How did my first summer after freshman year go? In between my first and second semester of college, I decided to change my major. Before I was a nursing major I was a biology major. Changing my major meant that I would need new prerequisites. After speaking with my adviser, she said that I would need to take anatomy and physiology, general chemistry and college algebra. I needed to retake college algebra and chemistry because I withdrew from algebra and received a D in chem. Lucky enough, AB offered an online anatomy class! This meant that I would be able to take both anatomies in about 10 weeks. Keep in mind the average semester class is 14 weeks. I also lucked out because a county college offered the algebra and chem classes I needed. The chem class would be a five-week course, and the algebra would be around eight weeks. Along with all the classes, I would be doing physical therapy three times a week for my ACL reconstruction surgery.
Most college kids spend their summers home relaxing or working, not spending their entire break in a classroom. Many of my friends worked while others laid on the beach all summer, but not I. I spent four days a week in a chemistry lab. Each day would be around three and a half hours. Chemistry was really hard, especially when I had five weeks to learn an entire course! Let alone, the teacher was so introverted. Another complication would be my bad testing luck. Somehow I managed to get a zero on the second chemistry test. I needed to get a C in the class to continue the process of getting into nursing school. Miraculously, I managed to do well on the final exam and got a C in the class.
While taking chemistry, I also had to worry about the online anatomy class. It was super easy to forget when the assignments were due. There were many times when I would realize at night I had an exam or quizzes due. The hardest parts about the anatomy class were the labs and lab practicals. The labs involved dissecting rats, taking my own blood and many other crazy things! I managed to get a B in the first anatomy and an A in the second one! Since this course was offered at AB, this helped my GPA out!
After chemistry and anatomy were done, the only course left to conquer was college algebra. This class was held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Algebra was roughly an eight-week course. I'm not exactly a math genius, so I struggled a little with it. On the first exam, I scored a 75 (that's good for me), so I was really excited. As I'm writing this article, I'm waiting for the second test grade to go in. I'm hoping to at least receive a C in this class.
While taking 15 credits over the summer, doing PT three times a week and jumping through hoops for nursing school, I am glad summer is almost done. I can't wait to be reunited with all my AB peeps! I hope sophomore year is everything and more!
