some encouragement please? i need it!!

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Hi all,

I got my bachelor's degree forever ago, when I was too young and irresponsible to know what I wanted to do. Now I'm 34, I've got a 2.5 and a 1 year old, and I want to become a nurse!! So I'm starting my very first pre-req in 3 days. It will take me about 2 years to finish all the pre-reqs since I have to take one at a time and work full time. My goal is to get into an Accelerated BSN program once the pre-reqs are finished.

But here's the problem. Right now, as I get ready to take my first college class in ten years, I'm feeling nervous and negative about my chances about even getting into an ABSN program. I mean, what if I spend all this time taking the pre-reqs and in the end, can't even get into a program??!! I KNOW that I'll do well in my pre-reqs because this means SO much to me. I mean, for the first time in my life, I know what I want to be "when I grow up"!! I'm so excited about the possibility of becoming a nurse and truly helping people. Right now I'm a project manager in a corporate setting and it's soul sucking. There is nothing redeeming about it except that it pays the bills. Anyway, can anyone offer some encouragement? It seems like such a LONG time from now that I'll even be done with my pre-reqs and the entire time, I'll be scared that I won't even get into a program. I guess I just need to hear some positive stories.

Thanks for letting me vent!

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Hi there! I started my pre-reqs this summer after a 10 year hiatus as well. I do not have a previous degree and am going for my ADN then will move on to my BSN after some work experience. I have two children, ages 5 and 1 and if you count my husband age 29. :chuckle I currently work in the oil industry, a VERY thankless, unredeeming job.

The best thing you can do right now is take it one step at a time. Focus on your little goals and do your best in them and you will make it. If this is what you really want, you will make it happen. It does seem like it will take forever, currently I am on track to enter the program in the Spring of 2011 (if I push myself really hard) or the Fall of 2011 if I take it easy. I know for me, if I keep looking out that far and dwelling too much on the time it is going to take me, I start getting discouraged. It is easier for me to take things a semester at a time. Focusing on whatever classes I am taking at the time. Making sure I get my A's in all of them and just doing the best I can do. When I pass the class with an A, I get to celebrate a little bit knowing I am just that much closer to the goal.

You WILL make it. When you feel yourself starting to doubt it, start thinking about how it would feel when you get your acceptance letter. Think about how well you are doing in your current classes, and know that you are doing whatever it takes to make it.

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Specializes in Hospice & Palliative Care, Oncology, M/S.

Hello! I was 32 when I went back to school. I ended up changing my major to nursing when I was 33. I didn't have a degree of any type, so I was essentially starting from scratch. It can be done. :)

You can do anything you set your mind and heart to. Don't lose confidence in yourself. Just keep plugging away even when times get really tough.

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Espo44, you are not alone. I am going to turn 40 in 3 weeks and I have just completed my pre-reqs and have a 5 year old. I did NOT make As in every class, but I did enough to make sure that I met the cutoff for the GPA I needed for the school I'm planning to go to. I turned in my application last week and am currently playing the waiting game. I to have a previous degree (actually 2, BA and MBA) and worked in the corp world for 22 years. If I can get to this point so can you. If by chance you don't get in the first time, then do whatever it takes to insure that it happens the next go-round. By that I mean, take a class that you didn't get that A in again. Yes, I did it (for 2 classes that I had Cs in because the first time around I was too naive to think that a History class would EVER matter)

You have it in you to want, so you have it in you to make it happen. Good luck.

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Welcome to the CLUB! :D

My BE-EE degree was in 1984! I had a piddly 2.X GPA...in part because I didn't care and I was 17 when I started college. I did SATOPS for almost 9 years before I got into programming and I have been doing that for the past 17 years. I have seen job after job get outsourced and I got tired of getting laid off.

You have a Bach already.....so here is my choice of path to follow:

I did my pre-reqs 2/semester (online) and had a "recent" GPA of 3.75.....my overall was 2.75. I went for the ASN-RN program and I have just completed the first term.....all while working FT to pay the bills! :clown: My intention is to get my RN followed by an RN-MSN plan.

The problem I had with the accelerated BSN program was that (1) they viewed your overall GPA and (2) you could not work while going to school....so unless you have someone else to pay the bills, an accelerated BSN is not in your best interest. RNs, for the most part, get paid the same whether you are ASN or BSN. Once I completed the RN, my hope (and plan) was to begin nursing while getting the MSN and letting the employer flit the tuition bill! :coollook:

No matter what, give it your best and good luck!

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