Experiencing repeated rejections or major medical issues that seem to be blocking your RN dream? I have been there and shed tears, felt extreme frustration, and have been depressed. However, I refused to be defined by the problems going on in my life. I never gave up on my dreams.
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When I signed up on this site in 2006 I was at my second college and trying to get into the nursing school there. I was not a successful student at my first college (due to college shock and illness). When I transferred I thought things were finally going to change. However, things got worse.
In the space of one semester, I went from feeling faint sometimes to passing out almost every day (and being a well known visitor at the local ER at least 3x a week). My grades were not that great but I was pulling through and applied to nursing schools and I was repeatedly denied. Eventually, I left that school due to chronic syncope and took a semester off and moved back home.
In Fall 2009, I transferred to a school that allowed me to be a commuter student. Despite being the sickest I was in life (at that point), I was determined to do well and decided to redo all my science prereqs while completing my BA in History. I got a 4.0 my first semester and continued on that trend.
I was set to graduate in Spring 2011. However, the day of my APII final I passed out on campus and had to go to the hospital. That weekend (on Mother's Day) I had a stroke. Thankfully I did not have any lasting effects due to a quick medical response. I basically had to pull out that semester and take Incompletes for all my classes.
That Summer I eventually began to show sign of epilepsy and by the end of the Summer, I was having grand mal seizures at least twice a week. However, I refused to stop my life. That Summer I attended an intense language immersion program I received a scholarship for. I got sick up there several times, but I refused to let my illness define me.
I went back to school in Fall 2011 and graduated in Spring 2012. I graduated magna cum laude with a GPA of 3.79. However, despite having the GPA, at this point, I could not pass the physical for nursing school due to uncontrolled epilepsy (despite being 3 different meds).
I decided to go another route and considered MPH programs. However, after graduation, I got so sick that I was literally housebound. I was having a seizure ( all types) practically every day, several times a day. I was extremely unhappy and I decided to take my medical issue into my own hands and found a second opinion.
Eventually, it was found out that my issues were caused by a hormone imbalance that I was diagnosed with as a teenager that became severe as an adult. However, sometimes people cannot see the forest through the trees, and my doctors became very tunnel visioned. It took a new doctor to find the issue.
Today, I am completely healthy. I have a full-time job. I finally got my driver's license. But most of all, I will be starting nursing school in the Fall. I will be moving to attend a direct entry MSN/CNL program that is 21 months long. I hope to become an adult acute NP one day and maybe become a CRNA.
Sometimes, when life happens it seems like our dreams will never come to fruition. However, keep on going and NEVER give up. It took me 8 years to get to this point but I don't regret the journey. It made me a better and stronger woman.
