As Christmas vacation was ending, I began to anticipate the
long-awaited semester away from Hope College in Chicago. Originally from
Naperville, IL, a Chicago suburb, I was excited to finally experience the city
and everything that city living entails. The other nursing students and I were
placed in an apartment in the Pilsen neighborhood, which is close to the
University of Illinois Hospital where I will be interning on the night shift in
the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Orientation week started off with a group
dinner at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria, where we were introduced to the various
professors of The Chicago Semester, and were able to meet the others students
in the program. It was all beginning! The week of orientation was filled with
new experiences for me. For one, public transportation. At Hope College,
everything is in walking distance, and I have barely used the public
transportation system in Chicago. Figuring out the 'L' train and bus system was
challenging at first, but quickly became familiar.
In Pilsen, we were placed in an apartment
building for students called La Casa Student Housing. The seven other girls who
I live with and I decided on some fun events while we had the time during
orientation week. Tuesday night, four of us decided to see The Phantom of The
Opera at the Cadillac Palace Theater, which was phenomenal. Thursday night,
five of the nursing students and I went to Adler After Dark, at the Adler
Planetarium where we saw shows on space that were breath taking, and also an
improv comedy group. That weekend, the La Casa girls spent the afternoon in the
National Museum of Mexican Art, which is located a block from out apartment. It
was exciting to see so many different parts of city.
Something that I will cherish about Chicago,
isn't that there is a Starbucks on every corner, but that there are different
personalities of the Chicago neighborhoods. As a vegetarian and someone who
loves coffee and cooking, I truly enjoyed finding new vegetarian/vegan
restaurants as well as local coffee shops. Some would call me a 'foodie'. My
favorite restaurant so far is Karyn's on Green, in the West Loop Neighborhood.
As mentioned previously, my internship is in
the Neonatal ICU at University of Illinois Chicago Hospital, on the night
shift. The other five nursing students are on the day shift, so this experience
is quite a bit different for me. While they are working during the day, I will
be sleeping, and working at night. My first few shifts were definitely an
adjustment. It wasn't too bad the first night, everything was so new and my
preceptor and I kept busy. But, the sleeping during the day and napping will be
the greatest balancing act when working the night shift. I am very excited to
spend the next twelve weeks in the neonatal ICU. My preceptor is wonderful and
a great teacher thus far. The babies in the NICU are primarily premature
infants, and they are tiny and adorable. It's amazing how something so small
can bring such joy. I feel so blessed to be a part of the team in the NICU and
am ready for what God has to teach me this semester in Chicago.
