Feeling like a big fat failure

Silverdragon102, BSN · Oct 18, 2007

Welcome to the site

Check out our student sections some very good forums with great help from members and good suggestions on studying

Diary/Dairy, RN · Oct 18, 2007

:welcome:

deeDawntee, RN · Oct 18, 2007

I can understand that going back to school to pursue a new career is overwhelming for anyone. It takes a while to get back into the whole education experience with learning how to study and take exams....

Feeling insecure is very normal. Also, know that general Biology is a very tough class along with the other sciences. I promise none of it is designed to make you fail, but what is thought to be the basis on which your nursing knowledge will be built.

The most important thing you can do for yourself is to change the way you think about your self. I would urge you to start to visualize yourself as succeeding. If you don't believe in yourself, it is going to make this entire process more difficult than necessary. Try not to look at everthing at once, but just take one day at a time, one assignment at a time, one exam at a time etc. Each success will build on the next. I would also highly recommend that you use whatever resource that is available to you, including speaking to your instructor to using whatever help centers are available to students at your school. This is part of what you are paying for and they are experts in helping you succeed.

Start seeing yourself as a success and you certainly will be successful!

:yeah: :yeah: :yeah:

fultzymom · Oct 18, 2007

I finished nursing school when I was 28. I already had a family and it was truely hard. I worked my butt off. It took a while to get back into the groove of school again. Nursing school is hard. It is stressful. It is horrible at times. But you CAN do it!! Ask for help from anyone who is able to offer it to you. Have faith in yourself. If you know that you would love to be a nurse and you are a people person then don't give up on that dream. I met a friend who was in a similar situation I was in and we started riding to school together, studying together, ect. We laughed together, cried together, and gave each other whatever support we needed at that time. It really helped a lot to know that someone was going through the same thing that I was.

Leslie

che667 · Oct 18, 2007

Hi there,

I'm a 34yr old living in the UK. I got back into education last year after 16yrs. I found that doing an access to health and nursing course at college prepared me for university not sure if they an equililnat in the U.S. I am finding it difficult at the moment in my 2nd year but I think the key is to study with good friends and bounce ideas off each other. Trust me you won't be the only one finding it difficult in your group.

Take care

Alfie

PRESLA · Oct 18, 2007

]:welcome: I finished school 13 yrs ago and even back then it was very difficult because I got the feeling from the teachers that were only there because of the money that they didn't care about your progress they just wanted to make you feel stupid. Then I had other teachers that were super and they went about and beyond to help you.

Lisa :yelclap:

BlondieRN09 · Oct 18, 2007

First of all, take a deep breath. You're not a big fat failure. The pre-req's are hard... they were very hard for me. But if you want it bad enough you will find a way to get through it. Study until you can't study any more... and then keep studying. My biggest piece of advice is to form study groups with your classmates - I've found that I learn 10 times better while in a study group.

I'm half way through my first semester of my BSN program (only 18 months left!) - it is SO much more enjoyable than the pre-req's were. I have a study group for my nursing classes and we are all getting A's while the classmates that are not in study groups are getting C's and D's on the exams.

Also, don't be afraid to go to your teachers for help. I was afraid to for a long time (especially the ones I thought were super mean). But the mean ones turned out to be the most helpful on a 1-on-1 basis.

Good luck!!

NurseJeanB · Oct 18, 2007

Don't give up. I went back to school to knock out prerequisites 4 years ago... I was 35 and now I am 39 in my first semester of nursing school. It was hard work but I kept at it and made sure I kept my grades up and when I finally was able to apply I got into every school I applied to. (Okay so it was only two) The point I want to make is that it was my dream to become a nurse and so even though I worked full time and had a teenager, I took only a couple of classes at night each semester and I knew that one day I would get there. You can do it and you are young. If you are having trouble maybe ask some fellow students to form a study group but keep the end goal in sight. I am so glad I stuck with it and I can fully commiserate with you that it is so hard at times, but when you are in nursing school you will have such a feeling of accomplishment. Good luck. The only regret I have is that it took me so long and here I am turning 40 in my first semester of nursing school.

Best regards,

Jean

treeguy · Oct 19, 2007

...My real message is on the next page

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Oct 19, 2007

Hang in there. Although you might want to consider something else. Nursing isn't much kinder than nursing school.

treeguy · Oct 19, 2007

i understand what you are going through. it is really sucky to see so many kind, awesome potential nurses struggle while the people who are only in it for the money have an easy time. it is really backwards because so much of nursing is centered around how good of a people person you are. a lot of nurses are going to get into the field and realize that they hate it because they never teach you the only thing that matters in this profession... how to be a loving servant i guess there is no way to teach that.

here are my two cents. if you have started right off the bat with your hard biology classes, then that was your first mistake but you can always back up and learn from it without hurting your gpa. i can not stress enough how important it is to take all the lesser classes first before you jump into the hard ones. i found that i would be totally screwed if i hadn't taken algebra before chemistry and life science before a & p. i am in my second to last semester and here was my total game plan:

semester one:

phys ed

films

government

pre-algebra

psychology

semester two:

algebra

life science

sociology

english 2

semester three (current)

a & p 1

chem

semester four

a & p 2

micro

nutrition

(!!!hard!!!)

a lot of people told me that this wasn't a good idea because i was lumping all my sciences together but by this point, i have already had 10 months of school under my belt and i have fully developed my study skills and learned a great deal of information that is helping me through these hard classes. plus to go from 16 credit semesters to 8 are a lot easier even if they are sciences.

my advice is to stay in the hard classes until the last point you can drop and then get out. until that time, absorb as much information as you can, take all the exams and save them for future reference and then take all your other classes that will prepare you for your sciences. sure, you are going to lose a lot of money and time but your gpa will not be affected and by the time you come back to a & p and micro, you will be ready to kick it's butt with ease!!!!

just keep in mind, that if this is something you want to do... you will be able to accomplish it if you refuse to give up. challanges are normal... if fact, they are totally healthy in your path because they will add character to your struggle. sure, you may have to work a lot harder then other people but you are going to get their if you keep at it. when you finish school, you are going to be 10 times then nurse then most people in our underpayed, underappreciated profession.

peace!

p.s. those science classes are meant to get rid of people. they call them "weeder classes" and their purpose is to get rid of the students who will not be able to handle the program. don't worry though, if you have the heart (and you do) you will overcome this hurdle.