Howdy Y'all!

Hi everyone!

My name's Sara and I'm 21 years old, born and raised here in West Texas. I've been lurking allnurses for a few months, but finally decided to go ahead and join and introduce myself to you guys. I'm hoping to start knocking out my pre-reqs in Spring 2010, possibly even Midwinter 2009, depending on the course schedules and what's being offered then. I'm hoping to get into the ADN Program at Midland College; although I live in Big Spring, I have heard many negative things about our local program, so MC seems to be the better option.

I've pretty much spent my entire life trying NOT to be a nurse. My mom has been an RN for 16 years and started LVN school when I was very young, and she says she can remember me being maybe 4 years old and laying in the living room floor 'reading' her nursing textbooks. I've always been fascinated by anatomy, disease processes, and medical interventions, but nursing was still a bit scary to me; it's such a big responsibility and a lot of hard work. I even went to college to pursue an entirely different career, but I never finished because it just didn't feel right. My heart wasn't in it, and nursing was still sitting in the back of my mind. And then I started working in the ER with mom as a Registrar. I was spending 12 hours a day with a group of incredible nurses and got to observe them from a safe distance, and I realized 'hey, this isn't so scary....!' Sure, my job sucked, but without it, I really don't think I would have been able to find the courage to start working towards Nursing School. It gave me a lot of invaluable exposure to the 'inner workings' of not only the ER but the rest of the hospital, and let me get comfortable in the hospital environment.

And here I am now! I know this isn't going to be easy by any means, but I'm looking forward to the challenges and all of the opportunities for growth. My mom has been extremely supportive, which has allowed me to be in a position where I've been able to quit my job to focus completely on school. I know I'm probably going to be eating these words later, but I'm SO ready for the Midwinter session so I can get started!

I'm looking forward to meeting you guys, and I'm happy to be a part of such a great forum!