Dear Friend,

Over the years I have met many Internationally Educate Nurses that have a very basis level of computer literacy. Many are fearful about taking a course online, or about doing online transactions. When R sent her first emails, she explained her fear was enhanced when her computer was hacked and her information was stolen. At some point she decided to trust and take a risk. She subscribed to CELBANPrep. Knowing that many people would identify with her story, recently, I asked her to with about her experiences facing these fears and turning her weaknesses into strengths. Maybe reading her words will inspire  you to do the same.

THE  WORLD  OF  TECHNOLOGY  IS  SLOWLY  OPENING  UP TO  ME

It has been an interesting journey for me since I signed up for CELBANPrep  online. In a way I was compelled to sign up as I was eager and motivated to achieve my goal as a registered nurse in Canada. I was never computer literate. When I used my computer for leisure purposes it was always alot more easier for me to do so, as I was in a frame of mind that any,  and as many mistakes by me was acceptable, however doing a course like CELBANPrep online was a different ball game altogether. That’s when the real challenges kicked in and I was made aware of my potential and hidden abilities to master my computer skills.

I was always afraid I would hit the wrong key and make the computer crash, this overshadowed my ability to enjoy it. Then came along my teacher Kim  who smoothed the way for me, by guiding me every step of the way. She made me conquer that fear and made me realize that digital technology will become apart of my everyday life. Many a times when I did my assignments online I would become frustrated and I would loose my patience with the “technology”. For e.g  formatting a piece of writing into bullets and into a perfect table format, would take me over an hour to do, whereas if I was computer literate I would have completed it in a matter of minutes. I was rest assured that with my lack of computer knowledge and skills, my assignments at times looked like a  jargon of very bold and highlighted words that would easily drive my dear teacher Kim  to the nearest opthalmologist as she  humourously once said. On the contrary I thought that it would have done that as well as driven her to drink. Together we shared many moments of laughter, as she persistently and consistently put me to the test of improving my computer skills. Kim always went the extra mile and slowly but surely made me realize that getting more comfortable with my computer was doable and not impossible. Eventually with many corrections I was perfect at submitting assignments online and my plus point was that they were approved by my teacher Kim.

I can now use my computer more efficiently. I am alot more comfortable and unafraid to experiment and try new things. I figured it was best for me to embrace the use of computers in a positive way. Someday I  hope to master powerpoint, excel spread sheets, memos, graphs e.t.c. Kim sure does bring about new hope and aspirations to her students.

So the rule of thumb is, be wise, get experience and stay connected

An interesting fact  and food for thought:  While it took the radio 38 years, and the television a short 13 years, it took the world wide web only 4 years to reach 50 million users.

A heartful thanks to my teacher Kim  for giving me the opportunity to write this article.

R