At first, the whole idea honestly felt a little ridiculous.

We had just graduated with our bachelor’s degrees. My husband had earned his degree in exercise science with an emphasis in physical therapy and had considered eventually applying to PT school. I had earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in painting and had plans to someday pursue my MFA and potentially teach art at a college level.

Nursing school was nowhere in our plans.

And honestly, if you knew me back then, you probably would’ve been just as shocked as everyone else when I suddenly announced that I wanted to become a nurse.

When I say the idea came randomly, I truly mean it did.

It honestly reminds me of that scene in Legally Blonde where Elle Woods suddenly decides she’s going to law school. That was basically me — waking up one day and thinking, “I think I want to go to nursing school.”

Which made almost no sense considering I had struggled with math and science my entire life. Art, writing, history, and creativity were always the subjects that came naturally to me. Science absolutely did not.

But somehow, the more I thought about it, the more it felt right.

And then my husband started considering it too.

So after just finishing our bachelor’s degrees, we both turned around and enrolled back at the same college to begin taking nursing prerequisite classes together before eventually applying to our local nursing program.

Looking back now, it still feels a little surreal.

At the time, it felt terrifying. We knew nursing school would be difficult, expensive, and exhausting. We were stepping into something completely unfamiliar without really knowing what the outcome would be.

But now, almost eight years later, I can honestly say that decision completely changed the course of our lives.

Nursing school was one of the hardest seasons we’ve ever gone through. We were stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted, and very broke for a while. But it also opened doors for our family that we never could have imagined back then.

It gave us stability, opportunities, and ultimately helped us build the life we had once only dreamed about.

One thing I always tell people now is this: if I could become a nurse, honestly, anyone can.

I was never naturally good at science or math. Those subjects challenged me all throughout school, and for most of my life I genuinely believed I just “wasn’t wired” for that kind of career.

Art was always where I felt confident. Creativity came naturally to me. Nursing absolutely did not.

But nursing school taught me something really important: being successful isn’t always about naturally being the smartest person in the room. Sometimes it’s about being willing to work hard, stay motivated, and keep going even when something doesn’t come easily to you.

I had to study harder than a lot of people. I had moments where I doubted myself constantly. But little by little, semester by semester, I proved to myself that I was capable of far more than I originally believed.

We Both Got In

As we worked through our prerequisite classes, I honestly never imagined my husband and I would both get accepted into nursing school at the same time.

In my mind, I had already planned out how things would probably go. My husband has always been incredibly smart, so I assumed he would get accepted first. I figured I would work as a CNA for a while, gain some healthcare experience, and hopefully get accepted later once I had more experience under my belt.

That plan felt much more realistic to me.

I still struggled with self-doubt constantly during that season. Even though I was working hard in my classes, part of me still believed I probably wasn’t “naturally” the kind of person who got into nursing school easily.

So when we both got interviews for Washington State University’s nursing program, we were already shocked.

And when we both got accepted at the same time?

Honestly, we could hardly believe it.

What had started as this random idea suddenly became very real. Exciting… but also terrifying.

Because now we had to figure out how in the world we were actually going to survive nursing school together.

The Reality of Nursing School

Once nursing school actually started, reality hit us pretty quickly.

Nursing school was incredibly demanding — mentally, emotionally, and financially.

Luckily, my husband had bought a small starter home years earlier in 2012 when the housing market was still struggling, so our mortgage payment was actually cheaper than what many people paid for rent. Looking back, that tiny house helped us survive that season financially.

Even then, money was still very tight.

We took out student loans to help cover school and living expenses, qualified for a few small scholarships, and worked whenever we could. I worked as a CNA and later as a nurse tech while in school, and my husband worked a seasonal job on a golf course.

We were constantly trying to balance work, studying, bills, and exhaustion all at the same time.

I was around 27 when we started nursing school, and my husband was almost 30. Thankfully, we didn’t have kids yet. We intentionally waited to start our family until after nursing school, and honestly, I’m so grateful we made that decision because nursing school quickly became a full-time commitment.

People ask sometimes what nursing school was like, and honestly, the best way I can describe it is this:

Imagine finals week… every single week.

We had multiple exams constantly, endless studying, clinical paperwork, skills labs, and long clinical days at the hospital. On top of the academic pressure, there was also the emotional pressure of suddenly interacting with real patients, real nurses, and real doctors for the first time.

It was exciting, overwhelming, intimidating, and exhausting all at once.

Most of the time, it felt like our brains were on complete information overload.

A Full Circle Moment

Somewhere in the middle of all the stress and chaos of nursing school, something unexpected happened.

I achieved another dream I had carried for years: qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

Running had become such an important outlet for me during that season of life. Nursing school was mentally exhausting, and somehow running gave me a way to clear my head and prove to myself that I could do hard things physically and mentally.

Looking back now, it feels almost unbelievable that I trained for and qualified for the Boston Marathon during nursing school. But in a strange way, I think both experiences taught me the exact same lesson: I was capable of far more than I originally believed.

Eventually, graduation finally arrived.

And honestly, after everything we had been through together, our pinning ceremony felt incredibly emotional.

My husband and I were able to pin each other, which made the moment even more special after going through nursing school side by side.

Part of the ceremony included sharing where graduates would be working after school. I had accepted a position on a cardiac unit, and my husband had accepted a position on a med surg floor.

I still smile thinking about the little message they read during the ceremony.

Mine shared that I would be running the Boston Marathon that spring.

And then during my husband’s announcement, they shared that he was looking forward to watching me run the Boston Marathon and starting a family shortly afterward.

At that point, after years of stress, uncertainty, studying, and sacrifice, it finally felt like the life we had been working so hard for was beginning.

The Life We Once Dreamed About

Now, a little over eight years later, I can honestly say going back to nursing school was one of the best decisions we ever made.

Today we have three beautiful kids — ages six, five, and one — and one of the greatest gifts nursing has given us is the ability to truly be present with them.

Because of the schedules we’ve been able to create over the years, we’ve been fortunate enough to avoid needing daycare and instead make sure one of us is almost always home with our kids. That flexibility has been such an incredible blessing for our family.

Nursing has also allowed us to build schedules that give us meaningful time off together while still providing opportunities to pick up extra shifts when we want or need to. Over the years, those overtime opportunities have made a huge difference for our family financially.

I currently work as a supplemental per diem nurse, which has honestly been a wonderful fit for this season of life with young kids. I’m able to help support our family while still having flexibility and time at home with our children.

And sometimes it still feels surreal thinking about how far we’ve come.

There was a season during nursing school when we were barely making it financially. I still remember months where we had to decide which bills could be late because money was so tight.

Back then, we could never have imagined the life we have now.

Since our little starter home, we’ve moved twice. Eventually we were able to buy a beautiful home in a wonderful neighborhood, and later move into what truly feels like our dream home — a house on 20 acres in the country in our dream school district for our kids.

One of the craziest full-circle moments was when we sold our very first home after living there for seven years. Because we had built so much equity over time, we were actually able to use that money to pay off most of our nursing school student debt.

Looking back now, it honestly feels like God has been so good to us through every stage of this journey.

Nursing school was one of the hardest seasons of our lives, but it opened doors we never could have imagined back then when we were exhausted, overwhelmed, and wondering how we were going to pay our bills.

Now we get to raise our kids in a home we love, spend meaningful time together as a family, and live a life we once only dreamed about.

And for us, that has made every hard moment completely worth it.

My Most-Used Nursing Essentials

Even years later, there are a handful of products I still swear by from my time working in the hospital. Long shifts, night shift exhaustion, sore feet, forgotten meals… nursing taught me really quickly which products were actually worth having in my bag every day.

If you’re a nursing student, new grad, or currently surviving 12-hour shifts, I put together an entire post sharing all of my favorite night shift nurse essentials — including the items I reached for over and over again during my hospital shifts.

👉 [Check out my Night Shift Nurse Essentials post here]

If You’re in Nursing School Right Now

If you’re currently in nursing school right now struggling through exams, clinicals, exhaustion, or wondering if all of this hard work is really worth it, I just want to encourage you to hang in there.

There really is light at the end of the tunnel.

One of the things I love most about nursing is how many opportunities and different paths there are within the profession. Nursing doesn’t have to look the same for everyone.

Some nurses love working in hospitals. Others work in clinics, outpatient surgery centers, schools, aesthetics, public health, case management, or from home. Some nurses work full-time, some part-time, some per diem like me, and many create schedules that allow for incredible flexibility with family life.

That flexibility has honestly been one of the greatest blessings for our family.

And if I could give one piece of encouragement to nursing students, it would be this: if there’s a hospital or healthcare system you’re interested in working for someday, look up their union contracts and salary information.

My husband and I actually did this while we were in nursing school, and honestly, it motivated us so much during the hardest seasons.

When you’re exhausted, overwhelmed, and living off student loans, it helps to remind yourself that your hard work really can lead to stability and opportunity later on.

For us, nursing completely changed the trajectory of our lives.

And if you’re in the middle of the hard part right now, I hope this encourages you to keep going.

One of the Biggest Lessons Nursing Taught Me

One of the biggest lessons nursing taught me is just how short and precious life really is. Working in the hospital gave me a completely different perspective on celebrating the people we love and not taking milestones for granted.

It’s a huge part of why birthdays became so important to me over the years — especially when it comes to creating meaningful memories for my family and kids.

If you want to read more about why I go so big for birthdays and celebrations, you can read that post here.