Hello Future Nurse,

Happy orientation! This is one of the greatest accomplishments of your life, thus far. Take it all
in! My name is Taylor Young, and I’m a 4 th semester nursing student about to graduate in less
than a month. I just finished up my preceptorship at Banner UMC and am in the process of job
applications! I come from a family of nurses and was overwhelmed with advice and both
positive and negative honesty coming into nursing school. I want to give you raw advice and
words of encouragement that helped me get here.

For me, content wise, nursing school was actually easier than our core classes like Organic
Chemistry and Physiology 202. You’re going to care tremendously more about what you’re
learning, and you’ll be able visualize every single disease and treatment in clinicals. Clinicals are
the best part about nursing school, so get excited (especially 2nd and 3rd semester)! The most
important tip I have for you is to not pysch yourself out. You are intelligent and worthy of
being here. Pre-Nursing and the interview process felt incredibly competitive and cut-throat to
me, nursing school is not like that at all. Now, you’re less worried about being the top 54.
Everyone is equal. However, do not expect to be perfect right away. You’ve never done this
before.

Everyone says nursing school is hard… but what does that mean exactly? First semester is a lot
of training yourself to think like a nurse. It’s different, it’s new, it’s hard. This semester, it’ll feel
like you have more busy work, but what you do in 1 st semester heavily carries into every single
semester. You might feel like you’re drowning in exams and papers, but it gets significantly
better! Content wise, patho may be your hardest class, the rest are very reasonable! As you get
further into 2nd and 3rd, your homework and exam load will die down significantly.

You’re going to lose some sleep, sacrifice some weekends for projects and papers, and may have
imposter syndrome. This might not disappear until you graduate, but how you cope can make the
world of a difference. Above all, take care of your mental health while in nursing school. Reach
out to your professors and friends more than ever. Everyone is going through or went through the
same exact thing you’re about to do. They all have felt exactly how you do. (Also, you can
definitely keep up your hobbies and have a social life during every semester of nursing school,
don’t let anyone lie to you about this!)

So, congratulations on earning your spot here! I felt like life began once nursing school started. I
hope you feel that energy now too! Do not hesitate to reach out for questions, concerns, advice…
anything! Who knows, maybe you’ll have clinicals with me one day!

Wishing you the best of luck,

Taylor Young
(520) 310-1310