuming all the information coming at them the first couple weeks of classes. Becca has used her time management skills to balance studying and free time. "I have created a calendar that I update daily to keep track of my life" Becca proudly exclaimed showing her calendar off. Time management bodies as life for students of all types, but especially nursing majors.
Most want to know what is going through a nursing student's brain, but what is going through the professor's brain? Dr. Hess is Bloomsburg anatomy professor that teaches Becca along with hundreds of other students. It is known jumping from high school to college is difficult, but it can be especially difficult for nursing students. The biggest difference is, "Everybody is used to not studying in high school and college is a different process.” Anatomy class is usually demanding and uneventful for most, but in some instances an event such as, "one time in lab there was a student, non-tradition student- older gentleman and for whatever reason he refused to do the lab and decided to sit on the floor” creates an uplifting and environment that shifts the mood. The idea of Dr.Hess once being in their shoes, creates relief and reassurance to most students. During one of her lectures, a girl sitting at the front motioned for Dr. Hess. Dr.Hess walked over and as soon as she did the student threw her hands up into the air speaking with a distressed tone, "I need help.' She quickly helped her and continued the lesson as normal. Students have come to have a love hate relationship with Dr.Hess due to the course load. Becca commented, "She is very understanding, and she is very helpful." Becca smiled while explaining the time Dr.Hess yelled at one student who was sleeping in her class.
Bloomsburg is known for their exceptional nursing program. Most nurses accepted to Bloomsburg have to have the highest educational standings. The nursing program only takes the best and most students have to do extra. "I had to apply early" said Becca cheerful, still reminiscing on the day she got her acceptance letter. Along with getting into Bloomsburg, an even tougher decision is choosing the right school. There are hundreds of great nursing schools, but Becca choose Bloomsburg even though "Bloomsburg wasn't one of my options initially, but then Bloomsburg nursing reached out to me. Then I came up for a visit and I loved the campus." This is a common experience for Bloomsburg students due to an at home feel.
There are thousands of nursing students just like Becca, but the main difference between Becca and everyone else is her optimism. Everywhere she goes she was a smile on her face and is always willing to help others out. Although, they may have the most demanding schedule and workload, she is able to tackle it. She may not be a human google, but her attitude makes retaining information easier for her.
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