Continuing Schooling Past High School Can Lead To A Satisfying Career

Have you ever heard of siblings who are so identical that they could be interchangeable? Form their personalities to their matching freckles, some twins are mirror images. My twin sister and I broke the mold when it comes to twins. We are as different as night and day; we have been since day one, I suppose.

I was always an overachiever when it came to school. In elementary school, I was always the student who received first place at the science fair and the student selected for student council president. Although I always looked to my sister for moral support, she never took my advice when I urged her to do her homework and get on the right track. She would skip classes and sleep in through her alarm clock.

As soon as I entered high school, I began to plan for my future. I thought of the different colleges I would like to attend and which degree programs I would enroll in. I continued to keep my grades as perfect as possible, and it paid off. I received a full scholarship that paid for my tuition and books to a state university. While I enjoyed thinking about the next step for my career, my sister was dreaming of the day she could skate through graduation with a C average and be able to spend time at the beach every day.

After graduating college, I went on to a four-year university where I enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program for nursing. I left home and moved about three hours away. My sister, on the other hand, stayed at my parent’s house while she waited tables to pay for her bus tickets to summer concerts. With no direction, I really started to worry about her. There had to be a way to get her to realize there was more to life than just living in the moment and that planning for the future was a great way to get on the road to success, but she wouldn’t take any of my advice seriously.

After my first year of college was complete, I moved home for the summer. I spent the summer completing an internship program recommended by my university. I worked in a hospital assisting nurses and observing their everyday work. I finally convinced my sister to enroll in community college classes through bribing her. Unfortunately, my parents and I could not keep her in school, and she dropped out after just one semester of community college.

After a few years, I began to realize my sister and I would never share the same goals. I soon graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in nursing and was began working as a registered nurse in a local hospital. I joined the pediatric wing and was able to help children through their tough times.

After seeing my success as a registered nurse, my sister showed some interest in the medical field. I encouraged her to volunteer at the hospital I worked at, and slowly but surely, she realized she needed to go to school so that she could work within the field as well. She enrolled in vocational school to become an ultrasound tech. After a few months of training, and a lot of encouragement, she graduated with her certificate!