I fdt corn- to m&e. but whose futilily I rqreiiulty - Ronnie Lichtman, CNM. MS. MFW EHKIR: As a shdent n-midwife. 1 cannot thank you e :ough for the artid~ entitled “Sunriual Strategies for Nutsi-Mid- Wiley students” (January/Februay 19%). My class- mntesandl~cs~lrsedsomeofthesurvivalstrat- tag&s. our f-rite being our cherished potluck dirmers. FMng a sndl group, many of us having relocated from various parts of the ccwrtry, we often find strength and inspin- from each other as we wade our way through the wmeti.mes clear. sometimes murky waters of the midwifery program. I believe that the success of a nurse. midwifery class dependson its cohesiveness within itself and tith the preceding class. For my class, this was es- tab&ed with the creation of a ritual that I would like to share with you. As a celebration for the preceding class upon their de- parture for integration, my class oyanized a “handwash- ing ceremony” called a Blessingway, which we par-h& borrc,wed from Nat& Americans and partially ma& up. We Hessed the way of the departing class by singing, lightmg candles, reading poems. and joining ourseb to +zzrch other with a red ribbon. Tnen we b4essed the hat& of each departing stint by washing them in a warm bath filled with symbdic herbs. including rose petals, clidrnomiie. and raspberry Ifzaf. It was a beautiful c2re- many that connected the two classes tcqther and cre- ated a ritual. s+zcific to our s hoc4 that GUI be passed on from class to class. It is the ClePef in a deeper meaning of what we are studying that ukirn&eIy btnds us together. and that is the kind of “survival strategy” that so nour- ishes a group of student midwives. No matter how mu& time we manage, hours we exercise. Or nulritiouj food we eat, we must also tt9d to our souls as students, and sustain that lght that brought us here. My thanks to Judith Ann Gmeth, Theresa Gesse. NanLy Moss, and the ACNM for creating J space in which studentsfeet valued and enveloped by the profes- sion we will 50 soon join. Sara Bennett Yale School of Nursing Class of 1997

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I fdt corn- to m&e. but whose futilily I rqreiiulty

Ronnie Lichtman, CNM. MS. MFW

EHKIR: As a shdent n-midwife. 1 cannot thank you e :ough for the artid~ entitled “Sunriual Strategies for Nutsi-Mid- Wiley students” (January/Februay 19%). My class- mntesandl~cs~lrsedsomeofthesurvivalstrat- tag&s. our f-rite being our cherished potluck dirmers. FMng a sndl group, many of us having relocated from various parts of the ccwrtry, we often find strength and inspin- from each other as we wade our way through the wmeti.mes clear. sometimes murky waters of the midwifery program. I believe that the success of a nurse. midwifery class depends on its cohesiveness within itself and tith the preceding class. For my class, this was es- tab&ed with the creation of a ritual that I would like to share with you.

As a celebration for the preceding class upon their de- parture for integration, my class oyanized a “handwash- ing ceremony” called a Blessingway, which we par-h&

borrc,wed from Nat& Americans and partially ma& up. We Hessed the way of the departing class by singing, lightmg candles, reading poems. and joining ourseb to +zzrch other with a red ribbon. Tnen we b4essed the hat& of each departing stint by washing them in a warm bath filled with symbdic herbs. including rose petals, clidrnomiie. and raspberry Ifzaf. It was a beautiful c2re- many that connected the two classes tcqther and cre- ated a ritual. s+zcific to our s hoc4 that GUI be passed on from class to class. It is the ClePef in a deeper meaning of what we are studying that ukirn&eIy btnds us together. and that is the kind of “survival strategy” that so nour- ishes a group of student midwives. No matter how mu& time we manage, hours we exercise. Or nulritiouj food we eat, we must also tt9d to our souls as students, and sustain that lght that brought us here.

My thanks to Judith Ann Gmeth, Theresa Gesse. NanLy Moss, and the ACNM for creating J space in which students feet valued and enveloped by the profes- sion we will 50 soon join.

Sara Bennett Yale School of Nursing

Class of 1997