I was supposed to start LPN school last November. Paid my tuition, ordered uniforms, but when I was finally allowed to speak to a financial aide person they told me I didn't qualify for any government grants and that they DO NOT participate in any loan programs. This was the local vocational school. So yesterday, I called another Vo-Tech out of town to see if they do and they told me NO vocational schools participate in student loans. I have called EVERYWHERE in my area to see about some help in going to school. I am just disgusted and depressed about this whole thing. I raised my kids sometimes working 2-3 jobs to give them what they needed and get them through college and one kid who isn't even mine but was abused and needed me. Now, I want to do what I WANT to do not what I have to do anymore. We have one local Community College and there is a waiting list and I couldn't get into even the prerequisite classes for RN. This is just not fair. My dream is to be a OB/GYN nurse and it just doesn't look like it will happen for me. I have thought also of going to Miami to go to school for the week and come home on the weekends, but what will that do for my marriage. I called the local hospital to find out about scholarships and they have none. I called EVERY student loan company and they won't loan me money to go to a vocational school. Money is very tight for us and I need to be able to access student loans to survive while in school. So I am working a telemarketing job and I am absolutely miserable. I just cant win for losing. I just want to go to school and do something that makes me happy and is rewarding! I scoured the internet looking for some way to find help but found none, everyone turned me down. Should I just go to this local private school that offers Medical Assistant and I can get financial aide or what. Do med asst. make good money and is there a demand for them? You know, I raised my kids, worked my butt off and this is what I get because I didn't use the "system". FASFA looks at our income and says it is too much but they don't realize that we are supporting two kids through college (one isn't even ours) and they won't give my anything! I am really depressed about this and feel like such a failure. The economy is so bad here that I can't even get a decent job doing what I have always done. I am starting to think that it is just not meant to be and I should just give up. It just seems like I keep getting doors slammed in my face. Should I just give up for now? I am 40 years old and feel like I have done nothing in my life for me. I thought that it was finally my turn but I guess not. I am willing to go to school and work but still will need some financial aide but it just doesn't look like that is gonna happen.

ajdillion: you have done TONS with your life. . .isn't raising your children (and another) the most important thing you could have done? Please don't discount your role as a mother as "nothing"! It's one of the most important things you will have done in your life.

ajdillon: don't give up just yet. You still have options. It sounds like you have difficult family and financial circumstances. Many of the students in the ADN program where I teach are in similar straights.

If you have a local community college, take a course in SOMETHING. The pre-reqs for an ADN will include more than science courses. You could start by getting your English or Pysch out of the way. Better yet, see if your community college offers a course in study strategies, test taking, and/or Critical Thinking. These will prepare you for the rigors of nursing school, which is like no other course of study you will ever undertake. If you have a school that offers the On Course philosophy, so much the better!

Another option is to become a CNA, and start working in a local hospital or nursing home. The work is physically demanding, but should pay about what you make now as a telemarketer. The background will 1) make you more attractive as a potential student, and 2) make you eligible for scholarship programs or tuition reimbursement from your employer. Health care facilities like to help their employees advance their educations, and will help out in the hopes they will be loyal to the institution and stay on. You may have to repay the money if you move on before a specified time period (one to two years) but as a nurse you will easily be able to afford it, so you don't have to feel locked into a job you don't like, or miss out on bigger and better things.

Since you have Internet access you also have the option of looking for an online program. If you choose this option be very, very careful. Some of these programs offer minimal clinical time, perhaps 16 hours per course. This is not enough and you will not be a safe nurse. Others offer substantial clinic time (8-16 hours per week) which is standard. You can also take a CNA course online, but I don't recommend it--they are usually offered by fly by night companies and their "graduates" usually have a difficult time getting a job (none of the hospitals in my area will hire them).

You could alos try to get a job at a hospital. Some hospitals will pay for your schooling to become a nurse. You would have to talk to HR about the opportunities and see. Sometimes you have to work there for 6 mo or so first. But you could take the regular classes like english, chem, biology, etc. first and then go to the program. I would def. suggest getting into a ADN program. There are waiting list but that can be a good thing, so you are not overloaded with prereq and nursing classes, clinicals. Get the prereq out of the way. Just a thought.

Ajd, girl, you remind me of my ex-boyfriend, he is going through a mid-life crisises too. You have to keep on searching, if you have to go to a local community college for the RN do it., but one thing, your husband has to be supportive. The program itself, is intense. You said that your marriage will be destroyed if you go to Miami, for a week and go to school there, remember , the RN program demands all your time, think about it.