My friends are all scholars from UC schools, one from Caltech, and my boyfriend is graduating with honors this week. The people I hang with are ridiculously intelligent and I admire them greatly. One is getting his PhD, another has a really fancy job, and another is studying engineering. And I’m only on my second year at a community college, studying nursing with A’s, B’s, and a couple C’s (forget USC or UCLA after those two C’s).
I feel sort of inadequate. I really look at this group as my main circle of friends. They’ve been so inclusive of me, but the reality is that they are all far more educated than I am. That shouldn’t matter so much, but sometimes I feel left out. They tell me I’m the good looker of the group and have the most charisma, and that’s my niche. My boyfriend says I have incredible empathy and kindness. But I feel like the commoner among the elite. One of my friends pushed me to sign up to double major and to get A’s so that I could go to USC and explore more options. But you know what, I tried and it just hurt my GPA and I felt lost. When I decided to just focus on the nursing, I felt like I was back on track and the future was clear.
I used to do creative stuff like photoshop, and I did graphic design for small businesses, I even have done a bit of freelance editing for actors to try and expand my repertoire. But in the end, I didn’t excel, and I just feel like I’m just your average guy who likes taking care of people and living a little more simplistically with average goals. I just want to be average old me. Never was the brightest, but always smart. Good grades, but not amazing. But a lot of appreciation for life, and a sometimes a bit creative. Always there for others, and always trying to be moral and good. Nursing just makes sense for me. I doubt they judge, but I feel like… I wish I could be like them, I suppose. Well, how do I deal with these feelings of being “less”? Is it okay to just want to be a nurse. Thanks for reading! I know this was rather long, but it was from the heart.
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Is It Okay That I Just Want To Be A Nurse?
Posted on May 9, 2012.
don’t underestimate the intellect involved in nursing. They have to triage, care for, work out what to tell the doctors, they’re responsible for ensuring doctors don’t make mistakes (yeah, really) and actually be able to look after people. More than one nurse has said that it’s becoming a minor step down from being a doctor, and some actually have said that they feel like doctors without the authority to write prescriptions etc. And a lot of nurses love their jobs. It’s one of the jobs where every day they can sleep at night knowing they’ve helped someone and they don’t have to wonder about what the point was of that day at work, if they did anything useful or whether or not they’re wasting their lives and doing nothing useful. Also, you’d be amazed at how much respect people hold for nurses. I really don’t think they’d look down on you at all. Those days where people became nurses because they weren’t good enough for anything else are long gone. I have to say it, an awful lot of people would jump to be able to study at Caltech for their nursing degree. I have nothing but respect for the workers there (admittedly I’ve only really dealt with their researchers, but still – there is a reputation and I believe I’ve found the reason for it). And anyway, even if your friends look down on you in some way, I really don’t think they’d hold it against you. It won’t just be your boyfriend saying you’re the empathetic and kind one as well as the good looking one. And truth be told, it’s handy having a nurse for a friend/relative.
Hey, there’s no such thing as JUST being a nurse! Who cares if it doesn’t require the PhD that your friends have- I would much rather have a lower paying job that only requires an undergraduate degree (and where I can make a difference in the lives of others and be happy) than have to struggle through school, accumulating debt for something that I’m not passionate about. When I tell people that I’m going into nursing, almost everyone thinks it’s really awesome because they recognize and appreciate the work that nurses do. After you have some experience in nursing, there is certainly opportunities for higher education, like gaining a masters degree, which could lead you to either becoming a nurse practitioner or a an educator. How many other jobs can you get where you are allowed into the most intimate moments of people’s lives and get to make a difference everyday? I love nursing so far, and I think it certainly a great career choice and something that would make you and you’re loved ones very proud.