The Baccalaureate Nursing Program at City Tech has helped me realize a few things about myself in terms of how I study and what kind of classes I do better in than others. One of the main differences in the Baccalaureate program is that most of our assignments were research papers and APA format. I knew early on in my academic life that writing was not my strongest area, and that I had to devote time to writing papers that were thoughtful and concise. I did, however, enjoy doing research and reading academic journals. I believe my nursing future will encompass some form of research, and I hope that I can carry along some of the skills I learned in the future.
One of the most challenging experiences in the Baccalaureate program for me was the online and hybrid courses. Though they were not completely unfamiliar to me, I was not used to having so many of them. I quickly came to the conclusion that I am more of a face-to-face learner and absorb more as a students in a lecture setting than independently. Interacting with a professor and other students is definitely part of my learning style, and online courses do not engage me as a learner. I often struggled to keep up with online course work because it is a different kind of responsibility as a student because there is less pressure to be prepared a head of time with work.
I found that the Baccalaureate program helped me build stronger relationships with my classmates. Most of the courses had some kind of group project or homework, and clinical sites focused more on working as a team to accomplish a goal, such as coordinating a health fair or doing group presentations. I was able to get to know more classmates and build skills around teamwork, leadership, and decision-making that I was unable to do in the Associates Program. The work we did as a group was mostly based on nursing or community issues and it felt like realistic work to prepare us for addressing similar issues post graduation.
My strengths as a students, and as a nurse, are organization, time management, and professionalism. Throughout all of my courses and clinicals, I have managed to balance all of my work quite well. Being organized is as much a lifestyle for me as it is a strength, and I have always known that I need to be organized to get any work done. Time management can always be improved, but I find that I can manage tasks well in part because of my organization skills. In addition, being a Baccalaureate student I had to interact more with site staff and community members, which helped me build my professional skills and enhance my communication skills.
