Unsolicited Advice Makes Me Think

After my classes today, I stopped at my school's library to print the PowerPoint slides for my next Micro unit. There was another woman in there, also printing. I happened to catch a glimpse of text on one of her printouts. Nursing Diagnosis, it read. She caught me reading her PowerPoint as it sat on the printer, and she smiled.

"What's your major?" she asked.

"I'm in my last pre-nursing semester," I told her. "Once I finish Micro, I'm applying to the program."

She nodded. "I'm at the end of the journey and you're just starting out."

Then she looked me dead in the eye, her expression serious. "If you don't cry at least once, you won't become a nurse."

"Really?"

She nodded again. "It's hard," she said. "Very hard. You'll be overwhelmed and you'll cry. But you'll get through it."

Some days, I'm certain I'm ready for it. I'm positive I'm on the right path. Right where I need to be. It's going to be hard. I know it's going to be hard. It should be hard. Nothing worth achieving is easy. But then there are the other days. On the other days, I'm just not sure. Can I do it? Can I handle it? I guess time will tell.