There are some questions we have asked ourselves before, or even a little after, we came to College, like what are we going to do with our life’s? Being in a state of confusion and not really knowing what you are happy doing brings about a realization of many things in the career world today. Whether you’re a freshman or a senior in college, it’s critical to set aside some time from your studies, activities and part-time jobs to plan for life after school. The sooner you make time to plan and take specific action, the better positioned you will be to land a job that fits your career goals. My goal is to attend nursing school and become a pediatric nurse. When I was about the age of three, I had pneumonia, it was a very depressing time for my parents because of various factors, one being financially unable to support the treatment for my ailment. I was referred to different hospitals, numerous medical practitioners told my parents that there would be no way I would survive and that the only thing they could do was to pray for me. My family did not give up on me, they still had hope. They met a pediatrician who told them that there was a way for me to live. I went through surgery and it took some months for me to recover. That doctor saved my life, ever since then she has been an inspiration to me. I want to help sick kids who have been given no hope and offer them something to live for. With determination and hard work, in total I should be able to reach my goal in 5 years.
Personality is “all the consistent ways in which the behavior of one person differs from that of others, especially in social situations.” (Kalat, p.477). I am well-organized and hardworking, I work steadily towards identified goals. I can usually accomplish any task once I have set my mind to. I consider myself as a serious and quiet person. I am more to myself than out there. I believe that “Winning is not as important as playing, a champion is not driven by his success in a game rather by how much effort and passion he or she puts in”. Attaining my goal, I admit is the most important thing for me, but aside that I must know that it is the journey that always makes the destination worthwhile. Everything I will experience during this time until I get into nursing school will teach me to cope with my surroundings. Coping has been defined by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) as “constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific eternal and or internal demands that are appraised as taking or exceeding resources of the person” (Richard H. cox,214)
For me to be able to reach my goal there are some specific heights I need to reach. The minimum GPA is set at 3.0 for most BSN programs, while the minimum for ADN programs is set at the 2.0 to 2.75 range. Of course, different programs sometimes put and emphasis on more than grades. The minimum of 54 credit hours in the following prerequisite courses; anatomy, nutrition, psychology, statistics, human growth & development, chemistry, sociology, college algebra, microbiology, ethics, history etc. I am in my second year in college and have so many things to accomplish. Apart from GPA and prerequisite courses I have to complete for nursing school, I also have to complete general education requirements, major requirements, internships focusing on my major and many more. Persistence and motivation are key factors to why completing my steps would be a little difficult. Persistence is the sustained effort over a long period of time; a byproduct of effective goal setting (Richard H. Cox). The type of motivation you get depends on the environment a person is placed in relative to factors that relate to mastery or competition (Richard H.Cox)
I took it upon myself to inquire more about it by asking my advisor, engaging with students pursuing similar careers and contacting teachers in that field. I have received very useful information from these resources to build up on my resumes and what not. Total engagement in the health professions has been an aim this semester and it has been semi-successful. During the signing up for new classes I ensured that I assigned myself to the courses I need to fulfil the needs of my future profession. Taking a look at the major exploration worksheet I read through the reflective questions and major exploration and took note of many things (my interests, needs).
The fifth step of Burton and Raedeke (2008), to create a personalized goal implementation process is secure commitment. My plan for the next month and the rest of the time following that is quite straightforward and easy to follow, setting goals are easy but they are not easy to follow. Since I want to go to nursing school, I will work on maintaining my GPA and applying for internships. By doing so I will be learning skills and practicing them beforehand. I want my goal as specific as possible and I want to be able to express it in positive terms. I will need a way to evaluate my progress and determine if I am moving towards my goal, I can do so by visiting my advisor regularly to see how I am doing on a whole. Next, I will focus on strategies and techniques through tailored programming.
