what did you do in your former life?

I was an actor for about 2 years (nearly starved to death...it's grim out there). I have a BS in Criminal Justice so I became a juvenile probation officer which I did for 8 years. I realized a few things....criminal justice jobs are "tied to the land"....residency requirements abound and if you move you start all over again. I was getting married to someone who was in a difficult employment field and we had no idea wwere we'd end up. I took 5 years of night school classes for my pre-reqs and then went to an accelerated BSN program. It was 20 years ago....a lot has changed now. There were only about 5 accelerated programs in the US when I needed one.

As a career changer, nursing served me very well. Wherever we moved, I always knew I had a job. When I could no longer physically do hospital nursing, my BSN allowed me to transition to a community health job which is interesting, I can do through to retirement and pays a decent wage with great benefits.

I am have a BS degree in business. My emphasis is marketing. I once worked for Ford Motor in their marketing dept in Detroit. I hated it! I travelled alot, which was fun at first but got old. I have always been in marketing in one capacity or another. I have had great jobs. But I have kiddos now and I do not want to travel. Plus healthcare is in demand now. I figure I have always played the role of "helper" to my customers, distributors, so now I am going into nursing. Plus, I love science. I wanted to go into medicine when I was in high school, but my dad talked me out of it because "I am a girl". I feel like he believed women should marry the doctors, not be the doctors! On a side note, my dad now sees the error of his ways. He says that I am alot smarter than many of the men he knows and he should have not detered my interest in medicine.

I was in the US Army. Active duty from Jan 83 to Feb 93. first enlistment was Morse Code Interceptor, second was Voice Intercept operator. If I told you what I really did, I'd have to killya....

I'm not a nurse yet (still working in school), but right now I'm a SAHM. Before I had kids I was a waitress for 10 years even though I had my AA and was a yr away from my BA in communications (the money was to good from waitressing to use my education)

Erin

I have been a medical transcriptionist for almost 8 years, and prior to that I worked as a CNA. I will be graduating from nursing school in May of 2007. There are a lot of great things about the medical transcription field and I do enjoy it a lot, but it was hard to sit still for 40 hours a week and I also feel like one day that profession will be phased out by computers, so I decided to go back. I will probably do both for a while at first.

Candice

a hairstylist

I was/am a health & safety officer for a large Defense contractor. My degree is in Health Science and I'm trained as a paramedic, but I can't support the family on a medics pay. I'm hoping to start nursing school in Aug. 07.

BTW, to jollygreenRN and all the other vets, thanks for your service. I'm a former red-beret myself!

J

I was a secretary.

Hey I owned an insurance agency, Won all the trips made Lots of money was very unhappy, I am an LPN now and have one more semester for my RN, I work in Long term care and really love it. I make a difference. I am 47 years old and my name is Diane... Tehee.

I am have a BS degree in business. My emphasis is marketing. I once worked for Ford Motor in their marketing dept in Detroit. I hated it! I travelled alot, which was fun at first but got old. I have always been in marketing in one capacity or another. I have had great jobs. But I have kiddos now and I do not want to travel. Plus healthcare is in demand now. I figure I have always played the role of "helper" to my customers, distributors, so now I am going into nursing. Plus, I love science. I wanted to go into medicine when I was in high school, but my dad talked me out of it because "I am a girl". I feel like he believed women should marry the doctors, not be the doctors! On a side note, my dad now sees the error of his ways. He says that I am alot smarter than many of the men he knows and he should have not detered my interest in medicine.

Hey HARRN2b --I'm in marketing as well! I have a BS in Biology --wanted to go into a health-related field but wasn't sure what. Ended up working for an Animal Health products company and moving into marketing. It's ok --I don't hate it--but it's definitely NOT my passion. I wish I would have chosen nursing a long time ago, but I think that I have learned a lot over the years and my life experience will help me deal with the emotional challenges involved in caring for critically ill patients.

I was a waitress at a Mennonite tea and quilt room....

(I know I present myself as pretty much a dufus most of the time...but I am not making this up....)

I was a waitress at a Mennonite tea and quilt room....

(I know I present myself as pretty much a dufus most of the time...but I am not making this up....)

Beary!....I would have spent my entire paycheck on quilts! Not a good place for me to work!!

ah...the previous life...baled hay, detasseled corn, waitress and cook, newspaper reporter, CNA then respiratory therapist for 18 years before nursing school. Always wanted to be nurse, but I had to pay the bills and work my way through school.....long road, but I finally made it!:pumpiron: