On the eve of my first nursing school exam, I am taking stock of how things are going for me. 

And I must say, things are going well. 

Last year, when I took Microbiology, the thing that stuck with me the most was the need to get organized and have a system. I vowed to start to and stick with a system every semester, to help me keep my sanity. 

That system includes the wiggle room for when things go way wrong or when something crazy happens. 

This system is working very well for me...so far. 

The first day of school, I took the 29 page syllabus and spent about an hour at home planning short and long term goals. I looked ahead at my calendar to see what things were already scheduled and worked school around it. 

The first thing I did was to write all the important due dates in my planner. That is a given. Everyone knows to do that!

The second thing was to plan out my semester on notecards in the form of weekly goals. I gave myself deadlines for when I would like to have tasks completed so that when something comes up, I had built in room to breathe. Here is what the first week's note card had written on it:

AF homework for Chapters 8, 9, 10, 28 due by 17th
Prep U quizzes for Chapters 8, 9, 10, 28 due by 17th
Study for Exam #1 on July 22 covering Chapters 1-5, 8-10, 28 Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday
   (3 Chapters each day with Monday as a review day)
Notebook outlines for ATI Chapters 2, 6, 9, 16, 17, 32 due by the 17th
Look ahead to skim next week's chapters and ATI outlines

Now, was everything due on the 17th? No. But that is when I wanted to be finished so that I could study and move on. Not to mention, I had plans for this weekend (that all got rained out incidentally). 

So, while I feel like I am doing a ton of work during the week, I don't feel overloaded because I have my weekly goals. I can see what needs to be done this week, next week, and so on. If I get things done early, then that is fantastic. I move on and start tackling things for the following week. 

The very last thing I ever want to do is think things are going well, and that I will have plenty of time to complete assignments when I don't or won't...or we get thrown a surprise assignment or project. It happens all the time, and I will not be freaked out by it. 

There is a bit of nervousness about the test tomorrow, but overall, I feel prepared and confident. I am sticking to my goals, making head way, and being very organized. Hopefully this organization will help lesson the stress, frustration, and overall freaked-outed-ness that happens in school every semester. 

Oh and by the way...I found out Thursday that I got $1,000 scholarship. Did I mention that?! YEAH!!!!!