Back to School

In August I started working for an oil company in the financial reporting department. What I do is kind of a mix between accounting and financial analyst type stuff and I like it a whole lot more than auditing, which is what I was doing before. I also really like my co-workers so it’s nice to actually enjoy going to work. Plus, it’s a very family-friendly company. Three of the four people I work with directly (including both of the people I report to) have small kids and are extremely understanding and flexible about all the issues that arise with having kids. However, while I really like it for now, I don’t really see myself wanting to make a life’s career out of it. I wouldn’t say I’m passionate about it and if I’m going to have a career, I’d like it to be in something I love. (I know what you’re thinking: How is it possible for one NOT to feel passionately about the accounting field? It’s so exciting! But, there it is folks).

Anyway, all of this is a long winded way of saying that I have decided to go to nursing school. Eventually, I’d like to be either a nurse practitioner or a certified nurse-midwife. Both require a master’s degree in nursing and of course, first I’ll need the bachelor’s in nursing. With a degree in accounting, I have pretty much no science courses behind me so I also have to do prerequisites. When I first started looking into it I felt a little overwhelmed but it actually isn’t so bad. Here’s the plan:

Several schools in the area have programs for people who have an unrelated bachelor’s degree but want to make a career change into nursing. After you satisfy the prereqs, the program is only 12 months and you come out with a bachelor’s in nursing. It’s a really intense program, but that’s totally worth it to be finished in a year. Between working full-time and being a mommy, I’m only able to take a couple of prereq classes per semester but even at that I should be finished with my prereqs in a year and a half. The program I want to get into goes from May to May so I should be ready to go in May 2011 and be graduated in May 2012. I’m really excited because I think nursing will allow me to have a really great schedule for a single working mom. Plus, I think I’ll love it.

So… I’ve started taking my prereqs at a community college here. This semester I’m taking Anatomy & Physiology and Psychology. As a side note, last night in my Psych class we took tests that assessed our personalities and then determined which careers would be a good fit. According to the results of the test, the career that is the best fit for my personality type is… nursing! So I think I'm on the right track.