I am 38 yrs old (or will be in a month) and haven't started NS yet. I am planning on attending in the fall of 2009 so this year I will knock out A&P I&II (they aren't pre-req's at my school but I want to take them before I start the program). I have the normal 38 yo issues, kids, hubby, house, car payments, etc., etc., and have started trying to save for school. But lately, things have been terrible for us and I have been dipping into my school money for necessities. So to try and stop myself from dipping into my school money I started to put it other places that were not as easily accessible as a savings account is. I tied up some in a CD and some in stocks thinking that I had over a year to wait before I would need to cash the stocks in and get the cash. Well you know where this is going, the markets are down even further than they were when I bought the stock so I have lost money, I haven't been able to "replace" the money that I used for necessities and and to top it all off, the last 2 paychecks I haven't been able to put anything away for school. I am only a couple of weeks away from having to buy the book for next semester and with all the money locked up in other places, I'm not sure I'll have enough cash saved up to purchase my books for fall. Now I am starting to second guess the financial plan I figured out last summer which should have gotten me enough cash to get me through the first semester of NS without financial aid or having to take out a student loan and now, I am not so sure it will happen anymore. And I am also starting to second guess that I am making the right choice for myself and my family at this point. The plan is to quit working while I'm in school and with the price of gas, groceries, and now utilities going up, I am not so sure that we will be able to do without my income. Yet I am very concerned about trying to work while I'm in school and have applied for positions at my current job that are part-time in hopes of being able to do at most part-time while in school but right now we can't afford for me to go part-time. But part-time positions at my work don't come up very often so I fear that if I don't apply when they get posted that it will be too long before I see another and to top it all off, my employer is talking about possibly cutting jobs which could lead to lay-offs or vacant positions not getting filled, which would mean even less of a chance at getting part-time in the future. I do not feel that my job is in jeopardy though since I think I am too far up the totum pole to get a pink slip and if I did, I have bumping rights or could take a severence pkge.
I'm just starting to feel that I am not making the right decision for this point in my life and that maybe I am too old to go to school full-time with all the responsibility DH and I have right now. I applied for a scholarship but of course won't hear anything for that until much later and that may help IF I am lucky enough to get one. I am already expecting to be rejected for financial aid since DH and I make too much but after the first year of me not working, we may be able to get something for my second year in the ADN program. That is why I was trying to pay out right for the first semester, thinking I would take out a loan for the second and remaining semesters while trying to limit how much debt I was creating by going back to school.
I'm just feeling like we just can't afford for me to make a career change right now and that by the time my little guy starts school (in another 3 yrs), I will be too old by the time I graduate to find a job quickly and will have lost a couple of years pay, pension, retirement and all that besides possibly having to create debt for nothing at that point.
Has anyone second guess their decision to make a career change? How did you get through those feelings of "am I doing the right thing right now?" I guess if I lost my job then I could use whatever they gave me for a severence pkg to help pay for school and household expenses, but what if it isn't enough? Would a severence pkg void me from being able to collect unemployment benefits? I would rather go on unemployment while in school so at least we have something coming in from me.
I just wanted to say that you are all inspirations, especially to someone who hasnt hit their 20's and alot of the time is ready to give up. So PLEASE, PLEASE keep going.
It sounds like you are a good planner...sometimes you just have to alter your plans to get where you want to be. You don't have to feel badly about it...everyone has roadblocks in the way on the path to their dreams, but you can't let them stop you. Maybe you will have to take out a loan. The good thing is that you will have major job security as a nurse and you may even be able to find work at a hospital that offers loan forgiveness. I just recently realized that most of the hospitals in my area offer this but do not advertise it.
I too am 37 and I am starting a ABSN program in January '09. I have to take out loans and my school is rather $$. However, I am a planner like you and my dh and I have figured out how we can be completely debt free in 10 yrs with me working as a nurse...and this includes our house in a pretty pricey area! I just keep thinking how great that will be and at the same time I will be doing something I love.
When I was 22 and getting my 1st BS, I would look at the women in their 30's and 40's taking classes with me and I swore to myself I would never be them...how could they put off their schooling that long?!?! Well, I have a much difference perspective now of course and in today's world very few people stay in the same career their entire lives. I'm enjoying school now SO MUCH MORE than I did when I was younger.
You can do this if you really want it...just because it's hard doesn't mean it isn't meant to be, it just means that you will appreciate it more when you're done!:)
Thank you everyone for your support. I have decided that I can only be concerned with the task at hand and not about the future. So I'm slowly getting myself back in to my "one semester at a time" mode. Worry about Fall for now and when the time comes, then I can worry about Spring and so on.
Now if I could just get someone at the school to tell me which book they are using in A&P for fall I would be a much happier camper .
did you know that the average age of a nursing student is in her 40's? heck - its not the age that matters its the attitude!
i'm 44, 2 kids, 2 dogs, recently laid off and doing pre-reqs for the last couple of years. my dear husband, though supportive in my efforts, really doesn't help much in running the house, kids, paying bills, groceries and such. sometimes i feel i have so much baggage on my shoulders! i'm in my college's honors program (free tuition for select classes - makes my transcript look good.) on one hand, i can appreciate what i am learning in school. on the other hand, the young kids are so smart today that i think they have the advantage. they are learning about dna transcription and translation in junior high!
the way i see it, by the time i graduate from nursing (i started in the jan 08 spring program), my daughter will be ready to graduate from high school. yeah, it seems like it is taking forever, but when i started all this i said to myself "i'll get there when i get there!" and it looks like i'm getting there...slowly but surely!
don't give up! you've got the will and the attitude and gosh-o-golly: you can do it!
What if, what if what if... i've been what iffing for 12 years now and haven't gotten anywhere. I am 30 with a hubby and young child. I'm working on my pre - reqs. I know that if I keep what iffing I will still get no where. I work in retail and have no clue what will happen when I ask my boss to cut my hours so I could go to school. My hubby and daughter are on my health insurance so I need to work. But I know that there may be other possibilities open to me once that time comes. Maybe you could also look into other possibilities to put yourself through school. What about trying to get a position doing something at a local hospital? Or have you explored all the options around you as far as school is concerned? The school I'm at now doesn't like you to workwhile in the program and can't gaurantee night clinicals which would be very important to me. So instead of giving up right then and there I looked around and found two other schools in my area that offer night/weekend programs!!
Things could come up no matter what you choose. And ask yourself, if you don't pursue this now, will you be happy later on? If this is truly what you want I say go for it. Yes we all have responsibilities, some more that others, but don't forget that this is your life and and you only get one shot at it. Don't let your fears stand in your way...
Wow you have great responses :) I just wanted to throw in my two cents....I am 39 and also have a hubby, two adorable little boys, a mortgage, cc debt, car payments etc....I have a BS in social work but have always dreamed of being a nurse...I just want to pass along something my mother tells me when I start whining about being "40 when I start ns and 42 when I finish" she simply says "you are going to be 40 and 42 anyway so you may as well do something you want to be doing!" she is soooo right...Like some of the other posters have said skimp in other areas if you have to but don't give up....in a few yrs you will have a great income and great career and things will be better.....that's what I repeat several times to myself in weak moments ((hugs))
I know it's tough but you sound determined and you'll get there!! :redbeathe
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AriaRN, ADN
99 Posts
Hi ladies,
I just wanted to say that you are all inspirations, especially to someone who hasnt hit their 20's and alot of the time is ready to give up. So PLEASE, PLEASE keep going.
-A fellow nurse to be...