Goodbye Xavier, Liceo Here I Come

“Goodbye Xavier, Liceo here I come,” a normal phrase from nursing students of Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan who have a sense of impending doom. It has been a tradition in the College of Nursing to have a lot (half of the population) of third year students fail in NCM 102 (Medical-Surgical Nursing). And if they do fail, they have two options to choose from. One, they become “off-sem” or they don’t go to school until NCM 102 is offered again to students. Second is the very difficult and heart-wrenching decision to transfer to another school.

All my life as a nursing student, I have been constantly challenged to put my gameface on and do my best to excel because I have to live to the expectations of being an Atenean, a student nurse from Xavier University. We are invigorated whenever a clinical instructor (CI) reminds us and says, “This is Xavier University, if you can’t live up to its standards, then you better transfer to another school.” This may sound harsh but it only shows that our CI’s care for us and they don’t want us to fail. I have a lot of CI’s who I really look up too because they are the ones who I want to be someday. Like my CI’s I want to be a graduate of Xavier University and be a pure blooded Atenean nurse who is committed, competent, compassionate, and a good conscience.

I remember my clinical instructor, whom I idolize, telling the class that we shouldn’t cheat because we are only degrading our intelligence, because every one of us has the capacity to excel because we are all intelligent, if we wouldn’t be then we wouldn’t have been accepted at Xavier. And this is quite true because out of 1000 plus applicants from around the Philippines, only a few are chosen, around 400. The XU College of Nursing does not accept transferees from other schools and second coursers. This may be because having a small number of students would provide an environment conducive for learning and so that the famed 100% passing rate in the board exams tradition won’t be discontinued. One of the greatest fears of nursing students from Xavier is that they will be the one to break the record of having a 100% passing rate because ever since the College of Nursing opened, all of its batches have graduated with a 100% passing rate. As my clinical instructor would say, “The problem is not passing the board, but topping it.” It's no wonder why Xavier is recognized as a Center of Exellence in Nursing.

I am proud to say that I am a student nurse from Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan. But sadly I would be transferring to another school next semester. Fortunately I’m not transferring to any other school in Cagayan de Oro, thank God! I’m not transferring because I failed, I got kicked out, or I can’t afford to go to school anymore. I’m transferring because I’m moving away somewhere this coming April or May and I don’t want to say where for now. But even if I transfer to another school, I would always be an Atenean at heart. I have been studying at Xavier University since high school and it’s very unfortunate that I can’t graduate as an Atenean nurse. But I will continue to practice what I believe in and all that I have learned during my formation as an Atenean.

Asus Eee vs Acer Aspire 4315

It was my mom who texted me one day and told me of the existence of this laptop. My mom said that it was small and it was a very nice laptop. I was at first skeptical about the said laptop and decided to do some research about this wonder laptop called the Asus Eee PC.

I would have to say that for a small laptop it actually has very good features. And you would get these features at a very small cost. So how much will it (Asus Eee PC 701) retail in the Philippines? 17,999 pesos! At the said price, it is actually cheaper than the announced price of USD $399, if converted using 44 pesos to a dollar. It’s cheaper to get the Asus Eee PC here in the Philippines!

But don’t get your hopes up yet guys. Just check it’s specifications so that you can judge for yourself what this so-called Asus Eee really is:

· Processor: Intel Celeron M ULV 900MHz

· Graphics: Integrated Intel GMA 900 GPU

· Storage: 4GB of Flash-based storage (SSD) (there is also an 8GB version)

· Memory: 512MB of DDR2 RAM (667MHz)

· OS: Xandros Linux (Asus customized, preloaded with OpenOffice, Skype, and google applications)

· Screen: 7-inch screen with 800 x 480 resolution

· Ports: 3 USB 2.0, 1 VGA monitor out, headphone jack, microphone input, SD card reader (SDHC compatible), Kensington lock slot, Ethernet 10/100

· Webcam (0.3 MP)

· Battery: 4-cell 5200 mAh 7.4V Li-Ion (rated at 3.5 hours)

· Wireless: 802.11b/g Atheros

· Input: Keyboard and Touchpad

· Weight: approximately 2 lbs with battery, 2.5 lbs travel weight with AC adapter.

· Two-year warranty

In my opinion, the Asus Eee Notebook would be a great toy for children. It is also a very good laptop for students and people who will only use it for research and word processing works. Don’t expect to play games in this PC or be able to install programs like Windows XP and Photoshop with the very limited 8GB storage memory.

It’s a good thing that I researched the specifications of this laptop first rather than quickly agreeing to get this laptop. Although Asus is a well respected brand, it’s specs doesn’t suit me at all.

So I’m still hanging on to my dream of getting that Acer Aspire 4315 with much better specs but for a much higher price of course. But the Acer Aspire is pretty much worth it with these specs:

• Intel® Celeron® M Processor 530SR (1.73GHz, 1MB Cache, 533MHz FSB)
• Mobile Intel® GL960 Express chipset with integrated 3D graphics, featuring Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100, up to 358 MB of Intel DVMT 4.0 (8 MB of dedicated, up to 350 MB of shared system memory), supporting Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0
• 14.1" Wide XGA CrystalBrite (200 nit) Color LCD supports 1280 x 800 pixel resolution and dual display via Acer GridVista
• 80GB SATA HDD
• 1GB DDR2 RAM
• Integrated 56Kbps modem & 10/100 Mbps LAN
• Integrated 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
• Integrated DVD/CD-RW combo drive
• Two built-in Acer 3DSonic stereo speakers
• 6-cell Li-Ion Battery Pack (2.0 hours battery life)
• 3xUSB, 1xVGA port, ExpressCard/54 slot, S-video/TV-out (NTSC/PAL) port
• 344 (W) × 246 (D) × 37/42 (H) mm
• Weight 2.6kg
• 1-Year International Traveler Warranty
• Acer Designed Carrying Bag
• Genuine Microsoft Windows XP OS

For Php 32,000 the Acer Aspire 4315 is a great buy indeed!

Blogging Boom

It has recently occurred to me that the number of bloggers has actually grown and that blog sites are popping like mushrooms everywhere. For those who don’t know what a blog is, it is like an online diary or a site where you post your reviews, thoughts, pictures, videos, and whatever media you my have.

As a friend of mine commented, people are going Adsense addicts. Adsense by the way is a great new product by Google that allows you to earn money by allowing ads to flash on your webpage. The more page impressions or clicks and referrals to those ads, the more money you own. Unfortunately on my part, I only get around 10 people who visit my blog every day and this would earn me only a few cents. But hey I did already earned around $6 since last year. This is a great feat for an amateur personal blogger as my self.

But I am quite impressed by the blogs of my friends. Their blogs have such substance that makes my blog seem so shallow and all, but hey it’s a personal blog after all right? I can post anything I want no matter how boring it is. But seeing those blogs of my friends poses a great challenge to me. I will improve my blog, not just to earn more money but for personal satisfaction too. Maybe once in a while I’ll place my reviews on gadgets, movies, or whatsoever because my friend said that reviews tend to get more viewers.

Anyway here are some blogs of friends and contacts that really caught my attention:

1. http://republikaneri.blogspot.com/
2. http://laytech.blogspot.com/
3. http://kirbitz.blogspot.com/
4. http://mikekrismac.blogsome.com/
5. http://yu-rico.blogspot.com/
   

My First Surgical Case

I am quite lucky to have been able to have my first surgical case at Xavier University Community Health Care Center. I was able to scrub in an excision or removal of a fibroadenoma at the left breast. A fibroadenoma is actually a sort of cyst or mass in the breast. It's actually benign so there was nothing to worry about. I was fortunate to have worked with such an intelligent, skillful, and understanding surgeon. The surgeon has showed me great surgical techniques that I thought I would only see on TV. It was amazing that I actually helped him do those procedures. Actually he could have done it himself. I wasn't really that helpful. Like it was my first time to scrub-in and it really took some time for me to think of what to do next. Dr. Perez was very understanding and he really helped in guiding me what to do. He must have empathized with me since he was also a nurse. He is actually still very young for a talented surgeon. I really had a difficulty in addressing him because I keep on calling him sir instead of doctor. Always remember to call doctors doctor because it is a bit degrading to be called sir because sir is only for male nurses and patients. Its a complex world of medical professionals. Anyway it was quite embarassing when I broke my sterility (that's the absence of microorganisms) but I won't say how because people might use it against me in the court of law. Hehehe. But my mistake wasn't that bad and the operating room nurse was kind enough to let me of the hook that time. The operating room is very amazing. Kind of like a magical place. Imagine in the morning I had to work in the ward and them in the operating room in the afternoon. I was so tired and I wanted to go home but once I entered the operating room adrenaline rush swept all over my body as an operation was actually already begun. It was a shame that I wasn't able to take pictures of the operation but we actually didn't think of taking pictures that time. We had several minor operations and each operation was like a new experience. If I were given a choice to choose where I would specialize, I would definitely say the operating room.