When The Road Isn’t Straight
by: Gabrielle Leif
As the commencement speakers slowly filtered up and away from the podium, I sat with my feet in the uncomfortably cool and dewy Oregon grass. It was June 1st, 2014, I was graduating college with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, and I was sitting behind an entire row of Nursing majors. Upon reflection, this moment was both strange and serendipitous, as it was the first moment in my life when I thought to myself, “maybe I should be a nurse.” I say strange because my mother is a Nurse Practitioner and has been for my entire life. Despite being very close with her, it never once occurred to me to consider healthcare as a career. In fact, I’m pretty sure somewhere around the age of 13 I saw a nursing magazine featuring third degree burns and wound care, immediately thought “NOPE!” and never contemplated the idea of healthcare again.
Flash forward to my college commencement and my brain suddenly wondering about nursing. It was cartoon-like: One part of me looked at the decorated caps of the nursing majors sitting in front of me and said, “Hey! Nursing! We never thought of that!” and the other half of me did a slow take, squinted, and replied, “Excuse me? Sorry. I thought you just said we should have thought of nursing.” Timing is a funny thing, isn’t it?
Well here I am, a year and a half out of undergrad and two weeks away from starting my nursing pre-requisites. Maybe round two is the charm. It’s intimidating to be on the verge of pursuing a degree that requires me to, not only take all of the subjects I struggle most in, but excel in those areas. I guess the road is not always straight and I will have to see where this new highway takes me. Updates to come!
