4th time is a charm

FINALLY PASSED!

after failing the board exam 3 times and a year later i finally passed and can finally call myself an RN.

for the handful of students that have been on a similar journey as the one i have been on, you know this elated feeling and it doesn't seem real yet. i am constantly looking at the website and typing my name and sure enough it says PASSED!

i am currently trying to apply for jobs and applying for my hawaii RN license (i live in hawaii but got an OR license, because i went to school in OR) both of which are daunting tasks.

for those of you who are in the same boat that i was in ... the most important thing is NOT TO GIVE UP.

im not going to lie on the 3rd time, i was seriously depressed and even sought out help from a guidance counselor (she really put things in perspective and really taught me how to think positive thoughts). if you were anything like me school was easy so failing over and over again was a new thing.

the way i studied for my last test was extremely different from the 3 previous times. i invested in two classes, the hurst review and a class from a professor in washington state (which taught kinesethic learning)

i LOVED the hurst review ... everything was made really simple, really taught you how to think critically and figure out what the question is REALLY asking. if you know these BASIC concepts reviewed in the class then it should help you for sure.

the other class i took was great, she taught us how to be a walking flash card. let me tell you when you walk into that testing room and the nursing gods are breathing down your neck you suddenly lose all the information you have learning. so having your body as a flash card worked for me. her class was like a patho class and filled in the spots that i really didn't understand.

i didnt study everyday, but when i did i sat down and did 100 questions in one sitting and studied concepts. when i went into the testing center, i also went with a different mindset ... i went in there telling myself "doesn't matter the result of todays test, i am just happy that i got the strength to try again."

after my third failure, i was really questioning myself ... questioning if this was a sign from God that nursing was not my pathway. after some spiritual guidance, professional guidance and the help of family and friends i decided to give it another try. every day i tried to think of the positive things that were going on in my life.

and when i passed, i was not only happy but so were my family and friends. they were so happy for me because they all knew that i had struggled so much and my life for a long time revolved around the test. at some point, to me, the test defined who i was. i didn't define who i was, it was just another hurdle i had to overcome.

good luck to anyone taking the nclex. :)