Secretly feeling like I should wait a year

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I think this is more of a rant than a question but for those who read this, thank you!!!

So, the semester is almost over and I'm finishing up anatomy and physiology II. I went to the nursing information session and got my application, applied for the background check and all I have to do is take the TEAS. A little background on me is that I am 18 years old, I work at a hospital and have my EMT cert (I've been doing EMS since I was 16) so I established myself into healthcare pretty well and as a person I'd say I'm very confident. I did fairly well in a&p I and got a B. In A&P II i'm a couple points shy of an A. People in my community college got into the program with C's so I believe I stand a chance to get in for Fall 2015.

I have wanted to be a nurse for quite a while and I know what it's all about after looking into it. Now after going through the motions and preparing myself, my instinct is kind of telling me to wait another year and take more classes before I apply.

Although I took all my pre-reqs, I still have to take microbiology (which isn't a prereq unlike a lot of schools but I still need to take it to graduate), psychology, humanities and a free elective. I was going to take those over the summer online except for micro, which I would take over the summer in person. My plan was to split them up over this summer and next summer.

I feel bad backing out at the last minute but I'm really scared of applying, getting accepting then realizing that maybe I'm not ready for nursing school. At the same time, I don't want to hold off my career goals for another year if I don't have to. But something is telling me that I'm rushing this. One of my thoughts is that maybe being new to adulthood, I'm not used to things going so fast, especially considering how crappy of a student I was in high school, graduating with a 2.5 GPA (but now I have a 3.6 so clearly I can handle college)

Is it normal for pre-nursing students to feel like wanting to back out and wait another year? I'm still going to take the TEAS anyway. I don't want to jump into nursing school when I'm not mentally prepared and mess up, but I don't want to wait either just because of how I feel.

I'm thinking maybe it's because of how overwhelming this year was. This entire time I've been working two jobs and still giving hours to my volunteer rescue squad, I'm taking three other classes aside from anatomy, one being algebra which I struggle with, worrying about the TEAS and dealt with a breakup after a three year long abusive relationship.

So all in all, I'm not sure if my mind is under stress and my brain is tricked into believing I won't be ready for such a big commitment as nursing school because I'm burnt out from this entire year, or if I should just apply and I'll be ready when September rolls around. But every time I ignore my gut instinct bad things always happen so I just feel really lost at this point.

I know how much of a big commitment nursing school is. It's hard, it's going to be the first priority in my life for two years with the ADN program and it is the career I want to spend the rest of my life in, so the chance of screwing something up seriously worries me.

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Considering how well you've been doing in school and managing what seems like an otherwise busy life, I would say that if TEAS goes well you are probably as ready as you will ever be. But if you don't want to push it, a year delay isn't the worst thing ever especially if you know you will stay busy with work, classes you will need, and healthy leisure if possible. Gut instincts are typically rooted in some fact and shouldn't be completely ignored.

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Agree with Umnan. If you have these feelings and you see that they are rational, it will not hurt you to wait a year and tie up loose ends. I think your instinct is telling you to program in a much deserved rest and recuperation stage before you tackle nursing school. It will not hurt you. Good luck.

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Specializes in Psych.

You are so young, don't feel guilty about taking a breather! Seems as though you have the maturity to follow your instincts. You've accomplished so much 😅 take a break 😃

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Specializes in NICU, Trauma, Oncology.
I think this is more of a rant than a question but for those who read this, thank you!!!

So, the semester is almost over and I'm finishing up anatomy and physiology II. I went to the nursing information session and got my application, applied for the background check and all I have to do is take the TEAS. A little background on me is that I am 18 years old, I work at a hospital and have my EMT cert (I've been doing EMS since I was 16) so I established myself into healthcare pretty well and as a person I'd say I'm very confident. I did fairly well in a&p I and got a B. In A&P II i'm a couple points shy of an A. People in my community college got into the program with C's so I believe I stand a chance to get in for Fall 2015.

I have wanted to be a nurse for quite a while and I know what it's all about after looking into it. Now after going through the motions and preparing myself, my instinct is kind of telling me to wait another year and take more classes before I apply.

Although I took all my pre-reqs, I still have to take microbiology (which isn't a prereq unlike a lot of schools but I still need to take it to graduate), psychology, humanities and a free elective. I was going to take those over the summer online except for micro, which I would take over the summer in person. My plan was to split them up over this summer and next summer.

I feel bad backing out at the last minute but I'm really scared of applying, getting accepting then realizing that maybe I'm not ready for nursing school. At the same time, I don't want to hold off my career goals for another year if I don't have to. But something is telling me that I'm rushing this. One of my thoughts is that maybe being new to adulthood, I'm not used to things going so fast, especially considering how crappy of a student I was in high school, graduating with a 2.5 GPA (but now I have a 3.6 so clearly I can handle college)

Is it normal for pre-nursing students to feel like wanting to back out and wait another year? I'm still going to take the TEAS anyway. I don't want to jump into nursing school when I'm not mentally prepared and mess up, but I don't want to wait either just because of how I feel.

I'm thinking maybe it's because of how overwhelming this year was. This entire time I've been working two jobs and still giving hours to my volunteer rescue squad, I'm taking three other classes aside from anatomy, one being algebra which I struggle with, worrying about the TEAS and dealt with a breakup after a three year long abusive relationship.

So all in all, I'm not sure if my mind is under stress and my brain is tricked into believing I won't be ready for such a big commitment as nursing school because I'm burnt out from this entire year, or if I should just apply and I'll be ready when September rolls around. But every time I ignore my gut instinct bad things always happen so I just feel really lost at this point.

I know how much of a big commitment nursing school is. It's hard, it's going to be the first priority in my life for two years with the ADN program and it is the career I want to spend the rest of my life in, so the chance of screwing something up seriously worries me.

Jitters are normal. You are young. In life you will learn there is never a perfect time and you are never really ready for anything (marriage, kids, etc). That being said my advice is to find out if your program has an option to defer admission. That way you can apply and if you get accepted then make your decision. My program allows students that are accepted to defer admission 1 semester without reapplying so if you were accepted in fall but decided that you weren't ready you could start in spring instead. You can do this. You will just need to breathe and mAke a judgment call.

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Thank you everyone for taking the time to read and respond! I decided I'm going to take the four classes I need next semester then spend the remained of the year as I wait for nursing school to work, volunteer some more and save up money for books what whatnot, and try to do some traveling! As terrible as I feel about changing my mind last minute, it's for the best and good things will still come out of it :)

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