Hello everyone, I just finished my last exit ATI predictor exam with 99% passing the NCLEX, and my pinning day is tomorrow. After deep thinking and since I'm the only male student, I decided not to go for pinning and graduation. I have another degree and passing nursing school is huge thing for me and I feel really great. Some of my friends are telling me since I'm not going to pinning that means I didn't take nursing school seriously which is not true at all.
I spent the last two years working nights and study with 2 kids and wife to take care of and beside that I graduated with 3.8 GPA in one of the hardest nursing schools in my area and one of the toughest programs. I went to nursing school to earn a degree and start new career not to get a pin. I have a job lined up already and I'm preparing for the NCLEX which I'll take within few weeks. Did anyone of you skip his pinning/ graduation? and how you really feel about it?
I just wonder what being the only guy means in terms of not attending. I get that, for some people, it's a bit of an archaic tradition. But, it is one thing to stand up and represent as the only guy in your cohort. I'm sure your absence was noticed.
There was one guy for a pinning that I volunteered to help with and he didn't show up and a lot of people felt it was a slight. Knowing him, that might have been his intention. In any case, that's not a great send off to peers who may, in the future, be excellent networking resources should things at your current job not be all they could be (interestingly enough he hadn't been hired yet several months later when I saw him at our campus job fair). Also, wouldn't you want to do it for your wife and kids who also had to sacrifice for your absence while you pursued your education? It's also an acknowledgement of their support.
With all my respect to your opinion, I really don't think skipping pinning will affect my career future especially I already have one ! I have been working in one of the biggest hospitals in my area and I already have a job lined up in the same unit that I'm working in. I have many resources with great references from amazing nurses that I worked with and they give me they biggest push to continue these two hard years. Nursing means a lot to me and this is my biggest achievement and the hardest thing I ever done in my life. I already have another bachelor degree in Engineering but nursing always meant something else for me. I honors my nursing future with being a good nurse and truly saving lives not by a pin !!
Up here north of the wall, we don't have pinning ceremonies. Based on what I've read about it, I don't know if I'd want to attend mine either. (Mostly because of the requisite Nightingale Pledge...I'm not a fan of Florence Nightingale and her anti-male views ).
I have friends who didn't attend graduation, it's not a big deal. Most eployers only care that you have a degree from an accredited school and a valid license.
I didn't go to my graduation or my pinning. I got the diploma in the mail and never did get the pin. It's been 32 years now and I'm about to get off this sinking ship that is nursing, but I didn't regret skipping either ceremony. To me, it's like a wedding. People waste too much time and effort on the ceremony and not enough on the marriage.
I didn't attend my LPN pinning ceremony. I went to practice, saw how female-centric of an affair it was going to be, and decided I wanted no part of being embarrassed in front of everyone. Our instructors were both in their 70's, so they were extremely old-school. The pinning ceremony was the typical all-white clothes, plus white trellises (they were about 6" shorter than I was) wrapped in white fake flowers. And as said above, I'm not huge on the Nightingale pledge and all of the pomp and circumstance that goes with it.
Now that I'm nearing the end of my RN bridge, I'm faced with another dilemma. My wife REALLY wants me to go to this pinning, but again, I'm just not feeling it. It's not that I'm overly macho, or think it's "for ****" or anything silly like that. I just don't want to be a part of something that is obviously geared towards women participants.
I am a guy, the oldest person in my BSN cohort I might add, never one for ceremonies or recognition. I don't want to go to my cohort's pinning or my graduation ceremony. I'm almost 40, my parents are old and live far away and I'd rather just celebrate with my wife who bore the brunt of the emotional wreckage that nursing school has caused our relationship. She deserves a freakin' pinning for wife of the decade for helping me get through these last few years.
I did struggle a lot and I was so tired after my last test. I prefer to sleep rather than going to pinning. I know it's important for many students but it's not for me. I rather spend a lovely evening with my family and pass the NCLEX to start my career !
Pinning/graduation attendance is not for anyone. I would have done anything to get out of going to my high school graduation because I hated the place and wouldn't miss all but maybe two people who I knew that I would keep in contact with whether or not I attended the ceremony. My father on the other hand dragged me to it:banghead:.
My LPN school didn't have a pinning/graduation ceremony so that wasn't up for discussion.
I did go to my RN Bridge graduation. I have spent the past 15 years going back and forth about completing the thing and finally took the final plung 18 months ago and finished it this past march. The ceremony was almost a month later so I had time to regroup after studying for so long. The pinning was actually done during graduation as we all walked on stage so it wasn't too crazy and definitely not 'girly' by any means. I felt that I owed it to my family for them to be able to see me graduate after they had supported me through everything, even when I wasn't sure what I wanted to ultimately do. Then when I found out that I had made Valedictorian, I felt the responsibility to speak at graduation not only for my class but for my family who made it possible to accomplish such a difficult degree while juggling work, college, and a young child.
Whatever someone feels is best for them is what they should do. I had classmates that didn't go because they had gone to their LPN graduation. I had some that already had a BS in another field and didn't want to go. There were some that didn't want their young children to have to sit through a two hour ceremony and knowing how hard that can be, I totally get that. It is the last time that we are likely to see most of each other, so if anything it offers a sense of closure to that chapter of our life.
Congratulations on graduating OP-now go kick so NCLEX butt:)
I had prior degrees as well before nursing school, so I went to pinning and skipped out on the graduation ceremony. I have no regrets. In my opinion, the real time to celebrate is after passing boards because then your degree actually means something. Best of luck on boards
).
Rn 1979
112 Posts
With all my respect to your opinion, I really don't think skipping pinning will affect my career future especially I already have one ! I have been working in one of the biggest hospitals in my area and I already have a job lined up in the same unit that I'm working in. I have many resources with great references from amazing nurses that I worked with and they give me they biggest push to continue these two hard years. Nursing means a lot to me and this is my biggest achievement and the hardest thing I ever done in my life. I already have another bachelor degree in Engineering but nursing always meant something else for me. I honors my nursing future with being a good nurse and truly saving lives not by a pin !!