Sharese Windley
Earning my bachelor’s degree has been a long time coming, and not without its challenges. I originally started college in 1998, but everything came to an abrupt halt when I got extremely sick with an intestinal illness. I spent three weeks in the hospital and eventually recovered, but had withdrawn from school.
In 2005, I moved from New York to Georgia with my family. I got sick again several years later and was admitted to the ICU. Once I recovered, I knew that if I didn’t finish school now I never would. At that point I had been a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, and I felt like the opportunity was slipping away.
I started looking for schools, and Herzing didn’t have a waitlist. Several of my pre-requisite credits transferred over, and I began classes in 2015. I was still dealing with my illness but was too determined to let it impact my education.
Another challenge I faced in nursing school was learning how to think critically and apply theory to practice. I had always been a great student, but ended up failing my pharmacology course. I knew I had to reevaluate my approach.
After taking four months off, I re-enrolled and switched to night classes at Herzing. Taking classes in the evenings allowed me to study during the day, when my three children were at school. I retook pharmacology and made an A.
Failing that class changed my life. It made me reevaluate everything, and I found another route that worked a lot better for me in the long run.
I graduated Magna Cum Laude and received an academic achievement award for highest GPA. I also passed my NCLEX exam and have been accepted to the RN residency program at Emory University Midtown Hospital in Atlanta, which is a dream job.
Everything I went through made me realize that anything is possible. You just have to find your own way because the same process or path doesn’t work for everyone.
