Traditional Class 2014???????

So rumor has it that there is no longer going to be a Traditional Class at JHUSON! I have just heard this going around and I have not confirmed it with admissions or anything.  Before those of you who are reading this and thinking of coming to Hopkins FREAK OUT, by all means confirm this with admissions. Anyway, if the rumor is true I am sad that such a great program is coming to an end. I absolutely loved being a Trad for so many reasons!

Why being a TRAD is awesome!

1. SUMMER BREAK!! I graduated from my undergrad program in May 2010 and I lived in TX so I knew there was NO WAY I would have been able to move to MD and start school like 2 weeks after my graduation. I had 3 months to get myself together and get to Baltimore before school started.

2. After my first semester, I needed a break, and thankfully WINTER BREAK came just in time. Now everyone at the JHUSON gets a winter break, but mine was 4 weeks, which was just enough time to get a break from school, start applying for summer externships, travel, and then miss being in school so that I was excited to start back up in January.

3. THE BEST REASON TO BE A TRAD- SUMMER EXTERNSHIPS!! I have to say that I learned a tremendous amount of information at school and I did try to apply a lot of it in clinical, but the summer work experience I got was amazing. I worked at Bayview in L&D and it helped to shape my future because I realized I loved L&D and want to pursue it as my career in nursing. I learned how to critically think, delegate tasks, and act like a nurse. Working over the summer helped me to come into my second year and feel like I knew what I was doing. Things started to make sense in a way that I never thought would happen. I was very lucky because I had a great preceptor over the summer and I can’t thank her enough for showing me what it means to be an L&D nurse.

4. Because of my summer externship, I received a position on the postpartum floor at Bayview and now I get to work as a patient care technician. I love my job and the hours are very flexible with my school schedule. I feel so blessed to have this experience to apply to my nursing career because I know when I am a nurse I am going to be thankful for my tech since I have been one before!!

So here are some reasons why I chose the Traditional 2012 program for myself. I know not everyone is going to want to take 2 yrs to complete their program and I think there is a higher demand for the accelerated classes. I understand why JHUSON would get rid of the program but I am thankful that I came to JHUSON just in time to reap the benefits of being a Trad student.  So RIP future Traditional Classes, you will be missed.