it's about time i figure out what i want to be when i grow up

alright, so this isn't the most timely of posts, but i finally think i've figured out what i want to be when i grow up. it's certainly not the most masculine of professions, but i really believe it is the right thing for me an for my family. i am going to become a nurse. i just finished my first semester back in school and it was interesting to say the least. it started off with me trying to convince myself that i wasn't smart enough to be doing this, and that my family would be forever scarred due to the amount of time that I would be away from them. during my first night of college algebra we were given a basic assessment test to evaluate our understanding of the basics of algebra; concepts that should already be mastered before taking the class. it was twenty questions and i got four of them right. freakin' 4! again, this was my very first night back in college and it was already on it's way to a failure of epic proportions. so after spending about a week moping and trying to figure out how i could get out of doing this and not have everybody i know find out about it, my wonderful wife finally talked some sense into me. the confidence that she showed in me gave me the little kick in the butt that i needed to at least give it my best for one semester.

so as the semester began, i really started to get the swing of things. i figured out how, when and where to study. i figured out that, despite my own weird hangups about not liking to meet new people, study groups are a good thing. well it turns out that school was actually kind of enjoyable. i finished both of my classes (algebra and biology) with very solid A's and i met a guy from Ghana who is pretty much going to be on the same schedule to finish his education. he too is planning to enroll in the nursing program.

a week from monday i will begin a one month summer session in which i will attempt to master statistics. it is an online class that will only require me to drive to school 5 times to take tests. i'm a bit nervous about taking an online class, but i am convinced that i can do it, and that i can do it well.

when all is said and done, i very much hope that i can get a job at children's hospital in dallas in the oncology/hematology department. for some reason or another, God has really given me a heart to serve these families of children who are battling cancer. i'm sure that it will be excruciating at times, but i really feel that God has given me this passion for a reason, and that He will give me the strength i need to deal with the heartache that i will surely face.