Artefact #1 – My Acceptance Letter
Throughout my education, I have never really struggled with keeping up with school. I was always able to maintain a high average and stay on top of all of my course work. When it came to studying for tests, I had a routine down and would make it my top priority to make sure I knew everything I needed to do forwards and backwards. By the time grade eleven hit, I began to struggle with school. I had courses that I did not understand why I could not do well with the material and did not know how to reach out for help to resolve this. Due to my grade eleven struggles, it prevented me from having a high enough grade average to confidently apply for early university acceptances. The next year in grade twelve, my school motivation declined dramatically. I no longer had high grades and did not want to continue in STEM based courses. When I recieved my acceptance letter to the Trent/ Fleming School of Nursing BCsN program, I was over the moon. I did not believe that I actually got into a university after all my struggles in school. This acceptance was the only full four year program at a University program I was accepted to. The letter not only motivated me the rest of the school year to maintain the average needed, but it also proved that I really did it and was able to fulfill my childhood dream of going to university.
Artefact #2 – My Heart Surgery
When I was born, I was born with a hole in my heart. It was not a major case, but it did need to be closed surgically. At around the age of seven, I went into surgery to fix my hole. I remember going to the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and always being around this one nurse. She did everything with me whether it was arts and crafts, bringing me special snacks, taking me on walks or even just explaining what is going to happen when I go into the procedure. I even went with her to meet the doctor and to pick out the “flavour” of anesthetic I preferred, I remember picking Skittles. She was there to take me into surgery and was there when I woke up. This nurse went above all expectations when making me feel comfortable at this scary time. Although I do not remember her name, she is the reason I wanted to become a nurse. Her kindness, compassion and friendliness is what made me want to help other kids who are in similar situations as I once was. Even though she does not know it, she is who I look up to when I think of one day becoming a nurse and it continues to motivate me each day to finish assignments and keep up with content to one day get my degree and licence.
Artefact #3 – My Dream Unit
After having a personal experience in the Sick Kids Hospital, my dream unit to work in would be pediatrics. For the longest time I believed I wanted to work in a cardiology unit because that’s what I needed my surgery for. It was not until recently that I decided pediatrics was where I really wanted to be. I am choosing pediatrics because I want to be able to help kids not be scared to go