4 REFLECTION
💡
An Acknowledgement and Reflection of my Progress
Although I am still in the process of transitioning into my university career, there are many important moments which stand out to me along my journey. In 2023, as I was preparing to graduate from my high school, I found that I felt noticeably unready and unsure of where I would find myself in the following year, which caused a lot of stress in my life. While I did experience a great amount of trepidation in this time, I was able to recognize that I have always known, without a doubt, that I would find myself in a healthcare setting in my future career. Seeing which specific role I would take, however, was a little more complicated. For this reason, I decided it was best for me to take another year to figure out what exactly I saw in my future. I felt at this time that I wanted to gain more experience and evolve my education further, to prepare myself for the next steps. As such, I registered for one additional semester of high school, during which I took a health science course, and a co-op course. My health science course provided me with an opportunity to be introduced into the field of healthcare, where my learning was focused on microbiology, infectious diseases and methods of prevention, medical technology, historical advancements in healthcare, and so much more. Forming a different but equally as vital perspective of the healthcare field, my co-op placement as a Recreation Aide in a retirement home, allowed me to explore the complex but fascinating world of ethics, compassion, empathy, and the importance of mental wellbeing in a person’s health, in a direct, firsthand way. I truly believe that these two experiences largely impacted my future and have led me to where I am today, and I stand by my decision to take an additional year, as I believe that gap years are very beneficial in allowing a person to revitalize themself before returning to their education. This is supported by research conducted by the American Psychological Association, which notes that gap years “positively predict academic motivation” (APA. , 2010), and I imagine that most people who have undergone this experience would agree with this statement.
💡
While these experiences were undeniably positive, I also underwent some sensitivity that I was not anticipating. When making the decision to return for my 12+ semester, I initially was not bothered by the idea of starting my post-secondary education a little later than my friends. Unfortunately, as the year went on, seeing my peers I had grown up with my whole life start to advance faster into the world caused me to begin to develop a sense of isolation jealousy regarding those around me. I did not fully comprehend my feelings, as one year does not exactly make too big of a difference in one’s education, however I found myself becoming envious of my friends who were already well into their first semester of university at this point. This, along with my applications to different universities, came with a return of my excessive and disproportionate struggle with stress and anxiety, which I had just begun to learn how to manage, prior to this point. As my stress increased, I began to experience truly daunting anxiety attacks more frequently, which would occur at home, at work, and in other places, at random times. Because of this, I did not understand where my stress was originating from, as they would arrive in times when I hadn’t even been thinking about school. I would experience dreadful symptoms which included unsettling disassociation, dizziness, and a sense of impending danger, which I was later able to recognize, were related to the change I was about to undergo. While these are not exactly feelings I wanted to experience, I believe that working through them will allow me to empathize with my patients in the future, who may struggle with stress and anxiety or other issues. To try and manage my stress throughout university, I have begun to make an effort to be more aware of my feelings, and to acknowledge them when they occur, as I aim to enter the workplace with a healthy and prepared mindset. The College of Nurses of Ontario proclaims that ignoring these issues is dangerous, and “can affect the care you provide to your patients” (CNO, . 2023), and additionally notes the correlation between poor mental health and a threatening decline in ability to make informed decisions regarding the care you provide. Because of this, caring for mental wellbeing throughout all aspects of this progress is important, and I believe that this is very applicable in healthcare but even specifically in nursing, which is something that I am trying to work on making time for. The necessity of self-care in nursing was illuminated to me in a study conducted by Canadian Public Health associations, in which a survey concluded that 75% of nurses in Canada were experiencing burn out after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (Singh et al., 2024, p. Abstract). These findings have brought light to these issues, and I have noticed that they are becoming more and more discussed over recent years, which I think will aid all of us in our career. Overall, recognizing the importance of stress management in times of important transitions, such as the one I find myself today, has been momentous in my story. While I still have a long way to go, I believe that continued acknowledgement of progress is very important in motivating myself to continue along with this journey, and I am very excited to move forward in my educational and eventually my professional career, to see where this can take me.