Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Thanks for all the cheerfulness, everyone. I needed it!

Here's something crazy: I think I'm actually about to do something cool with my life. Like, for real. For a couple of years now, I've thought it would be really neat to be a midwife. So, I started researching, found a CTM (certified traditional midwife) program that is neat, but after two years I'd only know how to do things for very (VERY) normal births, and I think it would be illegal to practice in most states, much less apprentice and all of that. So, no CTM. The other option (more legal and useful, too) is CNM (certified nurse midwife). The problem? I'm not a nurse! Not even a little. I have a BAC degree (bachelor of arts in communication), the degree you get when your hopes and dreams of being a professional whatever turn into a giant nightmare and/or farce (for me, it was professional flutist - ha!). So, the first step to becoming a CNM is becoming a nurse. So, I think I'm going to do just that. I'm hoping to get into an anatomy/physiology class at Owens this spring, and another one in the summer. I'm planning on applying to the GEMINI program at MUO within the next month ( a masters program for non-nurses who have a BA who want to be nurses). If I get in, I'll start in the fall.

Why in the world am I doing this? This is the most terrifying thing I've done in a while. But, I really don't have anything to lose. If I don't get into MUO (a very real possibility), I'll figure out a plan B. At the very least, I'll take an anatomy class that will get my mind working in fun ways.

I guess that, above all, I know that I really want to be a CNM. A lot. I want to help women through labor. I want to help women realize that birth is wonderful, natural, full of freedom, and not scary. I want to care for women and their families. If I don't do it now, I'll go back to work in a few years at a bookstore or something and wonder what I would've been doing now if...

"I don't wish that I could go, I am going.
I don't with that I could be, I am being.
I don't with that I could do it, I am doing."
-Sara Groves, "Past the Wishing"

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