To be completely honest, becoming a nurse was never in the cards for me growing up. I was the "used-to-be-smart" kid, if that makes sense. I stuck to what I knew, like music and theatre. I never saw this path for myself, but when I took a security job at a psychiatric hospital, everything started to shift. I met so many nurses from all walks of life who spoke life into me and showed me that becoming a nurse was possible.
Where I worked also played a big part in pushing me forward. I interacted daily with behavioral health patients who looked just like me, my family members, and my friends. Working in a facility with limited resources and less empathy than our sister building in another city, I saw firsthand how advocacy can make all the difference for a patient. I wanted to be a voice for people who couldn't speak up or were afraid to. I learned that you can be one paycheck, one bad moment, or one heartbreak away from ending up in a hospital just like that. It made me ask myself, "How would I want to be cared for if this were me?" So here I am, taking a step toward not only making my life better, but also making a difference in someone else's.
Why Hondros? First, I need to give a big shoutout to my brother, John. He was the first person to look at me and say, "Hey buddy, you'd make a great nurse." I also have a cousin who attended Hondros College of Nursing several years ago and graduated from the Toledo campus. While researching nursing programs, I learned that Hondros offered the focused, challenging program I was looking for. It checked all the boxes, so I went for it!
To make this happen, I had to be willing to let go of anything that wasn't helping me succeed. You have to fit your life around nursing school, not nursing school around your life. I had to tell myself, "This is it," which I admit is a bit extreme, but it worked for me. I've lost friends, and I lost my job at the psychiatric hospital the day before my last final of Term 1. It was devastating at first, but God came through for me, and I found a job providing direct care to behavioral health patients in an adult foster care home. My boss saw I was a nursing student and created an amazing schedule that allows me to work while paying for school.
Make sure you're 110% sure that nursing is what you want to do. Once you enroll, nursing school becomes your life. It's going to be worth it, and it's going to fly by. It feels like yesterday was the first day of my first quarter, and now I'm about to complete my third term. It's been a great experience. Make sure you set yourself up for success and find your people. I'm not going to lie; I wouldn't have made it this far without my support team here, shoutout to my girls. Also, don't be discouraged if you fall short in some areas, including having to repeat a course. Remember, even if you take a step backward after moving forward, it's all part of the dance. So, keep dancing.
—Joseph Morris III is a Practical Nursing student at the Bingham Farms campus.