While I take this time off from school, I know money's going to be tight for myself because I'm saving up for so much that I want to have in my life in the future and to lessen the load that my parents may have to help me out with. Although the route that I'm currently taking includes intensely back-breaking work, it's opening my eyes to a lot of things I'd understand, but not completely understand without fully experiencing it first hand. We see pictures on Facebook, Instagram, etc. about people going on vacations, getting luxury cars, and wearing expensive clothing but we never know the entire story behind it. We don't know whether that person has saved up for years for that vacation, or if they are going on vacation despite the fact that they can't pay off their credit card debt.

Happy first of September! For some reason I'm super excited for fall this year because it's always so beautiful around where I live when it comes fall time. I've certainly missed it while I've been away at college these past four years. I'm ready for the smell of pumpkin spiced lattes, the lovely colors of the leaves, and of course I get to pull out my boots and fall clothes! Summer's been lovely, but I'm looking forward to fall! :)

He's a soft spoken man, but since I've gotten to know him he's been a little more open talking. On my last day of clinical on the unit, he looks at me during breakfast and randomly says, "You remind me of my mother."
I laughed. "How so?"
"Because she used to feed me all the time when I was a child."
"Was your mother a good woman?" I ask.
He nods with a smile on his face. "She definitely was."

On the first day of clinicals I got to clean and paint an old lady's nails. When I asked if she wanted me to paint her nails she said "Oh I don't even know what that is," apprehensively as I pointed to the nail polishes. I smiled at her and told her to choose any color that she wanted so I could paint them, and she chose the brightest pink of the batch. Right after painting her first nail she kept saying how beautiful the color looked. Once I finished she excitedly asked me how long it would take for the nails to dry, and I told her about ten minutes. She nodded and kept her hands completely still so she would not mess them up while still admiring them.

Throughout my experiences and interactions with people, there is one conclusion that I've come to: People love talking about themselves. Many times, I let other people talk because they seem to enjoy having someone listen to them. I learn a lot about people simply by listening more and responding when appropriate. Some people will continue to talk about themselves as long as they have an audience. It's normal, we are all social beings that need interaction and need to be heard.