As usual you've missed my point.... I am happy that you have 'experienced' life and done many things, finance, the military, etc.... AWESOME... does that make you better... not always.... does it make you a better nurse.... sometimes not.... rarely does an older person want to hear what the 'younger' generation has to say.
The best lab partner I ever had was a 32 year old working Mom, no she wasn't an ex-gun trigger puller, BUT she did have a previous degree and job.
However, she didn't throw it in my face all the time or remind me constantly that she was older and had experienced life and had other degrees and other careers.
Just a thought. Would it make me a better person to quit pursing nursing.... and major in something else and then be a nurse?
I am sorry that the girls thought you'd be shaky with your hands. I've also done that lab, and my older lab partners for that class refused to do it because they didn't want to...they actually watched me and Kayla do all the labs.... so congratulations for having confidence that your hands would work out... too bad I couldn't have experienced you for that lab....
Whoa JumpforJune----How could this be "as usual"---I don't even know you and this is the first dialogue we've ever had! Seriously, my post was a tongue-in-cheek anecdote about my own experience. It was not a personal attack on you.
Yes, I have real-world experiences and educational accomplishments that can only be achieved with time and age. I've worked really, really hard to get to this point in my life. I've also experienced allot of heartbreak and many disappointments along the way. I also have the varicose veins, crows feet, and aches in my joints that only come with age---you'll know what I mean 20 years from now. I'm truly impressed with all that you're doing on your own at age 19---you're well on your way to achieving great things!
I wish you the best of luck---remember, we're all in this together. One of the reasons that I love being back in school is because I'm surrounded by the energy and enthusiasm of youth. That is one of the many gifts that you will bring to the nursing profession. I hope you will also keep an open mind and remember that the older students may occassionally have a perspective that is worth considering.
Keep us posted on your progress---I'm sincerely interested in hearing how nursing school goes for you. You're only young once and I hope you find a school environment that satisfies you on an academic and a social level. Everything you've said makes me feel even better about UMB.
JumpforJune---One other little piece of friendly advice that I meant to include in my previous message. You might want to be careful about being so vocal about your disdain for older people. School administrators are reading these message boards (yes, I'm also keeping that in mind---especially since we're still waiting on admissions decisions and it's pretty easy to figure out who we are!). Out in the real world, biases like these can get you in allot of trouble (think EEOC complaint). In the future, it is very likely that you will care for older patients, you'll work with older colleagues, and, eventually, since you're starting your nursing career young, you'll probably have employees who work for you who are older than you. You could never get away with saying the kind of things you said in your message if you were referring to someone's race, someone's gender, someone's sexual orientation, etc---age isn't any different. That's all from me---I think we're all getting a little punchy from this admissions uncertainty.
Thanks for the laugh... I concur with you! 38 y/o ex-military here also with (EXPERT) qualifications lol. I've had similar experiences. I've learn to just chuckle at ignorant comments... It's funny though, most students don't know my age because I look 25 at the most. It's only when they find out my true age that most of my negative experiences/comments occur, never mind the fact that I have previous degrees, probably the highest average in my classes, much world knowledge, and have traveled the world. I think that because we are in an academic setting, students tend to see us as JUST student. I feel that maybe sometimes they see our willingness to help as "bragging" or belittling, in terms of saying "look what I've accomplished and look what you haven't." Although, when we were their age, we MAY have thought the same way. However, if someone is trying to make anyone feel insignificant by way of flaunting their expericence then that is unfortunate and quite immature. We all have to rememeber that everyone had to start some where. Again, thanks for the laugh.. good to know that I'm not alone.
JumpforJune's post gave me a chuckle. At the ripe old age of 38, I must seem like a fossil! I've definitely learned that age discrimination works both ways. When I made the decision to return to school to pursue a nursing degree (not because my life was boring as JumpforJune suggested but because interests and passions continue to evolve throughout our lives), I had to take many science prerequisites because my original career field was finance. I'll never forget my biology lab when we had to carefully inject plasmid DNA into the agarose gel to study the concept of electrophoresis. Our instructor assigned new groups for this lab assignment and I found myself at a table with students that I hadn't previously worked with during the semester. One of my new (very young) lab partners looked at me and said, "I guess I should go ahead and do this since your hands are probably shaky". What!?! Did she think that because of my "advanced age" that I had Parkinson's? Little did she know that I was a former military officer who was actually very steady with a trigger!!! I simply smiled and encouraged her to give it a try. I couldn't help but laugh because I remember all too well how "old" a thirty-something seems when you're in your late teens/early twenties. My hope for you, JumpforJune, is that you'll get to experience being old someday too---it beats the alternative! :)
LOL!! That put a smile on my face. Yes, we thirty-somethings are just about dead, huh? I sense quite a bit of anger JumpforJune. Clearly you don't think that someone would go to nursing school just to add some excitement to their otherwise boring life. Nursing school is not something to be taken lightly, and it is an honor and something that must be earned through very hard work and dedication. If I am bored, I will take up a much easier hobby. Anyway, good luck to you in your career and when you are our age, you will look back and realize how immature everything you said was.
But wait, JumpforJune---in the spirit of honest debate---how is their biographical information any different from you bragging to us that you're 19, you got into Towson, you work 60 hours a week, and you pay for your own insurance and apartment? This background information helped us form a clearer picture of you just like other's background information helps us know them better in this online community. In addition to your age prejudice, I'm also concerned about your attitude against people who have served in the military (another protected group that shouldn't be discriminated against since they were willing, if necessary, to sacrifice their life in defense of your freedom). I am going to ignore your "ex-gun-trigger-puller" slur though I can't promise that other veterans on this list who have lost friends and colleagues in Afghanistan and Iraq will be so forgiving. I sense a bumpy road ahead for you.....
I do think that Jumpforjune sounds pretty angry. But since I'm younger I do agree that it hurts when an older nursing student instead of telling me, "hey, I have 3 kids and a rockin' husband and I like to golf, too", she chooses to tell me "I have a degree in this and this and someday you'll understand". hehe, we all know we'll understand someday, but it gets old hearing it....
On another note, I've had the privilege to work at a hospital with, suprise coming here! Older nurses, and well sorry to tell you Jumpforjune, some of them are amazing and some are kinda grumpy. I just look at it as that person's personality. If that grumpy nurse wasn't older she was most likely a grumpy young lady too. My grandmother on my Dad's side is grumpy and suprise, she was that way when she was 14 too! My other grandma is HOT! She doesn't spoil me but she's from Atlanta and man that 80 old year lady took me to a Paul McCartney concert.
Not every older nuse is what you describe.
Surround yourself with people you like and it sounds like jumpforjune made the right decision for herself, but I have a feeling that Towson's age won't be as young as she/he is hoping for.
Also, this is for GrayLady: if you don't get in on the first wave of 130 acceptances for the BSN program is there a waitlist and if so, do you get a number too? Thank you.
this makes me think of an old argument that my grandmother had with her parents. They didn't understand her loving Chuck Berry. Yes, he was black (a plus!) and her parents were proud that finally a black man was being given credit, BUT they thought he sounded like hogwash and was trying to be white, and they prefered their gospel music... etc.
jumpforjune's argument is a very very very old one. The old don't 'get the young' and the old think the young are silly
In response to the heated debate going on here 2 things.......
The first and probably the whole reason I responded to the post, because this just bugged me was that I agree with mother_matters. Please don't knock the military, at all, I work with some of our soldiers, marines and sailors coming back from the Middle East when one of them talks to me, I listen, you wanna talk experience? They have it. I am in a similar situation as june, I work, I volunteer, I go to school and I pay rent, but it all really pales in comparison to the sacrifice they make. I have nothing but respect for the men and women in our military.
Second, Yes, there may be the occasional older person who has experience and acts like you don't know the left from your right. Whatever, there are more fish in the sea. I think that if you can take the time to listen to the person who says they have experience, you can learn a lot. I am young, I don't have it, but I have learned a lot from the people who do. With their "experience" comes mistakes and if they are talking about those mistakes as well, I advise you to listen, you can learn a lot (and not make the same mistake) it saves you a whole lot of trouble.
On a COMPLETELY different note. I just realized something....and maybe its me overanalyzing but Nov. 1st is a sunday, so does that mean we will find out by Friday or by Monday? I have given up stressing about it. Its gonna be what its gonna be. Plus, micro is kickin my butt right now, I wont be goin anywhere if I let my grades slip.
"if you don't get in on the first wave of 130 acceptances for the BSN program is there a waitlist and if so, do you get a number too?" There was a wait list for fall and if there were numbers assigned, I was not aware of it. Those decisions were made in the Office of Admissions but I was able to see the list of incoming students change from time to time. We did have a couple of students change their minds over the summer and their seats were offered to people on the wait list. I do not believe the wait list carries over into the next semester, however. Unless you are told otherwise, if you are not accepted for this semester you would need to re-apply for the next one.
jumpforjune
13 Posts
As usual you've missed my point.... I am happy that you have 'experienced' life and done many things, finance, the military, etc.... AWESOME... does that make you better... not always.... does it make you a better nurse.... sometimes not.... rarely does an older person want to hear what the 'younger' generation has to say.
The best lab partner I ever had was a 32 year old working Mom, no she wasn't an ex-gun trigger puller, BUT she did have a previous degree and job.
However, she didn't throw it in my face all the time or remind me constantly that she was older and had experienced life and had other degrees and other careers.
Just a thought. Would it make me a better person to quit pursing nursing.... and major in something else and then be a nurse?
I am sorry that the girls thought you'd be shaky with your hands. I've also done that lab, and my older lab partners for that class refused to do it because they didn't want to...they actually watched me and Kayla do all the labs.... so congratulations for having confidence that your hands would work out... too bad I couldn't have experienced you for that lab....