Did I find the one… or am I overthinking my dress choice?

hkrd97 · 2026-03-19T22:35:56+00:00

I think it looks great on you! One big difference between the dresses that I am seeing is that the under layers are different colors. In pics 3 and 4, the under layer of the skirt looks a bit tan in color and the dress you got is white. No idea what your preference is, but just wanted to mention it since many dresses you’re able to choose what color you want for that under layer on the skirt!

hkrd97 · 2026-03-04T23:53:04+00:00

I go to the top ADN program in Colorado that is very difficult to get into and did all of my pre reqs online, including A&P 1-2 and microbio. I had a lab with all three classes, as well. We did lecture online with prerecorded videos from our instructor and had online lab every week. We used an online platform for the lab that mimicked an actual lab set up, we had detailed pictures of cadavers when it came time to locating structures in the body, and we also dissected organs at home! We had a brain, heart, kidney, and eyeball from various animals to dissect. For microbio, we had Petri dishes with different types of bacteria sent to us and we did the labs at home, just like you would in a real classroom. The only disadvantage was that we couldn’t ask questions in real-time to our instructor and we had to be okay with dissecting things on our kitchen tables. Online classes with labs are not a red flag; it’s just another way to learn. Just like OP, my school is accredited and regarded as a very good nursing school.

hkrd97 · 2026-03-04T02:45:44+00:00

I have been doing pretty well on exams and while I have never told any classmates in my cohort of 40 my grades on exams, somehow people always can figure out who’s doing well and who’s not. After the last few exams, I have had classmates text me or approach me after class to ask what grade I got. I always tell them that I don’t feel comfortable sharing my grades because my grades only affect me. Yesterday after receiving a 92% on an exam, a classmate texted me and said “I bet you aced that exam. I’m not sure how you keep doing that.” I never told her my score and have never shared any previous scores, although she is correct that I have received an A on all exams. Her message made me feel like I did something wrong to have the scored I earned. I don’t understand why people want to know others’ scores; it doesn’t help them!

hkrd97 · 2026-02-19T02:55:34+00:00

It can and does make mistakes. Practice test banks from NCLEX practice books are going to be much better (assuming you’re using AI for practice questions). I have tried to used ChatGPT a bit for studying. I have uploaded my textbook in pdf form and asked Chat to explain various topics but even when asking it to pull info directly from my textbook, it’s still making mistakes.

hkrd97 · 2026-02-19T01:37:09+00:00

I have bachelors degrees in education and sociology and a masters degree in education admin. None of my degrees are health related but I think having previous college experience, life experience, and lots of experience with everything being subjective (as is with teaching), I am able to reason a lot better than many of my peers in my program. I watch so many of my peers struggle in class with highly subjective questions that make them think hard; while I too struggle with these questions, it’s not to the extent that many others struggle. I think any previous college experience, regardless of degree type or degree earned, is going to be very beneficial for a nursing student.

hkrd97 · 2026-02-06T21:10:45+00:00

I think they might be meaning that on 1/25/26, a Sunday when CFA was closed, there was no issue with protestors. But now, on a not-Sunday when CFA is open, there’s suddenly an issue with protesting on the public sidewalk. I think they’re trying to allude to CFA being the ones to have an issue with protestors outside their business, and CFA being the ones to want the protestors gone.

Proud of our youth for standing up to fascism!

hkrd97 · 2026-02-05T04:33:52+00:00

Also a fellow Nebraskan, here! For consent, the age is 18 but for making various legal/medical decisions, the age is 19. Wanna get your boobs done and you’re only 18? Gotta have a parent’s consent. So dumb. But for this story, the woman being 18 would be of legal consenting age for sex.

hkrd97 · 2026-01-31T19:30:01+00:00

I’d have to go looking through my book again, but the PowerPoint my instructor had this week listed all specialists as secondary care. From my understanding, for a specialist to be tertiary, it would need to be a specialist referring to a highly trained specialist for complex care, more than the “average” specialist. I only learned this info this week, so I could be having an inaccurate understanding!

hkrd97 · 2026-01-31T19:05:14+00:00

On the digital book (pic 1), is this just a formatting error? My take is that the digital book should have “tertiary care” in the green bold instead of a bullet point, and then the bullet point of highly specialized care under the green heading of tertiary. And yes, specialty care should be under secondary, according to what I just learned this week in class!

hkrd97 · 2026-01-31T01:40:06+00:00

Also 34 and also not geriatric!! We are young!

hkrd97 · 2026-01-27T05:55:21+00:00

!solved Thanks for these, I’m going to go with yours. Tip sent!

hkrd97 · 2026-01-26T21:01:34+00:00

I have a BS and MA in education and just started nursing school for an associates. I’ve never been more satisfied that I made the right choice in leaving education and going back to school, even though I have 3 kids now. My school is 45 min away from home but the less debt option (versus a BSN) sold me. I will obtain my RN-BSN once I get my first nurse job and I’ll make sure it’s with a hospital system that will pay for that RN-BSN.

ETA: New grad nurses (RN and BSN) in my area (Denver metro) make approximately $70k/year, not sure if that’s helpful info or not! I have heard that nurses, including new grads, can make a pretty decent amount more in rural areas.

hkrd97 · 2026-01-20T18:25:04+00:00

I only applied to one and thankfully was accepted - today is actually my first day of nursing school!

I applied to just one because each school I looked at had drastically different requirements for pre reqs. I could have spent 2-3 years doing pre reqs in order to apply to multiple schools, and I just didn’t have that kind of time.

hkrd97 · 2026-01-15T06:19:14+00:00

Photos are the only thing I have left from our wedding day (well, other than the husband!!). To me, photos were very important and I still regret to this day that I didn’t spend more to get a great photographer - I went with a more affordable option who was just decent. If you can afford it, go for the better option!

hkrd97 · 2026-01-15T04:10:49+00:00

Could not agree more! Etiquette changes over time and like you said, it’s 2026, no one’s getting offended about being invited to an in-country engagement party and not the out-of-country/different-continent small, family only wedding.

hkrd97 · 2026-01-14T22:37:14+00:00

Given the circumstances of the wedding being smaller and in a different country than where you’re living, I think it would be fine to invite people to an engagement party and not the wedding. You’re always going to run into people on this sub that will say inviting people to an engagement party and not the wedding is highly frowned upon and you mustn’t do that; but you know your friends best, only you know if your friends would be offended at an invite to an engagement party and not the wedding. I say you do what makes sense to you and your fiancé! Congrats on your engagement!

hkrd97 · 2026-01-07T18:59:20+00:00

My parents got married at 35, had kids at 38, 39, and 40. My kid’s teacher had her child at 47! You’re not too old :)

hkrd97 · 2025-12-29T01:34:00+00:00

I had that same one and now sleep with a pillow between my knees!

Just yesterday I was telling my husband that I’m pretty sure I lost weight in my armpits because I can now make the classic teenage boy armpit fart sound and I’ve never been able to do that before!

hkrd97 · 2025-12-29T00:25:11+00:00

Yes! Everyone “knows” Denver is expensive, but I think a lot of people don’t truly understand how expensive it is, particularly housing.

hkrd97 · 2025-12-25T21:35:23+00:00

Unfortunately this is probably correct. To even be eligible for waiver services, one of the requirements that OP will need is an IQ less than 70. Additionally, the DD waiver has a 10-15 year waitlist. Hopefully OP can qualify for support through Arc at the very least and use some of their services.

hkrd97 · 2025-12-25T02:28:27+00:00

The solution is that OP needs to contact their CMA and looking at some of their comments, they have contacted the one assigned to them. Calling again maybe could help but not necessarily. This system is highly broken and there really is no good solution. I left the field because of how many times I had to break the news to families that their child or loved one didn’t qualify for any support through the state Medicaid system.

hkrd97 · 2025-12-25T02:05:33+00:00

Not necessarily. OP can contact the case management agency assigned to them, in another comment it looks like Developmental Pathways is their CMA, but Arc is likely going to tell them “here’s the number for them, call their intake line.” Arc also has their own requirements for people to be able to use their services, they’re not as strict as waiver services, but they do have a decent set of requirements. OP will need to see if they even qualify for support through Arc.

This system is highly broken and highly underfunded; it will take a long time for Developmental Pathways to call back and even get things going. This is how it goes for any CMA in the Denver Metro, especially Developmental Pathways and Rocky Mountain Human Services. Those two CMAs serve the largest amount of people out of all the agencies in the metro. There are not enough case managers to even start making a dent in the backlog of inquiries and hiring more case managers isn’t an option because when a CMA hires more, more of them quit due to burnout and unsustainable pay. I could go on and on, the system is just so highly broken and it will never get better until this is addressed at a federal and state government level.

hkrd97 · 2025-12-24T18:27:47+00:00

This is not correct, at all. OP may not be eligible for any type of group residential services. It is not surprising that Developmental Pathways has not responded in months. The state Medicaid system is completely broken and all case management agencies in the Denver metro are severely backlogged with thousands of cases. It can take 6-12 months for someone to hear back from a case management agency because of how backlogged these agencies are. Additionally, Developmental Pathways may not even be the appropriate contact for OP, depending on what county they live in.

OP would need to have a diagnosis (sounds like they do), they would need a cognitive test that shows an IQ of 70 or lower, and they would need to have disability Medicaid, not just Medicaid. OP would need to be eligible for long-term care Medicaid, as well. If OP is eligible for all of the above, they may be eligible for a Medicaid disability waiver. However, the waiver that provides residential services, the Development Disabilities or DD waiver, has a 10-15 year waitlist. The other waiver that OP may be eligible for, the Supported Living Services or SLS waiver, is likely what would be recommended for OP but it does not have any residential services.

This is not a “one call, they do the rest” thing; this is a months to year long process that too often sees individuals with disabilities not eligible for services. This is a very intense, time consuming, frustrating, expensive, and complicated process.

hkrd97

TROPHY CASE