“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!”
Rocky Balboa/Sylvester Stallone
That’s what it’s all about.
I shake my head sometimes at the young people who pass on nursing. Never mind being a new college grad — I went into nursing at the ripe old age of 44! Did a 2nd degree program, graduated, worked in it for 5 years, and now am working on a masters in nursing.
When I suggest it to a lot of them, they just shudder and tell me they can’t stand the sight of blood or some other such thing. They could EASILY start as techs, just drawing blood and being assistants, then work their way up.
I say they are EXTREMELY stupid. Nursing pays well, and challenges you at every level. Of course, you do pay your dues cleaning up poop and various bodily fluids, running your BUTT off taking care of crazy patients — but it’s a fantastic stepping stone to management, nurse practitioner, teaching, research, pharmaceutical sales, etc. ... I have a prior degree in journalism, so I plan to combine the two skills in some way. My writing background has only helped, esp in grad school.
You HAVE to pay your dues sometimes. These damn kids DO NOT want to pay dues of any kind. Either that or they’re just too stupid now to pass the tests.