Hi everyone,
I’m a 25 year old African American male that have made a lot bad decisions in my life. Granted I did graduate from high school with a horrible GPA. Up until my 10th grade year, I was a honor roll student and loved going to school. Fast forward to when age 18 I was hanging with the wrong crowd trying to fit in, and my grades suffered in college. I took the ACT and did horrible on it, and my GPA dropped to a below 2.0. I wasn’t even trying to do good in school. Now I’m 25 and want to start over and I know graduating college is very important.
The thing is I’m not 100% sure what I want to do, I work part time at a hospital and I’m around nurses a lot. Nursing is something I have recently took interest in, but my main problem is being afraid of failing again. I’ve never been good at math & science but I am a hands on learner. I also have my CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) certificate but that’s nothing like being a nurse. I know I need to get my life together because I’m not getting any younger…could you guys give me some helpful tips or do you think I’m reaching for the stars and will never be one? I’ll be here to answer any questions!
Have you completed any college coursework? I mention that because if you are entering a college mid-way, some nursing programs use a nursing entrance exam. You could prep for that and then do a sample test and see where you stand.
If not, you could start by taking one college bio class to see if you have the aptitude. (For students in high school, taking an AP biology class is often a good way to find out if you have the aptitude for the course work. ) That is the type of class that could be useful in many different majors, if you later pick something different.
Nursing is also a field where you can move up over time. You could complete a Certified Nursing Assistant program in a few weeks. You could then take classes to be a Practical Nurse. You might later become a RN, and then later get a BSN degree.
Yes I have completed some college course work, I’m done with English and also Sociology credits.
I would dig in with biology and anatomy/physiology and see how you do in those classes. I always hated math and was not naturally good at math…but learned to sit and apply myself rigorously and do the work over and over. You will never need calculus and trig for nursing. You will need algebra for sure. So it doesn’t matter if you are “good” at those subjects, it matters only if you can apply yourself and work hard enough to master the concepts.
For me, sitting in my first anatomy and physiology class, I just knew I was “home” and loved it from the very first day. If you don’t get some sort of satisfaction and enjoyment from those classes and enjoy the process, then nursing may very well not be for you.
How are you as a CNA? Are you one of those who will do tasks when you are asked OR are you one of those that can see what needs to be done i.e. patients that need to be ambulated; patients that need to be fed and who also understands that neither one of those is the simple task it seems and you understand the rationale and science behind those tasks?