I. Am. Not. New.

I have been job hunting for a year and, as the process drags on, what I hear with more and more frequency is that I'm a 'new grad' and managers want to hire employees with experience. So I am writing this piece as an ode to all that is not new about me as an ego boost in otherwise ego deflating times.

I am not new at job hunting; I've been doing that for a year plus. Nor am I new at doing female annual exams; I did 250 of those in the five months I spent in prison filling in for the permanent employee. I am not new at nursing in odd situations; I've worked at a clinic in Nepal, state prison, as a traveling camp nurse in hotel rooms all along the eastern seaboard and given flu shots in most of the conference rooms in downtown Denver.

I am not new to compassion, which lies at the heart of nursing; I have it in droves. I cried when I put away my Cabbage Patch kids because I was afraid they'd suffocate in the plastic bag in the attic. I pity my cat for being stuck inside all day because he seems bored (although he'd seem dead were he to run around Colfax during rush hour). I nearly faint when I watch someone get local anesthesia because I know that the anesthesia shot is the worst part and I hate that s/he is suffering through it.

Finally, I am not new at identifying my strengths and weaknesses. I am not new to creating strengths from weaknesses. I am not new at accepting criticism, constructive and otherwise, about my weaknesses. I am not new at accepting praise for my strengths, although that doesn't translate into my doing so well.

I. Am. Not. New. Now hire me, please!