Overcoming obstacles

Going through a divorce, being a single parent to two young children. There was nothing that made me almost not finish, though. Not finishing was frankly not an option. Good luck to you, whatever might be going on in your life.

Thanks! :)

Not be able to finish? No. Make it challenging? Sure.

I worked full-time for the first 6 weeks of school, meaning every day for 6 weeks I had either school or work or both. Not including working 23/25 days before the start of classes. It was medical experience and I had been there 5 years, so I was worried about having a bad reference from my vindictive boss and then nothing positive in my job history. I had told her months beforehand that I would need a free day during the week, but that I would work the full-time in the beginning to see how it went, and she agreed to change the next schedule. To my face, anyway. That gorgon told my coworker I had to keep working my prospective day off if I wanted my job.

I admit, I flipped out and handled the situation very poorly in the beginning, but then I called our ethics line. Once her supervisor was involved, it went very smoothly, I got my day off, and I only worked with her maybe twice after that. But work was so stressful during that time because I always knew how much homework I had to do when I went home. I didn't get much sleep because I was always studying. My grades were great though, haha.

I cut down my hours shortly thereafter, and got an additional part-time job that was more flexible. Then I got an externship, which became my priority (after schoolwork). The floor I worked on just offered me a nursing job, so it all paid off.

You will need time for studying and time for yourself. Only you know how much time that is. There were students in my class who were able to work full-time, raise families, get top GPAs, and not go insane, but I was not one of those people. Make sure you have the time you need to succeed, and I am sure you will. You just have to not allow anything to get in your way!

Good luck.

I had mono during my first experience with exams in my first semester of my freshman year.

I had to drop a full semester to recover from mono.

I had two ******** for boyfriends who tried to distract and manipulate me every chance they got. One of them didn't like the idea of me working and being out of his reach, but he did like the idea of him not having to work and living off my salary. A dilemma.

I had ROTC for a semester with a nearby college until I realized the colleges wouldn't cooperate and I'd end up failing prereqs if I continued.

I went through MEPS and selection for the ANCP during my junior year, as well as remedials.

I got mono again my last semester of college. Didn't drop classes, but I did drop dead just about every night.

Everyone has their laundry list of issues. This too shall pass! Good luck!

Brain surgery put me out of action for 2wks and they told me I had to withdraw from nursing but I got bored just sitting around and needed the distraction

I worked full-time evenings throughout school. First semester, my husband could not be bothered to remember when I had clinicals, despite several reminders. We were in a 1-bedroom apartment, the bedroom was right off the kitchen, and he started washing the dishes the second I said I was going to bed. After getting a clinical warning for falling asleep in post-conference, I had a come-to-Jesus with him. He remembered after that, but I was prepared to move out if it didn't.

Second semester, my father-in-law had a stroke.

While in LVN school I lost my house due to the worst break up I've ever had. I thought he was it for me (NOT), I lost my house to a short sale & wasn't a mom anymore (his kid). I then got laid off and was able to focus on my dream of becoming a nurse. Bad things & obstacles happen to everyone. What matters is what is in your heart.

My first and biggest obstacle was having been rejected from the ASN program I applied to. All of the admissions are done through scoring. The grades in four courses and the score of the TEAS test are the determining criteria for admission. I had 3 A's and 1 B with a fairly competitive score on the TEAS V. A friend of mine got her acceptance letter and only had 5 pts more than me and was chosen for the ASN program. With that information in mind I thought I had an EXCELLENT chance at getting in to the ASN program with my one B.

I received the letter stating that I did not get in to the ASN program but that I was chosen for the LPN program as an alternate and for a few moments I was devastated. I was so disappointed that I was so close and that apparently the applications had been even more competitive than ever if 5 pts made the difference between getting in to the ASN program and only being an alternate to the LPN program. I got over it quick though and decided that if that was the road the Lord had for me I would be positive about it and do the very best I could.

I started the program 3 months later and by the 2nd day I was convinced something was wrong with the scoring. I overheard numerous students talking about their scores and mine were better than theirs but they were in the ASN program. I went and talked to the Dean who showed me my ranking and pretty much shot me down. I put it out of my head until I woke up the next morning and couldn't get the number she showed me out of my head. It said I had 159 pts but when I added them up I kept getting 169. I was mortified to have to do it and I just knew the Dean of Nursing was going to hate me but I had to go back to her again the next day. She was definitely NOT happy to see me but she recalculated my score just to prove to me that I was in the right place. She also came up with 169 pts and I could see the look of surprise on her face.

She couldn't do anything at that moment, as she had to recalculate everything and see if that would have been enough to put me in the ASN program but she said she would get back to me quickly. After class I walked back to her office and she was looking for me. She stated that she was sorry, that a mistake was made when entering my TEAS score (it was entered 10 pts lower than it actually was) and that I had already been moved from the LPN program to the ASN program. I was ecstatic! I couldn't believe it was really happening. That was my first and biggest hurdle.

I also dealt with job loss, childcare issues, paying the bills, failing a test here and there, and all of the other things that can come up against you while in nursing school. All of them were rough but nothing compared to getting in and I just kept reminding myself "If God got me to this, He will get me through this".

Good luck!

During my senior year I had 2 episodes of acute pancreatitis and was hospitalized and on PCA pump for a total of 3 weeks. By some miracle, Oct 30th-31st 2011 the Northeast was hit with that huge snowstorm and power was out for weeks, that night the storm hit I went to the ER, the only place with heat and electricity and found out the pain I had been ignoring for a week was of all things pancreatitis- still dont know what caused it. One of my exams was 3 days away and I was more upset about the possibility of missing it and getting kicked out of school than what I was in the hospital for. The director of the nursing program visited me in the hospital and told me the exam was rescheduled a week later due to the storm and I managed to get out of there and didnt miss it. I was on a PCA pump studying for that exam and aced it. Then a few weeks later I had another attack and went back to the hospital and studied in the hospital for my final exam, again on a PCA pump and aced my final. If I didnt have my good friend bringing me in the powerpoints and recording the lectures for me I never would have made it and I would have had to wait a whole year to start my senior year over again. I had to make up a lot of clinical time , I was lucky to have been given the opportunity to make up all that time, the program could have very easily kicked me out, I think it was because I had been a good student all along that they helped me. In between hospitalizations I was in bad shape, I was on a clear liquid diet and most of the time trying not to get sick again. If there's a will, there's a way. Ask for help if you need it, I was always one to want to do things on my own for myself and I learned to ask for help.

My mom suddenly passed away as I was just beginning the program.......

My mom became very ill and passed away during my second-to-last semester. I spent every free moment with her in the hospital for 2 months before she passed. Studying was hard but I knew she wanted to see me achieve my dream.