I am terrified, excited, and so very happy. I cried when I passed my entrance exam. I cried when I got my acceptance letter. It all just feels too good to be true.
I am fifty-four-years-old. I don't know if I am ready for the constant studying, testing and full class load, but I will give it my best!
Every time I think I am too old to go back to school I remember my aunt who helped raise me. She died at eighty-five-years-old and her only regret was that she never had the opportunity to go to nursing school. I wish I could share my joy with her now.
Ever wonder how much richer the world would be if more people kept to the motto "Live till you die"? All too often we are the ones to ground ourselves and clip our wings, not realizing that there is a wealth of wonderful experiences awaiting us, just ahead, if we will only embrace them. Big big congrats on not clipping your wings! Way to keep on keeping on, journeying towards what you want from life! I applaud you.
You have so much to give now - priceless things you have gained since you were in your 20s. Your patients will benefit from the wisdom gained from living those extra years - that's your gift to them, just by being who you are.
And, you know that you are doing exactly what you really want to do in life (it can be very hard, at 20, to tell what path to follow to find one's heart).
Nursing can be tough at times, tough for the young, and tough for the less young. Getting extra physical and emotional rest can really help keep you spunky. (And for the days that de-spunk us all, you have the experience to know that those will pass)
You now have invaluable insight into what really matters in life - insight that you might not have possessed with such clarity at 20. You know not to sweat the small stuff, you know that in the end, if we live long enough, we will all get older.
You understand patience in a way that your 20 year old self might not have. At age 20 if there was injustice, I remember that I wanted it righted, there and then. Years later, I've learned that time has a way of dealing with many unjust people / circumstances in life's own way, with no intervention necessary. Call it fate, call it karma - life just turns out to spontaneously take care of a lot of things that would have been troubling to the 20 year old version of me. This attitude, this sure knowledge, frees up mental energy - which you can then give to your patients :)
Don't hesitate to share abilities with your fellow classmates - give to them from your strengths, and accept the gifts of your fellows strengths. We each have unique gifts to give each other, especially in the tightly bonded world of a nursing-class group.
You have done a brave thing, a very good thing, and your passion for nursing and life experiences are priceless attributes. Way to go! Your (soon to be) patients are fortunate.
There were three of who were 50+ years old in my evening/weekend nursing program. As luck would have it, it turned out that we all lived within a few miles of each other, so we often car pooled to our clinicals. All of us worked full-time jobs during the day but we all successfully completed the program. And all three of us passed the NCLEX on the first try.
I caution you to avoid student loans and if you are going to take them out only use federal govt loans. Also keep in my mind you will have less time to pay them back before retirement and our wonderful govt the best that money can buy has taken away all consumer protections from student loans and will even garnish your social security if need be to get their money back!
Also get disability insurance as an older person you're more likely to encounter health problems that could interfere with working. That said we all need disability insurance because of the dangers of our job and the unpredictability of life in general!
Good for you! I went back to nursing school in my mid 40s, and I have no regrets. I was a better, more focused student than I had been in my younger years. You'll do fine!
I will be 45 on my birthday in August and will graduate with my BSN in December! It's been a long road but I am so glad that I have done it. I put it off for 25 years while I was raising kids and finally decided to go for it. I so wished I had done it when I was 18 but the kicker? I don't think I could have done it then! It takes way more discipline and "stick to itness" than I had then! Congrats!
When I went to LPN school many moons ago I was the youngest in the class at 18. The oldest was mid 60's. She was the rock of our class. She kept the drama in check, told me more than once to get it together and study harder, was our biggest cheerleader when things went right and she graduated validictorian of our class. Don't think twice about your age! Good luck
I will be 45 on my birthday in August and will graduate with my BSN in December! It's been a long road but I am so glad that I have done it. I put it off for 25 years while I was raising kids and finally decided to go for it. I so wished I had done it when I was 18 but the kicker? I don't think I could have done it then! It takes way more discipline and "stick to itness" than I had then! Congrats!
My story is pretty similar to yours. I will graduate with my BSN in March of next year at 44 years young. I put RN school off for many many years while raising my children. I would have liked to have done this years ago but it just wasn't in the cards for me then. I am a much better student now then I ever would have been when I was younger. Maturity and life experience have definitely helped me be a more successful student now.
All my best to the older and wiser gals and guys out there! All my best to you young guns too!
I started prereq's at 46 - almost 3 years ago, I have three semesters left for my ADN, and whatever it takes for my BSN. I am one of the older students (not the oldest) and being a male, I am really the minority. I realized that I need to keep learning and progressing to a goal so as not to stagnate. I am very happy with my decision to do this and with my progress as well. Good luck to you.
I will be 45 in October and I just graduated from an Accelerated BSN program. I will be taking NCLEX next month.
There were 2 other ladies in my class in their mid-upper 50's. They had Masters Degrees. All 3 of us were mid-life career changers and had 40 hr fulltime day jobs. At this age we knew we were better able to balance life and cut out the social life better than our younger counterparts. If you are dedicated and know for the next 2 years you will be all work/school, you will do great :)
I would have done this as a first time career 20 years ago if there were evening/weekend nursing programs in my area but this is the first time that one has popped up in my area. I have always needed to keep my full-time day job in order to make ends meet so I had to wait until an E/W program came along and it finally did. I jumped at the chance as soon as I could.
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CapricaNurse
15 Posts
Ever wonder how much richer the world would be if more people kept to the motto "Live till you die"? All too often we are the ones to ground ourselves and clip our wings, not realizing that there is a wealth of wonderful experiences awaiting us, just ahead, if we will only embrace them. Big big congrats on not clipping your wings! Way to keep on keeping on, journeying towards what you want from life! I applaud you.
You have so much to give now - priceless things you have gained since you were in your 20s. Your patients will benefit from the wisdom gained from living those extra years - that's your gift to them, just by being who you are.
And, you know that you are doing exactly what you really want to do in life (it can be very hard, at 20, to tell what path to follow to find one's heart).
Nursing can be tough at times, tough for the young, and tough for the less young. Getting extra physical and emotional rest can really help keep you spunky. (And for the days that de-spunk us all, you have the experience to know that those will pass)
You now have invaluable insight into what really matters in life - insight that you might not have possessed with such clarity at 20. You know not to sweat the small stuff, you know that in the end, if we live long enough, we will all get older.
You understand patience in a way that your 20 year old self might not have. At age 20 if there was injustice, I remember that I wanted it righted, there and then. Years later, I've learned that time has a way of dealing with many unjust people / circumstances in life's own way, with no intervention necessary. Call it fate, call it karma - life just turns out to spontaneously take care of a lot of things that would have been troubling to the 20 year old version of me. This attitude, this sure knowledge, frees up mental energy - which you can then give to your patients :)
Don't hesitate to share abilities with your fellow classmates - give to them from your strengths, and accept the gifts of your fellows strengths. We each have unique gifts to give each other, especially in the tightly bonded world of a nursing-class group.
You have done a brave thing, a very good thing, and your passion for nursing and life experiences are priceless attributes. Way to go! Your (soon to be) patients are fortunate.