I believe whole heartedly that with age comes wisdom so I came to where I know I could get the best wisdom, advice, guidance.

I'm having a little dillema. I'm a couple of days away from my 23rd birthday and its making me reconsider my career choice.

My mom always wanted all her children to have an RN license as a Back up plan to whatever career choice we decide on. When I graduated HS in 2005 I enrolled in college to major in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing, however when I moved to FL on my own at 18 I ended up getting married to my boyfriend who I knew since age 17 at age 19. six months later i got pregnant with my son who is now 2.

WHen I had him I decided to listen to my mother and go for the RN because I wanted my child to have a better life than I did...Since then I have been struggling to finish due to life problems ( My mom passed away, temporary homelessness, and a miscarriage)..

Honestly the more I take the classes, the more I feel like this is'nt what I want. I find myself dreading the thought of workiing in a hospital for 12hr shifts...and no disrespect to RN's out there but I find it to be to slow for me ( because I would never do ER)...basically I'm not interested anymore.

I feel like I'm only doing it because I want to make my mom proud and it's what my family expects of me. I'm afraid to disapoint them because i've spent so much time chasing this degree.

I really want to just do my Business degree....I know that field isnt always promising...but I believe that I will excel recession or not....I have a passion for business administration and marketing...I love it ....and its my dream job...
I;ve held temporary jobs in this field and my employers have always praised my passion and abilities to do a job well done.

What's more important being happy and successful or having a back up plan?
DO you think theres a way I can do both?...

I'm really focused on trying to be finished with at least an Associates so I can start working by age 25 so that I can afford to put my son in private school when he starts..

I'm not quite golden, but I went to law school because that's what my parents wanted. Three years, thousands of dollars, all the stress of passing the bar exam, and the whole time I knew I didn't really want to do it. It was miserable and I wouldn't wish it on anybody. The thought of practicing law for the next forty years made me want to hang myself. So I got married and we started our own construction company and it turns out that I'm pretty darn good at it and I look forward to work everyday.

You're not quite 23. Do not spend every working day for the next four decades doing something that somebody else wanted you to do. Security is nice, but not at the expense of being miserable.

Get the marketing degree. Even in bad financial times, people are always looking for people who have a gift for getting people to buy stuff, and the economy will get better. It always has.

Thanks for youor input....means a lot to me....

Hi Im rosey from alaska and im 61,married and have 2 daughters and 4 grkids and a wonderful hubby,i dont know how wise i am but i suggest you follow your heart and instincts, as long as u are going to school it should be something you are passionate about. Good luck!

I am part of the Over 50+ gang, and am delighted you came to us for guidance!

It was so sweet of your mother to want you to have a solid backup plan for security, and as a mother and grandmother, I admire her for trying to protect you. But I have to agree with the others. Follow your heart, and spend your time getting an education in a field that you can see yourself being a part of for the rest of your life. Just make sure that you DO get a degree. Don't let anything stand in your way of that! Good luck to you, and pop in any time to let us know how it's going. We care.

Hi, I'm a nurse for many years. and it takes a lot of dedication and hard work to be a nurse. And there is nothing slow about it. What you're learning in school is just a bit of what you would be doing. That said, I don't think nursing is for everyone. If it's not something you love, it's not for you.

Be sure that what you want to do is marketable. I know a lot of people with degrees that don't have a job. And ultimateally, thats what it comes down to, making a living.

Hi ~ I agree with Freda ~ I'm a nurse also for many years. It is hard work and not slow paced. I think to be a nurse you definatly need to love it. The patients you take care of know when you are not happy with your job.

My daughter is an example of having a college degree and not being able to find work in that. She had a double major ~ psychology and political science. She ended up working as a claims adjuster for an insurance company. All that hard work and money spent on college..........

I wish you the best.

I'm retired now (15 years) but in my "other life" I was an RN. I don't think anyone should go into nursing unless you truly want to do it! In my opinion, nursing is not slow..It is a hard, demanding, mostly unappreciated job where you have to take a lot of crap. There is never enough time to get all the work done, and you often work short. It is also interesting, there is a special camaraderie among nurses, and most nurses love their patients and there is an inner satisfaction from helping others that can't be beat. That's why most nurses I know have a love/hate relationship with their careers. While we may hate some as aspects of the job, once one has worked at it for a while, it is difficult to go to some other type work. This is why I stuck with it. But if I had to do it again, I'd probably going into some techinical/computer type career. So I say, unless you really think you want to do it, don't...do what you feel you will really enjoy. My youngest son is in marketing and he loves it!

I say slow paced because to my knowledge when you get your first job as a nurse and are a "rookie" you get the "bad" shifts...like the overnight shift....I have lots of friends who have done nursing and they all say the same thing....when they graduated and got thier first RN job they had to do the overnight shift.
I live in West Palm Beach, FL...and if you walk into most of the surrounding hospital ER rooms there is nobody there...when you register as a patient and go in the back to your room...theres probab;y 2 or 3 people there and a handful of nurses with nothing much to do because there arent really any patients.
I know this first hand because I just moved and havent moved my insurance yet so I can only be seen at the emergency room...and i have a host of health problems that make me need a visit every now and then.
So I mean no direspect by saying its slow..and I know there are other places to work in the hospital but generally speakiing overnight tends to go slow where I live.

I see what you mean, however I have worked a lot of night shifts (although usually worked days or swing), and I managed to stay busy. And you never knew...one minute it might seem like a slow night and then someone would code or some other type emergency would happen. A lot of people seem to code at night and there was all the extra work plus a lot more paperwork. I didn't work in a hospital, I worked in a nursing home/complex care center. When I worked swing or nights, I was in charge of the whole facility with RNs and LPNs plus CNAs working under me in the different areas. No house doctor...doctors come in but not as often as in the hospital and you are basically on your own assessing patients and making decisions about whether you need to call the doctor, send someone to the hospital etc. plus I still had to do treatments and pass meds. It was plenty busy no matter what shift. Nights were a little slower if I was lucky but not always. BTW, sounds like it is different where you are but I started as an LPN right out of school on days. I later went back to school (while working) and got my RN.

I agree with Mary ~ I worked nights and people just assume that it is a piece of cake ~ "everyone sleeps at night" they were always saying. Not. My floor had a lot of confused elderly people ~ trying to climb out of bed at night. And it seemed as if some of the people were more scared at night ~ it was like when morning rolled around ~ they seemed to feel like ~ Whew ~ I made it through the night and they would relax and finally fall asleep. It wasn't crazy every night, but it was never a problem keeping busy.

@Maryea and Glynne

Ok...I guess I should'nt judge a book by its cover...

One more Rn to add to the pot. I worked midnights for 7 years, and I prayed for a slow night. I got very few. Sick people just seem to get sicker at night. And when you get out of nursing school you still have so much to learn. Believe me, your education has just began. You learn so much on the floor.

I'm really not trying to talk you into nursing. If you dislike it, it's not for you. It's a pretty thankless job, for a lot of really back breaking work.

The original question was asked and answered, so I'll close this thread now.