I am officially done with my career as a student nurse. I have earned my AAS-Nursing degree after more than five years of sheer cussed determination and hard work. I will be taking the national licensure exam to become a registered nurse in a few weeks.
I dropped out of school at 16 to support myself, had a GED and was told both frankly and subversively that I would never amount to anything. Fortunately, I have always had a strong spirit. At 27, I got up the courage to pursue a degree in nursing, after working the past 10 years as a nursing assistant. I had to take sublevel math classes before being able to enroll in the nursing prerequisite science courses. I completed my preq's with a GPA of 3.95. Unfortunately, I was not accepted into the nursing program the first time I applied. I did not give up. I took higher level science classes that could eventually get me my bacclaureate, and applied to community-college level RN programs across the state. The following spring I got 3 letters of acceptance, one of which was to the nursing program at the local college to which I had originally applied.
The past 2 years have been exceptionally challenging, nursing college is incredibly militaristic, and you can be dismissed from the course at any point during the 2 years of intensive education. I watched 12 classmates disappear over the 2 year period. Just today I found that one of my classmates has been denied the right to graduate. It has been rough. But I did it.
I am now 33. I wouldn't be writing this without the amazing support of both friends and strangers who have become friends along the way. Choosing to pull yourself up by the bootstraps generates its own kind of magic in life, in which others forgive you for your faults; and your strength attracts positive people.
My horses also play a large role in my ability to overcome the emotional blows; they have also brought many wonderful people into my life. They gave me a reason to keep fighting, to keep going forward, even when defeat seemed imminent. Sometimes we need something to care for in order to care for ourselves.
If I were to take anything from this experience to give to somebody else, I would tell them to choose one dream in life and make it happen, to not give up, no matter the odds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19mDVt6q6Vg 