Friday, May 16

Welcome to my blog!  As this is my first post ever, I feel like I should introduce myself.  My name is Mary and I just finished my 3rd year of nursing school at Northeastern University.  After my first coop at Mass General's Emergency Department, I decided I want to be a Trauma Nurse and ultimately get into Disaster Management.  I just turned 21, and I feel like the world is at my feet.  This is going to be my year to travel and explore before I graduate and have to make some big decisions.

At Northeastern I am involved in a lot of things from community service to nursing committees to my amazing sorority, Sigma Sigma Sigma.  I've lived with the same people since my freshman year and I just took an amazing Little a few months ago, but I'm about to put all of that behind me as I head out to my first destination: Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico!    

Me and my amazing Little in our coordinated
shirts and bows after Big Little Spring 2013.

How did this happen?  Good Question! I sometimes wonder how I come up with these ideas too, but once I set my mind on something.... I find a way to make it happen.  This all started last September when I wanted to go on a Dialogue of a Civilizations; a 6-week trip to another country to get college credit led by a Northeastern faculty member.  To my dismay, no School of Nursing professors were leading a Dialogue and I had to reevaluate how I wanted to spend my summer.  So I started looking into the idea of doing an international coop where I could further my nursing experience and develop my Spanish skills.

Through this process I found a company called Adelante that would help place me in a medical volunteer position.  After consulting with them, we decided Oaxaca City would be the best place for me to go!  Unfortunately, the US has a travel warning issued for Mexico so Northeastern wasn't the biggest fan of my idea.  But I wrote a petition, which got approved! and I continued on with my applications in Oaxaca.  I was placed at the Red Cross (Cruz Roja) in their Emergency Department... exactly what I wanted!  Dress Code: All White :(

White scrubs are so flattering...

My Spanish isn't very good, but with the Adelante program I take 2 weeks of Spanish classes at Solexico (a language school in Oaxaca) and then volunteer for my remaining 6 weeks.  I just got my passport back in March for Spring Break, so this will be my second time going out of the country.  If Mexico is half as beautiful as St. Lucia, there is no way I will be disappointed.

One of my last views of St. Lucia while on the way to the airport.

Wish me luck!

Mary