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It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the pressure of finals week, but feel it I did. The mixed emotions after taking one final, while feeling cautiously optimistic about another are sure to leave you exhausted by the end of it all. I never thought I would turn into one of those students that stays up late studying, only to get up early and meet a study group before sunrise the next day just to cram before a final, but I have definitely become that student. During the holiday season, I was still cramming away each night before an exam or test, basically surviving on Christmas cookies and coffee. It definitely was a sight to see.
But, to me, that just proves that I want to succeed in this more than I have any other educational pursuit. I have also enjoyed (most of the time) what I have learned so far from this experience. Most of my classes were interesting and I am looking forward to my next set of them.
So, what does your first set of classes in mortuary school look like? Well, the first semester is a heavy load of anatomy, microbiology, psychology, business law, and a class called “strategies for success” that is taught by the dean. Strategies for success focused on how to achieve your goals professionally in a funeral home role. By passing along their advice, the dean and other guest speakers highlighted what going into this profession means to them and what it means to the families that we help along the way.
During the first two or three weeks of classes, I thought for sure I would have a difficult time with anatomy and microbiology. The human body is a mess of Latin names, individual systems that still somehow connect to everything else, and most of it can only be learned by memorization. That being said, I was able to catch on to most of it pretty quickly. I also definitely lucked out to find a really great group of friends who helped me to connect the dots for some of the harder sections during our many study sessions.
Microbiology, somehow and for some strange reason, was my best subject and I learned that I actually find it all really fascinating. Germs, fungi, bacteria, etc, are all important to life, and death, in so many ways. There were dozens and dozens of viruses, bacterial diseases, and fungal infections to learn and it was seriously overwhelming at first. I didn’t know how to take in all of the information or how on earth I was going to memorize it all for the tests. But, I found a cute, albeit a little morbid way to memorize them. I drew characters with the diseases and made little stories about each one of them in order to remember the incubation period, first symptoms, mode of transmission, shapes of the bacteria, etc. It was pretty tedious but, honestly, it was also really fun. I had some characters such as “Steph” aureus, who had Staphylococcus aureus (or staph infection) which she had contracted by touching a carbuncle on another resident in her nursing home. I also had Scarlett O’Hara who had Scarlett Fever (Streptococcus pyogenes) and many many more. It honestly worked really well for me because my best exam grades were on bacterial infections and viral infections! So, you know, you gotta do whatever works, right?
Some of those memorization techniques didn’t necessarily translate to my other classes, though. Business law was my hardest class and I just couldn’t get a good rhythm with the study material. I was able to study the vocab and broad overhead topics, but anything past that, I was pretty lost. I was able to power through and pass the class, but I definitely have a newfound appreciation for lawyers who deal with contracts, property law, and commercial codes.
With all of my classes and homework taking up the bulk of my week, on top of my two jobs, it was a wonder that I was able to fit anything else in as far as new experiences. That being said, I was able to witness/help with two embalmings this semester, one of which I have written about previously.
The front end of a funeral home requires a lot of different skills for you to build on and make work for you, but the back end is the same way. Between the two embalming instructors, they both reiterated many, many times that “This is how I do it, but everyone does it differently. So, you just have to find what works for you.” As long as in the end, you're safe and you have a good result, there are infinite ways to try and achieve the best technique. I'll be diving into that more next semester with restorative arts, which will focus on returning a deceased person’s appearance to the way they looked when they were alive.
Speaking of next semester, it’s right around the corner and I’ll only have three classes: pathology, accounting, and the aforementioned restorative arts. I’m excited to focus on some new material and get more hands-on with my studies. There’s still so much to learn and so much to do in between now and graduation that it starts to feel a little overwhelming at times. But, if time moves as quickly as it did over the last four months, I will be at the finish line before I know it.
This past semester has taught me a lot. I learned how to be back in a classroom after a decade of being out of school. I learned how to study difficult material in a way that works for me, and met some fantastic people to help with the other subjects that were still a struggle. Overall, I learned how much more I have ahead of me though. It’s only the beginning but I don’t see it slowing down for a while. So, with that being said, second semester here I come!
Memento Mori,
Nikki
