The Sky is the Limit

I shall be forever indebted to my friends India and Croatia, as I shall call them in this blog. For obvious reasons I call them by the countries they are from. I went to Nursing school with them in Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. Were it not for them I wouldn't have landed such a great job here in Waco, Texas as an Emergency Room nurse, my dream job, the reason I got into nursing in the first place. India and Croatia, now married, are practical people and unlike me in the beginning took the job opportunity as it was given to them. On the other hand, I had decided once I became registered 'I am living in Hawaii no matter what.' I was willing to forgo any job opportunities that came at me just so I could live in paradise. This attitude changed with every passing day I was stuck in the nursing home....

So, it was no wonder I left Hawaii to seek other job opportunities. Las Vegas, was no different according to various nurse recruiters and hospitals I had corresponded with. Nobody wants a new graduate Nurse working in their hospital, except in Texas. There was finally a light at the end of the tunnel. India had told me she thought it would behoove me to move to Waco and take the job, in order to get my foot in the door. In this way I would gain the experience that could help me land any other job I want in other more suiting states to my taste.

Last night, I had India and her husband Croatia over for dinner. We enjoyed three cheese tortellini soup I had prepared and spent time next to the pool while having ice cream. After about an hour Croatia had to go to his martial arts class, leaving his wife India with me for a few hours. She talked to me about her online Master degree classes at the University of El Paso. Take note, that she is not a citizen of the United States and has to continuously go to school in order to have a work visa. The luxury of just working is not given to international nurses anymore sadly.

My appreciation for Texas begins and ends with my incredible job opportunity. I much prefer living in a busier place, a city, a tropical island, a place that is more liberal in its views, more accepting of other ways of life. But for my friends who are not from this country, they are ecstatic about living in Texas. They are amazed by the space and fresh air, something I am sure is not so in abundance in India. I love how optimistic they are about this place, it makes it more appealing to me almost. Notice how I said almost.

I laugh sometimes at the reactions the Texans have to Croatia with his incredibly thick Croatian accent. Surprising alot of them have a really hard understanding him. I remember my first few weeks here, we all had decided to go to the dollar movie but didn't know where it was at. Croatia stopped the car and asked for directions.

"Pardon me," Croatia stops the truck and rolls down his window a little more.

"Huh?" The overweight Texan woman seems confused by the accent.

"Yes.....uhhh......good evening...." Croatia says and smiles at her, "we are looking for the dollar cinema."

"Looking for the what?" she seemed confused and shocked to hear such a thick accent, she wondered where he could possibly be from. 'probably from the middle east,' she thought.

"ummm the cinema..."Croatia wondered what he was saying to confuse her so much.

"I don't know what you are talking about," she said politely. You have to hand it to the Texans they are always polite.

"The dollar movie!" India finally realizes that the word 'cinema' was throwing off the poor woman.

We don't really use the word cinema in the states do we??

India asked me if I would help her with her online class. The problem is that the class is mostly writing opinion and research papers. How knowing about how Florence Nightingale changed nursing will make me a better nurse still stumps me, but it is a right of passage into the world of the Nurse Practitioner. There must be some reason they make us learn this. I could visualize it now....

"Hold still sir, while I put in this IV," I said and inserted the 20 gauge needle directly into his vein.

"Ughh that hurts alot!!" He winces out in pain.

"Well, its all done," I released the tourniquet and attached the tubing to the catheter. "I didn't do a half bad job, if only Florence Nightingale was here to see this, ,she would be so proud."

"Who is Florence Nightingale?" The gentleman asked as I hooked him up to the EKG.

"I am glad you asked sir," I attach the electrodes to his chest. "She is the mother of nursing, she made it a professional practice, something to be respected. Before her nurses were alcoholics and prostitutes."

"Hmmm," the Texan man nods completely unsure of what to say to that.

Awkward Silence........

I still can't think of a good reason of why I would need to know about all this nursing history. There must be a reason, someday this information will save someone's life. Till then I am going to write the most awesomely brilliant essays about nursing.

My friend India and I have a history ourselves. While at the University I always helped her with essays for English class. I loved proofreading and editing her work, writing is my passion.

* While you are all watching television, which I do not own, I write blogs, books, short stories, and poems. It is my thing, my hobby. *

Now is no different, I helped her storm up an idea for her writing assignment for this Master's Degree she is working on. I then realized to myself "I need to do this!!!" There is no good reason for me not to start working on my Master's Degree in Nursing. I felt this incredible surge of motivation, I am going to do this!! I am going to apply very soon and start working online for this degree. By the time that I am done, I will have had 2 years of experience as an Emergency Room Nurse and can begin my career as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

I feel really good about this plan, I am excited.

When Croatia came back from martial arts he reminded me of one thing....

"In American the sky is the limit," he looked directly in my eyes with a first hand knowledge that this is absolutely true, "unlike our countries, there is no limit to what you can do here if you work hard."

As a citizen of the United States I sometimes forget how lucky we really do have it. He is right, in this country we make our own luck and fortune. We create our own future, and we can do anything. It is incredible.