Questions answered
A couple weeks ago,
blt4success66asked me a few questions about my former and future career choices and how I made the decision to pursue Nursing. It's taken me some time to answer them, but here they are, (just in time to get ready to head off to Ptown ):
For years I was in office administration. When I first moved to SF I spent 7 years at a container cargo ship line, in Documentation and Customer Service, and ending up as Asst Traffic Mgr, before they decided to consolidate their West Coast operations in Boise. (Don’t ask why…ugh). After that I started to work for a family-owned general contractor - receptionist, then bookkeeper, and finally Office Manager. That was the job I held when I decided to go back to school full-time and pursue Nursing.
2. How did you settle on this career choice?
Well, I’d been itching to do something that actually helped others, rather than spending all my energy at a job that basically helped wealthy people increase the values of their homes. I was training for the AIDS Marathon, and more than one of my training group were nurses. They talked about their work often. Then when I got to Honolulu to run the Marathon, I was surrounded by nurses - as part of the staff, as volunteers, and as other runners. I spent a week there by myself (my partner at the time stayed home due to financial reasons), and I had a lot of time on the beach to think about my life and what I wanted to do. I started to test the waters by talking to the nurses who were around me that week. Their response was positive - and pretty much unanimous - “Please do it - we need you!!”. So I got back home, looked more into it, talked more with friends and family, who all had the same response, “Oh my god! That’s perfect for you!”
3. Was this a natural progression from what you were doing in the past or is this something that goes in the opposite direction?
I don’t really see it as a natural progression of what I was doing before, but it's also not entirely the opposite direction. It’s more a culmination of a lifetime of gathering different skills. I’ve got a deep well of patience, I become very calm and focused when under stress/pressure, I love helping people, I love leaning how things work and how to fix things. My family has a history of nursing as well, so it feels like a natural choice, but from the outside one would not see a natural progression to where I am today. But I know I am on the right path and doing what I should be.
blt4success66asked me a few questions about my former and future career choices and how I made the decision to pursue Nursing. It's taken me some time to answer them, but here they are, (just in time to get ready to head off to Ptown ):
- What did you do previous to attending school?
For years I was in office administration. When I first moved to SF I spent 7 years at a container cargo ship line, in Documentation and Customer Service, and ending up as Asst Traffic Mgr, before they decided to consolidate their West Coast operations in Boise. (Don’t ask why…ugh). After that I started to work for a family-owned general contractor - receptionist, then bookkeeper, and finally Office Manager. That was the job I held when I decided to go back to school full-time and pursue Nursing.
2. How did you settle on this career choice?
Well, I’d been itching to do something that actually helped others, rather than spending all my energy at a job that basically helped wealthy people increase the values of their homes. I was training for the AIDS Marathon, and more than one of my training group were nurses. They talked about their work often. Then when I got to Honolulu to run the Marathon, I was surrounded by nurses - as part of the staff, as volunteers, and as other runners. I spent a week there by myself (my partner at the time stayed home due to financial reasons), and I had a lot of time on the beach to think about my life and what I wanted to do. I started to test the waters by talking to the nurses who were around me that week. Their response was positive - and pretty much unanimous - “Please do it - we need you!!”. So I got back home, looked more into it, talked more with friends and family, who all had the same response, “Oh my god! That’s perfect for you!”
3. Was this a natural progression from what you were doing in the past or is this something that goes in the opposite direction?
I don’t really see it as a natural progression of what I was doing before, but it's also not entirely the opposite direction. It’s more a culmination of a lifetime of gathering different skills. I’ve got a deep well of patience, I become very calm and focused when under stress/pressure, I love helping people, I love leaning how things work and how to fix things. My family has a history of nursing as well, so it feels like a natural choice, but from the outside one would not see a natural progression to where I am today. But I know I am on the right path and doing what I should be.