The Reason I Became a Nurse

hrivera

Nursing is and has always been a calling for me. As a young child, I remember the very first time I stepped foot in a hospital. I was 5 years old; my parents were missionary preachers and often visited ill people and their families in the hospital for spiritual services.

I was often left to wait in the lobby as a child, and at the time, was not allowed in acute care areas. But that didn't keep me from watching all the men and women in lab coats and scrub uniforms in the hospital lobby. The organized chaos and noise in a hospital environment fascinated me so much, I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up.

My parents moved to Newark, NJ, a very urban, crime infested city that was full of many dangers when I was 14. A year later, I managed to get a volunteer position at a local university hospital in the border baby clinic. The border baby clinic was an area in the hospital where abandoned newborn babies were kept while placement was found through child protective services.

I would spend time swaddling, cradling, and feeding the babies on weekends. I became a teenage mom at the age of 16. Being a young pregnant teen, I knew I had to make wise decisions not only for my future but for my baby as well. I transferred out of my vocational school to a public school which allowed me to graduate early due to an excess of credits. I was more driven to chase my dream in becoming a nurse.

With my official HS graduation more than 6 months away and no more high school classes to attend, I marched over to my local county college, 5 months pregnant and attempted to enroll. I was turned away several times. But that didn't stop me. The rejections fueled my determination to get closer to my chosen career.

Thanks to the references provided by my high school Principal and four other faculty members, my persistence paid off and I got in to college and take the pre requisite courses for nursing. At age 17 I took the entrance exam for the nursing program. With a stellar above average score AND a solid 4.0 GPA, I was on a 2 year wait for the nursing program! Unfazed, I knew there has to be a way to get in to the program quicker.

I confided with nursing faculty members to see what options were there to get into the program. None of them were able to help. My desperation was apparent that a fellow professor folded and confided in me of a new evening nursing program. There were 87 seats available in this pilot program. Only 23 students graduated the program 2 years later.

I became the youngest RN in the state of NJ since 1962 at the age of 19. Every day I thank God and my mother for the strength and encouragement to persevere in the face of so many obstacles I faced in my youth. I hope my story serves as a motivation to many girls out there who are living in less than ideal conditions, who have to catch the bus to and from work school in freezing weather, who feel unsafe in their neighborhood/ streets, who have had a kid(s), and who have to work and pay for school.

No one said nursing was easy, more so for a young teenage mom. But if you persevere and fight for what you want and believe in, your dream is yours for the taking. Look where it got me. J

The Reason I Became a Nurse

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