this is my first time on this forum. i have been reading for a while and enjoy all the questions and comments....it has been very helpful in my quest.
my question to you all is "how old is too old?". i am 52 years old and just working on my pre-requisites. yes, you read that right. this means that i will be about 54 when i apply for nursing school. am i crazy? has my ship sailed and i should just hang it up? i have always wanted to be a nurse. i listened to my mother, who completed 8th grade tell me that i would never be able to go to college. i listened to her and 2 days after graduation from h.s. i was married. eight years and 2 babies later i was divorced. then i was a single mom trying to make ends meet. i finally signed up for some college classes, even though my mom was giving me those mom looks and making me feel it was a stupid thing to do. i made a's in my classes and that only encouraged me more. mom was shocked. i met a man who lived 3 hours from me and was raising his two kids. we were married a few months later and my life has been devoted to raising children. finally, i am to a place in my life where i can do something i want to do.
the community college i attend takes a total of 60 nursing students in their program. forty during the day, twenty at night. most 4 year colleges are the same. the community college had 400 applicants last semester. my chances are very slim at best. this will be a total career change for me. i am so excited to finally do this. i am strong and very encouraged. i am so scared at the same time. i don't want to waste anyone's precious time or money. this is an agonizing decision. you all are nurses, some may be my age. do i stand a chance? do i push on?
Thank you all for sharing your comments - they've been very helpful (and encouraging for me). I've been dreaming of becoming a nurse for YEARS! My mother, grandmother, aunts, cousins, etc all are in the nursing field at various levels and I'm the only woman in my family who is not a nurse. I am turning 52 in Dec and had the same question about starting so late. Thanks to all for your candid answers! That said, I already have 2 master degrees (an MBA and another in management) plus I have a FT daytime job so the idea of earning an associates degree in an accelerated program near me is a little discouraging - guess I would be starting over in my career AND in my education. I've been advised that my prereqs would already be made (mostly) and that I'd likely test well. That said, I guess that all means I'd fast track to a BSN once I've satisfied the 2 year program? Is that true?
RitaDavis1965
1 Post
Thank you all for sharing your comments - they've been very helpful (and encouraging for me). I've been dreaming of becoming a nurse for YEARS! My mother, grandmother, aunts, cousins, etc all are in the nursing field at various levels and I'm the only woman in my family who is not a nurse. I am turning 52 in Dec and had the same question about starting so late. Thanks to all for your candid answers! That said, I already have 2 master degrees (an MBA and another in management) plus I have a FT daytime job so the idea of earning an associates degree in an accelerated program near me is a little discouraging - guess I would be starting over in my career AND in my education. I've been advised that my prereqs would already be made (mostly) and that I'd likely test well. That said, I guess that all means I'd fast track to a BSN once I've satisfied the 2 year program? Is that true?