I'M GOING TO NURSING SCHOOL

I received an email from the director of Bastyr University yesterday, and it's official; I'm going to nursing school! Of course when I say nursing I really mean nursing -- as in lactation, and not nursing as in sticking someone with a needle. But more specifically, the Professional Education in Breastfeeding and Lactation (PEBL) kind of nursing, which is a course offered this summer. I was awarded a $200.00 scholarship towards the very steep $879.00 tuition for the five day course, so my balance is now $679.00. Actually, my balance is only $229.00, since I mailed $450.00 off yesterday right after I found out about my award.

This course provides the first 37.5 hours necessary for the requirements for the IBCLE exam, but as I've said before, at this point I'm not even sure I want to continue working towards IBCLC, so I'm going to obtain the basic education and add my own spin -- veering off in the direction I think is best for me and the community I want to represent, although I know I'll take additional lactation-specific courses as well.

I talked to someone recently about the course -- a mother of two, who said she also completed this a while ago and was surprised at how much she learned, since she was already very knowledgeable about breastfeeding and human lactation, to begin with.

Once the PEBL course is completed the school provides the Certified Lactation Educator certificate, which, although I think it's pretty cool, I'm more excited about what I'm learning than anything.