By: Timothy Chandler
Career choices are hard to make for anyone. Especially when students have so many factors that they want to contribute to in their community. For some, the answer is right in front of them. Making a difference, touching lives and helping others is what Pensacola State College student, Cindy Smith, is looking for in her career path.
Smith is back at school after a couple of years of not knowing what she wanted to study and now, while attending PSC, she has decided to become a Registered Nurse.
“I went to school in 2007 not knowing what I wanted to be,” she said. “Until I saw a sign that said nursing sign up, so I did. Once it all started, I knew nursing was my calling”.
Smith graduated in 2009 as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) from Georgia University and then moved to Pensacola in 2010, and decided to go back to school to get her RN degree.
Smith is not the only one in her family that embraces the nursing practice either. “I have an aunt that is a RN,” she said, “and a cousin about to graduate as a register nurse”. It’s a degree that seems to run in the family.
Smith’s long term goals are to finish nursing school and graduate as a RN, and she also wants to perfect her nursing skills and do so much more in her field.
“I chose nursing not knowing what I wanted in life,” she said. “But once my hands went in, my heart was touched. The program will help me continue to touch the lives of others and give me the ability to achieve the things I want to achieve in life. This program here at Pensacola State will open so many new doors and opportunities to climb higher in my nursing career, and will help others to do the same. I encourage other students to never give up, keep trying no matter how hard it gets. The life you created for yourself will keep you smiling at the end”.
The nursing program at PSC believes that an associate in science degree and nursing graduates contributes necessary, unique, and skilled competencies to the health care system. The Department of Nursing’s mission is to provide quality educational opportunities for students seeking to enter the healthcare arena and to meet the healthcare needs of the community.
Classes and clinicals are offered during the day, evenings and/or weekends so that graduates will be eligible to apply to the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. The Accreditation Commission accredits the Associate Degree program for Education in Nursing, Inc. With many career choices to choose from, it’s wonderful to see students still choosing these callings over careers.