I recently attended a community meeting in my town to have an open discussion about troubles in our personal lives. One patron at the meeting stood out to me. For privacy issues I won't say his name. He gave me permission to write this article. The individual who I am writing about was in nursing school. He told me that he finds it hard to survive in his town, even with 3 jobs. Out of desperation, he decided to become an exotic dancer. A month later, he told me that one of the students at the nursing school saw his car parked outside of the exotic club and reported it to faculty at the nursing school. He said that the professors would whisper among each other while in his presence and scrutinized him each time he entered a classroom. By the end of the school week where he noticed peculiar behavior, he was sent to the Dean's office for a meeting. After being informed of multiple complaints from students about inappropriate sexual behavior between classes, he argued his case and was notified of permanent expulsion from the nursing school. The man knew what the real reason was behind his expulsion, but how could he argue with 13 other students? Apparently, rumors spread about his job and it did not sit well with anyone. I felt so bad for him.The young man is very worried about his future endeavors towards becoming a nurse since he feels that he will never be accepted into another school. I suggested that he quit his job and move into a homeless shelter if he could not afford housing. Although the lies about his conduct to get him removed from the program was wrong, he can avoid future problems by changing his job. I vehemently encouraged him to apply to other schools and take that experience as a lesson. Sometimes adversity can be very strong, even unfair, but in order to truly be a successful individual, one must keep reaching for his or her goal. What are your thoughts about this matter? How would you handle the situation if you were facing the financial hardships that he was?
