I wanted to pursue nursing due to a personal desire and the support I received from loved ones around me. My guardian angel and grandmother always told me “Giving back genuinely, with no expectations in return, is one of the most fulfilling acts of kindness”. My family and friends cheer me on every day to finish strong, share my experience, and help change and/or save as many lives as I can. I genuinely love helping people and want nothing more than to be able to do it for the rest of my life, this truly makes my heart smile.
I experienced an Ectopic Pregnancy and a TIA Stroke within a three-day span which pushed me back to pursuing a career in nursing. As I sat in my wheelchair, I realized that I had to keep the promise I made to my grandmother weeks before she passed when we were watching numerous healthcare workers on the news struggling to save as many lives as possible, this was when the first wave of COVID-19 began. It reignited the need within me to fight.
I am now almost completely healed with a few more months left of my journey through nursing school. I will be forever grateful for the wonderful people that were put in my life, including some rockstar nurses. They displayed compassion, encouragement, and empathy along with consistent reassurance that I would make it through this journey. It was a life-changing experience for me that I will never forget. I can only hope to be as phenomenal as they are and plan to give every patient I encounter 110% of my skills as a nurse when I finally get there.
I chose to attend Hondros College of Nursing because I love the versatile program curriculum. One aspect of this would be the program’s timeline. This allows students the option to pick either a day or weekend/evening schedule for flexibility and convenience.
If you are a person who is willing to do what it takes each day to learn the material to become a nurse, I would say go for it! I am a firm believer that "The only way you can fail in life, is if you stop trying". Nursing is not an easy field, but the reward of knowing you are making a difference in countless people's lives is priceless.
Ruby McKinney is a student in the Associate Degree in Nursing Practical Nursing Program at our West Chester campus.