Nursing School = The Monkey Wrench

So about this time last night, I decided to start looking into different nursing schools' fast-track programs for after graduation.

I was floored by what I found out.

Well, first let me say that Texas Womens is probably my first choice for being a little more low-key than UTA (but still 98.7% NCLEX passing rate!), and for having a ton of impressive information about their post-bachelors-degree program.

But what I found out is that the program starts June of 2011 (more specifically, around the 6th if you base it off of this years date). And due to it being an accelerated program, it meets pretty much all day every day until August 2012. Therefore..... getting married in June or July of 2011 is most likely no longer an option. :(

So what is most likely going to be the solution? Well, it's still too early to fret and worry too much, but it seems like we will be getting married on one of the last 2 Saturdays of May that year. Meaning, I will graduate college, get married, and start nursing school all in the span of one month.

Crazy right!?

I know we can do it, and I would have no problem with getting married in May. I've already decided to do a little more summer school than planned so I can be a half-time student for both semesters of my senior year, giving me more time to work a second job, and plan a wedding. I think that's perfectly reasonable and would lighten the stress.

So I know what you're thinking: "why not wait another year and a half to get married?" Seriously? We've been agonizing over having to wait this long, and still have 2 more years to go... and you want us to wait even longer!? Yeah right!! Not happening!! I can't wait to marry this man, and I won't wait any longer than I have to.

Another thought you probably have: "what do the other nursing schools' schedules look like?" Well, it turns out that Baylor's fast-track nursing program would start 2 days after graduation. There is no way I could handle that - wedding or not. 2 days to pack up and leave College Station, move back home, and not have time to even breath before starting up again? That'd be more crazy than getting married 2 weeks after graduation! I also looked into TCU's fast-track program, and found out that theirs starts before I even finish finals in College Station!! Not to mention, I'd have to miss graduation if I somehow managed to be in 2 places at once. So TCU's will not be an option. And as far as UTA goes, they still have yet to post information about their fast-track program, though I've read online from other curious bloggers that if you call, they can give you info over the phone. Sounds kind of sketchy to me...

So where do I go from here? Well, I'm going to ask my career advisor (Kate) on Tuesday during her office hours if I can still do the traditional track after graduating. Nobody has ever said we could or couldn't with a degree, so hopefully she'll say I can go ahead and enter nursing school as if I applied after my second year of college. That would be ideal, and then we can scratch all of this post out and continue with the original plan of getting married in the summer and starting nursing school in the fall. If she says I can't do the traditional route, then I'll have to take it one day - and one decision - at a time. I'd have a lot of thinking to do...

I know I shouldn't stress over all of this because I have plenty of time. But I'm a planner and I would like to know what my future holds. It's exciting but scary. For the first time in a long while, I'm thoroughly confused about what/when things will happen.