<p>So I've been a nurse for 10 years now, with an Associates Degree in Nursing and I would like to go back to school. The thing is - I don't want to be a nurse anymore!</p>
<p>I'm 36, divorced, 3 kids and I have to work full time while I'm going to school. What I'd really like to do is get my Masters in Public Health and do epidemiology work or something like that. I've always wanted to do that. I wanted to 10 years ago when I graduated but the necessity of finding a job and raising my kids made me get my Assoc Degree in Nursing and start working. </p>
<p>So now I don't know what to do, and I have a few dilemmas about it. </p>
<p>1 - I need my Bachelor's Degree. Admittingly, getting a BSN online would be somewhat easier than getting a Bachelor's in Biology or another science field. I could do it at home, I would <em>maybe</em> not need as many classes, and I could probably do it faster. However - I wonder what the point of getting a BSN is if nursing isn't my passion and getting a Masters in Nursing isn't what I want to do.</p>
<p>2 - My grade point average isn't good. My first time in school (right after HS) I was a (don't laugh) theater major and I didn't do well/dropped several classes. When I did my nursing classes I was working and raising my kids and was single - my GPA is a horrible 2.2 and I have 160 credit hours done. I live in Central IL - so unless I want to go to some no-name college out of state, the reputable places here in my area (IL State Univ, U of IL) require a 2.7 to do their online program.</p>
<p>3 - if I can't get my BSN online, I might as well just do the Biology degree or something else right? </p>
<p>4 - I'm making quite a good salary right now - if I go through all that schooling, there's a good chance that at the end, I'll be making $20K a year LESS than I make now. </p>
<p>5 - My daughter is a junior in HS - maybe I should save my resources to send her to school instead of myself. Maybe I should just suck it up and do a job I don't particularly like - but really? I have another 30 years to work - I dread going to work every day - if there's another option I really really want to consider it.</p>
<p>So what should I try for? BSN? Biology degree? Accept my fate in life?</p>