Oram Outside

I’m having the most unique experience thinking back on the past year. At the end of 2022, like many people, I sat down and made plans and goals of what I wanted to accomplish in the coming year. At the time I was working full-time at the hospital, working one day a week for the university as an adjunct, and had just signed up for my Masters in Nursing Education program.

As you’d assume, most of my goals revolved around professional and educational development. Goals of moving further from bedside nursing and more into teaching (accomplished WAY more than I could have imagined). Goals of finishing my degree by the end of the year (spoiler, that was a bit ambitious).

Something different that I did though, while sitting on the couch watching a movie with Connor, I wrote about a theme for 2023. A theme that would define the year. While feeling inspired and motivated I determined the theme for 2023 would be GROWTH.

Growth wasn’t always at the forefront of my mind. Occasionally I’d flip through my notebook and be reminded. I didn’t obsess over it but subconsciously it was stealing my year. It’s uncanny to see how accurate this word describes my 2023.

Over the past year I switched to PRN are the hospital (3 days a month) which gave me more time to teach and work on my Masters degree. I took on more teaching opportunities and ultimate signs a contract in August as full-time faculty for the ISU School of Nursing, something I didn’t plan on happening until 2024 or later! With so many roles and responsibilities changing, I filled as much of my free time with homework and finished 9 of the 16 courses of my Masters degree.

Accurate to what I wrote in the theme, adventures and trips took a backseat this year. This summer I only camped twice, we didn’t go on trips to the Tetons nearly as often as we usually do, and only did one “major” to southern Utah. Comparatively, even while I was in my undergrad for nursing we were traveling substantially more.

This did make 2023 difficult. Summer seemed to be underwhelming and uneventful. There aren’t many photos of adventures of trips. We had to make the most of small and quick adventures.

But without a doubt, the last sentence was 100% true. “Growing in every aspect of my life will make 2023 most rewarding”.

I grew professional, in my education, in my relationship with Connor, and personally. I feel like a completely different person compared to the kid that wrote this page in the dark basement watching a movie with my boyfriend. I couldn’t be more happy or proud of how 2023 turned out.

This makes me excited as I think about what theme 2024 will have.