'Confused' could be an understatement!

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Hii everyone ,

I have been following this site for a while now.Let me first brief you all about me.I am a 27 yr old person.I have no concrete idea on what my real purpose in life is.Like what I am best at doing.It did not seem to come very easy to me,unlike some fortunate others.I have been bitter about it in the past,but now I just want an answer and I want to fight for this epiphany.

In school, I was a good student,I did well in my bio class,loved Chemistry,did not enjoy Physics or Maths a whole lot.But it was school and I never had an opinion.When time came for me to pick a undergrad major,I basically was made to believe that since everyone is doing a degree in engineering,so should I.And why? 'Security' and 'stability'.From where I came,these two reasons governed everything.Did not matter if you had no interest.

After an undergraduate degree in electronics engineering, a very mediocre IT career,yet another failed attempt in trying to figure out myself in the form of an expensive Master's in Computer science,here I am,not even employed in my supposed area of education.

The feelings of being a loser,having no career,no idea of what could be a possible career have been really eating me up from within.after doing some research,talking to people and taking that bold step, I have felt I could make a good nurse.I feel I have the makings,and by that I mean ,I am curios to know about the human body,I am a kind and compassionate person,I am empathetic and good with emotional connections.I enjoy knowing what happens with our bodies and learning more.I do admit I am a little repelled by blood and the idea of dissections.(I am being brutally honest)

Now,since I have no,absolutely no,background in this field,am I wasting my life even more?Do people like me actually make switches? I have immense respect for everyone here.For people who knew all along what they wanted to people who took chances and went for it.

I want to be one of those people.

How did you all find your calling?

And could you give me an idea on where to begin if I could study nursing?

Thank you all so so much.

From Looserville

God, this place is just so good! I do not feel singled out and stupid and of course like a looser.

Thank you all for your very helpful experiences,insights and good words.

I know that my self-confidence right now will not magically better itself at this stage and what I was feeling would be very easily put behind.

But I got the much needed assurance that,if you guys could,I probably could too right?

Thanks for the support.I am looking and might be back with more questions :)

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I can relate. I am 28 years old and was never interested in anything else but having fun in high school much less college. Post high school I worked in a couple of machine shops and doing odds and ends jobs up until 2 years I decided i would take my interest in science and combine that with helping people since I consider myself to be a person with a big heart and give a shot a nursing school. Never really thinking I had a chance, loving everybit of my pre-req courses I felt I had found my calling. I did a job shadow with a perioperative nurse and thats when I knew where I wanted to be. To top off my lack of initiative my family does not really support me going to school. They would rather see me fail at anything that resembles success, just to be back at their level. They certainly dont think I should be in nursing just because thats not what a man is supposed to do :smackingf With the support of my wife and knowing that my son completely deserves me being successful, and being an example for him are my motivations. Do not feel sorry for yourself and NEVER let anybody tell you that cant do something. I would take an Anatomy and Physiology class first just to see if you like it. Good luck to you in all that you do.

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I can relate. I am 28 years old and was never interested in anything else but having fun in high school much less college. Post high school I worked in a couple of machine shops and doing odds and ends jobs up until 2 years I decided i would take my interest in science and combine that with helping people since I consider myself to be a person with a big heart and give a shot a nursing school. Never really thinking I had a chance, loving everybit of my pre-req courses I felt I had found my calling. I did a job shadow with a perioperative nurse and thats when I knew where I wanted to be. To top off my lack of initiative my family does not really support me going to school. They would rather see me fail at anything that resembles success, just to be back at their level. They certainly dont think I should be in nursing just because thats not what a man is supposed to do :smackingf With the support of my wife and knowing that my son completely deserves me being successful, and being an example for him are my motivations. Do not feel sorry for yourself and NEVER let anybody tell you that cant do something. I would take an Anatomy and Physiology class first just to see if you like it. Good luck to you in all that you do.

Your son will have a great example for himself.Thank you for sharing.Feels so good to go out and do something for yourself,when everyone around fails to understand and makes you limit yourself.

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Thank you so much for listening and responding.

I will definitely take a look at that.I have already been,but I did not know that having a degree,even if it is in a completely different field,would help.

But also may I ask, why did you make a switch to nursing?Like,did you just happen to know that this is it.Anything else that affected your decision.

I am not able to trust my decision making skills.I feel like I want to, but I would hate to be here 5-6 years later saying this also was a wrong decision.I do not want to be that person...

I did like you..I was sitting in my office after a 6 year marketing career going "ok what is my purpose in life" and looked at various careers and determined that nursing was a good fit for me. Trust me when I say when u first come in that you will have all this driven passion, but as you go along in the program and start seeing how u can really make a difference with someone stay at the hospital u change. It's a long grind, but here I am with 5 months to go. The job market is closed period, so the competition is fierce.my reccomendations is to volunteer at a hospital, then when in school look for an externship this the most critical thing to try and get..at the huge hospital chain here in southern CA it is known that they are only hiring externs..if u can't get that then look at a PCA job..ok good luck,stay organized..and just go for it!

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I think "48 Days to the Work You Love" by Dan Miller would be helpful for you. It is quite different than the usual book on how to find the career for you.

If you are still interested in the medical field, I think it would be a good idea to learn more about it before spending much time and money preparing for it. The basic choices are shadowing, volunteering, and working as a CNA or Nurse Tech, and researching. For the researching, there is the obvious library and internet, there is also asking questions of people you know who are in the field or have close connection with someone in the field. I usually ask things like what do they like best about it, and least about it; how did they get where they are and what would they do different if they could.

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Specializes in future OB/L&D nurse(I hope) or hospice.

op: You are not a loser!! You have accomplished so much and you are still very young. I am almost done with my pre-reqs, but I have been working for a bank for the past 22 years. So this is also a career change for me. I would take the advice of the others by perhaps volunteering or shadowing. Talking to a career counselor is also a very good idea. The college in your area should be able to point you in that direction. I also went through a time of self-doubt. Very hard on myself. I mean really, here I am 41 years old and I really don't have a thing to be proud of; and I am talking in terms of things the world would judge me on. I don't own a home, don't have stocks or bonds. If I died today the only thing of real value would be the life insurance I have. But I have realized that as long as I am contributing in some way to this world I do have value... and so do you! The beautiful thing is that there is no right or wrong in terms of living your life. Experience is priceless and what forms the soul within. There is a reason for the roads all the roads you have taken in your life. Right now you are at an intersection and having a hard time on making the choice to go right or left. But either choice is ok! I can tell that you would make an amazing nurse, and there are so many directions you can take with a nursing degree. The options are huge. Please don't be so hard on yourself. Just take the first step and contact the college in your area and talk to a guidance couselor. Good Luck and God Bless. Hugs to you:hug:

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