I went to an information session on the nursing program at the University of Colorado last night.  There is good news and bad news.  The good news - no wait list.  The last school I investigated had a three year wait list you couldn't get on until you finished all prerequisites.  After hearing that I felt defeated and wasn't sure what to do.  I wish I would have spent more time investigating other programs back then.  My original idea was just to get an associates degree because it would be the quickest and everyone ends up with the same license anyway.  Well, in the spring I did more investigated and found out about accelerated bachelors programs that can be completed in less than 2 years.  Some in the area are quite expensive - $40,000+ for less than two years!

Anyway, I found out last night that CU does not have a wait list (good), but changing their admission policy for next year (bad).  Right now you can apply even if you're prerequisites aren't finished as long as they are done before you start, in 2010 that changes.  This means my first time that I could potentially start is Jan 2012.  Ugh...   As of last year, they receive about 800 applications and accept 200.  I feel I have a good chance of getting in - they base admission off three things 1. cumulative GPA of all college classes, 2. GPA of prerequisite classes, and 3. essay questions.   The only way work experience and my chemistry degree will give me an advantage is in the essay questions-so I'll have to work that in somehow. 

Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have started taking classes already.  I could have started back in January, but so many things were up in the air - I wasn't sure about money, working, and I didn't have a car.  Of course, turns out here we are 9 months later and I'm in the same situation.  Sometimes our traveling gets in the way of living and this is a perfect example - I could have started classes in August, but we were on vacation and knew we had another trip planned in October. 

I think I've written about this before, but I am worried about going to school and working as a nursing and how that will effect my marriage.  Jason's business is doing better than ever - giving him even more flexibility.  If I am in school or working full time, I will not be flexible.  He supports my decision to become a nurse, but I don't know if he realizes how much it will change our current lifestyle.  In some ways I want to remain as flexible as we are right now.  For example, we've just decided to head to the mountains in the middle of next week and there's no problem.  But, I also need something to do.  Just working at home for two weeks has helped me remember how much I need that human interaction with others.  Plus, a morbid thought, I know - but if something were to happen to Jason I need my own career.  I don't think I could run all his websites as effectively as he does, and frankly, don't really enjoy all the work he has to do.

So, here's where things stand.  I'm looking for a full time job and will start taking prerequisites in January.  If I can't find a full time job, I'll continue working for Jason and return to my part time work to get out of the house.  In a way, I'd rather work part time while taking my classes just so I have plenty of time to devote to my classes and continue to help Jason with the websites, but I'd like to contribute more financially, save money for school, and get some decent health insurance.  Health insurance....that's an entire blog entry of itself.  We're starting to talk about having kids, but finding it very difficult to find maternity coverage in the individual market.  Kids would throw another factor into my school plans, but I'll be 35 next month, so we'll just have to figure out a way to make it work, if it happens.