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I have a lot to be thankful for, and I'm a believer in starting every day with positive affirmations to remind myself of that, but I have an extra reason to be thankful this Black Friday: I am going to be a father! My wonderful girlfriend Meghan and I are expecting a son this March. We couldn't be more excited. So enjoy my lucid thoughts now before the sleep deprivation of new parenthood renders me stupid.
I want to share two recent success stories with you for this month's newsletter. I haven't shared a success story since I wrote about Flabia's accomplishments back in February. I get lots of calls from desperate students this time of year. Students who are below the passing standard seek out tutoring as a last resort as the end of the semester draws near. I just received a call from a prospective client who needs a 94% on his cumulative final exam in order to pass his class. That's asking a lot. It was an error to wait so long before seeking help. I think there is truth to the adage "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail." I have another 4-Hour NCLEX Prep Class coming up on Sunday December 8th from 1 - 5 PM in Newton, MA for $60. The last six have sold out. I even had a client who drove all the way from New Jersey just to attend my last prep class. I thought that was pretty cool. The class is also designed to help students in their last semester of nursing school prepare for their exit HESI and ATI exams. Some nursing programs now give exit exams meant to simulate the NCLEX nursing board exam. They then require students who are below a certain standard to pay hundreds of dollars for remediation and will not give them a degree until the remediation is complete, so a lot of students take advantage of this class to avoid that fate. The class helps soon-to-be graduates reawaken now dormant memories of lab value interpretation and endocrine disorders, improves test-taking skills, and gives students an effective algorithm to approach prioritization questions. |
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Heather's Story
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Heather didn't pass her Pediatrics/Maternity class last semester. She didn't do very well on the second-to-last exam and then she just completely bombed the final and quickly plummeted below the passing standard. Quite reasonably, she was frustrated and stressed, but Heather decided to be proactive to ensure that next semester would be different. She contacted me in August to arrange tutoring starting in September.
Heather was initially a little reserved. One-on-one tutoring can be a little awkward at first because students aren't used to being asked to define terms and explain pathophysiology off the top of their head. Students often state, "I know it, but I just can't explain it." I then reply, "That's not good enough. You don't know it well enough if you can't explain it." My tutoring makes crystal clear what students know and what they don't know, but I do have to put students "on the spot" to assess and then correct their weaknesses, so I always say, "It doesn't matter whether you know it this week; it matters whether you know it next week."
In no time at all, Heather grew more comfortable and got better at articulating concepts in her own words. She studied her powerpoint presentations prior to our sessions and looked for potentially testable points so that she'd be able to answer my tough questions. Her effort was rewarded with a 90% on her first exam. After she got a 90% again on her second exam she texted me, "Thank you! The tutoring is definitely paying off I would say!" She has then gone on to excel scoring between 84 and 90 on all of her exams.
Any lingering self-doubt or feelings of inadequacy related to last semester have long since passed. Failure happens. Life has roadblocks. Heather overcame this one. Today, Heather is happy and confident and excited for the future. Heather didn't wait until she wasn't doing well again to seek out help; she sought out help from the very beginning of the semester, and she has been incredibly successful.
I asked Heather, "How has tutoring helped you?" She said, "I feel that tutoring has made me a completely different student. I'm able to make connections that I never could have made before. My studying has become more efficient. I don't think I could live without my tutoring now."
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| Stephanie's Story |
Stephanie is a young mother of a five-year-old son pursuing her Associates Degree in Nursing while still working 24-32 hours per week. That's not easy. In fact, it's incredibly challenging. Stephanie first came to me about two years ago as part of a study group of six women in their first semester of nursing classes. Over time, the study group dissolved. It happens. It's hard to schedule a time that routinely works for six people. Some got too busy; one woman got pregnant; some didn't want to spend the money on tutoring given that they were presently above the passing standard. But Stephanie called me and said she wanted to continue tutoring because it helped her, she was doing well, and she wanted to continue doing well.
Failure wasn't an option for Stephanie. She needed to do well to protect the investment of tens of thousands of dollars and three years of her time in her nursing education. Stephanie is a strong student, so she didn't need weekly sessions, but for the past two years we have found time to meet to prepare for every single one of her exams. She now has an 86 average in the last class of her program. Her goal of graduating, becoming a Registered Nurse, and earning a good wage which will enable her to better provide for her family is near at hand, despite the significant external variables of working that many hours and raising a child.
As for the other girls from the study group, time hasn't been so kind to them. Four of them are no longer in the program. I asked Stephanie, "How has tutoring helped you?" She said, "Tutoring gives me a chance to understand the material in a simple language that makes sense to me." |
| Success Comes To Those Who Seek It |
Stephanie and Heather have been successful because they proactively sought to be successful. Heather hit an obstacle and sought out expert guidance to help her overcome it. Many others simply retake the class without becoming better equipped to succeed in it. They repeat the same behavior but expect a different result, and they often attribute their failures to external variables ("My professor sucks") while ignoring their internal studying or comprehension issues that were more directly the cause of their failure.
Stephanie continued tutoring even after her acute fears of failure were abated. She continued meeting with me because our sessions proved an effective and efficient way to learn the material and understand it more deeply. Stephanie had a lot of risk factors for failure, but she persisted in spite of them. Everyone faces challenges, and there are always external variables that can be used as convenient excuses, but I am of the belief that success comes to those who seek it fully, those who are both determined enough to put in the work and smart enough to seek out the best resources to assist them in their task.
As a tutor, I have the privilege to help my clients excel. I help them overcome challenges. I help them live happy, successful lives, and, in doing so, I live a happy, successful life. I am very thankful for that. Plus, I'm excited to become a dad and make lame jokes and have an excuse to play with legos again.
I hope you had a restful, delicious Thanksgiving, and I wish those of you out shopping today the best of luck on your adventure.
Best Wishes,
Dan
Daniel A. Clinton, RN, BSN
Professional Nursing Tutor
CPR & First Aid Instructor
617-312-3799 |
| About The Author | |
Dan Clinton is a Registered Nurse, CPR and First Aid Instructor, Professional Anatomy, Physiology, Nursing, and NCLEX-RN tutor, Researcher, Writer, Entrepreneur, and overall swell guy. Dan channels his passion for helping others through his businesses, striving to fulfill the American dream of succeeding through altruism, hard work, persistence, and ingenuity. As a CPR and First Aid Instructor, he offers comprehensive and cutting-edge American Heart Association CPR and First Aid instruction throughout Massachusetts and the New England area. As a professional tutor, Dan holistically aids his clients reach (and often exceed) their goals, and he has quickly developed a reputation as one of Boston's premier tutors for the nursing board exam (the NCLEX-RN).
Dan lives in Salem, Massachusetts, works way too hard, and he's pretty good at Ms. Pac-Man.
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