Welcome to the Academic Nursing Leadership Conference! It is such a treat to be here with you all in Washington, D.C. during AACN's 50th anniversary.
I hope to touch base with many of you while we're here at the conference. If we've never met in person before please say hello as we move between sessions or celebrate during the AACN reception.
Sometimes I forget where I put my glasses (first guess, top of my head). Recuperating from a 30-mile bike ride takes me longer than it used to. And if I want to stand a chance of reading that PowerPoint presentation on the screen I have to move a lot closer. These are all a normal part of the aging process and we all, eventually, go through it.
There’s something satisfying about the start of a new semester. It’s a clean slate for returning students and a fresh start for first-year students. As a university, ASU pulls out all the stops to make the first few weeks on-campus as hospitable as possible for every Sun Devil, starting with ASU Welcome! The goal, of course, is to help set the stage for the support and opportunities available throughout their collegiate career.
Traveling to Peru and participating in this study abroad trip was wonderful. In two short weeks, I found myself reaching beyond my comfort zone, exploring new ideas, making tons of connections and trying new things. I learned more from my time spent with the people of Peru than I ever anticipated. It was hard to always open myself up in high school because people were so judgmental, but since coming to college I have allowed myself to be more open. This experience was full of people who were kind, accepting and non-judgmental.
School supplies and lesson plans are all part of a successful start to a new academic year for children. But the start of school also means immunizations, health screenings and monitoring the overall health and well-being of the incoming students. All of this and more are on the back-to-school to-do checklists of school nurses.
In Peru, we were able to spend one day each at the clinic in the Sacred Valley. They called this clinic Puesto de Salud Chacan. It serves the nine sectors of the valley and provides services such as obstetrics and women’s health, infant and childcare, dentistry, optometry, general medicine, and pharmaceuticals. I really enjoyed this day at the clinic and wished we had the ability to spend more time there.
My experience at the local school for the last service project was probably one of my favorite experiences on this whole trip. The innocent love and affection the children had for us right off the bat warmed my heart. I grew such a beautiful connection with some of the kids from just being present in the moment.
Getting to visit one of the seven wonders of the world was absolutely a highlight of this trip. Machu Picchu was quite spectacular and seeing a place in-person for the first time that you’ve only heard about and seen in pictures was amazing.
Service work in another country has emphasized to me that if you go with the mindset that you are saving the people there, then you are actually doing them a disservice. I never liked the thought of being someone’s savior or guiding light. I think we all have something to share and learn from each other. Just because people live their lives differently than you do, does not make them inferior or superior to you. We all have unique stories to share.
WOW. Some opportunities are found on your own and others find you. I definitely think Peru found me. Since I last posted, I landed in Lima and spent two days there. We had the most amazing time. I have been bonding so much with my fellow study abroad classmates. They are all so kind and accepting it’s been easy to put myself out there.