Nursing the second time around

It's never too late to find the career of your dreams, even if you need a second undergraduate degree to start it.

Between 40 and 50 students who have already graduated from other colleges are currently enrolled in the School of Nursing as undergraduates. These students are pursuing second degrees so they can begin a new career.

Because they have already earned degrees at other colleges, their curriculum differs from first-time undergrads', as they have only to take a limited number of core nursing courses.

And although they are in school now, some have held jobs, gotten married and had children before enrolling.

Heather Begun is one such student. After graduating from the School of Arts and Sciences in 1991, the 35-year-old taught autistic children, worked with health insurance companies and took time off to raise a family.

According to Begun, her previous jobs confirmed that nursing was her calling.

Second-degree Nursing student Christine Mayor felt the same way.

After graduating from UCLA and holding multiple jobs, Mayor realized that only nursing combined her passions for teaching, children and health.

She was so enthusiastic about nursing that this time, she found school work a lot easier.

"I'm a better student now. ... Studying is more enjoyable than it used to be," she said.

Begun also said that she was so eager to return to school that the adjustment from stay-at-home mom to part-time student was not very grueling and that the school has accommodated her hectic agenda.

"I think the school has been very, very flexible and supportive ... especially working around my kids, schedule [and] baby-sitting," Begun said.

Second-degree Nursing student Katie Woo, a 27-year-old who graduated from Tufts University in 2000, said she feels more focused as a second-degree student.

"I'm too old to do that procrastinating thing," she said.

Despite the enthusiasm these second-degree students had for returning to school, some adjustments were hard to make, especially the financial ones.

Twenty-nine-year-old Cornell University graduate Kristi Farrell spent five years working in the biotechnology business industry, earning what she described as "good money."

Now, "I definitely miss not having a paycheck," she said. However, she added that the transition was worth it.

Begun has a different concern. She said that her main struggle is "just trying to be a mom."

She added that there are noticeable maturity differences between younger freshmen and herself.

However, she knows where the younger freshmen are coming from -- she was a Penn student herself.

"Some things make me laugh," she said. "But I was in their shoes at that age."

Despite the maturity gaps, all the second-degree students said they enjoy sharing perspectives with younger undergraduates.

Woo said she has been both impressed and enlightened by younger students.

"It's fun getting to know them and remember how much fun college was and ... can still be," Woo said.

Nursing freshman Cindy Lou Cuesta said that working with second-degree students "has been nothing but positive. You would think they might be snobby 'know-it-alls' since we're just freshmen and they've been through college and then some, but it's nothing like that."

She added that "they give some great study tips and trivia. ... Older students are a grade- and wisdom-booster."

Farrell said that, despite their ages and backgrounds, second-degree students all have something in common with the Nursing School's younger undergraduates.

All nursing students "are here because they care about other people," Farrell said.

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