Going Back to School: Adult Edition
A little more than two years ago, shortly after adopting a child and shortly after my husband left for his third deployment (and yes, those two things did unfortunately happen within weeks of each other), we got this crazy idea about me going back to school. Registered nurses are always in need, but the demand for nurse practitioners was rapidly rising and would create a lot more opportunity and choices in our family’s future. Plus, we’ve got five kids to put through college!
There were a lot of reasons that factored in to the decision to start school sooner rather than later, and the truth is, good timing has never been my forte anyway. There is now and there is later, and when it comes to things like folding the laundry, I may be the queen of the procrastinators, but when it comes to life altering decisions, I’m more of a leap-before-you-look kind of gal.
Five kids, a deployment, a cross-country move, and some grad school on top? Why not?!
I found an online family nurse practitioner program through a prestigious and well-known university. The need to be legit crossed paths with the need to be flexible, and I knew I found the school for me. I submitted my application, and the rest, as they say, is history.
It’s been a long, long couple of years. It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of wondering if I was ever going to make it to the end. It was a lot of lost sleep, saying no to fun things I would rather do, and I can’t even tell you what’s on television anymore because it has been so long since I watched any. I even gave up Facebook for the last six months of my program because it was too distracting!
Many times it seemed too difficult, and even more times than that, I contemplated quitting. Probably on a weekly basis.
Now, after seven long semesters (including two summers) the end is finally in sight. I almost can’t believe it, but it can be done! So many of the things I’ve learned from being a military spouse, including resilience and fortitude, are what make us perfect candidates to go back to school and get a degree.
Have you considered going back to school? What is holding you back? What is something you’ve been putting off doing? Is it one of those personal goals that got left on the wayside somewhere while life got in the way and you figured, “I’ll get to that when I have more time”?
Well, I hate to break it to you, but you’re never really going to have that magical “more time” we are all waiting for.
There are so many more opportunities for military spouses to return to school now, especially with the increasing number of reputable online programs like mine that can work with our infamously unpredictable lives. Using part of my service member’s GI Bill benefits also increased the affordability and accessibility of this degree for me. Do you know your options for financial aid or the GI Bill?
The only guarantee you’ve got is that, if you don’t start, you won’t finish.
From where I am sitting, just days away from a master’s degree that often seemed impossibly out of reach, I have to say reaching the finish line feels pretty darn awesome.
Where would you like to be two years from now?
The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. — Lao Tzu
