Stories

“Going back to nursing school was a huge leap for me. I was fearful at the beginning because it had been so long since I had been in school. I had my children young and I waited until they got bigger and a little bit more self-sufficient. It was definitely always a plan of mine to go back to school, so when I felt like my kids were old enough, it was my turn to do this for me. I was a bit nervous going in, but at Texas County one of their mottos is something like ‘there’s always someone there to help’, and there really is.

Whenever I came in and talked with Clarice, in the beginning I was questioning my age. I’m 40 years old, and the girls I saw around me were in their mid twenties. I looked at Clarice and said ‘I don’t know, maybe this isn’t the right decision for me. Maybe I’m biting off a little bit more than I can chew.’ And she laughed and said ‘Absolutely not. We graduated a woman that was 65 years old a few years ago. We need nurses of every age. Not only do we need young nurses, but we need nurses with some life experience. You’re still in the prime of your life.’ And when I left I just thought you know what she’s right, but it is a little scary.

“My first class was Anatomy and I thought ‘Oh no. This is the biggest heaviest book I’ve ever seen.’ And the whole time I was questioning how I was going to do this. But Coach Gray has got to be one of the best teachers I have had in my entire life. He is a combination of the really cool teacher and one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. Anybody who can act out an Anatomy class has got to be so smart! I mean, I don’t know if there was ever a question about the body that he didn’t know the answer to. In lab, I would see him sit with students individually if they were struggling, and he would explain the entire system we were working on from the beginning to the end. If it took 30 minutes then it took 30 minutes. He was always so patient with his students and wanted to make sure they all understood the material.

I was a bit nervous going in, but at Texas County one of their mottos is something like 'there’s always someone there to help', and there really is.

We were a small class at TCTC, so we got to know each other and how we all worked. The instructors got to know us, and the more they got to know us the more they knew what would and would not benefit us. They knew what we needed to work on and what we had mastered. Each and every one of those teachers truly cared about what was going on with their students. I grew tremendously as a person, mentally, emotionally, intellectually in nursing school. I realized that out in the workforce I could handle a lot more than I ever thought I would be able to as far as knowledge, stress, and endurance. TCTC just gave me that confidence.”