Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Whatever you celebrate…enjoy the time with your friends and family.
Our class is jumping for joy this holiday season because the biggest gift to all of us is a month off of school! We completed our 30th week of class, concluding the first 2/3rds of the program. Half of us finished out pediatrics and the other half completed mental health. Now we can all breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the holidays…a little more stress-free.
As my classmates and I wrapped up our time at Fort Logan State Mental Health Hospital, we had the privilege of sitting in on seminars presented by the Social Worker, Occupational Therapist, Recreational Therapist, and a Music Therapist. They all gave us a look into what they do on a daily basis to improve the quality of the clients’ treatment. The insight that each therapist had on the treatment of mental illness came from such unique perspectives. Using the various disciplines to care for the clients at Ft. Logan provides a very well-rounded treatment plan. The music therapist caught my attention when she asked us to “write” our own song…I am not sure you can call it writing when all I did was fill in what looked like a Mad Gab…but we all were impressed with our talent! After we finished composing our song, she told us we would then have to create the band that would perform the song. Needless to say, the first ones up were Lorissa (on the xylophone) and me (on the drum)…to perform Lorissa’s song. Thank goodness the truly talented music therapist led the singing, while playing her guitar. We had a blast and learned that an enormous amount of life lessons can be hidden under something such as playing a song in front of peers (this exact activity is part of group therapy sessions).

Lorissa and Me getting ready to rock during our performance!
The week before break, a number of our classmates were fortunate enough to be inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, an International Honor Society of Nursing. This honor society recognizes those students in the top of their class for outstanding academic achievement. Our entire class is so competitive, it was difficult for the organization to determine who would be inducted. There was a nice ceremony that brought together University of Colorado students with Regis students and honored scholars from traditional programs all the way through doctoral programs.

After the induction, we took a group shot of the May Accelerated Regis Students with our honor cords.
As many of our classmates were ready to depart for their vacations to…Hawaii, Chile, West Virginia, California, Peru, Iowa, etc…our “class clown” aka entertainer, organized a fabulous Christmas Party. He was able to reserve a place downtown where we all were able to share food, drinks, and many laughs before heading our separate ways for break (thanks Kieran!). Let me just say, the majority of us strapped on our dancing shoes! It was a blast enjoying each other’s company and conversing about things other than school. We had a great turnout, about 35 (of 47) classmates and almost all of us brought a friend or significant other. I just have to say thank you to my fellow classmates…we are very lucky to have such a great group!

One of the many pictures of the fantastic dance moves!
On that note, enjoy this holiday season and I will be chatting with you again in the New Year!