Teacher to Aspiring Nurse

[jjmclaurin]

Hello everyone, I am currently a high school Business Management teacher who has decided to leave the classroom (after 6 years of teaching) to pursue a career in nursing. I am scheduled to take the HESI A2 in January. I must take all parts (Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Grammar, Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, and Physics) and score at least 80%. I've decided to spend the bulk of my time studying the science portions because I feel that I am strong in the other areas. I've spent the past two weeks studying Biology and I feel somewhat comfortable with that part. This week I have moved on the Chemistry and I feel totally overwhelmed (calculating mole and balancing chemical equations omg I have not seen that since high school). I haven't even started studying for the AP or physics test yet.

Please help. Am I going about studying for this test the wrong way? I've only been dedicating my time to one test at a time. Has anyone taken the Chemistry or Physics portions of the test? I believe those are my weakest areas. I will happily accept any advice/tips that anyone can give me.

Thanks

[jjmclaurin]

I just learned that I don't have to take the physics test!!!! I'm happy about that

[anewsns]

I can't speak to the best way to study for that , but I'm curious what made you want to switch from teaching to nursing ?

[jjmclaurin]

To be honest, it's a looooooon story. When I went to college in 2004, I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself. I thought owning a business would be nice, so I majored in Business. My sophomore year, I had my first child, and I thought that ended any chances of me being successful for a while. One of my professors talked me into interviewing for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), so I did. My junior year of college I was selected for the internship. I left everything behind in Mississippi and I moved to Texas for six months for the internship position. After finishing the internship and moving back home to finish school, I was offered a full-time job with all the bells and whistles with the FDIC. So again, I moved from Mississippi to Texas to work for the FDIC. But I missed my daughter so much, and I couldn't have her move with me because the job required a lot of traveling. So I moved back home and found a job working in one of the administrative offices at the college that I graduated from.

I know you're probably thinking what does all that have to do with teaching. Well okay, I'm about to tell you. The job I had did not pay very well, and I come from a family of educators (mom, aunts, uncles, brother, sisters, cousins). Just about everyone in my immediate family is in the education systems. But it was at that time I wanted to become a nurse; however I could not afford to not work. My mom talked me into going to back to school to become a teacher. She's a teacher and she loves it, so I figured I would to so that's what I did. I became a teacher. I have so many certifications that it's crazy. I told my mom and other family members that I don't really like teaching so they talked me into going back to get my administrative degree, so that's what I did. But after I became certified to become an administrator, I realized that I do not want to be in education.

I have since married and I've begged my husband for the past three years to let me quit teaching to go back to school. Well, he finally agreed. And her I am three degrees and three children later, at the age of 30 about to enroll in my prerequisite courses and sit for the HESI in hopes of getting accepted into nursing school in the Fall.