Graduation!!!

 So major life event alert! I graduated with my doctorate in nursing practice! 

It's been a crazy ride. It's something I never thought I would actually achieve and I am proud to be the first person in the extended Riederer family to achieve a doctoral degree. 

Posing for my official picture

My Graduate School Journey 

Fall 2018

I started in Fall 2018 and that was easily my worst semester of the whole program. I had bitten off way more than I could chew. I was working full time and going to school full time. I did not realize the time commitment that graduate school would take. On top of all the school stress my grandmother's health rapidly declined and she died right at the end of my first semester. I felt super guilty (and still do) that I didn't take time away from school to go up there and see her. On the day of my last final Max's brother crashed his moped and ended up in intermediate care for a head injury and I thought that was the icing on the cake of this whole terrible semester. Needless to say, I was ready to be done with that semester and I rewarded myself with Hamilton tickets in Chicago. 

Me at work in September 2018- I had just started graduate school 

My grandmother's nursing graduation photo. She is one of my biggest role models and part of the reason I chose nursing. I have this photo on my locker at work to inspire me daily. 

The best thing to happen to me that first semester was meeting Miranda. I met her on the first day of pharmacology and we realized that we studied well together. We worked together on study guides and helped each other understand pharm. I was super happy to see that she was going to be in my next class Management 1 next semester. 

Max and I at Hamilton in Chicago 

One of my favorite co-workers Peg retired on my birthday in 2018. I was one month into graduate school

Pano of Lake Superior on the day of my grandma's funeral 2018. Peaceful beauty in a chaotic time for me

Spring 2019

2019 was a way better year for me. I dropped down to part time at work which made school and my personal life way more manageable. This sounds really terrible but I actually found that I was a lot happier despite devoting more time to school because I wasn't working as much and I could have more of a consistent routine. Miranda, Lauren and I conquered Management 1 in Spring 2019. 

Before Spring Semester we took a cruise to Mexico with Max's friends- it was a nice break away from school work! 

We took a Spring Break Trip to Arizona. This is at Petrified Forest National Park- Max loved it!

Last day of Spring Semester! We survived Management 1!!!!

Summer 2019

I took 2 classes over the summer and got to take a class with my friend Mary who I was in a group project with in Fall. It was fun because I got to meet her in person!!! Also in case you can't tell from the photo I chopped 10 inches off my hair that summer- then immediately missed my long hair. 

Meeting Mary in person (and working on a group project). Together we carried our groups through EBP1 and Leadership. Mary is due to graduate next Spring!!

Fall 2019

In Fall Max and I travelled to Germany to see my host sister Laura get married. I was super anxious about it- but it ended up being the perfect semester to do it.  I only missed one test and Miranda covered for me. I payed her back when she missed a test because she got married later that semester. We finished Management 2 strong that semester! We were onto starting our DNP project and our clinical next summer. 

At Laura's wedding in Germany 

Working on homework while on a train in Austria- #gradstudentlife

Max and I at Hofbrau House in Munich Germany

Miranda, Lauren and I on our last day of Management 2

Spring 2020

2020. Need I say more. Our semester started out ok- it was fairly stressful because we were making up parts of our DNP project on the fly. Then the pandemic hit. I remember working the weekend that the pandemic got crazy and thinking "am I still going to have a midterm next week?". The answer was no, it got rescheduled and our DNP project got thrown to the wayside. The biggest stressor was clinical. Miranda and I were due to start them in June. We were told multiple times "we cannot guarantee that you will graduate on time now." I was devastated- we had worked so hard 

January 2020- Taking shots in Mexico with my coworker Carmela and her boyfriend Matt. Little did we know this would be our last international trip for the foreseeable future. 

March 2020- My coworkers and I jumped on the bandwagon and took a covid pic

Our last day of school picture was a little different. We had dinner at my house after our final management exam! 

Max and I in our matching covid shirts 

Max and I were asked to take a picture of us for a video for our friends in El Salvador. I thought it was fitting that our sign reads "New Challenges" because that is definitely what we were experiencing at work 

Summer 2020

While we didn't officially start clinical in June we were allowed to start in July. That's when I met Hannah-one of my biggest blessings from this experience in addition to Miranda. Hannah was my preceptor at Prompt Care in Bloomington. She gave me the biggest push I needed to be successful while being an amazing cheerleader and teacher. I felt like a sponge the entire time I was with her I was just trying to soak up all all the knowledge she was giving me and trying to store it all in my brain. 

Hannah and I- Best teacher ever!

Fall 2020

Clinical sites were hard to come by in Fall and my teacher asked if Hannah would take me on in Fall and I was thrilled that she was able to. Compared to some of my peers I was seeing way more patients and having way more fun :)  I would say Fall 2020 was my second hardest semester because I was trying to obtain as many clinical hours as possible because covid was just so unpredictable and I didn't know if or when I would get kicked out if it got bad again. I was doing 2 12's a week with Hannah and 2 12s a week in PACU.  I finished my hours for Fall semester right around Halloween and I was told I could count additional hours for Spring so I just kept going with Hannah until Christmas. I'm glad I was able to do that because I learned so much from her. While it was a pain to drive to Bloomington, I miss seeing her on a regular basis and treating patients in prompt care. 

Last "First Day of School" Pic 

One of my friends from school Kristen got put on bedrest during Fall semester I came to finally give her her wedding present many months late and a baby present. 

I made Miranda come out to UIS with me and take headshots for an assignment that we had and because I knew we would need them. This was the first time both of us had been back physically to school since covid.

Last Day of clinical with Hannah December 2020- I was so sad to leave her! 

Spring 2021

Spring 2021- Wohoo last semester. I just tried to finish strong. I was at a clinical in Springfield, which was nice because the drive time was significantly less and while I did like my preceptor and thought she was cool, she was no Hannah. Thankfully I didn't have that many hours to do and I finished my hours in March. The majority of this semester was spent studying for boards, trying to salvage something to put together for my DNP project and packing up my entire house to put on the market. In April I presented my DNP poster and I was done with school work!!! 

January 2021- We took our annual between semester break trip to Florida- while staying covid safe. This is in Dry Tortugas National Park. If you are interested about the trip refer to my other blogpost all about it!

Miranda took a screen shot  picture of me presenting my poster at the conference

Then FINALLY, May 8th came. I was really happy that we were able to do it "in person" It wasn't a technical ceremony, but at least we got to walk and do it for ourselves and our families that supported us. The plus side is that I didn't have sit through any silly speeches about being your best self. Plus it was live streamed so my brother in Spain got to see it in addition to relatives all over the USA. 

Zach (Miranda's husband), Miranda, Me and Max. We stopped at UIS before we left for Chicago because technically this is really where we went to school and I really liked this circle thing :)

Walking into our new futures, supporting each other and our husbands support us too. For some reason this photo is one of the most significant ones to me from this day. 

The three people I always try to make proud: Max, my mom and my dad. Always cheering me on

I made our facemasks for the day. I figured if we had to wear facemasks during the ceremony we might as well look cute. They said class of 2021 on one side and FNP DNP on the other. 

My other half. I was thrilled that he was able to hood me on stage because he earned this degree as much as I did. 

Getting the official picture done 

The next day Miranda and I hosted a grad party. Unfortunately it was pretty cold so most of it was inside instead of outside like we planned but we still had fun. 

Carmela (my coworker)

Peg- my former coworker. She retired right as I started the DNP program 

It was sweet that Max's parents came down to support me

My parents also came and helped with the party

The last few days have been a whirlwind of emotions but I am so glad that I finished and that I can transition into an Advanced Practice Provider!