Random Musings on my Birthday

TheCommuter, BSN, RN

Today is my 32nd birthday. . .

Time seems to fly when you are busy doing other things. I registered as a member on Allnurses.com on February 20th, 2005. Wow! I have been a member of these forums for eight years! At that time, I was a 24-year-old who had reached one of life's crossroads. I was asking myself, "What in the heck am I going to do with the rest of my life? Are things going to work out for me?"

About six months prior to joining Allnurses.com, I took a risky plunge by resigning from my job at a paper products factory where I had been employed for three years. This job offered decent pay, full benefits, and a sense of security. I was leaving it all behind to chase a dream and turn it into a reality.

I quit to attend nursing school full-time.

When I registered to become a member approximately eight years ago, I was unemployed, residing in my home state of California, living off unemployment checks and my savings account, and had been attending a 12-month fast track vocational nursing (LVN) program located 95 miles away from my home. I was taking a calculated risk, because if I had been unable to secure a job as an LVN after earning my license, I could have lost everything for which I had worked so tirelessly.

I ended up relocating to Texas six weeks after graduation, and after passing NCLEX, felt so very blessed to have found a job in my new state of residence without any connections or networking. I was grateful that someone decided to take a chance on me. My first year in nursing (February 2006 to February 2007) was one of the roughest, but I toughened up and somehow made it through.

The move out of state has been good for me so far because I have thrived during my seven years of living in this place. I earned my RN license three years ago. I enjoy financial security, flexibility in scheduling, and a line of work that enables me to have sense of fulfillment that comes from helping others.

I first entertained the idea of becoming a nurse back in 2000 when I was 19 years old and a student in a medical assisting program. Due to the realities of the local job market in the region where I was living at the time, I never got the chance to work as a medical assistant. Instead, I briefly worked as a direct care staff member at a group home where six developmentally disabled adult clients resided.

My true inspiration for becoming a nurse came two years later. My mother was gravely ill with end stage hepatic disease in 2002 and would die without a liver transplantation. I was impressed and inspired by the professionalism, skill, and positive attitudes displayed by the team of doctors, nurses, techs, and others who provided the care. After several days in a hepatic coma, she received a liver transplant on May 31, 2002 and is alive 11 years after the fact.

Today is my birthday. A couple of years ago I was frightened by the prospect of crossing the other side of 30, but it is not too bad now that I'm there.

Thank you, Allnurses.com, for providing a source of support, knowledge, education, networking, and generosity along the way. Discovering these forums was one of the better decisions I have made in recent years.

Random Musings on my Birthday

About TheCommuter, BSN, RN

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