Always Believe

The following article is posted on a friends blog that is aimed at helping young adult grads (out of high school and college) have words of wisdom.  I figured I would share it with you guys as well as her viewers!

Life is all about believing in your self and believing in others.  Right out of high school I went into Elementary Education because it was easy.  You did not have to write very many papers, there was not a lot of homework, I was a natural teacher, it was not hard for me and I did not have to learn much.  I did not want to be a teacher, I wanted to be a nurse, and I wanted to help those who needed it the most.  Scared, failure, and science were the three things holding me back.

I started working in a school and at first loved it.  The second year, hated it.  It was so political that it made me sick at times.  A majority of teachers would dump all of the work on us aides and expect us to teach the class while they got paid the big bucks.  They always say that you must love what you do and I did not.  I was unhappy and decided to make a change.

I had begun volunteering at a camp for children with cancer called Camp Quality and connected with my camper who was battling Ewing’s Sarcoma.  When I visited her in the hospital on the day she received the news that there was nothing more they could do she told me, “If I can battle cancer then you can suck it up and beat those science classes so you can help more kids like me.”  That was all I needed to hear.  I quickly made it out of her room because I knew what was next.  The elevators seemed so far away, not to mention the hug goodbye to her and her father that seemed like it lasted a year.  Once inside the elevator, I cried and cried and cried some more.  Long story short, I cried the whole ride back to Downriver and decided that day to make a change.  I finished out that semester as an education major and changed the next semester to a nursing major. 

In 2012, I graduated from nursing school with the Helen Mae Dickman Clinical Excellence Award, which is the highest clinical honors award.   I dedicate earning that award and my degree to Payton who helped me to always know that anything is possible when you believe in your faith.  I now love my job and do not cringe when I have to go into work.  Love what you do, it makes life more enjoyable.    

As a young adult, it was hard to leave a life that was so “easy” to go to a major that consumes your life.  Nursing school is no walk in the park.  You have to give up your life, your family, your friends, your everything in order to succeed.  When you think about your future, remember that not everything good comes the easy route.  You must struggle and hit obstacles in order to become stronger and successful.