I wasn't accepted into the nursing program. I left my community college to pursue another nursing program hoping that it would get me closer to being a nurse. It was a bad decision and set me back some. Right now, I am not even sure if I want to be a nurse anymore. I am getting older, and I just don't see myself still living at home in the next few years. And when I do move out to support myself it will be incredibly challenging to pursue nursing school at the same time. The long waiting lists, being told to possibly wait to get accepted in 2010, 2011 is just not promising to me. I'll be too old. And the older I get the less motivated I am. I don't want to be like some women who are in their late 30s, 40s chasing after nursing school their whole life. I have ran across a lot of them
I made a thread about going into health administration, maybe that will be a bit more realisitc for me. I won't be tied down every single day for 8 hours, and I can go to class, work, and be able to finnacially support myself until I get a degree. I don't know, I am just confusd. I dont know what direction I need to go in with my life
I wasn't accepted into the nursing program. I left my community college to pursue another nursing program hoping that it would get me closer to being a nurse. It was a bad decision and set me back some. Right now, I am not even sure if I want to be a nurse anymore. I am getting older, and I just don't see myself still living at home in the next few years. And when I do move out to support myself it will be incredibly challenging to pursue nursing school at the same time. The long waiting lists, being told to possibly wait to get accepted in 2010, 2011 is just not promising to me. I'll be too old. And the older I get the less motivated I am. I don't want to be like some women who are in their late 30s, 40s chasing after nursing school their whole life. I have ran across a lot of them
I made a thread about going into health administration, maybe that will be a bit more realisitc for me. I won't be tied down every single day for 8 hours, and I can go to class, work, and be able to finnacially support myself until I get a degree. I don't know, I am just confusd. I dont know what direction I need to go in with my life
I haven't read most of the thread yet so sorry if this is a redundant comment at this point but "older women" need to eat (and pay bills!) too so there is nothing wrong with pursuing nursing at an older age. Having a professional license in a demand field beats the instability that comes with not having one as you get older. I know seniors who work retail - not because they just want to get out of the house but because they need the money for food, and as you know retail is min wage, with very undependable hours, and working conditions are not the best. So if you're in your 40s, 50s or beyond and not sitting on enough savings to retire safely then chasing nursing school is not a bad idea at all.
If you're young enough to think 30s and 40s is old then you still have a few years to take advantage of living at home and saving on rent while you work on getting yourself into a profession where you can afford to be comfortably independent.
As some have suggested - if you want to be a nurse try LPN school. Admission is much easier - and you can be working as a nurse in a year then go for your RN, BSN or beyond as you desire. If your employer has a generous tuition reimbursement benefit you could end up paying little or nothing for your education as you work.
I encountered a similar setback when I didn't get accepted my first time last year. I was 27, just got out of the military and had a 3 month-old. I decided not to give up (luckily I have a very supportive husband although we are dirt broke!) and worked a year bringing my GPA up. I got accepted and start in 2 weeks... oh and now I have another baby... she's 8 weeks now! Don't give up yet... give it another year!
Hey, a lot of these people are sounding really mean right now, so I am going to save all that that has already been said. What I think you should do is some soul searching and find out what makes you, you. I think that you should take a few steps back and find out what you really want to do. When you get into Nursing school there will be many times that you are going to feel that you want to quit, and if you feel that way already, then that tells me that you need to re-evaluate your situation.
I agree with the other pp's who have given the advice to dust yourself off and get back on the horse. Four months out of your life is nothing! Really---and like others said, you (hopefully) learned a very valuable lesson.
You said that as you get older, you become less motivated. Really? Why? Do you think still living at home at 23 may be causing some complacency in your life?
I believe that sometimes as a person delves into life's challenges and takes upon more responsibility, it can give them the confidence, motivation and tenacity to do more! At least it has for me.
BTW...I'm 33 and just starting this nursing school thing. I earned a Bachelor's 12 years ago, got married and had 2 great kiddos (4 and 22 months old) and I've stayed at home with them. Sometimes, age is just what you need to make your goals in life appear more clearly!
Hey I cant say I kno exactly how you feel but I understand your frustration. Im 21yrs old and definately chasing the dream of being a LPN, RN, RN-BSN, CRNA!! I dream big and God knows I wanna move out and be on my own but im well aware of the living expenses in NYC and I also want to give my studies 150% w/o having to worry about rent and bills etc. I was hard on myself for not getting it together sooner but hey Im starting the LPN program fall '09... time passes regardless and you just have to pace yourself. Of course it would be super if im done with my BSN by 25 and if I work hard its totally possible but I dont know what God has planned for me so im taking baby steps. Patience and determination keeps me going. Your only 23 keep your eye on the prize dont be so hard on yourself be proactive!!!!:redbeathe
I wasn't accepted into the nursing program. I left my community college to pursue another nursing program hoping that it would get me closer to being a nurse. It was a bad decision and set me back some. Right now, I am not even sure if I want to be a nurse anymore. I am getting older, and I just don't see myself still living at home in the next few years. And when I do move out to support myself it will be incredibly challenging to pursue nursing school at the same time. The long waiting lists, being told to possibly wait to get accepted in 2010, 2011 is just not promising to me. I'll be too old. And the older I get the less motivated I am. I don't want to be like some women who are in their late 30s, 40s chasing after nursing school their whole life. I have ran across a lot of them
I made a thread about going into health administration, maybe that will be a bit more realisitc for me. I won't be tied down every single day for 8 hours, and I can go to class, work, and be able to finnacially support myself until I get a degree. I don't know, I am just confusd. I dont know what direction I need to go in with my life
When you will find fountain of youth,inform me about it:uhoh21:I started nursing school at 24 and damn proud of it...
Hi, Don't let the wait list thing scare you. See there are many people who think like you, many of the people may not want to wait and will either change majors or go to another school. This is what happened at the school that I did my pre-reqs at. I didn't want to wait so I transferred to a school that accepts students based on GPA and I had a good enough GPA to get accepted my 1st semester at the new school. I just finished my 1st semester in the program for BSN. However my friends that stayed at the other school have all been bumped up a year because of all the people that left or changed majors. SO my advice is that if you have a good enough GPA, go to a school that accepts students by GPA or stick it out where you are and other like minded people will change majors or change schools. From what I have seen here in Ohio the wait list NEVER turns out to be as long as the schools claim it will be. By the way I am 34 and I am by far not the oldest nursing student in my program. :nuke:
I can totally understand where you are coming from. 11 years ago I was all set - I was going to one of the best schools in Orlando - had almost all my classes done, ready to get into the next class. I became pregnant and had a difficult pregnancy. I had to put my life on hold. It destroyed me - felt like all the hard work was a waste of time bla bla bla. 11 years, 2 more kids later and I am slowly (very slowly) getting there. I took some classes while I was pregnant and had to drop them and it killed my GPA and now I am paying for it. I can't get into the RN program here right now even though I have all the classes done - have to get my GPA up - so I am trying to get into the LPN program here and go from there . . .It mades me mad, and it fustrates me that its taken me forever, but you know what - when I get there, and I promise you I will it will be great!! Don't give up. You are still young and have plently of time to go to school. Dust yourself off and try again - study do whatever you need to do and stick with it!
I am 23. If I go into an LPN program I will not finish in a year, I still have to complete pre reqs which will take awhile. The only program for LPN in my city rejected me, and I can never apply their again.
I am your age (will be 24 in May) and I feel the same way sometimes. On here I read about many students who are in their 30s and 40s and it sets me back into place--in fact I see people younger than us few and far between. It is likely as someone said--impatience (and probably misguided illusions as well). I think, by the time I am an RN I will be 25. By the time I am an advanced practice nurse, 29. I wish I had started nursing when I was in undergraduate school...I ended up graduating at 22 with a B.A. in completely unrelated field...so I do have regrets about delaying it as long as I did. The good news for both of us is we are still REALLY young (comparitively and in reality). 2010 and 2011 are not going to make you OLD as a nursing student at 24, 25, or 26. When you're 30 and look back at yourself at 23 you may regret giving up for this reason...
I am 53 and am re-pursuing my original goal that I had when I was 18, ie: becoming a nurse.
If things work out I probably be 56 or 57 by the time I graduate.
Am I disappointed? Nope. The goals change over one's lifetime some you achieve some you put some on the back-burner. You prioritize and re-prioritize and if that don't work you re-re- prioritize.
Don't give up..hell you could be a grandmother by the time you reach my age!!
Man, if I was 24 again......well thats another thread!!
Mark
PS, I am so tired anyone have a geriatric walker I could borrow??
I started prereqs at 16, began nursing school at age 19, will be an LPN by time I'm 20 ( I'm 20 now), and will pursue my RN from there. I've been at a community college for about 4 years ! Time flies by. You must be patient and take one day at a time. I remember being 16 and thinking the world was going to end because I lost my car in a car accident and didn't have reliable transportation for school. Yes, I had to wait a whole semester to begin taking some of my prereqs due to not having transportation. I could've became an LPN probably a year ago, but I placed low in english and math so I had to take a whole semester of prereqs or my prereqs. Life happens ! ITs not the end of the world. God forbid if I did fail my LPN course, I would be hurt, but life goes on. I admire the older students in my class. They have lots of class and wisdom. We learn from each other. I had about 15 mother figures in my last course. I was the youngest out of the whole class of 60 some students. I don't care if you are 89 when you graduate from nursing school, what matters is that you got there. 23 is still young. I'm 20 and I think 30 and 40 is still young. You can't look at how long its going to take. You'll probably still be a nurse by the time you turn 25. Be PATIENT. I used to have the same problem, and still do sometimes, but I learn how to cope. Good luck.
As everyone else has said "get back on the horse." IMO, you wouldn't have bothered posting this if you really wanted to quit trying. I think you need a few people to tell you that you can do it. So, you can do it. Keep trying!
sunray12
637 Posts
I haven't read most of the thread yet so sorry if this is a redundant comment at this point but "older women" need to eat (and pay bills!) too so there is nothing wrong with pursuing nursing at an older age. Having a professional license in a demand field beats the instability that comes with not having one as you get older. I know seniors who work retail - not because they just want to get out of the house but because they need the money for food, and as you know retail is min wage, with very undependable hours, and working conditions are not the best. So if you're in your 40s, 50s or beyond and not sitting on enough savings to retire safely then chasing nursing school is not a bad idea at all.
If you're young enough to think 30s and 40s is old then you still have a few years to take advantage of living at home and saving on rent while you work on getting yourself into a profession where you can afford to be comfortably independent.
As some have suggested - if you want to be a nurse try LPN school. Admission is much easier - and you can be working as a nurse in a year then go for your RN, BSN or beyond as you desire. If your employer has a generous tuition reimbursement benefit you could end up paying little or nothing for your education as you work.