Matthew Meehan
Santa Fe, NM
Excelsior College®, Associate of Science in Nursing
“I worked in the lab as a lab tech for about 14 years. I really liked that work. I liked the medical aspect, however, the direct patient care and patient impact that I was able to have was very little. There’s a lot of behind the scenes type stuff. So, after much discussion with my family, with my wife and stuff, I decided to go back to school. I decided to go into nursing so I can have that greater impact on someone’s life and on someone’s health.
"The biggest reason I chose The College Network® is my family. A campus-based program is very nice in that it’s all structured and all laid out. You know what you have to do, when you have to do it, but it takes up so much time. Back in LVN school, my wife and I had just had our first child, and it was very time consuming going straight from clinicals over to pick up my daughter. It was kind of crazy. The amount of hours I was able to work during that time was very little. It was a lot of very long days. With a non-campus-based program, it’s nice in that I can choose how fast I go. I can choose when I study. I can choose when I take my test. So, I can spend the time with my family. I can still be a dad. I can still be a husband. I can still enjoy those things. Whereas, if my daughter had a dance or something on a test day at a campus, I really wouldn’t have a choice. Now, I can decide when I’m going to take a test.
"When I first started, I waited between four and six months before I took my first test. It was a lot of finding the time and the opportunity. If you just focus on your long-term goal, and you have the support behind you, it helps drive you. If you’re just focused on the short-term goals, such as where you want to go that weekend or what you want to do right now, it’s going to be easy to put that module off to the side and not worry about it. Whereas, if you keep your long-term goal in focus, you’ll get it done. You’ll finish because you’re working toward your goal, not your right now.
"What I like about the modules is you get all the material up front. I know what I have. I have it in my hand. I know you can do it online. You can access everything, but I like to have the hard copy with me so I can take it wherever I go. I can study. I can highlight. I can make my notes. I can do all that. So, I know what I’m going to be tested on right up front. Then, I can go through it at my pace. If there’s a section that I’ve already taken a class like it, I can skim through that. I don’t have to stop and take a test on something I already know. I can move on to the next thing and take my time on the areas I need to focus on. I really like that.
"The first test I took was at the Pearson VUE testing center. It was the exact same place that I took my NCLEX, so I’d already been there. I knew what it was going to be like. I knew the process. I knew what to expect. It put me at ease. It actually helped me to relax a little bit. It wasn’t that scary. It was all familiar.
"I would like to be an RN because there are a lot more opportunities. There are a lot more opportunities for career advancement and for impact on people’s lives. That’s the big one for me. Being an LPN, there’s a lot of limitations in what I’m allowed to do, where I can work, what I can do, all that sort of thing. There are a lot of limitations in the amount of knowledge I have and in the amount of experience and such. When it comes down to it a lot of times, the day-to-day work is pretty much the exact same as the RN. There are different responsibilities and different aspects, but a lot of it is the exact same. The only difference is payday. There is a major difference there. I want to advance and get my RN so I can advance in these different areas career wise and financially. Also, I want to continue to learn, continue to get better, and continue to advance my knowledge base so I can help my patients better. Wherever that leads me, that’s where it leads me. I want to continue to grow, continue to learn, and continue to gain that knowledge.”
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