Why Nursing?

If you know me at all, you know that ever since I was little I talked about becoming a teacher. I came home after school every day and played teacher; I created powerpoints, wrote on a marker board, and taught my "class." There was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a teacher, and I couldn't wait. I was the one who had countless boards on Pinterest for my future classroom and teaching career. I graduated high school in May and started college in the fall and began my journey to becoming a teacher. I hated it-the classes didn't interest me, I hated school, I wasn't doing great in my classes as far as grades went because I wasn't interested, I didn't like it, and couldn't find the motivation to study and do well. The thought of having my own classroom didn't make me excited anymore. (Let me put this out there real quick though: I have nothing but utmost respect for teachers. I had some very special, wonderful teachers throughout my 13 years in school and I have nothing but respect for them. Teaching is a very underpaid job that doesn't get the praise, admiration, respect, and gratefulness that it deserves. I just realized that I was not cut out to be a teacher.) I realized teaching was not for me. I was shocked, confused, and afraid, because for 18 years I had wanted nothing more than to become a teacher, I knew that was what I wanted to do, until it wasn't anymore. I honestly didn't know what to do. I was working at a bank and thought about getting a full-time job there, but didn't want to not get some kind of degree, and the more I thought about it, banking just wasn't something I could see myself wanting to do for the rest of my life. I was honestly hoping God would send me a husband so we could get married and have kids and me just be a stay at home mom because I seriously had no idea what I was going to do. Haha! (Kinda glad God saw the bigger picture and showed it to me in my time of fear and uncertainty! I was not ready to just be a wife and mom just yet! haha!) So I decided to shadow some people and see if I could figure out what I wanted to do. So first, I decided to shadow a nurse and just see where that would take me. Anytime I visited a hospital I quietly thought about how cool it would be to be a nurse, but always pushed the thought away because, hello, I was going to be a teacher. But, I did it. I scheduled a date to shadow a nurse at one of the local hospitals and I shadowed her for a day. I absolutely fell in love with nursing. Nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming "this is it" moment I would have. That day, I was able to witness a birth and it was the most amazing thing. Caring for patients is amazing and gives you such a feeling of accomplishment, but nothing is more amazing that caring for a newborn baby in his first few seconds/minutes/hours of his life. It's truly amazing. After that day, I knew. This is it.

And ever since I've begun nursing school, I've loved it. It's amazing to learn about the human body and how to care for others in their time of need. As a nurse, I will get to be that calming reassurance to my patients. I will get to be a comforter to a family who is fearing what will happen to their loved one and if they will be okay. I will get to rejoice with patients during some of the most joyous moments of their life. I will get to comfort patients and families during some of the most difficult and trying times in their life.

I'm super excited about becoming a nurse! I can't wait and I am so excited to finally know what I'm going to get to do for the rest of my life. This is it.

"When you are a nurse, you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours."