[JudithLane]

Oh, m'gosh!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to MarieD and KgKarma and The Nursinator (Brian) and Nancy K and to all the others that are responding to this thread. At 60, after leaving 28 years of being a psychiatric social worker, I knew that I needed a change and also knew that I would want and need to work until at least age 70 or more. I am always the oldest in my pre-req classes----but have the highest grades!! (Let's hear it for age!) I do wish that all of you were here in Alabama----after age 60 tuition is free----they call it a "Senior Scholarship"!!! Registration fees and books,etc., must be paid, but the savings are enormous. I am highly energetic and motivated----the alternative is to continue to work as a therapist forever.....gads. So, again, thanks to all of you. Each of you responding in this thread has my support and I will always be sending positive energy your way!

[DEM]

I'm a new user to this forum and just ran across this post tonight; didn't read all the way through, but what I did read has sure been encouraging. I went back to school @ age 40 (got a BS many moons ago...Textiles et Clothing Merchandising...just meant I was an over-educated sales clerk...really didn't like retailing, so spent 14 years working in financial institutions...everything from PBX operator to mortgage loan originator), got my ADN @ 42 and have now been a nurse for 9 years. Am currently working on an adult psych unit @ a university hospital...et am looking @ forensic nursing. Figure I have at least 15 years left in the work force...probably more! Glad to see so many other "oldsters."

[Faeriewand]

I'm starting CNA class tomorrow morning and if all goes as planned will begin LVN school this fall. Will be 45 by then and will graduate at 46 1/2 and will continue my education to become an RN. I've been a student off an on since I graduated HS in 1979! As I get older I get better at being a student. When I was younger I had a tendency to forget the things I learned the minute I stepped out of class. I'm better able to handle the work load of studying and retaining what I learned. I've read that so many others said how hard it was for them to become a student again and they had a hard time concentrating. Well I can say that as I grow older it most definitely gets easier. Except now I have a family that makes all kinds of noise when I'm trying to do homework.

Now after this thread I will never again worry that I am getting too old.

Keep posting everyone! This thread has been truly inspirational.

I too wish there was a forum(?) for us 2nd and 3rd career people - those of us who changed careers in mid-life, who are older and living in "the best years"

[logicalone]

Hey Todd,
Just go for it--I am 53 and just finishing LVN training and I love it! It is a third career for me; I have a BS in Business. I plan to go on for my RN. If you enjoy something, it doesn't matter how old you are. Being more "mature nurses," we bring wisdom and life experience into the classroom and the clinical setting--the patients love us and are comfortable with us because we are older.

[MarieD]

Thanks for the postive energy! - and good luck to you - we too have the same free tuition benefit in Massachusetts after the the age of 60.

Originally Posted by JudithLane

Oh, m'gosh!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to MarieD and KgKarma and The Nursinator (Brian) and Nancy K and to all the others that are responding to this thread. At 60, after leaving 28 years of being a psychiatric social worker, I knew that I needed a change and also knew that I would want and need to work until at least age 70 or more. I am always the oldest in my pre-req classes----but have the highest grades!! (Let's hear it for age!) I do wish that all of you were here in Alabama----after age 60 tuition is free----they call it a "Senior Scholarship"!!! Registration fees and books,etc., must be paid, but the savings are enormous. I am highly energetic and motivated----the alternative is to continue to work as a therapist forever.....gads. So, again, thanks to all of you. Each of you responding in this thread has my support and I will always be sending positive energy your way!

[kgkarma]

Originally Posted by MarieD

Thanks for the postive energy! - and good luck to you - we too have the same free tuition benefit in Massachusetts after the the age of 60.

I'm in N.C. and at my school you have to be 65 for free tuition benefits.

[WDWpixieRN]

I have only been in the IT field for 5+ years and already (at age 50 as of a week ago) I KNOW this ain't for me....sitting in a cube, looking at a PC, creating documentation nobody cares about after a week -- pffffft...someone else can have it....and I just completed the BS that got me that job in '99.

My older daughter said to me one day, "Mom, you're frustrated because you need to be doing something where you're making a difference"....ah ha!! The wisdom of youth!!

You should see some of the looks and hear the comments...."and what if that's not what you want to be when you grow up?"....oh, bite me!! I stayed home with kids for many years, so haven't had the luxury of 'finding myself' the past 20+ years....and I figure by staying in school and continually learning, I'll help stave off Alzheimer's!!

I can't wait to get in to a program and I LOVE this thread as it's highlighting the opposite end of the "I hate nursing..." threads I found so depressing! I have completed all the prereqs and classes I could outside of the nursing core. I hope to start by the Fall of '06.

Good luck all you oldsters!!

[WDWpixieRN]

Doi, don't give up....it's nice someone tells you to do something else, but at least here in Missouri, College Algebra is a minimum for ANY 2-year degree on up....well, maybe almost any degree -- I guess I haven't checked them all out.
If your heart's in this...you WILL do it!! Best wishes and hang in there!

[d "EYE"]

It's the year of the Red Dog...

This year I will be 26...too bad because I am interested to enrol for nursing...one university declined my application and informed that I am already over age...i felt discourage...

i am a bachelor in business graduate...i've quit my job to pursue a career in nursing...

is there an age limit to study the course? am i too late to become a nursing student?

is age an issue when a person decides for a career change and pursue his/her true calling?

[MimisMomLVN]

i am 48 and jsut graduated from LVN School and finishing my prereqs for RN program. you still have so much time. if i could do it so can you. i have a 21 year old daughter who is in her second semester of RN school.