RN!

I did it!  I finally got my RN license!  This has been an extremely long road.  It started 15 years ago when I was at UVSC (now UVU) and decided to change my major from Elementary Education to something else.  What that was, I wasn't sure.  I needed a science class for my Associate's Degree anyway, and the Anatomy class looked interesting.  I've always found medicine fascinating, and I actually wanted to go to medical school to become a Pediatrician.  But I also knew that was a very long process and probably not too realistic with also being a mom.  So I put it in the back of my brain and focused on something else with kids.  I found along the way that I didn't want to be a teacher.  The lesson plans were too tedious, and I realized teaching was more than playing with the kids.  I took the Anatomy class just to see if I would like it.  I wasn't planning on anything after that, I was just taking it one step at a time.  I was also engaged to be married that semester, with the wedding and honeymoon in the middle of it.  I was gone for 2 weeks at midterm, and still managed to squeak out a C.  But I was fascinated.  We worked on cadavers, and after the initial grossout, I was amazed.  The body was an amazing thing.  It all worked so perfectly together, in healthy people, of course. 

Some of the people in the class were taking it for nursing prerequisites.  I looked into the program more, and thought that would be a great way to still be in medicine, but not as intense and long as the doctor route.  Little did I know.  I moved on with Physiology, and did pretty well.  I graduated that summer with my AS degree, and we moved to Washington DC so that Chris could go to law school.  I put my school on hold and got a job at a law firm as a receptionist.  It didn't pay really well, but it definitely helped with the bills, and we were able to take out less in student loans.  I worked for the next few years, until Megan was born right in between Chris's finals and graduation.  We moved to New York City that fall for Chris's job and I stayed home with Megan.  I knew I didn't want to start school until we were settled somewhere more permanently, so that I wouldn't have to worry about transferring and possibly losing credits.  So I waited.  Then we had Alisha, and we moved to California 3 weeks later for another job.  After we moved, we found we loved it and wanted to stay.  So after a year to establish residency in California, I registered for my first official nursing class.  It was a slow process, only being able to take one class at a time, since the girls were little, and Chris was working so much.  I relied on friends, mostly Diane Keller (the best wife ever),  to take care of the girls while I was at school.  I did well, getting A's in all of my classes.  It took 2 years to finish the prerequisites, and I put in my application, thinking I would get in right away.  Riiiiight. 

There was a lottery process to get in to the program.  They took 24 students each quarter.  Once I was accepted into the program, everyone was weighted the same.  At the lottery, I would sign in, get a raffle ticket, and wait to see which numbers were chosen from a big box.  The more lotteries you attended, the more tickets you got, slightly increasing your chances of getting in.  But I didn't get in time after time, and it was maddening.  I felt like I couldn't plan anything, since I MAY be starting school in 3 months, or I might not.  After I attended 6 depressing lotteries, they decided to change the system to a waiting list.  So after one more quarter, which was 2 years of just waiting, I was officially starting nursing school.  The rest they say is history, or at least blog history. 

Nursing school was tough, to put it mildly.  I found that I loved it and that I was good at it.  I loved talking with the patients, and being able to help, even if it was something small.  I loved feeling like I could make a difference and help people at their most difficult times.  I felt joy as I saw the patients going home, especially when I was in the NICU.  I also felt scared and helpless with the sickest patients.  I loved the wide range of everything I saw.  The hardest part for me was juggling going to school, studying, and taking care of the girls and everything else.  But I managed, mainly again with the help of my awesome friend Diane.  She picked up the girls from school, and watched them until I could get home from school or from my clinical rotations.  My sister Jenn and Chris also helped out when they weren't at work.  And now, 2 years later, I am done, I took the dreaded NCLEX, which is the licensing exam, and found out that I passed while we were at Disney World.  I think it actually IS the happiest place on earth!  We came home and found my official license in the mail.

I think I am still in shock that I made it this far.  The day I passed my last final of nursing school, I was walking with Alisha, and I realized that I had waited for *that* day for 15 years, and it brought me to tears.  I am grateful for all of my friends and family that have been so supportive over the years.  I know a lot didn't agree with my decision to go to school, but supported me anyway.  Thanks everyone!!