About going to college

So, here I am - 46 yr old Grandma going to college for the first time !!  Some people wonder what makes a middle age, high school drop out suddenly enroll in Nursing School.
Well, I finally realised I had to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up !!  I have been working low paying, sometimes very physical, jobs for the last 20 some years.  I mostly do housekeeping at resorts.  I have also made my living driving - hauling kids from the Twin Cities to camp and back (230mi each way), hauling garden mulch to the cities, hauling more newpaper bundles than I can count, driving school bus, driving elderly around on bus trips.  I usually would juggle from 3-5 jobs at a time.  I often started my own little businesses - always animal related - dog boarding, petting zoos, sleigh and hay rides, kids pony parties just to name a few.  But, I always had to put in so much time to my "real" jobs and the new business would suffer for it.  Eventually, I wouldn't be able to take the stress of it and would stop the sideline business.  I do feel that if I would have had more time to devote to any of the businesses, they would have flourished.  But anyhow......
Suddenly, I found myself middle aged, working a job doing laundry at a resort.  Between the 8½ hrs at work and the 2 hrs driving, it left no time or energy for anything else.  I would drag through my farm chores morning and night.  I was just making enough to pay the bills.  I got to the point this summer where both of my vehicles were getting up there in age and miles and needed work.  There was no money for car repairs.  The 70mi a day round trip was killing my car and truck !!!!  I decided I HAD to do something.  I had to figure out how to make enough money to pay the bills and keep a decent running truck.  And have enough time to once again show ponies.  But WHAT?
How did I come to choose Nursing ????  It was my parents influence: 
My Mom had a strong interest in the medical field.  If she had been born in another day and time, I think Mom would have been a nurse instead of a stay at home Mom.  Maybe a doctor, but I am thinking nurse, as she liked to care for people.  She volunteered many hours at a nursing home, caring for the elderly.  She also volunteered at a school for the mentally disabled.  Before she passed away in 1990, she did become a CNA.  But, she never got the chance to work as one.  Mom never came out and said it, but she believed we can all be whatever it is that we want to be and that success is not tied to the money we make.  She was just as happy for me when I became a good sled dog trainer as a Mom of someone who just landed a high power job !
My Dad also influenced me.  Dad passed away almost a year ago.  He was 84 yrs old.  In the last couple of years of his life, he suffered from dimensia.  I took care of him.  Being a caregiver for a family member that is slowly being robbed of his memory is a stressful thing.  My son and I would take turns going to Dads house morning and night to make sure he ate, took his pills, etc.  I watched him get taken for $6000 by a bad blacktop company, saw him begin to struggle with everyday things like using an ATM machine, writing a check, etc.  I drove him down to his weekly appointments at the VA clinic and oversaw his medical care.  Soon, I also had to take care of his finances, as he would forget to pay bills.  It is heartbreaking to watch your strong Dad, who took care of everyone his whole life, struggling with the simple tasks of every day life.  Through this all, I started to take an interest in the nurse who would come to his house to help care for him, the nursing staff at the VA and then eventually, when we got him moved into a beautiful assisted living home - the nursing staff there. 
So, that is what made up my choice of what to do !!  I began looking into schooling - it was very discouraging.  It looked like I would be placed on a waiting list at college.  I would have to drive 130mi a day round trip to go to school.  How would I find time to work and to keep my farm??  How could I make my car last that long ???  It seemed almost impossible, but I kept searching and working on a plan.  THEN - a chance conversation with a friend I hadn't seen for a few years led me down the right road.  He was talking about how his wife went to school via a cohort with a new higher education foundation only 60mi from here !!  AND, alot of it could be done online !!  
So, that is what I am doing.  I have been accepted into nursing school and will officially be a nursing student spring semester of 2011 !!  Right now, I am taking my prerequesites and my generals.  I am taking them entirely online.  In the fall of 11, I start my core nursing classes.  This will be online, with one weekend a month spent in the town 60mi from here.  What a wonderful thing !!  I still work 30 hrs a week and do about 20 hrs of school work a week.  Most of it is with one class - Human Anatomy and Physiology.  I love it and I did complete one class already - a 1 credit Cell Biology course. I finished with a 4.0 - was VERY happy !!
So it goes....my multi-faceted life.  Today I am working on A&P labs and have some housework and painting to do.  Will break that up with a 4 wheeler ride and working my one pony, Bella.  Will get some material ready to bring to work tomorrow so I can study in between customers after I get the rooms cleaned (I work at a small motel with a bait shop 3 days a week).