28 - Bella Hanna: Go Easy on Yourself!

Join current student and Juneau, Alaska native Honored Guest Bella Hanna as she chats about Alaskan activities, the need to be walked daily, how she chose her university, personal and professional plans, what it was like having a nursing student and nurse as a mom, kitchen dissections, having a heroic family, study advice, and more!

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Transcript

0:01

Welcome to this episode of the Feeding Our Young Podcast. Tonight, today, tomorrow, it's all the same. Because today I'm with the amazing Honored Guest named Bella Hanna. Hi Bella, how are Good, hi Eric, happy to be here. How are you doing? that you're here too. I, you know, I'm doing great. Oddly enough, I'm not super tired, which I should be, because the reason why I say it's tonight, today, and tomorrow is because Bella is scheduled for tomorrow. So apparently, it's tomorrow. It was one of those things where we just, we fly by the seat of our pants and she wrote me and like, hey, I'm ready for tomorrow, if not a little bit nervous. And I said, well, don't be nervous. We're just talking. I said, well, if you're that nervous, you want to just do it now? And so Bella's very flexible. That's it! So there's no rehearsals. Never has been, but there's no rehearsals. We're just going at the end of our days here. Although you're... it's not quite as late where you're at as it is where I'm at, correct? Yeah. You are an hour behind me. Alaska time! So that gets into... Bella! Well let's start off with, okay, what nursing school do you currently attend and when will you I go to Gonzaga University and I'll graduate in May of 2025. So just under a year. Yeah, it's crazy. Right, we're in July of 24 at the time of this recording, so you have 10 months before you're done. Yes, yes. It's the light at end of the tunnel getting ever brighter, right? Like, I feel like I say that often, but that's exactly what it is. Like, it's not a train that's coming to hit you. You're almost done. Sometimes it feels like that. Yeah. Yep. Yep. So, where are you? We've already, you've already got me going where I was going to ask next, and that is where are you currently? Yes, where are you from and where are you currently? I'm from and currently from the same spot. I live in Juneau, Alaska. Born and raised here and I come back every summer. It's definitely my favorite place on earth. I love it so much. So good to be home. is it your favorite place on earth, Bella? Well, I mean, obviously it's comfortable. have all my like good friends and family here, but I just love the easy access to nature. I don't think there's really anywhere else that has it quite as well as we do. That's bias, but I think it's just beautiful. then the nature and the wildlife is just amazing. So I love it. So I'm going to use my nursing critical judgment to extrapolate that potentially you might be an outdoorsy kind of girl, is that correct? Yeah, I think if you are from here and you're not, you're pretty bored with your, cause there's, that's like the main thing to do is go outside and do stuff. There's not like, it's a small town, not a big, not a lot of like urban stuff. So if you don't like to be outside, you're going to be a little bit miserable to be honest, but, but in the winter? you just go skiing or you get outside to a snowshoe or whatever. The dark days in the winter can be hard, but that's whatever. But yeah, I love it, ugh, is it as bad as they portrayed in movies and television? is it, how many, at its peak, what is the longest amount of darkness per day that you have to experience? Well, the good news is Juneau is like one of the southernmost parts of Alaska, so it's not like as bad as further north. But in the winter, I'd say you get like six hours of sunlight during the Maybe so it like it during the school year it was definitely difficult because you would go to school and it was dark and then you would come out of school and it was dark again. So you're like, cool, just never. But you were you got your headlamps or I don't know, you figure it out. But and then the opposite in the summer, it's always light out. So that's that's just awesome because you're just doing stuff all the time. It's never dark. So then in the summer everybody's staying awake like 20 hours just to make up for the amount of time they had to sleep in the winter, right? We balance it out. Like it doesn't get dark till like 11 or 12 or I don't know that it's sunsets or sunrises at like four in the morning. So we're up and at home. But. this is amazing. The last person I spoke with hours ago, the last honored guest I spoke with was in Arizona. And over the corner, she's like, I moved to the desert. She's from Washington. gosh. I could not live there. No, no. And so she's talking about like as we're talking, the temperature went from, I think it was started at 103 degrees Fahrenheit, and she was almost 110 by the time we were done. So a little bit different than summers in Juneau, correct? Oh, oh. See, and I've said. deal with the heat, no, I just, no. I tell people my wife would drag me to Arizona if she could. Conversely, and she's from Alaska, so conversely, I feel like I would drag her back home to Alaska if I could, because I'm from the Seattle area. I grew up in the Seattle area, so rain and gray, please, that's nothing. Look at that, we've had a nice long discussion about Juneau. It makes me want to actually go back and visit Alaska. That's awesome. day. Juneau's where you honeymooned, right? Yes, Juneau is what, yes, that's right, I forgot, I told you guys that. Yes, so we, everybody else, my wife and I got married in November, and everybody goes what, you know, go to Hawaii, you go to the Caribbean, you go, if you're gonna go somewhere, you go to a sunny destination. And where did we go? We went to Mm -hmm. my wife is from Ketchikan, visited her family there and then went on to Juneau and it was a lovely like bed and breakfast and it only snowed like the last day we were there and so it was a very, very like, I have a very fond memory of Juneau, obviously. So, love being with the love of my life in one of the most beautiful places on earth, like you said. Maybe not in November. November is not necessarily the nicest month, but it's fine. No, exactly. Everybody's like, where are going on your honeymoon? Juneau. OK. Whatever. All right. Hope you guys have a great time. OK. So what are the three words? I'm going to ask you what I ask everybody else. What are the three words that you choose and chose to describe nursing school? I chose sacrifice, hope, and adaptability to describe nursing school. I like those. And what I'm really curious about is I'm curious to see if those change become May 2025. But those are very, very good words for sure. So let's move on and talk about Bella the person if you don't mind. We've kind of dabbled into your hobbies. So outdoors for sure. anything else you want to add as far as like hobbies, interests, the things you do to keep you sane in the middle of nursing school. Hmm. I joke sometimes with my friends that I'm like a dog that needs to be taken out for walks. Like I definitely notice if I'm like going, like I'm stir crazy. It's if I go outside for an hour and walk around, I'm like infinitely better. So I need to be, I need to be walked daily. I'm also a big dog person, so it's a good analogy, but that definitely keeps me sane. I know, I dabble in a lot of things, I don't... anything... I mean, like I said, anything outdoors is awesome. But I like to bake or do lots of various things. I honestly just love hanging out with friends and it's pretty just... it's pretty casual. I used to play guitar, but I've gotten a lot... I should get back into that, like pick up other hobbies. But yeah, I'm like, I'll... I'll get there eventually. But I don't know, all over the place. I love it. I love it. love it. So then, you know, you're enjoying summer vacation, which is fantastic. And you're back home, which says to me that you're with family. So what can you or want to share about your Okay, well, I'm the middle child, which I think says a lot about like, I feel like it fits what people say about middle children. I'm like, oh yeah, that's me. I vote. I love people. People say negative things about middle child. I love being the middle child. So I have a little brother. He's, he's 18. He's, he's actually just about to go to school college this fall. So we're excited about that. And then I have a 23 year old sister and she's already graduated. She has her master's degree. She's doing her thing. She's also home this summer, which is really fun. And then I'm 21, so I'm kind of like right in middle. And then obviously both my parents are here. They're doing great. And then my grandparents and I have like aunts and uncles, not a ton of family here, but my dad's parents live here. So I see them all the time. and have loved growing up near them and they're just the best so that's the family. like this the whole like you were born there grew up there all the things So what brings you down to Washington State then I mean Gonzaga obviously, but I mean like how do you how do you select Gonzaga? How do you end up? Yeah, You know, I always knew I wanted to go on the West Coast because I wanted I there's a couple schools in Alaska. I knew immediately I wasn't going to go to any of them. That's not hate towards them, but just needed to branch out. So I knew I wanted to go on the West Coast to stay kind of close to home, but also have my own little journey. And I looked to actually schools in all Washington, Oregon and California. And I toured all of them. I toured schools in like San Francisco just to I loved it's beautiful. big of a city. I'm like Juneau's a small town going to like San Francisco would have been like too big of a culture shock for me I think. And I when I went to tour the Gonzaga campus it like it was in March of 2021 and it was hailing and I was like this is awesome. I was like I like love I like think hail is just such a funny weather. Yeah, And it just felt like somewhere I could see myself being. And it just clicked more than the other schools. I can't really quite put my finger on it, but it felt like somewhere I could be comfortable, but still be kind of out of my comfort zone at the same time. And I would say that that's been kind of true and I've been really happy at Gonzaga. And I've loved learning about Spokane and living in a different place and it's been great. So that's how I ended up in Washington. That's funny to me, because... Well, and you know that you're, you know, you've got Californian cohort members and things of that nature who are probably touring around the same time and seeing this hail and going, I don't know what I'm doing here, you know? For Bella, it's like, yes, I am home! so, okay, so then I guess brings us to a little bit of the future. Do you have any plans? Do you know what you want to do? you have you an inkling so far? What has, for lack of a better term, tickled your fancy in nursing school? What have you found that is like, ooh, I think I might be able to do this? Or do you want to go back home? Do you want to stay in Spokane? Do you want to spread your wings and fly and see what life is like before you have anything that ties you down? What does that look Right. You know, that's the million dollar question I would say. It's really all kind of TBD at the moment. I could see myself coming back to Juneau eventually, maybe like in like a decade, like a while down the road. Like I'll always visit, but I don't know if I could live here again just yet. Might need to branch off a little bit more. And Spokane's great. I've liked living in Spokane. for school, I don't think I'll stay in Spokane. So that eliminates that. And then there's just too many other options. So I could potentially be interested in like travel nursing for a while. Like you said before, I have things that tie me down. But I ultimately will probably end up on the West Coast for a while, maybe Seattle area, maybe Oregon somewhere. I have family in Oregon, so I could see myself in Oregon for a while. yeah, it's all kind of in, in limbo right now, but as far as what like career path I'm interested in, that's also up in the air. So yeah, exactly. I used to think emergency medicine was my calling because I like the fact, I thought I would really like the fast pace nature of it and you know, kind for back of letter term, a better term, like the excitement of it all. And then I spent some time there at a clinical site and I liked it. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I was hope, I guess I just didn't really consider that you don't, the fast pace aspect of it means you also don't really get to know your patients at all because they're just kind of in and out. they're also just in, they're really struggling. So it was just, it was kind of more depressing than I thought it was going to be rather than like the, oh, like the glory, I guess is what I thought it would be. I don't know what I I was expecting. Like I knew it was going to be hard, but I was like, wow, like I only saw this person for like 45 minutes and they were just miserable the entire 45 minutes and then they left and then I got somebody else. And it was like, I feel like I wanted, I was hoping for more of like a meaningful connection with my patients. Then I felt like I got there. So now I'm like, well, maybe that's not my path. so right now, currently I'm leaning towards something in pediatrics. and again, I haven't had a clinical site there that actually is next this fall. That's my first clinical site is with pediatrics. I work with kids. This like my summer job is working with kids. and it's like the best job I've ever had. It's so much fun. So that's why I'm kind of leaning towards that because I enjoy working with kids a lot. But I don't know what that would look like in a hospital setting. honestly, could change. We'll see. Your ability to test that is coming soon, like you said, right? Like you've got this idea and yeah, yeah. And that's, I think there's something to be said there. The takeaway from this too can be for those nursing students who are listening, you have in your mind these expectations, either, you know, I'm going to be good at this and I'm not going to be good at that, or I have an interest in this and I'm definitely not interested in that. And then you meet reality. And I think one of the key takeaways is be flexible in because the expectations oftentimes meet reality and go, like you just said, know, that didn't work the way I thought it was gonna work, you know what I mean? And so you can cross something off your list or add something to your list that originally wasn't included, who knows? So, So what made you want to become a nurse? And do you have any healthcare workers in your Yeah, so my mom is actually, she's a nurse. She went to nursing school when I was in middle school. So I think that was kind of interesting because she was, you know, not like me who was like, you know, fresh out of college, gonna become a nurse. She went back to school when she was in her 40s. And so I got to watch her go through that. I mean, albeit I was like 13 or however old I was. Like, I don't know how much attention I was really paying to it. But I do remember seeing her go through it and I was like, and I know how hard it was, especially being a mom of three younger kids. But she crushed it. And she made it, I think she made it seem doable to me. Like I think she didn't sugarcoat it and it was like always clear to me that it was hard and she had to work really hard for it. But also like seeing her enjoying it at the, after it. And I, I have a distinct memory of her doing like some like at home dissection in the kitchen. I don't know. I don't know how it worked exactly because she, she went to a nursing school at university of like Alaska Anchorage. which is a couple hours north or you have to fly to get there. So a lot of the stuff was, it was a little interesting. A lot of stuff was in Juneau. Yeah, it's like a two and a half hour flight. No, but she, so she would do stuff in Juneau, but then there was periods of time where she would be in Anchorage for weeks at a time. So that was interesting for us growing up. But I remember she was doing this dissection at home and she was like a cow femur or something. No, no, it was supplied, but. I just remember we were like, she had dissected like the bone marrow out of it. And my brother and I were like running around the kitchen with it when she was done. And it was just like, it was like a family affair. Like, I don't know. And it was like, ooh, this is so, and I was like, this is so cool. Like, and I think my brother was like, ew, like, go get that away. But I was like, this is, this is where it's at. Like the dissections and everything. So your brother did not follow mom's footsteps into healthcare, it sounds like. he's going into engineering this fall right now. no, no, no. But so she definitely was an inspiration in my path towards nursing. But I didn't even know that I wanted to be a nurse until senior year of high school. I mean, it's all like I think back then I'm in the TBD stage of my life right now. I was there four years ago. I always knew I wanted to be at health care. like for for sure. I just didn't know what capacity that was going to be. I used to think I wanted to be a scientist. Like I had like a lab coat when I was nine for my birthday. That was like a birthday gift. was and I still have it. It's like my little lab coat. So I was always very interested. at the risk of irritating fellow Alaskans, I suppose that could also be considered camouflage in the winter, Anybody seen Bella? No, I don't... I don't know where she's at. I have no idea. No, so I was always interested in the science. Like I had like a DNA kit and all the, you know, all these things. and then for a while I thought I wanted to be a doctor for like a school project. was, have you heard of like a wax museum? Yeah, yeah, you pick either a history or profession. Yeah, you like embody this person and I chose Elizabeth Blackwell, who is the first female doctor. And I was I was in fifth grade at that point. It was a fifth grade project. And so that was like when the doctor time I was like, I really want to be a doctor. I was very invested in it. And then I kind of got into, you know, high school and I was a little bit older and I was like, the work life balance of it what I was looking, I wasn't looking to be in school for the next decade or however long. then my mom was kind of like, well, you know, like, have you thought about nursing? And I, it was like, I just never thought about it. Like my mom was a nurse and I knew I wanted to be in healthcare, but I'd never considered, and then I was really like, kind of took a deep dive into it. And I was like, is perfect. Like, I was just like a light bulb moment. was like, I don't know why I never considered this. And so yeah, that's how I, and then I applied for schools as, know, nursing student. Here we are, but yeah. well, thank you. Well, thank you. day. And I know for a fact that you make your cohort better. So that is just awesome. I love hearing that story. And I recognize that because you had that moment earlier on. I grew up wanting to be a doctor and then took a little detour into the ministry. And when I popped out of the ministry, we already had our first son. You know, it was matter of, gosh, you know, what do I do? You know, I knew at that point full -time ministry was not for me. And my wife was like, well, why don't you go back and become a doctor? And it's the same thing. It was almost the identical discussion. It was like, well, we have Micah I don't want to, you know what I mean, have that time away from you guys. And she's like, well, what about a nurse? huh. And you the same thing. You look into What?! what I want to do. This is an in hats off to our providers. But man, no nursing is where it's at. So, yeah, no, that's fantastic. Fantastic. So I guess along those same lines, then who would you say you are hero or heroes Hmm. It's hard to pick just one. Anyone in my family is a hero to me. I we have a very close knit family. So a grandparents all like my grandparents that live in town. They're both very heroic in my mind. I talked about my mom a little bit. I can highlight my dad. He's definitely a big role model and hero in my life. He's a great example of like being a really hard worker. but not like I'll say he has like a very stressful job and I never knew he had a stressful job until I was old enough to like comprehend that. Like when I was younger, he never made it feel like we weren't the top priority or like I never felt like he was working all the time even though I'm sure we went to bed and then he would work or you know, like I honestly don't know all the sacrifices that he made for us at that time in our lives but that is truly heroic to me to put family first. even though like, obviously you have to make money, have to work, you have to whatever. But he never made it feel like we were like a burden to him or that we weren't his priority. And so that, and then he's just, he's just the best. love him. He's a great guy. He's very funny. But he's definitely. praise because, you know, it's not... Well, and quite honestly, like in working postpartum labor and delivery, being a nurse, all the things, like you see all different types of families. And I tell the ones with good support persons, whether, you know, the mom has a wife or a husband or, you know, a girlfriend or a boyfriend or whoever's there and is supporting them and they're stepping up and, you know, you've got dads who are doing skin to skin with babies and they're just some fathers who are They don't even want to touch a diaper, let alone anything else. And so I definitely tell those families, be thankful for what you have, because you don't always see that. So that's awesome. Yep, very fortunate. That is amazing. So let's talk about Bella the nursing student. So nursing school, you've been in it, you know, like you've got a year left just under a year, which means, you know, you're nearing the finish line. What do you love most about nursing school? Hmm. I love how, like, I love the camaraderie of nursing school, honestly. I think that was, again, something I just like for some reason never considered. But coming into my cohort. like starting our upper division nursing classes, I didn't necessarily know that many people in my cohort because there was other nursing students that are like nine semesters that I had like become friends with and then I didn't have a lot of eight semester friends. So was like really nervous about how all that was going to go because there was lots of like kind of friend groups in the cohort. And it just does not matter. know, like people are really good friends with each other, but everybody in your cohort is friends. at a certain, like once you go through nursing school together, even just like, even just classes together, you become so close. And you really like lean on each other. So I think that is honestly the best part of it is just like, so and we're all just so supportive of each other, I think. Like everybody is wishing each other the best for like 100 % of the time. So that's my favorite thing about nursing school, I would say. and all just the hands -on stuff we get to do, not just sitting for, we sit for lectures for a lot, but we also get to go to lab and go to clinical and actually do stuff. And that is how I think the majority of people learn best is not just sitting there like, you know, being berated with information. It's actually like applying, you know, getting that information is important totally, but then going out and seeing the application of that information. and actually getting to do stuff with it. even just lab where we're just like, sometimes lab is funny because we're like, pretend this is like this. And you're doing a lot of like pretending things. But even that is like a great learning experience because you're like, these are actual these are the tools I would be using. It's a fake person. It's a mannequin. But you're like, it's much better than just, watching videos or hearing other nurses who are instructors who are all awesome, but hearing them talk about their experiences is useful, but then getting to make your own is by far the most important thing in nursing school, I think. Very true. think imagination is a huge, I always think of SpongeBob SquarePants as imagination with the rainbow. it's, you know, I don't know. That's just in my brain there. That's, that's going to be old man, Eric and the old folks home. And that's just it. But it's, and it only goes so far though. You know what I mean? Like it's definitely a huge like tool in your tool chest to be able to use imagination. Like you said, you need that practical hands -on and I think that's, know, again, not that nursing is necessarily superior to other majors or anything like that. We're not putting anybody under anything, but it's different and that's why it's different. You get that practical application alongside that book knowledge that you're having to digest on a day -to -day basis. So on the flip side then, have you had to face like... I'm sure you've not had any challenges in nursing school so far. But if you did, let's use our imagination, yeah. What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome those? I mean, yeah, I was very much a perfectionist growing up through school. Always got, you know, very good grades. And honestly, didn't have to like not to toot my own horn, but I never like was really struggling. Like that sounds like really conceited. That's not how it's like meant to come across. But Then I get, and then the first semester of college, you're just doing your prerequisites. And like the first semester in particular was like pretty entry level classes. Like we weren't even at like the human anatomy or which is like more challenging. And I was like, like it was like biology, like 101 or something. And I was like, this is so easy. Like I am like, I'm just so smart and I'm gonna do so well. Like I was just like, wow. Like I was so nervous for. you know, college classes and then I was like, yeah, this is fine. And then you get a little bit further down the line and you're like, And I would say this last semester, the one we just completed the spring semester was the hardest semester of anything I've ever done up till now of school. And I remember telling one of well, I remember telling one of my good nursing friends, I told us we were sitting down. I was like, I don't think I've ever tried so hard in my life and done so badly in my life. Like it was not like I was used to doing really well and not trying maybe like as hard as I could. And then here I was this semester, like trying the, like, I don't think I could possibly have tried any harder. And like, not that, and, and not that I was doing like poorly, but just not doing, doing worse than I had been doing. Yeah. so that was definitely like a wake up call. was like, definitely had to have some mental adjustments to cope with that, I think. And just like being giving myself grace and knowing like, I've done everything I possibly if I don't get the hundred percent, not that that's what I was ever going. If that happened, that would be amazing. That's not what I was going for. But like if I didn't do as awesome on a test that I had really said, I was like, well, you know, I don't think I could have done anything differently because like I could, I would not be upset with myself if I knew that I had put in the effort and like maybe the grade didn't necessarily reflect the effort that I had done, but I knew that I knew the information and it was just like not necessarily a knowledge issue, but maybe like a test taking issue or I don't know. cause the most important thing is knowing the stuff and then you go to clinical and you know the information if you, maybe I got like see on that test or something and I was bummed about that. But then you go and you know it. And just, being being kind to myself like, OK, you know, this is the new normal that our new our baseline has lowered. And that's OK. I got to text my mom and be like, new low unlocked like great test score. So that was that was definitely a challenge. But those adjustments it sounds like Yeah, you know, I'm definitely a solo studier and I studied more with peers this semester and kind of you have to make adjustments if you what you're doing is not it's worked up till now, but now it's not working. You have to change something. You can't just keep trying that method. But yeah, we'll see how next semester goes a little bit anxious about that, considering how last semester went. Well, and for now, yeah, it's gonna be great. For now, you're in your summer home area. Yeah, you're in the bubble. You're fine. Don't worry about that. We're talking about school now, but the good news is you get to check out of that conversation afterwards. And for that, I genuinely, thank you, any of the students that come and do this podcast. This is something that just kinda came out of nowhere, at least for me and my brain. We've kinda talked about the origins of it. near the end of the school year. And it wasn't, and I'm going, man, here we're going in the summer, which good news for me, I've got at least a little more time. I'm not worried about the teaching part of stuff that I gotta do alongside my bedside job. So I can just focus on this alongside my family. But the long and the short of it is, every single one, every single student that has agreed to be an honored guest and has shown up and sitting here, you're doing this, you guys, she's doing this on a Saturday night. It's a Saturday night. Granted, it's Juneau, so I mean, I don't know, maybe there's nothing to do. the point is... But it's... I don't know. But the point is, it's a Saturday night and you are dedicating two hours of your time, your time away from dealing with all of the school and talking about tests and talking about challenges, to then sit down and talk about tests and challenges and clinical and go back into that space for a little bit. And for that, I can't thank you enough, and for every student that's willing to do that. So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. So, glad to have you. And oddly enough, I feel like just getting into it, and it feels like we're gonna wrap it up. don't know. Well, with that, let's close. Thank you, Bella, very much. No, I did want to ask though. You talked about studying with your peers, and that's an adjustment you had to make. You're used to being a solo studier. And I've experienced both of those things. Describe for me how do you personally, Bella, make that adjustment to where you're used to doing things solo and now you're like, well, I know if I keep doing that I'm going down the wrong road. So how do you make that adjustment with studying with other people and what was that like for Yeah, honestly, I think you really have to get over a lot of things like for what for me for one I hate people watching me like if they're like kind of right behind my shoulder and they're like peering over me I like get like very like even if it's like my parents and I'm eating dinner like even if it's not like they're like Criticizing me. I'm just like I get so anxious so then coming into nursing school where we have simulations and you're literally being watched like a one -way mirror it's like you're like a being interrogated Hahahaha So like that, and that was like my biggest pet peeve is I hated, like we call it hovering. everyone knows that I hate hovering. And then you go to school and that's all that is happening all the time is you're being watched. People are hovering around you and I still don't love it. It's not my favorite thing, but you had to get over it. Like you have to get over it or you're not going to progress. And so I think the same thing with solo studying is, I think I still lean more towards, like I prefer studying by myself. because I think the problem for me with group studying is that sometimes, and I don't think it is intentional, but sometimes it feels like a competition to see who knows the most. Like it's like, maybe like a topic is brought up and they're like, you're just kind of chatting about it, kind of knowledge dumping to try to, you know, see how much we can talk about it. And sometimes if you don't know that topic and the other person, it's like, just like, I don't know, it feels like a weird. competition. So that's, think, why I shied away from it. But if you find, like peers that you're comfortable with, that you're willing to kind of, there's many times that I was like, I don't know. And like, if you're comfortable enough with your peers to be like, acknowledge that you don't know things, and then it's gonna flip, like you're not going to be the one that always doesn't know things, and they're always knowing, like it's, it balances out. And I think just realizing that made like group studying a little bit easier for me. But yeah, I think a lot of nursing school is just kind of being a little bit uncomfortable and just learning how to figure that out. you know, no one wants to be watched and you know, like that doesn't sound fun for anybody, I'm sure. But that's something that's part of it and you have to adapt to that and get into that. So I would say that and just, you figuring out what works best for you as you go on. And that can change by the week, honestly. Sometimes I'm like, nope, I'm solely gonna be doing this, and then you switch it next week. And it really just depends. And just being flexible is the best way to approach it, I think. It's an exercise in making the uncomfortable comfortable, right? Or as comfortable as you can. So you make it the least uncomfortable as possible. I don't even know what that is. Yeah. Exactly. Try to be uncomfortable. Yeah. don't know. It's a work in progress. It is. it's not exclusive to, you know, it's not exclusive to Bella. It's not exclusive to Gonzaga It's not exclusive to Washington state. It's and that's why this podcast exists is so that hopefully nursing student listens and says, my gosh, I resonate with Bella so much like she is straight up pointing out like I am living that life right now. Thank you so much. That gave me literally like maybe just the amount of oxygen that that person needed to get through that week or that day or that next exam. day. Sometimes it's day by day. Yeah. Yep, yep. Let's worry about today and then tomorrow it'll come. It'll be here, don't worry. Bella, this has been so delightful getting caught up with you again and time traveling with you. I can tell you exactly what happens at 7 .54 tonight. You have an hour yet before you experience it yourself, but no. Circling back around, so we don't make this longer than an hour. Circling back around. You had chosen three words to describe nursing school. What were they and why did you choose So the first word I chose was sacrifice. And I think I mainly chose that just because there was times in the school year that I felt very like alienated from like any of my non -nursing friends, just because you're just on such a different journey than they are. Like you come home from clinical and they had classes today or they had work or you know, like everyone else, everyone's busy. But you just had such a different experience that day than they did. And so I would say like, you sacrifice a lot of time. You know, I'm like, sorry, I like have a test in two days. can't, or, know, like it's definitely a sacrifice that we're all willing to make. And we've all, you know, agreed to make, but sometimes it is like, I would love to do that, but can't. just kind of prioritizing school makes it, makes it difficult. And then the second one I chose was hope. And I chose that. For kind of two reasons, I chose it firstly because I think as a nurse or, you know, from my perspective, as a perspective nurse, you're trying to make people feel better. you know, usually people think about that as the physical ailments, but that includes emotional. And you have the opportunity to be there for somebody's like most vulnerable time in their life, potentially. And to you, it might be just a day. Like, maybe it's just, I have clinical that day. I have to go to clinical, or you have to go to work. But to them, they're experiencing that once and once only, hopefully. And so to be a light in that situation and to be a beacon of hope and help them get through that, think it's really, it's just really awesome that we get to, you that we have the power to do that. And then on the nursing side, the nursing school side of things, I just like hope. is what gets us through school. think like, well, we'll be a nurse in 10 months. you know, like, we'll be halfway, you know, just kind of getting through with our peers and being hopeful for our futures. And then the last one I chose was adaptability. And I'm sure we kind of talked about this, but you just have to be flexible. You can't be married to any plans ever. Like even like, it's like you, it's never going to work. So you can hope to plan things and be organized, It's kind of an organized chaos and adjusting to things as the day goes on, I think is super important. So I chose that word. That's my final That's three very good words. I've said it before and I'll say it again for the benefit of those who haven't heard the whatever episode I mentioned it in, but I'll never forget our first semester instructor and she straight up our very first meeting all of us together she said, I want you guys to be prepared. You are going to get intimately acquainted with the F word. And we're all looking at each other like, where's this lady going? What is going on? And she's like, obviously flexibility. She says, you you have to be flexible. You have to be able to make those changes on the fly. You have to, because you just never know what's gonna happen. no, that is, that's awesome. That's fantastic. Embrace the F word. Okay, I still don't think I have to check off the explicit box on this episode. I think we're fine. I think we've skirted that issue. So, Bella, this has been a delightful time. Let's assume that everyone listened the entire time, the entire duration of this episode, but maybe someone didn't, or maybe they tuned out, or maybe they're busy doing homework and just kind of listened to little bits and pieces of what you had to say. So now, they know we're wrapping up, they've heard your three words, and now they're waiting for your one morsel of wisdom, the one thing you want them to walk away with from this episode. What would that be? I think just like go easy on yourself. There's so many demands and expectations, but nursing students are on top of things for the most part. And sometimes you feel like you're not doing enough, but I think sometimes you have to give yourself a break. So going easy on yourself and being kind to yourself, as well as just don't compare yourself to other people. Like don't compare yourself to your peers. It doesn't, you're not competing with them. You know, working together. So don't compare yourself. if like I definitely have felt like, this particular peer that I have is just they know everything. They're always really prepared. They're a blob. And that is totally true. And they there are people like that. But they have hard times, too. And they're not as prepared as they might look to the outside world or or even like, I think people that like maybe look like they're kind of all over the place, which sometimes that can be me. And they have, you know, they're on top of it too. So I think just not comparing yourself and kind of sticking to yourself and being kind to yourself while you do that is the most important thing I would say to take with you through nursing school and beyond. you. And beyond. I mean, again, this is, there's a reason why the tagline exists that says, you know, encouragement for today's nursing student and life lessons for the rest of us, because that's exactly what's happening. Like we just, get these things that are practical for, you know, applicable to every area of our lives. So thank you, Bella. Thank you for, I can tell you right now there are people out there. Yeah. I, I'm so glad that we got to make this connection again. And I hope you have an enjoyable rest of your time up in Alaska, rain or shine. thank you so much, Eric. It's been a pleasure.