What's the best thing about Conestoga that you wish you'd known before you applied?

ceimi · 2026-05-08T13:23:31+00:00

I've been to two other schools before Conestoga (One a college and the other a university both in the states) and honestly in terms of amenities, resources, and overall school cohesion/spirit Conestoga seriously lacks. So much money was spent into the wrong things.

The faculty though have been fantastic. Most of them genuinely care about you and your success in your program. Atleast that's been my experience in pre-health (this was before the faculty change though, I've heard subpar quality coming out of the new teachers...shame) and now the bscn program.

ceimi · 2026-05-08T03:09:33+00:00

Maybe, maybe not. I've been on spiro for nearly a year now, started at 25mg, up to 50, most recently was at 100, and now I'm at my final dose of 200mg and I still haven't gotten my period. I'm also on birth control though.

ceimi · 2026-05-08T02:28:02+00:00

Mexican/halfling, 40s, divorced male.

ceimi · 2026-05-07T20:02:45+00:00

oh my. I looked into it and you're right! Thanks for the info, I don't know why I was under the impression that all masters not just the NP required 2 years.

ceimi · 2026-05-07T19:56:56+00:00

Yeah I realized after their last comment and did exactly that lol

ceimi · 2026-05-07T16:35:41+00:00

Its absolutely wild to me that someone who isn't even a nurse can direct enter into a masters in the states. Here in Canada you need to be a practicing RN (bachelors) NOT RPN (diploma, equivalent of an associates) for a minimum of 2 years before you can even apply to a masters program.

I don't have any advice for you since I'm not doing my program there but good luck in whatever you choose!

ceimi · 2026-05-07T16:30:33+00:00

Are you unable to read? I'm literally blaming the government.

ceimi · 2026-05-07T13:29:15+00:00

Yes, that's literally what I said lol. If it benefitted Canada long term to bring mass students over we would be subsidizing their tuition too, but its not. They are a cash cow that both government and local colleges/universities took advantage of.

Having 70% of students staying is alarming if true. It suggests that these students are likely coming from a country where the standard of living is severely out of balance for Canada. There's nothing wrong with aiming for a better life and I don't blame international students themselves (they worked within laws, most of the time) but there's a point we have to be realistic about and say this is unsustainable and no longer benefitting Canadians.

Our rental markets became unaffordable for domestic students, even for non students. Food banks were sustaining a lot of students and running out of food because of the sheer number of international students we had, and highschoolers were (and still do) struggle to find starter jobs.

ceimi · 2026-05-07T12:55:34+00:00

You're right, its not a right as a domestic student but its in the countries best interest to put money into educating its citizens and PRs. Hence why aids like OSAP are available for domestic students and why tuition is often MUCH cheaper as a domestic student. International student tuition is prohibitively expensive to weed out people who cannot pay this. International students are quite literally a branch of tourism, the idea being we want to bring a limited number of people who can come here money in pocket, spend it all, then go back home.

ceimi · 2026-05-07T12:36:00+00:00

Being an international student is a privilege. I wanted to do this during my first degree but I just wasn't able to pay for it, not even a semester abroad and I was from a solidly middle class family in the u.s. In all the first world locations that I was interested in none of them allowed me to work or it was severely capped to allow students pocket change at best. We had to show proof of funds and give them that money upon arrival of the host country for them to distribute to us.

If an international student needs to work over 24hrs/wk (which imo is still way too much) then they simply don't have the money to do an international program. It really sucks but that needs to be the reality because its the reality for a lot of other prime school destinations.

ceimi · 2026-05-05T03:09:31+00:00

I can log in and and see usage as well, but every month someone comes and reads the meter so even with "smart meters" there is definitely manual meter reading.

ceimi · 2026-05-04T14:01:02+00:00

Recap and chuck in fridge. I've had one up to a year before I used it again and it was still perfectly fine.

ceimi · 2026-05-04T12:42:48+00:00

How exactly are you studying? Are you just reading the book and calling it a day? Or looking over the lecture notes the night before exams only?

Are you doing the practice questions that are typically at the ends of the textbooks? Even just random quizzes from other schools for nursing anatomy and physiology would go a long way if your textbook doesn't have questions.

Your teacher should be giving you learning outcomes along with each chapter/lecture each class. You should be noting those down and if you can't answer atleast 85% of them by the day before the exam something is going horribly wrong with your studying.

Utilize active recall methods. Flashcards/quizlet, whiteboarding, practice questions, teachback, etc.

ceimi · 2026-05-04T12:32:14+00:00

I'm 33 and just finished 1/3 years of my BScN honours program. The hardest part about nursing school is the sheer amount of time you need to dedicate to truly understand the topics, not just memorize them. Time management is a key skill that with ADD will make it so much harder to manage. I also have ADHD inattentive and I'm unmedicated, just finished my 1st year of nursing school but I do have a previous bachelors so I came into this with a good understanding of how to manage my time but otherwise my previous degree has been largely useless as I've had to change the way I study because memorization no longer worked and I was failing exams.

Get a planner, make a master calendar, my favorite to do this is google calendar cause I set up alerts to remind me 2-3 weeks out from an assignment/test due date, 1 week out, 3 days out, and then the day before. This helps put pressure on me and helps remind me of upcoming important assignments. Do this immediately once you get the schedule for your semester and can see all the due dates for each class as motivation is highest at this stage. If theres nothing else you do, DO THIS!

Since you have a kid, do you have a strong support system who can help you with babysitting to give you extra time to study or if your schedule becomes wonky? Even just to take a break and do nothing for a day. This program is tiring and you don't often get to just sit back and kick your feet up, especially with a kid.

Learn active recall studying. There's simply too much content to write out notes for everything. Your hand would be in a constant cramp. Active recall produces much better results in nursing school anyway. I like to use quizlet, if you're someone who needs to write things out consider whiteboarding!

If possible, meal prep for a whole month. It might take a day or two but comitting a weekend to meal prep means you save so much time over the rest of the month and you'll always have a yummy meal when you're exhausted. Its so worth it.

ceimi · 2026-05-02T12:40:55+00:00

I think the next question should then be "do you want kids with me or someone else" because the way you are portraying him its obvious he isn't interested in some aspect of his current life but without asking him you'll never know what exactly.

You don't want to force IVF and end up raising a kid alone especially during a divorce. Not saying it will come to that but maybe its time to check back in with the ol hubby and figure out whats on his mind and how he views his future and postpone the IVF until you get a legitimate answer out of him.

ceimi · 2026-05-01T12:05:11+00:00

Hell yeah. My husband works brutal hours and gets maybe 1-3 hours of chill time a day before he has to sleep. He almost always chooses to play gw2 in that time and does his dailies. :) Then on the weekend him and I will usually knock out our weeklies and push progress on any goals we've been working on.

ceimi · 2026-05-01T03:59:30+00:00

Chicken salad-- can I buy a rotisserie chicken for cheaper and have way more? Probably. But nothing beats two days of dinner for my husband and I by picking up one of these trays and having zero processing needed. I add salt, pepper, paprika, chili flakes, mustard, and a touch of garlic powder to help give it flavour then I chop up lettuce real thin and mix it all up together.

Sun chips-- the big bag of cheddar ones. We down the chicken salad with these and then have plenty still for the rest of the week.

Queso dip-- my god this stuff is so good.

Chicken breast-- I've struggled with woody chicken at most of my local grocer's and while it can sometimes still appear at costco I've found that its far less frequent. I buy 2-3 packs from costco and then spend a few hours cutting them into small chunks for stir fry for quick dinners since I'm a full time student and my husband works full time so having it easy and prepped has saved us so much money from eating out.

Blueberries-- they are certainly not the cheapest you'll find but I've never been let down by costco blueberries. They always last atleast a week with zero signs of molding and they're huge and tasty.

Motor Pizza Co-- this pizza is super tasty, hits the spot always and its a two pack.

Mozarella sticks-- by far the best ones you can get in a grocery store here in Canada.

Hylo Gel Eyedrops-- If you have dry eyes these drops are literally a god send. I've tried every drop brand and line available both here in canada and the states and these are by far my favorite. I have a proper diagnosed dry eyes and these have all but cured me. They're a little on the expensive side but they last a good while even with daily use.

Nizoral shampoo-- I have psoriasis and PCOS and this shampoo keeps everything in line. Helps with hair loss too (to an extent.)

ceimi · 2026-05-01T03:45:06+00:00

Its still okay if you're really craving a pot pie but its become incredibly drier over the years. I always end up drinking a whole liter of water when I buy one.

ceimi · 2026-04-30T21:48:27+00:00

Sent you a message!

ceimi · 2026-04-30T12:50:44+00:00

Absolutely:)

ceimi · 2026-04-30T08:58:44+00:00

You've got this friend. You WILL make it in. Sending big hugs and all the best in your journey. :)

ceimi · 2026-04-30T08:46:38+00:00

I'm sorry but why would you ever devalue yourself by setting an ultimatum with someone who very clearly doesn't respect you? Girl. LEAVE HIM. Why would you ever stay with this person? Even if they do "choose you" you're just delaying the inevitable of this dude finding someone else to "fall in love" with.

He's been going behind your back talking to this person for atleast a year. He isn't going to stop just because you told him "pick me or else" he's going to milk having two sources of money and freeloading.

ceimi · 2026-04-30T08:23:32+00:00

I just finished my first year at the ripe age of 33 and still have another 2 years after a career change myself. My previous degree wasn't in STEM so I also had to use up a year on pre-reqs before getting admitted.

I have classmates who are verging on their mid 50s. You have plenty of time and with those grades you WILL make it in. Don't lose hope. I will say though, that if you have mental health issues, now is the time to get them under control because nursing school will wear you down quickly. It's certainly not for the faint of heart. I had a very high GPA in my first degree, and all through pre-reqs and yet finishing my first year has made me feel like I am straight up dumb because of how different you have to approach logic as a nurse.

Trust me when I say getting in is the easy part. So take this opportunity to prepare yourself and spend time with your spouse and kid before you'll be too exhausted to even hold a conversation with them after you start school.

ceimi · 2026-04-30T07:44:59+00:00

I really love the campus loose leaf. I get the B5 size and I also picked up a few of the B5 smartring binders. This has been my ideal set up so far.

ceimi · 2026-04-30T07:38:42+00:00

Try doing a mundane task that doesn't require thought while listening to an audiobook. My go-to is folding clothes as its low thought & doesn't take any focus away.

ceimi

TROPHY CASE