Reflection

In what ways do you think this experience might affect you as an individual?  I believe this experience is making me much more patient as I have to pace myself.  I am getting invaluable experience with time management and managing my time as well as my daughters’ time, but it has still been an adjustment to really focusing on getting in the habit of getting it done.  I am a procrastinator at heart, so this has been a hard habit to change, but one that needs to be eliminated. Being away from home has made me more forgiving of the little things my husband used to do that annoyed me, but strengthened me in that I know I can still not be physically with him, but make it work.  This experience is also giving me the opportunity to live in a different climate around different cultures.  This is verifying that I am adaptable as a person and can do anything for 2 years, even if that means living in an apartment.  Since I am not a journaling-type of person, this journal has been challenging.  So, although I prefer to talk things out, journaling has worked for me thus far.  Ask me this in a month and a half, though, when the thing is due.

In what ways do you think this experience is affecting you as a student midwife?  I love this experience. Even though I do not have a preceptor, I am in no hurry to jump into a full blown apprenticeship.  I do want to start, just because I know I need to apprentice for a year, at a minimum for NARM standards and I don’t really want to be in school forever.  But I am here to learn the books, read the books, and understand the books.  Yes, I love apprenticing, but having a good foundation of book-knowledge, I believe will help me with the challenges I will encounter in the field and enable me to at least have a jumping off point before going and researching more. 

Overall the combination of experiences I am receiving will not only affect me personally, but also professionally one day.  In my practice, I will employ all of these effects.  By having the opportunity to utilize them, it will hopefully make it easier to run my business.