First Day of School (again)

I woke up in anticipation of a great day on Monday morning.  The first day of school loomed before me with promise of a brand new direction, and the knowledge my classmates would be attending the same classes with me for the next two years. No doubt I will likely make some lifelong friends among this group. And the thought of being unemployed for the first time since I was 15 was weighing heavily on me.

Class started at 1 pm, leaving me an entire morning to take care of errands. I stopped by the bookstore to purchase one last textbook and a kit of medical supplies. That took less than an hour. I filled the remainder of the morning with pursuit of part time employment to assuage my earlier concerns.

I found myself at Publix in front of the employment kiosk by the exit door. I completed an application while customers exited behind me with their purchases. Upon finishing,the screen declared me to be a "Preferred Applicant" and suggested I report to the customer service desk. I did, my name and number was taken, and I was assured it would be passed to the store manager. And yes, the young girl behind the counter told me they were hiring as their college students had gone back to school. Ironic, I too am a college student!

On to Starbucks to introduce myself to the manager. They were hiring as well (same situation) and had  several positions open. As a matter of fact, they called after I left to schedule an interview - so excited!

I headed to campus for my first class: Introduction to Nursing.  I heard students become like family after spending so much time together. I was pleased to find not everyone was a recent high school grad and there appeared to be quite a range of ages. And much to my surprise, one seemed to be in her early 60s and promised to be the "crazy aunt" of our little family. The three instructors seemed very welcoming and friendly, and genuinely excited to have us. We had a lot of material to cover, and orientation filled the entire three hours. I left with a load of reading to accomplish, and a lot to think about.

All in all, a very successful first day of school.

Imagining Your Future

In my early twenties I imagined my future: successful businesswoman, happily married, world traveler, no kids..... Things don't always turn out like you imagine. Luckily for me they turned out way better!

• Happily married? Check! I was fortunate to have a wonderful partner in Scott Whitmire for seven happy years.
• Successful businesswoman?  Not exactly what I imagined, but I had an exciting 25 year career at a software company where I was privileged to make some great friends and had multiple opportunites to learn and grow in different jobs.
• World traveler? Hmmm. Been to Mexico, Germany and Turks and Caicos Islands so I say that definitely counts as a start.
• No kids? Was I ever wrong there, definitely changed my mind and Scott and I had a handsome, sweet son named Kyle.

Did I ever imagine that I'd decide to change careers and go back to school at almost 50? NOPE! But here I am! I've taken a few evening classes part time at night the past year, and have been accepted into the ADN (Assoc Degree of Nursing) program. I start school as a full time student 8/15/11 and made the difficult decision to leave my job in order to do so. 

Am I crazy to leave a good job in this economy? Many would say yes. Part of me is terrified to leave the security and benefits that employment offers, and part is pretty excited to be stepping out into a new endeavor. But, as they say "nothing ventured, nothing gained".

I'm sure I can count on it to be challenging, and hopefully a lot of fun as well! I thought a blog would be a great way to document my journey and provide a little insight to what it's like to be an "older student".