Our Nurse of the Week is Nicole Arizpe, a recent nursing school graduate who used to change the subject anytime her children asked her about high school and college. After dropping out of high school at a young age, Arizpe always dreaded her children asking her about her education, but with dreams of becoming a nurse, she made it happen later in life.
Arizpe was embarrassed to tell her children she dropped out of high school, but when her oldest son asked her about high school and college as a young teenager, she knew she needed to admit that she hadn’t finished. But she told him she was going back to school and she followed through on her promise.
After beginning high school equivalency classes in 2012, Arizpe passed her GED exam just a few months later, right before Mother’s Day. She printed her exam results and put them in a picture frame as a gift to her mother on Mother’s Day. It was a milestone for the whole family, but she didn’t stop there.
Arizpe had always wanted to go to college too, but she hadn’t planned on doing it right away until her advisor encouraged her to apply and enroll in courses. She started taking college courses in August 2012, and realized that her dream of becoming a nurse was attainable once again.
In January 2016, Arizpe started taking nursing classes at Midland College, even with three children and a husband at home. She recently graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Nursing and became the first in her family to graduate from college.
Arizpe tells MRT.com, “Now, I can proudly tell my children that I have a high school diploma and a college degree. I share the degree with my entire family because they have had to make sacrifices right along with me. At Thursday evening’s pinning ceremony, we will celebrate our victory!”
To learn more about Nicole Arizpe’s unique path to nursing, visit here.
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