Not permanently. Just a couple of years for nursing school. Since I graduated from college in 2000, life has been a bit of a roller coaster of various lows and lowers. I've felt....unfulfilled, to put it succinctly. Then a few years ago I began working in inpatient psych as a counselor at the Menninger Clinic here in Houston (yep, I knew Eddie Griffin), and at the age of 27, I finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up: a registered nurse. The counseling gig was great and very fulfilling, but the pay sucked. Being an RN would and will allow me to do all that I've wanted: I can work as much or as little as I want, and I can live wherever I want as well. The possibilities are endless. The most important thing though is that I can be both fulfilled and make a good living at the same time, which are two things that I have never experienced in my life. Starting on 2005, I began working on all the science pre-reqs that I didn't take when I got my first undergrad. My grades are better than they've ever been at any point in my life. Funny how that works when you actually have some direction and goals to work toward. I would have loved to have attended nursing school here in Houston, but market saturation of nursing school candidates pretty much means that you've got to have a 4.0, or damn close to it, for them to consider you. Despite my good grades, they still weren't good enough for down here. I could have kept plugging away, re-taking courses to get my overall GPA up, but OU accepted me. Besides, I'll be 33 this year, and I'm eager to get on with my life. So I went out yesterday and bought an OU cap. I do feel a bit like I'm betraying my state, but that really only pertains to football games, which I don't really care all that much about anyway. I am very, very proud of myself, and also a little freaked out about being a full-time college student again, but that's all just part of the process. I'll still be in Houston until August, and I'll still be on this site, of course, but I just found out I was accepted a few days ago and wanted to let y'all know. So. Boomer Sooner, y'all.
I too have decided to become an RN just this last week. I pretty much wasted my first year of college taking pre-reqs for business which I will not need now and now I must start over. BTW is it that hard to get into nursing school here in Houston? I go to San Jac if that helps.
Not sure if it is hard to get into nursing schools. But if you get in the ratio of girls to guys is like what 20-1?
This is exactly what I am trying to get into too here in Arkansas. At Arkansas State University they have an accelerated RN program that only takes a year to do as long as you have a previous bachelor's degree, 2.5 GPA, and prerequisites and I meet all of those except the prereqs. I hope to get in next year though and plan on taking the rest of my prereqs before then. Eventually, after working in the field of course I would like to go back into the CRNA program they have here at A-State as well. Not sure how it's all going to work out but we'll see. Good luck to you in your quest!
Oklahoma gets a bad rap by Texans, but it's a cool place. I like Tulsa better than OKC though. The funny thing is you'll be surrounded by Texans, you'll feel like you're in Texas.
You couldn't pay me enough to live in that piece of red dirt that the government basically gave away.
It depends on several factors: 1) Your grades. How good are they? 2) Are you working toward 2-year RN or 4-year RN? 3) Are you a male? If so, you're a minority. It was in the nursing school process that someone first called my white, blonde-haired-blue-eyed ass a minority simply because I'm a male. For me, I graduated with something like a 2.7 GPA the first time around. That's what really hurt my chances down here. All those C's I collected 10 years ago really came back to haunt me in the nursing school process. I re-took what I could and took what I still needed re: pre-reqs, and applied where I thought I had the best chances of acceptance. If you're young and haven't gotten too far into the core classes I wouldn't worry too much. Just get the best grades you possibly can. And don't listen to what anyone tells you: whether you go to community college for a 2-year RN or a university for a 4-year BSN, you're still an RN. A 2-year RN can go to UT here in Houston and get the BSN and MSN as the same time if that matters to you.
Also -- It gets even better in the redneck department: I'll be in SW Oklahoma....in Lawton. Its a satellite campus of OU at Cameron University. Some of you may remember when I enlisted after 9/11....I went to Ft. Sill in Lawton for basic training. So....yes, its a smaller town than Tulsa or OKC, but a major military base goes a long way for stuff to do, quality of life, etc. I got my first undergrad out in Abilene, so the terrain certainly won't be any shock.
Wow.....last week I didn't know what the Menninger clinic was, and in about five minutes I'm heading over there to visit someone. Anyway, I picked on my nephew unmercifully when he went to OU (although he wasn't really a Texan----he's from Dallas), but I have to say: when I visited him for his graduation, I became enamored with Norman. I think you'll really enjoy it there. A really nice little town--just don't become a Sonics fan, and you'll be okay.
