Oregon Pre-nursing student in need of reassuring words

[djksjdalksjf]

I'm frustrated because I'm 22, I have almost all of my prerequisites done, but won't be able to apply to my program this year due to not having the first A&P (it's only offered once a year and my daughter got incredibly sick the term I was supposed to take chemistry so I couldn't take it and I wasn't able to register for A&P1). I'll be able to apply next winter for the program starting the following fall. My frustration is with how much of my life is being wasted. I will be almost 24, almost 25 when my nursing program starts. My school is the ONLY school in my area. I've reconsidered nursing many times just because of how long I will spend WAITING. I could get my bachelors degree, go to, and finish, PA school in the time it will take me to finish my BSN. I'm finishing CNA clinicals and I will have a job at the nursing home we're at. I'm hoping that will help me to keep my eyes on the prize. I know I'm playing the worlds smallest violin here, I'll only be 27 when I go into the field, where I know there are women who don't go to nursing school until their 40's. But they got to live life and raise their children. While I'm waiting around to apply to nursing school, my daughter is suffering. And taking time off of school isn't an option, I already have student loans so I need to maintain part time status.

I want to be a nurse. I just need reassurance that I'm not ruining my life or hers by waiting around. I know that good things take time, and a lot of hard work, but the waiting game is not a fun one.

[ashley_bird]

I'm frustrated because I'm 22, I have almost all of my prerequisites done, but won't be able to apply to my program this year due to not having the first A&P (it's only offered once a year and my daughter got incredibly sick the term I was supposed to take chemistry so I couldn't take it and I wasn't able to register for A&P1). I'll be able to apply next winter for the program starting the following fall. My frustration is with how much of my life is being wasted. I will be almost 24, almost 25 when my nursing program starts. My school is the ONLY school in my area. I've reconsidered nursing many times just because of how long I will spend WAITING. I could get my bachelors degree, go to, and finish, PA school in the time it will take me to finish my BSN. I'm finishing CNA clinicals and I will have a job at the nursing home we're at. I'm hoping that will help me to keep my eyes on the prize. I know I'm playing the worlds smallest violin here, I'll only be 27 when I go into the field, where I know there are women who don't go to nursing school until their 40's. But they got to live life and raise their children. While I'm waiting around to apply to nursing school, my daughter is suffering. And taking time off of school isn't an option, I already have student loans so I need to maintain part time status.

I want to be a nurse. I just need reassurance that I'm not ruining my life or hers by waiting around. I know that good things take time, and a lot of hard work, but the waiting game is not a fun one.

I think you're simply over thinking things and adding a timeline to something that cannot be added to. I'm 25 graduated at 22 with my degree in psych, lived a little, and did a few things in the corporate world, made great money, traveled, and I just made the decision to go to school for nursing. I too was putting my age against the process but this is the life of a twenty something year old; it is consistently changing. We think we have to have it made by 24 but that is NOT the case. Some people are lucky to have it together by 32. You're only 22 so this is just the beginning of your ups and and downs, but its natural. Don't sweat it. Go after what you really want and if that is nursing just ride the motions.

[OliveOyl91, BSN, RN]

I'm 26 and just finished the first term of my RN program at Sumner College in Portland. I'm one of the youngest in my cohort. I did my prereqs at a community college, but the way that program is built, the prereqs are built in and we go to school year-round. We have 2 weeks off for Christmas and couple small breaks throughout the year, but nothing worth noting. I transferred in what prereqs I could and that lightened my load. If anything, take the A&P class at another school and transfer it in if you don't want to wait for your school to offer it again. I took both of my A&P classes online from Lower Columbia College in Longview, WA. I only had to go to the campus to take my tests at the proctoring center, but there's also the option of taking your tests at home via a program called ProctorU.