My Journey to Mizzou...Part 1 The Beginnings

Well ladies and gentleman of the blogging world. It is official. I will be attending the Sinclair School of Nursing at University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri beginning this May and graduating with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing the following summer. I am really excited to be moving into the next chapter of my life....but before I do, it has been requested that I tell the story...from the beginning. So here we go!

It all began on a chilly afternoon in November..the year 1988...the place...Falls Church, VA.......wait not that beginning??? ok well then lets fast-forward. But actually not too much. Just to middle childhood I guess (child dev speak for 4-7). This was when I came to the knowledge and understanding that my grandma was a nurse. I loved to play hospital with her whenever she visited and was a nurse for Halloween several times. Even back then I thought being a nurse would be really cool. But then again I also thought high side ponytails (think Deb from Napoleon Dynamite) were cool.
Fast forward some more to the year 2003....freshman honors English with Mrs Fischer (awesome teacher btw) Our research paper that year was supposed to be about the career we wanted to pursue. I of course chose nursing, specifically pediatric oncology nursing. Chose not because I was firm in my thoughts, but definitely interested. Through this paper I came to the decision that I really wanted to be a nurse.
Fast forward a bit to my decision of where to go to college after graduation. I chose Brigham Young University, not only for the environment it would provide and the low-cost of tuition, but also for the fact that the nursing program had a fairly high reputation.

So I came out to Provo. All through freshman year I prepared to apply to the nursing program. I was really really excited to be able to study nursing with a perspective of the Gospel. The classes were hard, but I was ok with working hard. I took a 100 level class called a Preview of Nursing. This class solidified my career choice. Every week in that class, I felt sooooo strongly that I needed to become a nurse, I was often brought to tears (not saying a whole bunch seeing as I am a serious cry-baby!). But I knew this was what I needed to do.
I spent the next couple of semesters preparing and applied in Fall 2008. The email informing me that I was denied acceptance was one of the worst I have ever received all my work was for nothing. My dream seemed over.

However in the preview class I talked about earlier, my teacher mentioned that the University of Utah had an Accelerated Bachelors Program. Basically, you get a Bachelors in ANY field, and the in 12-18 months you graduate with a second Bachelors degree in nursing. (for future reference...I will call this ABSN-accelerated bachelors of science in nursing) I began at this point to investigate with these types of programs.

I also chose a different major at this time. I selected Human Development. My second semester as a freshman I was taking Physiology and Bio-Organic Chemistry, both 4 credits. I also played A LOT...till very late/early times ;) However, I NEVER missed my 8 o'clock Child Development class and got a solid A. This was kinda a sign for me...and it was the best decision I EVER made!