Nursing School Saga

I've been thinking about writing a post on my nursing school adventure for oh, a good year now, and now that I'm actually finished with school, I have a few free minutes to do so.  I know this is mostly a family blog, but this going back to school adventure was one of the biggest decisions our little family has made, so I think it's important to document.  Also, it's a very important journey for me, as it's one of the first big leaps of faith I've taken in my life.  Following what I believe God called me to do, and, as you'll see, His divine timing and work is woven all through this story, so as I've continued out in faith, I have no doubt this is where I'm supposed to be.

I know the leap from advertising to nursing doesn't always seem to make sense to people, and sometimes it's  even hard for me to explain, but I'll try.  I started working as an account executive at an ad agency in downtown Indianapolis right after I graduated from DePauw in 2007.  For the first few years, I LOVED my job.  I loved the crazy hours and the crazy demands and worked like crazy to make my way up in the company.  However, after about 2 years or so, something shifted.  My boss that I adored left (Laurie F. if you ever read this that was you :) and I got a new one that I just didn't jive with.  Dave was home from traveling for a year for his job, and I was missing tons of time with him because of work.  I also started thinking ahead into my future and I just could NOT imagine the rest of my life being filled with significant stress over getting a print ad to the pub by 5:00 p.m.  So, I started to think about what I really wanted to do, and what I feasibly could do at that point in my life.  I toyed with the idea of grad school in Clinical or Counseling psychology, as my degree from DePauw is in psych.  I even met with old professors and the admissions departments at several schools to discuss that option, but never felt super passionate about it.

I cannot even tell you where the idea to become a nurse really even came from originally, except that once I had it, it would not let go of me.  The initial inspiration I can most remember happened when Dave had a several day stay at St. Vincent after an appendectomy in early 2010.  I remember going back and forth from our house to St. Vincent to see him and every time I left just thinking about how much I loved the feeling of being in a hospital.  There is a certain vibe in the air being in a place with such a great purpose of healing and saving lives, and I just loved it.  Then, on one of my last trips home, I heard a commercial for Marian's new Accelerated Nursing program on the radio, and it just clicked.  That's what I needed to do.  So, I scheduled an appointment with them the next month, and met with an adviser to learn more about the program.  I left that meeting slightly disheartened and stressed out.  The program was SO expensive and I needed a lot of prereqs to get in.  I was overwhelmed and wasn't sure how I could ever make it happen.  Might I add this was all during planning Dave and I's wedding that spring...so I may not have been in a totally sane state of mind.

The idea really came back at me that Christmas season of 2010...I had been thinking about it and praying about it and mentioning it to Dave, but hadn't really done anything else with it.  My friend Megan and I had a long late night conversation on our drive home from Florida that fall, about our fears of making a big life change, going back to school, etc. we encouraged each other to both follow our dream of doing what we loved, and I think it was a big encouragement for both of us (might I add that Megan went back to school as well and got her MBA, finishing classes last summer with a TWO WEEK OLD).  But even after that additional support, I finally got to work figuring out a plan on my last day off of two weeks off of work, in true last minute Kara fashion.  

    Florida Trip - 2010

I researched other accelerated nursing programs, BSN and ASN options, costs, requirements etc.  I landed on IUPUI's accelerated BSN program.  I needed just 4 pre-reqs or so to apply, and the cost was half of what Marian's was.  Then, I checked and had to sign up by the NEXT day to be able to take the pre-reqs in the required order (Anatomy, then Physiology) for admission - or, they wouldn't offer them again in the right sequence until the next year.  Yikes.  Dave and I had a huge talk that night about how we would handle this financially, was this a good idea?, did I have any business taking on this huge investment of time and money?  And as always, Dave was incredibly and truly supportive of this endeavor, especially considering most of the money spent on my classes was his hard earned salary (we all know Publicis was not a money-maker for me :).

So over the next few weeks, I met with the IU School of Nursing, signed up for classes at IUPUI and Ivy Tech (many of their classes were cheaper, offered online, and transferred back to IUPUI for credit), and went back to school while working.  My first pre-req was Anatomy, taught on Saturday mornings, followed by a 4 hour lab Saturday afternoons for that whole spring semester.  I also took Microbiology online.  Going back to school after being out for four years was most certainly a culture shock.  I studied an insane amount, more than I ever did at DePauw, and made it out alive.  I took a few more pre-reqs that summer online, and finished with Physiology that fall.  

Us in 2011 - No kids, and no idea what we were getting ourselves into!

At that point, we found out we were going to have Luke the next summer (of 2012) so I knew I would continue to work through my maternity leave and then apply for admission to IUPUI to start in January of 2013.  I took a few more easy classes that spring to boost my application GPA for IUPUI as well.  Their program is highly competitive with three applications for each available spot, and it was strictly GPA based, so I wanted mine to me as high as possible.  I finished those classes in the spring, got my application ready, and turned it in to IUPUI the week before Luke was born.  I would not find out until November if I was admitted or not, so that certainly caused some anxiety with Dave and I as we tried to plan ahead for childcare arrangements, going back to work etc, without having any idea if I would get into the program or not.  But, I LOVED my maternity leave and spending time with my sweet little guy, and began to get more and more anxious as the time to go back to work got closer.

Cute baby pic to keep you entertained :)

As most of you know, Luke had some health issues as a baby, which caused me to really dread the thought of leaving him with another caregiver.  So, again, at the 11th hour, the week before I was to go back to work, Dave and I talked about any other options we had: I could quit my job and stay home and hope I got into school, especially since daycare was so expensive and I wasn't making a ton of money, I could explore other nursing options - Marian's was mostly online so maybe I could stay with Luke and go to school, I could ask my work if I could work from home, etc.  So I set up meetings with Publicis and Marian at Dave's suggestion to see what we could figure out.  

The conversation with Publicis could not have gone better.  Though I have many grievances about that place, my boss and HR could not have been kinder or more supportive of the situation I was in with Luke, and extended me an offer to work just over part time from home (21 hours a week) and KEEP MY BENEFITS through the end of the year.  This additional income and ability to keep my insurance was an unbelievable blessing as Dave's job had benefits that were not good, and we had a sick baby with lots of needs.  This was the first truly visible and incredible blessing from God and opened a lot of doors for us.  

Then, I met with Marian to learn more about their program and found that it had many incredible benefits as well.  It was four months shorter than IUPUI's program, the coursework was all online except for tests, and serious clinical hours didn't start until March, giving us a few months to find childcare and make sure Luke was healthy.  I told my adviser that my goal was to start that January, and she let me know I needed one additional chemistry class for admission, but that they offered it in an 8 week online format that I could sign up for again, BY THE NEXT DAY.  So after lots of conversation, thought and prayers (that night), Dave and I decided that though Marian was more expensive, it was the right choice for our family at this point.  And, since we didn't have to pay for childcare, the total financial investment nearly evened out in the end. I rushed around the city getting transcripts, sent an unbelievable amount of emails, stalked DePauw to rush my transcript request and finally confirmed I was enrolled in the class by the end of the next afternoon.  

Then, later that week I spent an entire day filling all the other requirements I needed to get my actual nursing school application in on time:  CPR certification, a background check, physical, blood draws, physician signatures, etc. That was the day after Luke had a sleep study conducted at St. Vincent.  It was October 15th.  Later that night, during my CPR class, I got a call from the ENT letting me know we needed to come into the ER the next morning and that Luke would likely need surgery to correct his airway.  What?  Could more things be happening at the same time????  We were in the hospital for a week, where I worked and looked at Chemistry lectures while taking care of Luke.  Praise God it all ended up wonderfully in the end and we have a healthy, sweet boy.  But, I digress.

Luke the day of surgery on the vent - NOT how you want to see your kiddo

So, the next month we found out that I did in fact get into IUPUI's program, so we had several final conversations confirming that Marian was the right choice for us, and in the end we both had a great sense of peace about the decision.  So, I started school on January 14, 2013, and had my last day at Publicis on January 15.  It was a very amicable parting, they were willing to let me continue working part-time, but needed me in the office a couple days a week, and I just couldn't commit to that.  

So I went to school, took care of Luke and studied my ass off.  Dave was traveling about 90% of the time at this point, working on a big project in Minnesota, so it was a lonely, challenging time for me.  I was thrilled to be finally doing something I loved, but struggled to try and maintain everything, and do it all well.  My dad was working from home at the time, so he watched Luke for all of my tests, we found a great in-home babysitter who was incredibly flexible and affordable to watch him when my clinicals started and then Dave's mom was set to retire at the end of the school year and was willing to watch Luke during my clinicals.  My neighbors were also SAVIORS for me during this time.  Filling in last minute child-care gaps, offering to watch Luke so I could study, inviting me over for dinner since I was home alone.  I firmly believe all of these situations were divinely crafted by God to help me get through this.  I literally could NOT have done everything without the incredible amount of help I had from SO MANY people.

So school went on, and because of Marian's commitment to flexibility in adult learning, I was able to go with Dave on a trip to Australia, and several other trips that year that I would not have been able to had I chosen IUPUI.  Dave's mom was an incredible help to me through the whole process as well, especially since Dave was gone so much.  There were many times I had to drop Luke off to spend the night at her house since I had 5 a.m. clinicals and nights I had to leave him there to cram for a test the next day.  I honestly do not know what I would have done without her.  There are absolutely no day cares out there to do what she did for me, and to know that Luke was with someone who loved him as much as we do was so comforting when I had to be away from him.

Australia - Wonderful...all I have to say

Baby Luke and Grandma :)

Also, another huge gift I don't want to downplay were God's financial blessings throughout this whole process.  Since we knew I was going back to school, we had done a lot of work financially for the two years prior to put us in the best possible spot to only have one income for 16 months or more.  We paid off my car, refinanced our house, and saved as much as we possibly could.  But, we were still fearful as to how everything would work out, and if our savings would be able to get us to the end.  I cannot even begin to explain all of the things that happened and worked out in our favor financially - from well timed, unexpected bonuses from Dave's company, to significant tax refunds, to Dave's new job - which added both time together and a higher salary back into our lives...God was, and is most certainly looking out for us.  And though we sometimes are not sure how, here we are with a much smaller, but still existent savings account, making ends meet at the end of an incredible journey.

I honestly sit here with tears in my eyes as I think back on all that has happened and how many people have loved us and supported us and carried us through this journey.  I just cannot believe it's almost done, and that we made it, out on this side much stronger than we went in.  Graduation/pinning was May 7th, and was a wonderful night for all of us.  I have one more step, to take and pass my boards next week and then it's official.  RN.  Two letters I have worked harder for than anything else in my life!  I just wanted to make sure I recorded this whole story to remember and look back on in the future - and to remember to always have a grateful heart and to praise God for all his blessings on our family that got us where we are today.

Also, I cannot CANNOT enough talk about the constant support and love Dave has shown for me through this whole process.  Never once faltering, or questioning the commitment we made, listening to me for hours talk about gross nursing stuff, putting up with me pausing Grey's Anatomy to tell him what everything means, and just loving me through the really hard times.  I love you so much and could not have done this without you!

If you made it to the end of this, you rule.  Thank you for reading my ramblings and supporting my journey.  I love you all!