My College Journey to Nursing School

Everyone’s timeline is different, especially in your 20s! I feel like this is especially true when it comes to nursing school. Some people in my class are in their 30’s and 40’s while others are just barely out of high school. Everyone comes from a different background and many have worked in healthcare already. I wanted to share my pre-nursing experience and my college journey to nursing school! It was a long one for me (6 years in the making). Although I have now graduated with my BSN, I wanted to share my experience because many of my readers are pre-nursing. If you’re hoping to become a nurse, I hope this post shows you that the path to becoming a nurse if not always linear and is different for everyone.

My College Journey to Nursing School

2014- 2016: Dual Enrollment at a Community College

In 2014 I was a junior in high school but also started a dual enrollment program at my local community college. This dual enrollment program allowed me to go to college full time and graduate with my AA degree when I graduated high school. I am so thankful that my state offers this and that I took advantage of it because it saved me a lot of money and time. It also gave me the freedom to work a lot more than I would have otherwise and save up by working at a daycare and babysitting to be able to pay for my time at a university!

2016 Fall Semester: Attended Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV)

During my dual enrollment, I took almost exclusively general education classes. This is because I had to also complete my high school requirements, so I didn’t have a lot of freedom as to what my classes would be. Because of this, I would have to complete 3 more years before I got my Bachelor of Science in Biology.

At WSUV I took my general chemistry and general biology classes as well as statistics and ecology. During the fall I was really set on going on to become a Physician Assistant, Doctor, or Nurse Practitioner. I’ve always wanted to go into patient care and the medical field.

2017: Winter Semester: WSU Vancouver

Even though I was getting good grades, I was having a little bit of an existential crisis. I’d never considered any other career than healthcare since I was in 5th grade but I wasn’t sure it would support the life I wanted. At this point in my schooling, I was sent on being a doctor or PA. I spent all my hours volunteering, participating in research, studying, and above all STRESSING. I also didn’t want to spend my 20’s in rigorous schooling and have less time with my family in the future. But by the end of the year, I was more set on graduating with my BS in Biology and then applying to an accelerated program to get my Bachelor of Science in Nursing in just 16 months.

When I finished the year I was suffering from major burnout and financial stress. I was so scared of being in debt and I spent all my savings on just one year of school. On top of that, my car had died and I needed to buy a new one. I would have needed to take out $20,ooo in student loans to finish my degree before spending more money on an accelerated nursing degree. I knew I didn’t want to do anything with a BS in Biology so I decided to take a break.

2017- 2018: GAP YEAR!

I was burnt out and stressed about money and my future so I took a gap year. I joined a trail crew in the Olympic National Park with Americorps hoping to gain a break, build my savings, AND get a scholarship for at least another year of school. It was much harder than I expected, but still one of the coolest experiences that I’ve had.

Hurricane Recovery

Honestly, my Americorps experience deserves a post all on it’s own because it’s A LOT.

My first day of the job I was sent to Puerto Rico to assist with hurricane recovery after Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma hit. It refueled my desire to go into nursing. I wanted to help in a way that I wasn’t trained to be able to. I could help at the FEMA headquarters and with chainsawing and debris removal. It was an emotionally tolling time because Puerto Rico wasn’t getting the help it needed and it was frustrating to see the damage and know that I couldn’t help in the way I wanted to. After my time in Puerto Rico, I was sent to St. Thomas in the USVI to help with Hurricane Recovery again, which was also a rewarding experience. In the USVI we gutted moldy houses and sanitized them. I felt like I was actually contributing to something helpful.

Americorps in WA

In January I began my time back in Seattle (much different than the ONP trail maintenance I expected to be on). We were on a contract with Seatac pulling invasive blackberry bushes and planting native trees for about a month. When we returned to the ONP we worked on trails and campsites and it was HARD work. Hurricane recovery was the hardest physical and emotional work I’ve ever done in my life. But, I felt like I had a purpose. I wasn’t feeling that same purpose in the ONP and I was struggling. I left my Americorps term 3-4 months early and went back to hurricane recovery as a volunteer.

Volunteering with All Hands and Hearts

I had worked with All Hands and Hearts in St. Thomas and this time I volunteered with them in Texas. I helped with the relief from Hurricane Harvey in Corpus Christie and this time was rebuilding houses. I stayed for a month but the emotional toll of everything that I was exposed to during this year was really getting to me.

Backpacking in Europe

I returned to Washington again and stayed with my friend, Lexus, in Seattle before my already-planned trip to Europe. In July I flew to Europe where I backpacked for a month to 13 different countries. It was an amazing experience and by the time I got back, I was ready to take classes again and for some stability in my life.

2018- 2019: Working and Part-Time School

Initially, when I returned from Europe, I wanted to do Ultrasound Tech or Dental Hygiene (glad I didn’t go into that!). I think I felt like nursing was too high of a goal for me to achieve after taking a break and so I didn’t really think about it. I started back at school going part-time. I took Anatomy and Physiology while working for 3 quarters, and then I took Psychology and Microbiology. These were all program prerequisites for Dental Hygiene, Ultrasound Tech, and Nursing (thankfully!).

I decided I hadn’t wanted to do Ultrasound tech because there weren’t many programs in my state and I would have to move to Spokane. I wasn’t really excited about dental hygiene and it was just kind of an easy program to get into because the college I was attending offered it and it wasn’t as competitive.

When I took psychology we went over some of the careers that you can do with a degree in psych and we went over nursing. It sparked my interest in nursing again and I realized that I had all the classes I needed to apply to the nursing program at the community college I had been going to.

2020: Applying (and getting accepted) to Nursing School!

I decided I was going to apply to Nursing school in December 2019 and applied to Nursing School in April 2020! I was accepted in June 2020. Coming back to school in 2018- 2019 I was able to work while attending school and because I was only going to school part-time I could pay for it in full on a payment plan each quarter.

September 2021 – September 2023

I started and completed a 2-year ADN nursing program. After completing the ADN program at a community college, I transferred back to Washington State University Vancouver and completed the 1 year ADN to BSN bridge program. Fortunately by going to a community college part-time while working full-time before my program started, I was able to save enough to get by during my program. I also applied for scholarships and grants (a few of which I received), which helped to cover the cost of tuition and books during my program. I graduated with my BSN 100% debt-free (even though it took a few extra years).

That was My College Journey to Nursing!

Again, everyone’s path through college or into nursing is different. Some know exactly what they want to do and directly enter into a BSN program from high school. Others start nursing as a second (or even third!) career. If you’re feeling discouraged because of the time that it has taken to complete prerequisites and go through nursing school, just know that it is completely worth it in the end.

I have posted much of my journey throughout nursing school here on the blog. If you’re interested in more nursing-related posts, be sure to check out my quarterly recaps for what to expect in nursing school, or some of the other posts below:

• How to Get into Nursing School
• Tips for Pre-Nursing Students
• How I Study in Nursing School
• 10 Non-Bedside New Grad Nursing Jobs

For more on my nursing journey, you can like my Facebook page here, or follow my Instagram @maddie_deer here!

Thanks for reading my college journey to nursing school! Are you in pre-nursing or nursing? Let me know how your experience has been so far in the comments below!