Beyond high school: pathways and outcomes

Beyond High School

I started at Essex Community College immediately after completing my high school. I joined the college seeking a degree in nursing and was also advised by my advisor to start college before going into any university. Before joining Essex Community College, I joined Coppin State University, but because of initial difficulties in adjusting in a university fresh out of high school and on the advice of my mentor, I joined the college so as to get used to the environment of colleges and then adjust in the university.

My troubles started when I became pregnant during my nursing classes in the Essex Community College, and because of severe illness, I had to leave my studies midway. After leaving I started my career as a Certified Geriatric Assistant and continued my personal life as a single mother. Managing career and personal duties as a single mother of young children was not easy.

The reason for the lowest GPA at the Essex Community College was my pregnancy and difficulties in the personal life. I tried to cope up with the educational life as best as possible. But the education was my least priority as compared to managing children as a single mother as well as providing for them financially. I paid the least attention to the studies and it was evident from my performance and the GPA.

During that period I matured real fast and had to take the toughest decision of my life.. That is of leaving the education to give quality time to my child. But I had every intention of returning back to college to get my degree. My education was and is my biggest dream. And at that moment the mother in me won over the girl who wanted to pursue nursing degree and career.

After that, I moved to Harford Country, as I found cheaper housing there. After moving to Harford Country, I again took the decision to pursue my nursing education and degree. With the intention to continue my education, I joined Harford Community College for Nursing. And during my studies there I performed quite above my expectations and yielded satisfactory results. The dream of joining Coppin State University was still there.

After spending some time at the Harford Community College and performing there satisfactorily, I realized that I was ready to join the university. I prepared for the entry test and scored good enough in the entry test of the Coppin State University to make it to its nursing program. That was the biggest achievement of my life, as at that time I was very troubled because of my personal life.

During my university life I worked really hard and performed satisfactorily. I also made it to the Dean's list of exceptional students thrice. That again was an achievement for me. Where on one hand I was performing well in my educational life, my personal life was in great troubles at that time.

By that time I became the single divorced mother of five children. My fifth child was born weak and at the age of six weeks only he was given strong medication at the hospital. As a result, he became severely ill and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, microcephaley, seizures, and asthma. This was a terrible time of my life.

I had to take full time care of my children, especially the youngest child. Along with it I had to be in court every four weeks for the hearing of the case against the hospital / doctor for my child's condition. I also had to take classes at Mount Washington to learn special care requirements for my child in his condition. That took up a lot of my time.

But with all that I maintained a good average in the university's nursing program. Since, there was no special discount for single mothers like me, with severely ill child, in the university's policy, and it was quite difficult for me to manage all of the educational and personal responsibilities with full commitment. I seeked the advice of my mentor and on his recommendation left the university and pursued my associates degree from Harford Community College. Further, my advisor also asked me to perform my inquiries about the Sojourner Douglass nursing program.

Therefore, I applied to the Harford Community College, to continue my education with special privileges for single working mothers. I applied for my AAS degree and graduation. I was granted the AAS degree and was also granted the admission in graduation along with special privileges.

I didn't stop there, and then I inquired about Sojourner Douglass nursing program and was asked to complete their formalities. This included submitting a four paged letter explaining the reasons for pursuing nursing, and then I was interviewed by their Dean. After that I gave their test and then entry exam and passed the entry exam with B. grade and make it to the Licensed Practical Nursing Program, before being allowed to pursue their registered training program. There too I made it to the Dean's list and also got entrance in their BSN program after passing the entrance test.