Diary of a Nurse

Imagine getting this (screen shot to the left) through to your email? I had to read this email a few times before it really sank in. At first I thought it was a spam email… then after hearing a few students had got this email and the fact that it IS a very real thing, I got EXCITED!

“Me?! A high achiever?!”

I would NEVER have thought in a million years I would get that title. Before starting university, I was not academic at all. I imagined myself just scraping by and only just passing. But I have been passing everything first time and with 75% – 91% grades. To be part of the scheme you need an average grade of 68%  across the year and I had achieved it! Every day I think, I cannot be more motivated than I am already, yet here I am… SO, motivated and ready to aim high. 

What is the High Achievers Scheme (HARS)? From the event and reading up on it all on their website: HARSbcu; they will hold seminars consisting of; leadership skills, mentoring skills, presentation skills, ‘who am I’ workshops, time management, CV skills, being resilient, customer focus and continuous professional development. How incredible does that sound?! THIS is perfect for me. These are all things I need to work on in myself; minus the customer focused part, as I do feel I am all about my patients and providing for them, going out my way for them. However, upon saying that I do think I will learn so much from ALL of these workshops and I will be pleasantly surprised by Birmingham City University – as always!

The HARS event evening (22/02/2018) – Wow what a night! No one knew what to expect from this evening. We had some incredible staff from Birmingham City University talk to us all about the HARS scheme. There was FREE FOOD, and not just the usual free sandwiches sort of food. Samosa, onion bhaji, chicken skewers, cheeses boards, pastries, bruschetta and free wine, juice and hot beverages all provided by fantastic staff. We were waited on, doors held open for us, smiles on everyone’s faces. At this point, I felt under dressed! I had gone straight from my bank shift to this event, in my jeans and a top. I felt like I should have been in my dress and have my lipstick on. That is how we were made to feel, like royalty on this evening. Once again, Birmingham City University has exceeded my expectations! I do not know how they do it but they do it constantly. Thank you to all the staff at the event that evening, you were all amazing at catering for us all. Thank you for making us all feel special for the night. It is one I will never forget in a hurry.

Things I hope to gain from HARS: 

• Leadership – Enhance my knowledge on what makes a good leader. I have often been told I am going to be a fantastic nurse leader when I qualify. I would like to ensure this by completing extra activities and attending the seminars.
• Confidence – Although my online presence is very extrovert and confident, in my personal life I need more self-belief. Along with confidence, I need to develop my assertiveness.
• High achiever – I have set my bar high in first year by always achieving 75% – 91% grades. I want to continue to achieve these grades and qualify with a first. I want to be a high achiever in my third year.
• Who am I – I want to discover myself and utilise the breakdown to enable me to become the best I can be for the future of my staff and patients.
• Graduate + Platinum – A scheme that is not offered to a regular student. I want to stand out from the crowd upon qualifying. Graduate + already keeps me motivated to do more, so to add a platinum award at the end would keep me going.

And just to top it all off there is a scholarship we can apply for!!! For our own personal development. You have no idea how much getting that would mean to me and how much that will benefit me, develop me and actually change my life right now. There is a whole list of things I want to do and have planned but I just cannot find the money for it. My list is endless and it all benefits my personal development as well as other students! Now, there is only 8 spots for it and there is probably just over 100 of us that might apply…. So, it is going to be tough competition BUT fingers crossed everyone, I am about to write out my application and send my video in for it!!! The opportunities are endless.

Now let’s see what HARS brings…. until next time…. I shall leave you with this quote I took from the HARS event:

“If I pass around my glasses, you will all see something different through them, you will all see the world differently. Everyone has their own prescription of how they view the world, and that is ok” (HARS team 2018).