When I made the decision to return to school for my Bachelor's degree, all those who had gone before issued me nothing short of a surgeon general's warning: your life as you know it is over ... in nursing terms, I could visualize a flat EKG line without any peaks or rhythm. That sounded like trouble to me! I accepted returning to school as a challenge and promptly organized my life into what I thought would be a simplified, manageable existence. Like all of you, I restructured my home budget and explained to my husband that life as we knew it was over ... my roles as wife, nurse, employee, friend, student, cook, housekeeper, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, cousin, niece and granddaughter -- all at once -- became impossible. For once in my life, I was glad to NOT be a parent! My fellow nursing students all agreed that yes, life was over. Our instructors corroborated that "life as we knew it was over," but only for a time. We students had some incredible pity parties surrounding the theme "our life is over." There we were, paying $100 per credit to have the privilege of complaining about our choice. Throughout the next several quarters, I watched my fellow students' lives and saw that none of what makes a life was over. We gathered together in support of one another when someone's kid broke their arm, family members were taken suddenly in an auto accident, divorce ended a marriage, illness prevented class attendance, babies were born and weddings went on. We were able to balance family, school and work commitments by simply juggling our days and supporting one another. It was during my final quarter at Bothell that life events were the most challenging. I was juggling 20 hours a week of work, 16 h... ... middle of paper ... ...n of my degree at Bothell. I, like you, had accomplished what seemed like an impossible task ... balancing all of life's commitments with those of returning to school. I found that my EKG had its most active lines of peaks and rhythms rather than going flat for even a time! Today, as we graduate, with degree nearly in hand, I challenge each of you to make a difference in whatever you do. Remember that life didn't end when we re-entered school. Life continued throughout our program. Even when stretched to the limit, life only got more challenging. And now, graduating, life only changes pace. Our degree completion is not really an ending as much as a new beginning as we re-enter our lives of work and home. We thank all of our family, friends, instructors and co-workers who helped see us through this process. Thank you for this opportunity and good luck to you all.
To me, life is a pretty ironic thing; it has a way of introducing you to the things you want, but keeps it just out of your reach. As we grow and go through life experiences, both good and bad, we as humans always seem to take some form of realization or some truth from each experience. The difference amongst all of us is whether or not we take these truths and make something of them. Becoming a nurse isn’t a career choice I was pushed into making. I have desired to be a nurse for as long as I could remember. My perception of nursing and my desire to become a nurse directly comes from my passion to help people. I want to become a nurse because I enjoy being around people in their times of need and I get internal satisfaction by serving those that need help. Recently I decided to jump start my health care career by becoming a certified and licensed nursing assistant. I did this for one of two reasons. Besides being able to have the opportunity to see first hand what really goes on in the health care setting but to also gain the proper knowledge and experience that I’ll forever carry w...
Nursing came in a round-about way for me. I had little direction when I graduated high school and had already disregarded the nursing field due to an incident with a family member (who was a nurse) that had left a negative impression about the nursing field on me. I entered college planning on a pre-med or biology major. I had built up a vision of college being different- scholarly, intellectual, advanced- different somehow than school before. I soon was disillusioned. My first biology course was a bitter disappointment and I turned away from any thoughts of a medical/health related career altogether.
The end of my first graduate school semester leaves me with a bittersweet feeling. Although I'm glad that the stress and pressure of continuously feeling unprepared to take on graduate school is now over, the feeling that I can successfully accomplish my goal and become a School Counselor seems more attainable. Working towards something I feel passionate about, and coming to the end of the beginning of a long journey has never felt so satisfying. What feels even better is all of the knowledge that I have acquired about the profession which society needs in order to function in times of despair. During our very first class we were asked about, “Our life’s motto?” From this day onward and after listening to the different perspectives, backgrounds,
As I look to graduate, I become increasingly aware that I have my entire life to look forward to. Even though I will have struggles throughout my life, I still have my well being to fall back on. When all else fails, I am and hopefully always will be self-assured that I am here, healthy and able to bring myself through the worst of circumstances.
Not necessarily in the classroom but other areas. Areas that I think people can notice since I enjoy them so much. I am talking about exercising, maintaining jobs while going through school, and being there for my Greek events. The first example probably sounds phony or bogus to attach to a legacy. But for me I love to be in the gym, running and feeling good. I hope people have taken into account the amount of time I have spent working out and the hard work that I have put in to be confident in myself. The second part is centered for the people that know me on a deeper level. I am talking about my roommates, Greek brothers, and close friends at Hope. A lot of students are able to go to College and withstand a job and classes at the same time. However there are a lot of students who could not and would either need to drop courses or quit their job. For me this was the case this last semester I could not keep working twenty-five hours and maintain grades that I want, so I had to stop working and focus on school. But over my course at Hope I have had three jobs through out college during some challenging semesters and I think that it has taught me to balance school and work at the same time. The last example of hard work is being an active member of the Cosmopolitan Fraternity. It is a huge commitment to be apart of this organization and being at all of the meetings every Monday night. People in the Fraternity
Waking up for my first day of class feel so different. It felt like a new start I just wasn’t expecting so soon. I showered and got dressed wondering what the day had in store for me. I looked in the mirror for a while as I mentally prepared myself to be focused and start off the year strong. I walked outside not expecting to see people with the same mindset, but boy I was wrong. 7:30 AM and the streets are full of people happy, ready to learn, and full of life. There was even a man that gave me an overly energized “Good Morning!” Seeing this made me think of high school, where walking down the sidewalk I’d see everyone half sleep and ready for the day to be over before it even began. I never knew of a school’s community to be so ready for starting their
Working in different areas of healthcare helped me to build a foundation and transition into the nursing field. While attending nursing school, I was employed as a Medical Assistant, Phlebotomist, and Nursing Assistant until graduating from nursing school. In 2007, I thought my days of attending school to become a Licensed Practical Nurse was completed. I thought...
Let’s flash back in time to before our college days. Back to then we had lunch trays filled with rubbery chicken nuggets, stale pizza, and bags of chocolate milk. A backpack stacked with Lisa Frank note books, flexi rulers, and color changing pencils. The times where we thought we wouldn’t make it out alive, but we did. Through all the trials and tribulations school helped build who I am today and shaped my future. From basic functions all the way to life-long lessons that helped shape my character.
As freshman, we came home from school with the mentality that we were no longer children, but rather had entered into a new stage of life. Everything seemed different and new; we weren’t the big kids on campus anymore. We no longer were the persons being looked up to, but rather were the persons looking up to an entire school of older students. We remember joining our firsts clubs, going to dances, and having Orientation days.
Good evening parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and friends. I would like to thank you all for coming to this very special day. I know how proud you must be. As we have grown over the years, there are many stages we all have gone through. From learning our shapes and colors, to getting our first kiss in middle school, or how about explaining to our parents why we skipped school because the principal called home. As we remember these days, things that we've done will be with us forever. But this is only the start of our journey. The day has come where we say goodbye to the big yellow buses, assemblies, assigned seating, and attendance policies. Are you really gonna miss it? For some of us maybe not right away. But eventually we will so for us to be here it is not necessarily an achievement, but a privilege. All of us have been in school over half our lives. To graduate is one more step we've taken in our lives.
Hard work just didn’t start my senior year, it actually started the first day walked into my freshman class. My teachers always told me that my freshman year would determine my senior rank. I went above and beyond on all my work that was given. My whole freshman year I
Life before graduation was a struggle for me. I lived in a home that seemed to bring me nothing but pain and anger. I watched someone close to me die little by little every day. I did not live a normal childhood because I was a little girl who thought taking care of the grown up was my responsibility. I carried someone else's burden for so long, I lost track of my own life. My battles gave me a side of strength and pushed me to be the better person that I am today. Through all of it I moved forward until my purpose was succeeded. It was my junior year and I had started a ne...
Before I knew it school was almost over, it was a time for graduation and all the things that come with it. We were swept up in appointments for pictures, cap and gown fittings, and then there were the Awards. I dreaded it, I wasn’t expecting anything, when all of a sudden my name was called! I was awarded the Algebra II award, Completers Award, and a full scholarship to National Park Community College! My parents were so proud and excited! My short walk across the stage ended my years at Jessieville and was a new beginning coming into
Graduation: the last day that I would unwillingly set foot on the fields of Horizon High School. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest, and tried so hard to keep my feet moving one after the other in order to maintain my perfect stature. After the two hour wait of opening speeches, class songs, and the calling off of the five hundred plus names that were in front of me, it was finally my turn. As my row stood up and we walked towards the stage it had set in at last, this is it, I am done. My high school career ended on that night, but it didn’t close the book that is my life, it only started a new chapter, and with it came a whole slue of uncertainties.
Having spent twelve years of my school life in just one small red brick building, the years tend to fade into each other. But the year I remember most clearly and significantly is my senior year of high school, where I finally began to appreciate what this institution offered to any student who stopped to look. Before, school had been a chore, many times I simply did not feel motivated toward a subject enough to do the homework well, and seeing the same familiar faces around ever since I was 5 years old grew very tiring soon enough. But I began to see things from a different angle once I became a senior.