Welcome to The Struggle!

Hello Blog World. My name is Amber and I'm a new nurse. RN to be specific since nurse is a rather all encompassing title. I guess I should start at the beginning.....

Me and my Pop ca. 1981? He always knew!

So when I was younger, my Dad always told me: "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." Well sadly for me, I'm a late bloomer and I like to do things in reverse order. I am the daughter of a 1st generation Filipino American son and a brassy opinionated woman. Together they created a golden child First grandchild, oldest everything, trendsetter and standard bearer. To say that I had a lot of hopes and dreams heaped on my shoulders would be an understatement. My family set me up to be an overachiever. I learned to read at 4. My first language was not English but my native Tagalog. I could recite the Pledge of Allegiance (for money) at 4 too. I was a little firecracker who was groomed to light the world on fire as a Doctor or Lawyer (my choice obvs). As a teenager I dabbled in mediocrity and found that there was a sweet victory in thumbing my nose at the hopes and dreams my family had planned for me. I did graduate with honors. I was in Who's Who Among American High School Students (1994-1995 edition!) and was accepted at WVU to their class of 2001! I had other plans......

I got pregnant, got married and hand a son (almost 18!). I got divorced, was a single mom for awhile, dabbled in odd jobs and met my 2nd husband in 2000. We had a daughter in 2002 and married in 2003. We continued to expand our family with a son in 2004 and our last baby-a boy in 2009. I dabbled in more odd jobs and was a stay at home mom for many years. In 2011, spurred on by a bad year for my husband's company, I found a job as a medical office receptionist and in it discovered my passion. Nursing. They cross trained me to be a medical assistant and in 2012 at the behest of my Aunt Pitty, I started my first college classes to become a RN. 

In May 2013, after two 4.0 semesters I was accepted into a nursing program. In May 2015, I would finally realize my DREAMS! Only problem was that I was 34 years old starting a new career. My children were in school and activities and I was having issues in my marriage that would eventually lead to it's demise in my 2nd year of nursing school. 

In May 2015 I graduated Magna Cum Laude from my nursing program with a 3.799999 GPA (almost 3.8 and Summa). I was 36, a single mom of 4 and ready to begin this next chapter. 

I took my boards in June. I passed in 75 questions (go me!). I then got offered a job at a hospital on a medical surgical unit and this is where it gets interesting............

So stay tuned for tales of my adventures (and misadventures) navigating the world of nursing, one day at a time!

Thanks for reading if you got this FAR!!!!!!

Amber

RN, Daughter, Mom, Friend, Advocate, Nerd