Anybody else ever have trouble explaining.

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

I sometimes get embarrassed about how long it is taking to get my degree. A family member started a semester after I did to become a teacher, and she starts teaching in the spring with her Bach degree from a major university.

Yet here I am just trying to get my associates from a CC. The thing is she didn't have to go through what I have had to deal with. She didn't have worry about getting into a program that required all A's. She just went through her list of classes and if she got a C that was fine it passed. She never retook anything for a better grade.

I know that a freshman is 29 credit hours or less, a soph is 59 hours or less, and a junior is 89 or less. At this point I have 61 credit hours and would be a junior at a four year. My program requires 72 credit hours + 4 for biology which is 76 credit hours. I also had to take remedial math (older student and long time since high school algebra) which was 9 credit hours. When I finish I will have an 85 credit hour Associates degree.

Anyway my dad keeps reminding me that "Stacy will start teaching next semester...didn't she start after you?" It's really starting to make me feel like something is wrong even though I know it isn't. How do you guys explain to family and friends that its taking you 5 years to get a 2 year degree?

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
How do you guys explain to family and friends that its taking you 5 years to get a 2 year degree?
I totally understand what you're saying! Unfortunately, my family is not oriented to education, and the entire process of college is very alien to them. I was born to working-class parents who did not attend college and, therefore, do not understand the reasons for general education classes, prerequisites, remedial classes, etc. They would always ask me questions such as, "Why are you taking science classes? Isn't that a waste of time? What type of job could an English class possibly get you? Why are you taking college math if you already had math classes in high school?"

Until recently, my family thought that anyone from off the street could start attending nursing school without any prior classes or testing. My father once thought that an associate degree could be earned in 1 year. I think the general public remains blissfully unaware that community college nursing programs often take longer than 2 years to complete.

I'm 26 years old and, at this point in my life, I owe an explanation to nobody. I simply know that I am doing financially better than many of the people who earned BA degrees in humanities-type majors such as American literature, art, English, philosophy, sociology, classics, linguistics, and theater. While their BA carries more prestige than my lowly nursing license, I typically earn more money than them.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
Until recently, my family thought that anyone from off the street could start attending nursing school without any prior classes or testing. My father once thought that an associate degree could be earned in 1 year. I think the general public remains blissfully unaware that community college nursing programs often take longer than 2 years to complete.

This is how some of my family is. One side of my family is snobbish and looks down their noses at community college, and the other side thinks I should be able to enroll in community college nursing classes just walking in off the street and be done in a few months.:uhoh3:

No matter what I tell one of my relatives (who went to a university and is a microbiologist) he thinks that RNs with associates degrees can only give certain medications like aspirin and no 'serious' medications.

I tell you, it's like beating your head against a wall to get these people to understand. Commuter, you are quite correct about being satisfied with what you know and owing explanations to nobody.

You have to be satisfied understanding yourself, that nursing is in fact different than most degrees, and that a 2 year degree is not a 2 year degree.

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Specializes in future speciality interest: Nurse Midwif.

YES! YES! YES!

I get the that feeling of explaining ALL THE TIME to my family. In fact my mom asked me to run an errand for her today and I told her I had class, she stopped what she was doing and said "class? how many times do you have to go to these classes?"

I think to myself sometimes, would she rather me work 2 jobs at minumum wage for the rest of my life or just sat home and do nothing instead of going to school? Like the post said above, Some of my relatives are not familar with the process of getting a degree, let alone a nursing degree.

I recieved my associates in Business, than a certificate in Medical Transcription, I went to school for phlebotomy, oh i forgot...i have my CNA license also.

So my family have seen me go through all these years of education and they make fun of me all the time. They say things like "are you trying to break a record for a person with the most degrees"

I was not happy with any of the previous educations that I had. I knew my passion was to care for babies and pregnant mommies, but I doubted myself for years that I could be successful as a Nurse-Midwife (let alone Nurse).

So I finally stopped denying my love for nursing and started my dream of becoming a nurse-midwife.

Well, now I get the annoying questions even more...I don't answer any questions. If i'm asked to do a favor or attend a function, I say I can't and leave it at that (if I have class or have to study). They know that I am attending school but they don't extacly know for what.

I'm starting to get the vibe that they think I just make excuses to not be around them.

All they have to do is wait for their invitation to my graduation when i get my BSN.;)

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

Thanks for the input. At least I know I am not the only one who feels this way.

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Specializes in acute care.

I'm 26 years old and, at this point in my life, I owe an explanation to nobody.

I agree 100%.

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

I can't say that because my parents are helping me out while I am in school sooooo they feel I do owe them an explanation.

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Yes, I have this feeling, too. I was a senior at a university in another discipline, but after my mother passed away and my living situation at home changed about 6 months ago (read: 2 brothers and a nephew living with us now) I decided to chuck the degree that I didn't really want and start taking prereqs for the nursing program from the CC that I already got an AA degree from.

Spending less money on an education, less time commuting and finally focusing on something that I KNOW I want to do has made me feel like I am finally moving forward. Some people might not get it and that's okay. As another poster noted, when they get the invite to my graduation, the confusion will stop. =)

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I agree...no explanation necessary. Are they the ones going for the degree? No...so they don't understand what is really involved in actually obtaining your degree...associates or not!!!

Maybe you can make some printouts of all the classes you actually have to take and when someone asks, just hand them the sheet and let them figure it out for themselves! :lol2:

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Are you having trouble explaining yourself to others or are those not in pursuit of a nursing degree able to comprehend the gigantic feat you are undertaking in your life. Nursing school is a selective admission program many people can gain entrance to, yet it is a major only those passionate enough to be nurses can see it through.

The way I see it is I will only be explaining to the families of those in my care the treatment I will be providing to their loves ones, and to Uncle Sam when he asks how did I make so much taxable income.:lol2:

It gets old fast trying to explain your educational track to those who really don't care to know, the majority are just being plain nuisy.

Anyways, don't worry about what those around you think of your education/career timeline, worry about your goals. Your happiness is what matters most, not satisfying those with inquiring minds.

No matter how hard nursing school may get, remember it has to come to an end eventually as it has for thousands of other postnursing school students before us.

Lastly, not to offend anyone, but prayer works wonders;)

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I just graduated last year with a BFA - which took six years to get because I changed my major - and then went back to school the very next semester to start on my nursing degree. Some people in my family seemed a little disappointed I went back. I think they stressed out over my classes almost as much as I did. They were excited for me to graduate so they could relax! Other people in my family have been very supportive because they realize I need to do this. My sisters-in-law think I'm "just addicted to school."

Whatever. It's my life. They'll be proud of me when I'm done.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
I can't say that because my parents are helping me out while I am in school sooooo they feel I do owe them an explanation.

Oh, ok. This is important. Just explain the total number of credits necessary and contrast that to the typical associates degree of 60 credits. Show the total number of credits for the ADN plus the pre-reqs for the prereqs (which sometimes have pre-reqs). I'd also explain that degrees like education (teaching) aren't typically competitive. So a C is fine. With nursing - you won't get in. If they've been to college at all, they'll understand the difference between just have to go through the motions to get a C versus having to attain perfection (A) in every class, just about. I've printed out news articles for my family to see regarding how hard and competitive it is to get into nursing school. That might be a good idea to show your family. I just googled and found articles like this. Some, I found on this site. I remember I found some article where recent nursing school grads who had master's degrees in other disciplines were gushing about how their ADN was much harder than their previous master's degrees.;)

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