When they told me that high school was the best four years of your life, I definitely laughed and thought that was a lie. But if someone told me that college was the best four+ years (depending on your major), I would definitely believe you. Being a nursing major, however, bring on a whole lot of stress. So for all the people who have friends that are nursing majors, and are wondering where the heck your friends have been all semester, this is what we want you to understand.

1. If we don't text you back right away or call you back right away, we will as soon as we can.

It's very hard to get things done when you're in 3 different group chats and they start going off all at once. Even tho we might be 3 hours late to the conversation, we will always reply.

2. Just because we don't respond to texts right away doesn't mean we are ignoring you.

There are days where we will see a message and then totally forget to respond to it amongst all the assignments and things we were doing that day. It's totally our fault and we apologize for always being late on responding.

3. For the long distance best friends, we're sorry we can't visit as often as we wish to.

One of my best friends lives 3+ hours away and it sucks that my weekends are full of work and studying that it's hard to find time to go visit. Thankfully we have access to FaceTime, Skype, and Snapchat that make maintaining our friendships much easier. But you will find time, even if it is over a holiday break, to go see them. Those are some of the best reunions.

4. Just because we say that we can't go out doesn't mean that we are judging you or trying to avoid you.

Sometimes it's because we've got a care plan to fill out, 7 hours of clinical reflection to do, 3 hours of notes to take, or a test to study for. And sometimes it's all of that. Other times, we are just tired from a long week and a night in with a warm blanket and a movie just sounds so much better. But don't worry we still want to go out, but just not as often as we ust to.

5. Understand the quote "not now but later".

Nursing school is stressful and busy, but it only lasts two and a half years. It requires a lot of sacrifice and time management. We want you to understand that we work this hard because it's something we are passionate about, and that this stress and craziness is only temporary.

6. We will always be there for you.

No matter what's going on in our crazy nursing lives, we will still be there for you when you need us.

It can be stressful trying to manage our time and it's hard to split time between people, but we wouldn't trade this experience for anything because in the end it will be so worth it.