Well, it is the end of week three of the nursing program and it has been quite a ride already. I’m taking three courses right now; Foundations of Nursing, Pharmacology, and Professional Nursing Role Development. The schedule is very confusing. Classes can be either 5, 8, 10, or 15 weeks long and are rotating constantly. On top of that, we will be doing clinical rotations in hospitals and health care facilities around the Denver area, which will also be switching frequently. Staying on top of where I’m supposed to be and what is due when for which class/clinical is taking up far too much of my time. I’ve heard now from multiple people that the first 15 weeks of the program are the worst, so it is comforting thing will only get better, but exhausting that we really have to hit the ground sprinting. All of the students in the program are stressed already, chronically behind with no hope of catching up. We’re all just keeping our heads above water enough to get done whatever assignments are due the next day, not even attempting to work ahead or complete all of the assigned reading. I start my first clinical rotation on Thursday at a nursing home in Boulder. Of all the clinicals, I am looking least forward to the nursing home rotation, but I know I will learn a lot there and I’m trying to stay open minded. In the past I’ve visited nursing homes on ambulance calls and have pretty much only seen the worst of the worst. As a part of one of my classes I’ve been volunteering at a local nursing home (in all my spare time) and have gotten to actually sit and talk with some of the residents and see a whole other side of nursing homes. Doing that has made me a little more excited to do this clinical, even though I know it is not the area I would like to work it. Plus, since the nursing home is in Boulder, I’ll get to spend some time in an awesome town and maybe even do some hiking before my afternoon shifts start.
I’m definitely taking things one day at a time here, and free time is sparse. However, I have been able to do a few fun things since school started. Most recently, Jamie and I went out for sushi with Steve and Jill and had a FEAST! I’ve never had so much sushi, and it was delicious. There are a bunch of sushi spots around town, and Jamie and I are always on the lookout for a place to match our old favorite, Koreana, in Appleton. I’ve really liked Denver so far. It is great to be able to see the mountains every day, even though they tempt me to abandon my studies to go skiing or exploring. People seem so active here, I’m hoping that (after this year) I’ll be able to adopt that kind of lifestyle. I’m going to keep this post short and sweet. It is Friday night and I will, unfortunately, be spending much of it studying…. and tomorrow… and Sunday… ug.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
An Open Letter
Dear Denver Motorists,
I may be new to the area, but I am acutely aware of the fact that we live near an alpine climate. Sure, the weather has been pleasantly mild as of late, but we all knew deep down in our hearts that it is January in Colorado and snow must be coming soon. Sure, the storm this morning snuck up on all of us. Usually a 10% or 20% chance of snow automatically translates to 0% in our brains and I did the same thing when I checked the forecast last night, and I was equally surprised to wake up to 3 inches this morning at 6:30. However, I did not find it appropriate to go gridlock the entire metro area because of such a minuscule amount of snow. In Minnesota or Wisconsin, that is a light day and commutes generally go as usual with a backup here or there. This morning was ridiculous. How, motorists, did my 15 minute drive turn into 70 minutes? Even midwesterners have to remember how to drive in snow the first time or two each season... but seriously, this morning you were in a league of your own. Yes, caution is called for in such conditions, but 10mph and taking up both lanes is a little excessive. And sir(s) with the pickup trucks, I know you have four wheel drive and excellent clearance, but you must obey traffic laws like everyone else, no matter how superior your vehicle is in these conditions. I don't think I have ever seen so many illegal maneuvers in such poor conditions, way to make a manageable problem a mess. Thank you for making me 40 minutes late to my first day of class, and I look forward to commuting with you in the future.
-Reed Nygren
PS: The first day of class went fine. 7 hours of lecture and I now I shall go bury my head in books to prepare myself to save that gentleman's life who spun out into the opposite lane this morning, only to resume his speeding after he regained control. See you in the ER.
I may be new to the area, but I am acutely aware of the fact that we live near an alpine climate. Sure, the weather has been pleasantly mild as of late, but we all knew deep down in our hearts that it is January in Colorado and snow must be coming soon. Sure, the storm this morning snuck up on all of us. Usually a 10% or 20% chance of snow automatically translates to 0% in our brains and I did the same thing when I checked the forecast last night, and I was equally surprised to wake up to 3 inches this morning at 6:30. However, I did not find it appropriate to go gridlock the entire metro area because of such a minuscule amount of snow. In Minnesota or Wisconsin, that is a light day and commutes generally go as usual with a backup here or there. This morning was ridiculous. How, motorists, did my 15 minute drive turn into 70 minutes? Even midwesterners have to remember how to drive in snow the first time or two each season... but seriously, this morning you were in a league of your own. Yes, caution is called for in such conditions, but 10mph and taking up both lanes is a little excessive. And sir(s) with the pickup trucks, I know you have four wheel drive and excellent clearance, but you must obey traffic laws like everyone else, no matter how superior your vehicle is in these conditions. I don't think I have ever seen so many illegal maneuvers in such poor conditions, way to make a manageable problem a mess. Thank you for making me 40 minutes late to my first day of class, and I look forward to commuting with you in the future.
-Reed Nygren
PS: The first day of class went fine. 7 hours of lecture and I now I shall go bury my head in books to prepare myself to save that gentleman's life who spun out into the opposite lane this morning, only to resume his speeding after he regained control. See you in the ER.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Deep Breath before the Plunge
Well, it is the night before classes start and I am definitely ready to start, but I’m quite nervous. Before I get into all of that though, I’ll write a little bit about what I’ve been up to since the last time I updated.
Just after Jamie and I got settled in here, we packed up a bunch of stuff again and headed into the mountains. Steve and Jill own a condo in Silverthorne, CO that they use occasionally, but primarily rent out to other people. There happened to be a gap in the schedule right after New Years, and Steve and Jill offered it to Jamie and me. Of course, we jumped at the chance to get some skiing in before classes start. We are still getting used to driving in the mountains. The highways in metro Denver are easy enough and people have been generally sensible with the few usual exceptions who want to drive 15 over all the time. In the mountain passes it is a different story. Jamie and I were comfortable going the speed limit at the most around the sharp turns and steep grades, but it seems like all of the locals fly around corners and gun it down icy descents. Maybe it is because most of them had 4-wheel drive and we didn’t, but it the way they drive seems insane and dangerous. The EMTs in us came out as we realized just how difficult it would be to stage a rescue in a narrow canyon like that, and quickly determined that if someone was seriously injured in an accident, they didn’t have much of a chance. With that said, we reserved ourselves to driving quite cautiously, no matter how long the line of cars behind us.
Silverthorne is in Summit County, which is pretty centrally located around a number of ski resorts. We arrived at the condo on the 3rd, cleaned up after the previous visitors, and went for a nice walk in the woods. It seems like you never have to travel very far from Denver to find yourself in a national forest around here, and we had to walk about a half mile from the condo to find ourselves in another one. The weather was, of course, significantly different in the mountains. While we sit at around 5,500 feet in Denver, the condo is around 10,000. With the elevation gain came a ton of snow, and it finally felt like winter again. The path we were on was a foot-wide ribbon of packed snow, and if we ventured an inch to either side we found ourselves knee deep in loose powder.
The next day we headed fifteen minutes Southwest to Copper Mountain for a day of skiing. It was my first time at that resort, and my first mountain skiing of the season (Afton Alps just doesn’t cut it now), so I took it pretty easy and stuck to the blue/blue-black runs. It was a nice day and the views from copper are pretty spectacular wherever you are. Plus, we got discounted tickets from Jamie’s cousin, Jason. Snow conditions weren’t great, pretty close to Midwest skiing actually… which was quite unfortunate. Maybe next time I’ll stray a bit more from the easier runs in hopes of finding some decent snow. Jamie and I shared a nice sandwich lunch on the outdoor deck of the T-Rex Grill and it was a very nice day despite sub-par snow.
It should be noted that we were so exhausted after whatever activity we happened to be doing during the day that we pretty much would eat and crash at the condo afterwards, without motivation to do much more than watch a movie or some HOUSE on tv. One thing that we DID do is get completely addicted to a stupid online game called “Off-Road Velociraptor Safari”. Unless you are looking to spend hours on a ridiculous, yet somehow completely enthralling, game… do NOT go to their website: www.raptorsafari.com.
Monday was our non-skiing day and we took it easy in the morning. Just before noon we headed out to hike as far as we could up Buffalo Mountain. The trailhead is conveniently located just up the road from the condo, and we were the only ones on the trail without skis for some reason. Buffalo Mountain is a 12,777 foot easily recognizable domed peak and a strenuous day hike in the summer. In the winter the trails at the base are well worn, but the higher you climb the less used they get. I found it interesting that my usually temperamental knees held up the entire trip without a single ache, while my usually manageable asthma was seriously hampering my hiking efforts. I attributed my gasping to a combination of being out of shape, the altitude, and the cold air. I think that it will get better in time, but I’ll still probably need to get an inhaler (we’ll see) if I’m going to be doing some really strenuous stuff. Anyway, we climbed high enough on the mountain for the trail in front of us to end and the views of the valley to open up. The vista was spectacular, as well as the wind. We sat down in the snow, put on every layer we had with us, and ate our pasta salad while gusts of wind and snow battered us. Before we were done, the noodles were frozen and the dish was full of snow, but we still managed to get some good pictures! Since the trail had ended, we decided to retreat back down since we didn’t have the proper equipment to continue on safely for a winter ascent. Uncle Jeff, one of these day’s I’ll have the crampons, rope, ice axes, and skills to get some proper peaks done!
Tuesday was the day I had been waiting for… Vail! I had been there once before and it was a perfect powder day. The mountain didn’t disappoint this time either. Jamie and I met up with my friend Karla. I met her when I was a lighthouse keeper for the National Park Service and she worked on the tour boat that came to the island every day. Now she works at Vail and she was able to get us a great discount on lift tickets. It snowed all day and we spent all of our time on the back side of the mountain and blue sky basin, where Jamie convinced me to do a run called Lover’s Leap. I saw the run from the chair lift as we were going up, and I felt as if I were looking at my death. Lover’s Leap begins on a wind-whipped ridge. Wind comes up from a valley, scraping snow from the hillside and then dropping it on the opposite side of the mountain. This opposite side is Lover’s Leap and, because of this behavior of the wind and snow, it is known for having large amounts of powder. It is also because of the wind that there is a large cornice (look it up) of snow right where the run starts. It is pretty much a 10 foot cliff, followed by a steep descent into a forest. It is on this run that a skier got buried in an avalanche earlier this year (he was fine, don’t worry). Snow conditions weren’t as heavy the day we were there, so we weren’t in any avalanche danger. I did the run twice and I fell in love with it and I can’t wait to go back and take some better pictures and video. I had the best day of skiing I have ever had, and Vail has won top honors from me so far. After skiing the three of us went out to dinner and then Jamie and I had to head back to Denver the following morning. It was the perfect mini-vacation before we start this nursing program.
Now back to the reason we’re in Colorado in the first place! We had orientation the day after returning from the mountains and we got a whole bunch of information thrown at us and it was very overwhelming. We have 11 chapters to read and two other assignments before classes even start. I spent $700 on books and there are countless other details that need to be taken care of in order to make this all work, many of which I’m still trying to accomplish. But, the program sounds great. Hard, but great. The faculty all seem very knowledgeable and experienced and excited to teach, and the students are all extremely motivated. We learned some interesting things about the program already, like that the local hospitals consider Regis to have the best nursing program in the state and offer them great clinical options as a result. And that students are generally so competitive that in order to be in the top 35%, you need to get a 3.8 gpa or higher. And that the first 15 weeks is considered to be the hardest, and that people who don’t usually get stressed or cry end up wanting to quit the program and spontaneously burst into tears (an anecdote from a student who had already graduated… not a formal part of orientation). And that we are all offered free counseling and therapy throughout the year. So, things should get interesting here, but I think it is going to go by extremely fast and that I am going to be completely exhausted… but that the program is going to get me ready to excel in a field that I need to be the best at in order to achieve my goal. Classes start in 10 hours… here we go!
As you may have noticed, I didn’t post any pictures this time. I decided to open a Photobucket account, and all of my pictures from Colorado so far can be found there. There are two videos on there now, so don’t forget to watch those too. Here’s a link! http://s549.photobucket.com/albums/ii395/nygrenreed/Colorado/
Just after Jamie and I got settled in here, we packed up a bunch of stuff again and headed into the mountains. Steve and Jill own a condo in Silverthorne, CO that they use occasionally, but primarily rent out to other people. There happened to be a gap in the schedule right after New Years, and Steve and Jill offered it to Jamie and me. Of course, we jumped at the chance to get some skiing in before classes start. We are still getting used to driving in the mountains. The highways in metro Denver are easy enough and people have been generally sensible with the few usual exceptions who want to drive 15 over all the time. In the mountain passes it is a different story. Jamie and I were comfortable going the speed limit at the most around the sharp turns and steep grades, but it seems like all of the locals fly around corners and gun it down icy descents. Maybe it is because most of them had 4-wheel drive and we didn’t, but it the way they drive seems insane and dangerous. The EMTs in us came out as we realized just how difficult it would be to stage a rescue in a narrow canyon like that, and quickly determined that if someone was seriously injured in an accident, they didn’t have much of a chance. With that said, we reserved ourselves to driving quite cautiously, no matter how long the line of cars behind us.
Silverthorne is in Summit County, which is pretty centrally located around a number of ski resorts. We arrived at the condo on the 3rd, cleaned up after the previous visitors, and went for a nice walk in the woods. It seems like you never have to travel very far from Denver to find yourself in a national forest around here, and we had to walk about a half mile from the condo to find ourselves in another one. The weather was, of course, significantly different in the mountains. While we sit at around 5,500 feet in Denver, the condo is around 10,000. With the elevation gain came a ton of snow, and it finally felt like winter again. The path we were on was a foot-wide ribbon of packed snow, and if we ventured an inch to either side we found ourselves knee deep in loose powder.
The next day we headed fifteen minutes Southwest to Copper Mountain for a day of skiing. It was my first time at that resort, and my first mountain skiing of the season (Afton Alps just doesn’t cut it now), so I took it pretty easy and stuck to the blue/blue-black runs. It was a nice day and the views from copper are pretty spectacular wherever you are. Plus, we got discounted tickets from Jamie’s cousin, Jason. Snow conditions weren’t great, pretty close to Midwest skiing actually… which was quite unfortunate. Maybe next time I’ll stray a bit more from the easier runs in hopes of finding some decent snow. Jamie and I shared a nice sandwich lunch on the outdoor deck of the T-Rex Grill and it was a very nice day despite sub-par snow.
It should be noted that we were so exhausted after whatever activity we happened to be doing during the day that we pretty much would eat and crash at the condo afterwards, without motivation to do much more than watch a movie or some HOUSE on tv. One thing that we DID do is get completely addicted to a stupid online game called “Off-Road Velociraptor Safari”. Unless you are looking to spend hours on a ridiculous, yet somehow completely enthralling, game… do NOT go to their website: www.raptorsafari.com.
Monday was our non-skiing day and we took it easy in the morning. Just before noon we headed out to hike as far as we could up Buffalo Mountain. The trailhead is conveniently located just up the road from the condo, and we were the only ones on the trail without skis for some reason. Buffalo Mountain is a 12,777 foot easily recognizable domed peak and a strenuous day hike in the summer. In the winter the trails at the base are well worn, but the higher you climb the less used they get. I found it interesting that my usually temperamental knees held up the entire trip without a single ache, while my usually manageable asthma was seriously hampering my hiking efforts. I attributed my gasping to a combination of being out of shape, the altitude, and the cold air. I think that it will get better in time, but I’ll still probably need to get an inhaler (we’ll see) if I’m going to be doing some really strenuous stuff. Anyway, we climbed high enough on the mountain for the trail in front of us to end and the views of the valley to open up. The vista was spectacular, as well as the wind. We sat down in the snow, put on every layer we had with us, and ate our pasta salad while gusts of wind and snow battered us. Before we were done, the noodles were frozen and the dish was full of snow, but we still managed to get some good pictures! Since the trail had ended, we decided to retreat back down since we didn’t have the proper equipment to continue on safely for a winter ascent. Uncle Jeff, one of these day’s I’ll have the crampons, rope, ice axes, and skills to get some proper peaks done!
Tuesday was the day I had been waiting for… Vail! I had been there once before and it was a perfect powder day. The mountain didn’t disappoint this time either. Jamie and I met up with my friend Karla. I met her when I was a lighthouse keeper for the National Park Service and she worked on the tour boat that came to the island every day. Now she works at Vail and she was able to get us a great discount on lift tickets. It snowed all day and we spent all of our time on the back side of the mountain and blue sky basin, where Jamie convinced me to do a run called Lover’s Leap. I saw the run from the chair lift as we were going up, and I felt as if I were looking at my death. Lover’s Leap begins on a wind-whipped ridge. Wind comes up from a valley, scraping snow from the hillside and then dropping it on the opposite side of the mountain. This opposite side is Lover’s Leap and, because of this behavior of the wind and snow, it is known for having large amounts of powder. It is also because of the wind that there is a large cornice (look it up) of snow right where the run starts. It is pretty much a 10 foot cliff, followed by a steep descent into a forest. It is on this run that a skier got buried in an avalanche earlier this year (he was fine, don’t worry). Snow conditions weren’t as heavy the day we were there, so we weren’t in any avalanche danger. I did the run twice and I fell in love with it and I can’t wait to go back and take some better pictures and video. I had the best day of skiing I have ever had, and Vail has won top honors from me so far. After skiing the three of us went out to dinner and then Jamie and I had to head back to Denver the following morning. It was the perfect mini-vacation before we start this nursing program.
Now back to the reason we’re in Colorado in the first place! We had orientation the day after returning from the mountains and we got a whole bunch of information thrown at us and it was very overwhelming. We have 11 chapters to read and two other assignments before classes even start. I spent $700 on books and there are countless other details that need to be taken care of in order to make this all work, many of which I’m still trying to accomplish. But, the program sounds great. Hard, but great. The faculty all seem very knowledgeable and experienced and excited to teach, and the students are all extremely motivated. We learned some interesting things about the program already, like that the local hospitals consider Regis to have the best nursing program in the state and offer them great clinical options as a result. And that students are generally so competitive that in order to be in the top 35%, you need to get a 3.8 gpa or higher. And that the first 15 weeks is considered to be the hardest, and that people who don’t usually get stressed or cry end up wanting to quit the program and spontaneously burst into tears (an anecdote from a student who had already graduated… not a formal part of orientation). And that we are all offered free counseling and therapy throughout the year. So, things should get interesting here, but I think it is going to go by extremely fast and that I am going to be completely exhausted… but that the program is going to get me ready to excel in a field that I need to be the best at in order to achieve my goal. Classes start in 10 hours… here we go!
As you may have noticed, I didn’t post any pictures this time. I decided to open a Photobucket account, and all of my pictures from Colorado so far can be found there. There are two videos on there now, so don’t forget to watch those too. Here’s a link! http://s549.photobucket.com/albums/ii395/nygrenreed/Colorado/
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Colorado!
Steve and Jill's House (Jamie's Uncle and Aunt)
My window is on the 2nd floor, farthest right.
My room! Jamie and I share a desk in here, and her room is across he hall.
Our first hike: Roosevelt National Forest, Sourdough Trail at just over 10,000 feet.
The view from my window. I can see the foothills!
Well, Jamie and I made it to Colorado! Jamie and her parents came to Woodbury and we left the day after Christmas and drove through pea-soup fog the entire way to Des Moines. We stayed there overnight and woke up the next morning to ice storm warnings for most of Iowa. Looking out the window, things didn't appear to be too bad and we expected to leave before the worst of the storm hit. We packed up and headed out the door only to find that, though it wasn't sleeting at the moment, everything (EVERYTHING) had a quarter-inch of ice on it. We had to chip our ways into the cars, and then things got easier once the cars started getting warm... but it was a bit dicey there for a bit. The roads were pretty bad until Nebraska, but from then on it was smooth sailing. We arrived at Steve and Jill's house around 9:30 that night and we didn't get to see the mountains until the next morning. Their house is beatiful and I am so happy to be staying here (at least for a little while!). We are in the city of Arvada, between Golden and Denver, and we have great views of the foothills and downtown Denver from the house. We spent the first few days unpacking and settling in, taking a day to go to Boulder for some shopping and sight seeing, and a few trips to the grocery store and back. Jamie's parents just couldn't leave us without making sure we would be well fed for the first week or so!
A lot of time has also been spent getting ready to start the nursing program. Jamie and I took a brief trip to campus and it looks really nice, quite similar to Ripon actually! Jamie got her iPhone and we both got the software we need for our clinicals. Jamie and I have both been relying heavily on our iPhones since we don't know where anything is here! We are adjusting quickly and learning our way around thanks to that handy maps feature!
New Years Eve marked three years that Jamie and I have been dating, and we are both very excited to be able to celebrate in this new place together. We spent most of the day hiking in the Roosevelt National Forest on the Sourdough trail (which took some finding after a long, winding drive through the mountains). But it was fun and it felt so good to be outside and back in the mountains. Then we went to dinner at this Thai place we heard was good, and I made the mistake of ordering a "medium" for spice level and ended up with a nuclear war going on in my mouth. The food was delicious, but I think it will take some time for us to replace our old favorite (Koreana) in Wisconsin. We also got to watch the downtown Denver fireworks from the house at midnight, which was fun even though they were quite small from our vantage point.
Well, we have orientation at Regis on January 8th, and then classes start on the 12th! Between now and then, I will be finalizing things with the school and making sure everything is in order. Jamie and I are also going to take advantage of the last days of freedom that we will have in 2009 by taking a trip to Steve and Jill's condo near Breckenridge/Keystone/Copper for a few days to get some skiing and hiking in before burying ourselves in books for a year. Lots more pictures to come, and I'll try and set up an account with snapfish or some other photo-sharing site too.
That's all for now! Thank you to everyone who has helped out Jamie and me throughout this whole process! We both truly appreciate it and we wouldn't be able to be here without your love and support!
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