My New Career Path

I am still playing nurse

When I was little; I wanted to be a veterinarian. I would actually rip the stitches out of my stuffed animals just so that I could give them a “shot” so that I could stitch them up again.

I got straight A’s all through grade school. But then I discovered drill team, softball and boys. My grades started sinking fast and I am surprised that I made it through high school. UC Davis was not interested in me: so I did what any 18 year old girl did back then. I got married and had kids.

Later I started dreaming about becoming a nurse. As a single mom, working one and sometimes 2 jobs, there was no way. So I kept plugging along, working Admin jobs in hospitals and physician offices. I worked front desk, back office and billing, I even worked in Case Management in a hospital for a time.

Finally with my kids grown and money in the bank, I started taking my pre-req classes. One class at a time. After all, I had a job, a home based business and a farm to build. Once my pre-reqs were done, there was the 2 1/2 year waiting list. Then came the 2 year program. A two year nursing degree plus pre-reqs should take about 3 years of full time school. But the way that I did it, it took nearly 10 years!

During that time, I have driven my friends crazy with my dreams of becoming a nurse and what area of the field I would want to work in. My friends drove me crazy with questions about their own health, their urinary tract infections, and bowel movements. They also wanted to know whether or not I believed in vaccines, and why I thought our hospitals are going broke.

My first block nursing instructor told us that in order to really succeed in the program; we had to put our lives on hold for two years. But while I was plugging along, life kept happening. During my two years in the program; my mom had a heart attack, Steve and I fixed up and sold two houses, we bought a house on an almost barren piece of land to build a farm on, and I had two grandchildren born.

It has been a rugged two years full of study, worry and test anxiety. But it is over. I just passed my boards yesterday. I am a registered nurse. I still do not know what type of nursing job I will end up with, but I can put my books away now.

My gardens need a thorough going over, the goats, chickens, ducks, sheep and the pig are all good though.

Steve has not left me, my mom is much better, the kids are happy and healthy, and the grandbabies are adorable. Friends have come and gone, but I have found out who the real ones were.

This is just the beginning-and it will be the best ever…again.