Back to the Basics
Hello, future nurses! I am SO glad that you are here and preparing to start your nursing school journey. I know when I started college, I was clueless...and that is totally normal. I attended public school K-9th grade and then was cyber schooled for 2 years. Let me begin by telling you, if you don't already know, high school and college are VERY different. HAVE NO FEAR! I have a few small things that can start you off on the right foot your first day on campus. Whether this be your first college semester ever, your first clinical course (like me) or both, having the proper school supplies can make a huge difference.
Below, I am going to show you a handful of the very basic necessities that I have and have used for the past 2.5 years of college; All of these products are my go to favorites, so I promise, they are the best! Just keep in mind though, as a student, each person is different in how they organize, study, take notes, etc. so what may work for me, may not work for you. THAT IS OKAY! Hopefully, you can take some ideas and alter them for what suits you best.
A planer or agenda is key to being successful in college, especially for a nursing major. I prefer the Day Designer planner (you can find at Target or online) due to the fact is has monthly and daily pages. Each day page is broken down in several columns giving you a 6am to 8pm calendar, a To Do List, Gratitude, Notes, Top 3, etc. It is very easy to use and has plenty of writing space! I use a planner for EVERYTHING going on. Whether it be class time, a To Do List, or "Don't forget"...all of my thoughts and reminders are written down in here. Having a schedule makes a large impact on time management and creating a (more) stress-free semester.
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Colored pens! I cannot express how important it is to color code pretty much everything. This makes taking notes, creating concept makes, making flashcards and writing in your planer so much simpler and way more organized. Personally, I dedicate one color to each event (class time, doctors appointments, assignment due, etc.). When in class, changing color when changing topic helps you memorize and pay more attention. My grades improved and I realized I retained so much more when my notes and PowerPoints's were colorful versus plain black or blue. My absolute favorite colored pens are Ink Joy Paper Mate Gel Pens. My second go to, are these fine tip, felt tip “markers” from Michael’s. These bad boys only cost $12.00 for 20! Make sure to use the online coupons at Michael’s and save that $$$.
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Give me all the tabs! Post it or sticky note tabs are just the BOMB.COM! Having tabs in your textbook makes flipping to each chapter so much quicker. Adding side annotations to your study guides or PowerPoint’s can be done without taking up any more space on the page. Marking test days or assignment due dates is easy and you will consistently see it. Tabs can do anything and everything and you can find them pretty much anymore in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. Literally…these will come in handy and you wont even realize it. Trust me on this one! Purchase an assortment and keep them in your bag. You’re welcome. *Click on image for the link*
These will become your best friend and worst enemy: NOTE CARDS. Some students prefer online flashcard tools but I personally, need to write something down in order to retain the information. In college you will have an immense amount of STUFF to keep in your brain and notecards are the handy-dandy-little-helper. Use these for vocab words (throwback to elementary school), math algorithm, anatomy…ANYTHING. Creating notecards are useful tools to quiz yourself but are also extremely convenient to keep on you. While waiting or line or riding in the car, pull out your cards and start studying. A quick 5 minutes makes a difference and your test scores will show it! Don’t forget, organizing each courses notecards is very important! Make sure to grab a box while in that isle at Wal-Mart so you don’t have 800 lose cards in your back pack and accidentally answer “Tachycardia!” in history class.
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LAST BUT NOT LEAST.....
WASHI TAPE AND STICKERS! Don't forget to enjoy the little things in life. Even though you're taking on a lot of stress pulling all nighters, maintaining a part time job (or 2) and living off of coffee and snack packs, college is a time to discover YOU! Becoming who you are, finding out your true passions and creating the foundation for your future is what you are doing RIGHT NOW. Personalize your bind. Add that cute motivational quote to your notes. The environment you create around yourself is going to be the base attitude you have for everything. I always say "your attitude determines your outcome". If pineapples makes you happy or at least make you smile on a crappy day, put pineapples EVERYWHERE! Love your life, education and make the most out of today!
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