Choosing a career path: whose choice is it?
Q. After I read your column last week, I thought, I’m just the opposite. I want to go to college, but it seems everyone is against me going. My school guidance counselor says I’m not “college material.” My mom says there’s no way she’s going into debt for a college degree I won’t even use. Maybe she’s right. The idea of going to school for four more years after high school is intimidating. My grandpap and my dad do construction and they expect me to do it too. I don’t mind working with them, but that’s not what I want. I want to be a nurse. Dad says I’ll make three times as much in construction and maybe he’s right, but I want to help people. My family is against me going into nursing because I’m a guy too. I told them there are plenty of male nurses but they’re not listening to me. Should I push this? I love my family and I don’t want to hurt them, but this is my life. – 17-year-old
Mary Jo’s Response: Yes. It is your life.
I received many responses to my last week’s column. Most affirmed the college student’s desire to leave school at the end of the semester. Yours was the only personal response from a young person; you deserve the best answer I can give.
I have three areas of concern: The first deals with gender. There was a time when almost all nurses were female. I graduated as a nurse in 1970 and there was one male student in my class. Times change, in this case, for the better. Nursing is a wonderful profession – I love being one. Gender should not hold you back from following your dream and becoming a nurse.
The second deals with your time commitment to become a nurse. There are three common paths. You could attend a four-year college and earn a BSN. A shorter course of study would be attending a community college or other associate degree program to earn an ADN or go to a hospital school of nursing. These programs are shorter and less expensive than a four-year college and focus only on nursing. All these programs prepare a student to take the nursing licensing exam. An RN (registered nurse) can work in any area where nurses are hired. It is also possible to go back to school after receiving a diploma RN or ADN and obtain a BSN. Many hospitals pay for tuition when an employee attends college classes.
Finally, let’s talk about your self-worth. You deserve the path you select. You are worthy of your dreams. Although it may be difficult, I believe you need to communicate with your family and at school. Tell your guidance counselor your choice is yours and you need support to find scholarships and with financial aid and admissions. Share your love for your family with them. Explain that, even though you respect your grandpap and dad’s work, it is not for you.
You have time to make this choice, but you should begin planning now. Keep your grades up. Shadow nurses in different types of work. I can help arrange these experiences. Begin exploring schools. Make goals and stick with them. You can make this happen. Good luck. We need quality, dedicated nurses!
Have a question? Send it to Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski’s email podmj@healthyteens.com.