RN Graduation/Pinning

New Grad, that i am!

I graduated from the nursing program December 20, 2009. A night i will never forget!!!!

Lets start from the beginning of the process, shall we. Planning graduation was a struggle! Mondo and I drove and drove and drove all over the san fernando valley to find the PERFECT location to hold our pinning ceremony. After long hrs we found the perfect location... the funny thing is that we almost didnt go see it because this place is located next to a stripper business. When mondo got the call to go see the banquet hall we were in the car going to go see other banquet halls. I told him that we shouldnt go see it because it would be trashy, but he said "lets just go, what do we have to lose?" Ok, so we went... and FELL in love with it!!!!

We got to do food tasting for our graduation.. SO good. We were surprised how good it was. It was authentic food. Some of it was greek, armenian, american.. just every culture you could imagine.

Graduation day:

As soon as you walk in you saw this:

It was a backboard we had made. We wanted it seem to like you were walking into a hollywood premier. We had the red carpet set out and had the paparazzi ready to take pictures of all the guests.

After all the guests had arrived the ceremony started. This is me being called up to get my nursing pin, red rose, and lantern.

After we received our things I walked over to my sister and had her "PIN" me. Shes not aware but to a nursing student the person that actually puts the pin on you is a VERY treasured moment. I wanted her to do it from the very beginning.

All the students had to say the "nursing oath." It was EXTREMELY LONG!!! We didnt realize it til we got about half way saying it and we all just started busting out laughing. Which was not the smartest idea (especially since its suppost to be a sacred oath). After the oath.. It immediately hit me that i had just graduated and i started to tear up. As i hugged all of my classmates it got worse and worse. Everyone just kept telling me "you better stop before you make me cry." I couldnt help it it was such a proud moment for me.

^ This picture is right before we said our oath. We had to light up our lanterns (which meant that we were nursing students) then we were asked to blow them out (which signified that we had completed our journey and we were ready to be released into the world as Registered Nurses!!!)

These are just some pictures of the night:

After we had dinner it was time to get back to business. We had "funny awards" to give out to our classmates. We had some funny characters in our class. Renee was our stressor. She stressed about EVERYTHING!!! It drove all of us nuts. She received the "stress ulcer" award. Another great award was Andrew's. From the VERY 1st class until the very end he had passed every single class with a 75.5% . You do not pass unless you get a 75% in every class. I loved his speech when he walked to receive his award... "C = RN" ahaha.. a popular saying that hes been holding on to for the past 2 yrs. And of course.. Eric got class clown. This kid made us laugh so much!!!!

Cake cutting with the presidency:

Niesha: Co-President. Armando: Graduation Chair. Chantelle: Secretary.

Cynthia: Fundraising chair. Me: Treasurer. Arvi: Co-President.

SO glad my mom and sister could be there to celebrate my day :) Thank you for everything!

THE CELEBRATION:

It was time to party and celebrate our acccomplishment!!! and PARTY we did :)

All of the classmates taking patron shots. By the time i got to the bar... all the patron that we bought (and it was alot) was GONE!!

Were a crazy bunch.. Yes ladies and gentlemen.. your future nurses :)

Like i said... Eric is the class clown.

BUT in the end.... These past 2 years have been the BEST 2 yrs of my life!!!!! I've made lifelong friends, and some amazing priceless memories.

I wouldn't trade it in for anything in the world.