Any older people in pre-nursing?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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i'm new here and just found this site. i will be starting biology 110 in the fall. i already have a bs in education and will be going back to the community college i started at 25 years ago! this is something i should have done way back then, but , i was young and stupid and had no confidence in myself. but i'm doing it now! :yeah:

i'm so excited i have already gotten my biology book and started reading and taking notes. fortunately, my instructor has a website as well and i've been following along and getting a head start.

anyone feel like the oldest in class? i have this image of being stuck in a classroom with a bunch of 18 year olds...lol. i am taking night classes though so hopefull that means the average age goes up.

people keep telling me how old i'll be when i'm finally an rn, but heck, i'll be that old in a few years whether or not i'm a nurse, so i might as well go for it.

anyone else over 40 like me? :coollook:

I am 43 and i just got licensed as a limited xray tech in florida. There doesn't seem to be any jobs around here for me so i will be starting nursing school in the spring at age 44 so I will probably finish around 47 if all goes well.

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I've just finished my pre-reqs and will be starting the nursing program in August. I'll be 43 next month and I've been through heart bypass surgery. If I can do it (AND I CAN!), then SO CAN YOU! You bring a lifetime of experience to this career that younger ones can only hope to gain and it will make you a much better nurse, in my humble (or not so humble) opinion. :twocents:

:stdnrsrck:

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You sound like me, I a 35 and starting Bio I & Lab Monday after 15 years away from school to raise my daughter. Now she just graduated and is starting all her prereqs for RN Tuesday :) I have an 18 credit jump on her....I'm so nervous that I'll be the only old foggie in this class AND its being held at my daughters former HS :) I pray for good grades and get the prereqs over with so I can apply and finish what I started so long ago!

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I am 45 and doing my pre req's slowy. I will be nearly 50 by the time I graduate.

Good Luck.

Sandy

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Specializes in TCU.

I am 44 and begin NS in the fall, I will be 46 when I graduate!

There are folks in the program I am in in their mid-fifties.

:pntrghi:Good Luck!

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I am 34 and I know how you feel. I am meeting people fresh out of high school. To top it off I am a older mother (my son is 3yrs old) and it seems like whenever I study I loose track of my studies. At this rate I will never get out of school!

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I'll be 52 when I graduate with a BSN in 2010!

Older students kick butt and take names. Ask any professor. :) I just finished a microbiology summer class where at least half the class was over 35. The professor said we had the highest scores on tests of any of his students! I called it "The Coot Factor" (speaking as a coot, of course. LOL!)

You can do it and you can do great!! Just keep your focus. I actually (now) think that older brains learn differently, but in a much cooler way. Sometimes when I study, I feel like my brain is connecting the information in a hundred different ways all at the same time. And I've talked with other students about this... I think it has something to do with all that life experience we bring to our studies. I am also way more wowed by the science and by the amazing human body than I think I would have been when I was younger. I keep thinking, "How cool is that!!", whether it's Chemistry or A&P or Micro or something else.

So, best of luck, and most of all, enjoy yourself!!

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CracklinRose:

How did you know you wanted to get into the RT program instead of nursing?

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Specializes in none.

Like Ladypie I am 37 and will be a nurse when I am 40. But hey, they say that is the new 30's right?:D

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There's no getting over the 'old' feeling in a lot of prereqs; heck I'm 23 and I feel old in my Bio class! Just know that you have the advantage of more focus, study habits, etc than most younger people. Good luck!

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Well I am 33 now( I will be 34 in Sept)...just finished all my pre reqs....it took me 5 yrs on those and I start the ADN program this Aug so I will be 36 when I grad. in 2010. Hmmm...not a "spring chicken" anymore :D I have already decided once I hit 35 I am gonna start counting backwards;)

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Specializes in Behavioral Health & Emergency Medicine.

I love this thread....because, at 47 years old, I always feel like the old dude on this board. I just 'retired' from a 25-year career in media relations and corporate communications. I March, I started full time at my local community college here in St. Louis, taking the first of several pre-reqs necessary for nursing school. I've been accepted to an accelerated BSN program at one of our local universities here. I begin the program in January.

So far, I've taken general psych and introductory biology, with A's in both classes. Right now, I'm halfway through A&P I....with a B+ average. I am far and away the oldest student in my community college pre-req classes .... and I don't care one bit. I'm having the time of my life learning something new, exciting and different. Most of the other students -- average age mid-20s -- look up to me, and my professors appreciate my maturity and willingness to work hard and study. Age, I have discovered, is really irrelevant. If you have the drive and capacity to work hard and apply yourself to whatever you're learning, you are NEVER too old for school or to succeed.

Best of luck to you! I have a feeling you'll do well and be a fantastic nurse.

Donn

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