kjwarren

yeah i have a $25 late fee right now too, i really hope they take it off, because that is not fair.

Actually I have read the opposite, that if they don't have work for you, you are SOL. I was hoping this wasn't true. I really hope you are right. :/

I would go with the second one. It is closer and you even said you would like to work there when you are done. As the previous poster said, you may get pulled in on some things that could get you some good experience, and it may open the door for you to work there when you are done with school.

What bothers me is that a "C" used to mean average, not "bottom of the barrel." I don't imagine school work has gotten any easier, so why should I "C" now look like a "D" or an "F"? Personally, I am never happy with a "C" though I have had my share of them. I have really bad anxiety though and tests often don't go as planned because I get too stressed out. Also, I had plenty of classes when I went to school for my first degree where the teachers barely did their jobs. Either there was favoritism (ie: no matter how hard I worked I knew I was going to get a "B" because I wasn't one of the chosen ones) or the teachers didn't feel like bothering with proper grading procedures. I took one class where we had to do project with the program Access (database program in Microsoft Office) and for one of the assignments I only did half of it (I didn't understand it and no one would help me, and I had a 100% in the class so I didn't care) and the other I didn't do any of it. The first project (half-done one) I got a 0%... fine with me, I did part of it, but it wasn't done, so whatever. The second one I got 100%. I didn't even do the second one! Does that make sense? No! I still finished the class with more than 100% (extra credit is my friend) so it all turned out ok, but it really showed me that grades are NOT always important. What's important to me is that I come out of it learning something. Because honestly, I got A's in a lot of classes that I remember nothing from. I would hope this kind of thing wouldn't happen in NS, but I'm not there yet so I can't say. In my experience, education in the United States focuses on passing the tests, not on learning. Think about it, if you had REALLY learned the information, would you need to cram for 6 hours before a test (and I know a lot of you didn't, and bravo to you!) but for a lot of people that is not the case. We are taught in a way that makes us learn something really well for about a week, and then it's gone. But who cares? We got A's, right? As long as we can flash that letter around it's all good. While I agree that a nurse with all A's looks better than a nurse with C's, don't assume that the nurse with all A's necessarily worked any harder or is any smarter than the one with C's. It's just not always true. I got an A+ in my Introduction to Psychology class but I couldn't tell you a darn thing about it. I'm going to have to really cram when it comes time for placement testing.

I am starting the prereqs soon, and I have to say I've been pretty scared too, but there are a couple of things I remind myself to keep from going too crazy. 1. Other people's levels of difficulty are not yours. 2. Someone else's definition of "free time" may mean having time to go out and party every night, yours might be the option to sleep well, and have a little fun during the week. Or vis versa. 3. Just because it was the hardest thing So-And-So has ever done doesn't mean it will be the hardest thing you will have ever done. You just need to keep calm, and get through it one day at a time. It may not be as bad as you think. It reminded me of when I was in school for my first degree and I was taking my first photography class. That semester I had class from 11am-5pm, and then spent 5pm-12am working in the darkroom a lot of the time. To some people, that may have been unbearable, but for me it was just fine. I slept plenty, saw my friends on the weekends, and was generally pretty happy. In fact, it didn't even occur to me how often I was in there until I was looking back on it. Don't burn yourself out before you even get there, you may actually enjoy the experience! It also eased my mind to remember that when it does come time to do the actual NS I will be one of the lucky ones... I don't have any kids, I don't like going out, and my fiance in no way thinks of me as a domestic house-wife type. I won't have a lot of other responsibilities going on outside of school. So if people with kids, full time jobs, and social lives can handle it, I think I'll be fine.

13 pounds is nothing to sneer at! If I am counting right, that sounds like almost 2lbs. a week which is excellent! That's a healthy amount to be losing. Good luck and keep it up!

Thank you so much everyone. This really made me feel a lot better, and more confident about my decision. Also, you are right Daytonite. I need to stop letting other people's experiences determine how I will handle mine. I am sure there have been a lot of things I have loved that others have hated... and I am sure glad I didn't miss out on any of them! You all are so great. I'm glad to know that whether I need to celebrate or cry you'll be here . :)

I finally decided that this was something I wanted to do, and was very sure about my decision... for a while. Now I am just reading so much from people who HATE their jobs and it is really freaking me out. I realize this is a place to vent and not everyone is represented here, but I saw some comments even saying to "get out now!" ... should I honestly be looking elsewhere? I found myself getting really excited about the prospects of doing this, but I don't want to get through school only to find that it's the worst job ever. All the talk about physical and emotional stress scares me also, I come from a long history of depression, anxiety, and OCD. Just thinking about all of this is already bringing me down. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I hope your new career works out! Pharmacy always seemed kinda interesting to me too. Though I do have to say that I wouldn't turn your nose up at $20/hr. right now. My fiance just graduated with a bachelor's degree in new media (sound and video production) and there are no jobs in sight. He will be lucky to have his measly part-time $8/hr. retail job give him any extra hours. It's sad, but we are even getting excited over a fedex job that pays $11/hr. that he is applying for. Sounds terrible for someone with a bachelor's degree, but in this climate you really have to take what you can get. Good luck, though. :) At least it won't be a very messy job, haha!

thanks everyone, i signed up for JB!

I was approved for a loan for summer classes but I am a little confused on the disbursement information. According to sallie mae and ivy tech's websites they will not be disbursed until the 1st and 16th of July. My classes start at the beginning of June and my bill is due May 25th. How am I supposed to pay this if it's not going to be disbursed until July?? Please help if you can! Thanks.

Ouch, that is pretty awful. Our plan is to live in a 2-bedroom apartment around that rate too. My biggest fear is our student loans. I have a lot from a previous degree and the payments are a monster. I'm hoping that with 2 of us it won't be too bad, but we both would need to have decent jobs which is not something a lot of people have right now. At the moment we are living in his parents' house, so I am able to pay on my loans (his aren't due yet) without having to worry about rent, and they have said we could stay here until we got on our feet. Considering I am only taking the prereqs right now though, I think we'll probably be moved out before I am done with nursing school. I just don't want to go for this and find out it's as big of a waste of time as the rest of my schooling has been.

That sucks. I guess it just scares the crap out of me after hearing how hard the work is and how little appreciation you get. You'd think you'd at least be comfortable (though not filthy rich.) What if I plan to just pay off my student loans, rent an apartment, have a cheap used car, and have a significant other who will also be working? Should I still be crapping my pants right now?

All this talk of not being able to pay bills without over time really scares me. Are you getting paid very little or do you just have a lot of bills? One would think that full-time work would be enough to keep a person afloat, especially in a job like nursing.

I can tell you also, that that much debt, they will ask for more like $600/month if you don't try to lower it and extend your payments. I know someone with exactly that much debt and that is how much Sallie Mae wanted before they called and told them it would be impossible. Now they are paying about $330 a month for 2 years, and $700/month after that. The first 2 years are interest-only payments. They are hoping to have steady enough work by the time the $700 payments roll around, but no one can be sure. So, please, please think before you jump into an expensive program.