“Are you sure you can handle it? ” everyone said. I knew it was a lot to take on but with a confident smile and fear in my eyes I replied with, “Yes I can handle it. ” There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to work in the medical field. It had been a dream of mine since I was a rosy cheeked little girl. Today was the day I was going to enroll in school to become a medical assistant. Not only with hopes of succeeding for myself but for the two tiny humans that ran around all day calling me “mommy.
As I walked into the school with a manila folder full of the information they had previously told me to bring my heart was pounding and my hands dripping sweat. I wasn’t exactly nervous for what I had to do that day but it was all becoming a reality and I knew there was no turning back at this point. I checked in at the front desk and took my seat in the line of black metal chairs lined against the window.
After a very long and miserable ten minutes went by a woman with glasses to the tip of her nose and a long red dress approached the desk and said, “Kiona, if you are ready we will head right this way to get started” as she motioned to an office on my right. I entered the office following her and we sat down and got started on paperwork that seemed endless and a tour of the school. Three brain tiring hours had gone by and I was finally walking out of the double glass doors. Schedule and ID in hand I got in my car and drove off. Saying to myself, “Wow, you are starting school in two weeks.
I knew I could do anything I set my mind to but thinking about working a full time job, going to school full time, and taking care of my tiny humans I got a little nervous about what was to come. The next fifteen months of my life were not going to be easy but would be well worth it once I reached the end. The day had finally come. After running around for days to make sure I had all the supplies I needed plus many that I’m sure I would never touch. It was here. My eight hour work day had never gone slower. Every time I had looked at the giant clock on the wall I felt like only seconds had passed.
It was 5 o’clock and time to head to school. I raced home to get my things and change out of my comfy, daycare teacher clothes and put on my big girl, I’m ready for the future outfit I had laid out the night before. Kissed my babies goodbye, grabbed my backpack and sprinted out the door making sure not to look back. As I pulled up to the overfilled parking lot with people filling in with all of their things I found a spot and excitedly got out and headed to the door of the tan building to find my classroom. The typical introductions and expectations took up most of our first night of class.
Before I knew it I was gathering my things to get ready to head home. Upon leaving our instructor looked at us with a devilish half smile and handed us our homework assignments for the week. “All due by end of class Thursday” she said. Glancing at the paper all I could think to myself was how in the world I was going to accomplish all of these assignments in just three short days. I loaded all of my things I had gotten that evening and headed out the door. That drive home was a bit stressful. All I could think about was how I had all this homework and had no idea how I was going to manage to get it all done.
After about three weeks of school I developed a schedule and everything started to become easier as time went on. As days turned into weeks, and weeks into months I could not believe that it was already August of the following year and I would soon be preparing for my final months in school. After many nights of little sleep, acing exams and failing exams, sick kids and hours upon hours of studying I could see the finish line. This was the moment I had been waiting for. From taking graduation pictures, to doing exit paperwork, to finding where my externship site was going to be. I could not contain myself. The excitement was overpowering.
I was almost there. It was now time to put all of my long nights of studying and many hours of long boring lectures to use. We would be taking our biggest exam yet, the one to get our registration and become a registered medical assistant. Could it be here already I kept thinking to myself. It seemed like just yesterday I was walking through those doors for the first time to complete my paperwork. The morning of the exam came and as I anxiously drove to the testing site to take it I could not help but think, my future depended on this exam. No pressure right? Wrong! It was the most brutal, mind boggling four hours ever.
Finally I was finished and could head home to finish up my graduation planning. After all, graduation was only six short weeks away. With so much planning left to do I was relieved that the exam was over and I could focus on the fun things that come with graduating. “What was I going to wear, who was going to attend, what comes after. ” Were all things going through my head? Graduation had come and gone and all I could do think about was when were my results from the biggest exam I had ever taken going to be posted. Three long, miserable weeks went by and I finally received news that our test scores had been posted.
I frantically ran to my computer and got online. I very nervously put in my info and waited for the page to load. There it was, the moment I had longed for. I was officially a registered medical assistant and could finally breathe again. As tears of joy rolled down my cheeks I could not help but thank God that I had made it. My children had a mother who overcame so many obstacles along this journey and still came out on top. Everything to this point was so worth it. As a young mother of two children, a full time employee, and now a graduated technical school student I had beat so many statistics and could not be more proud.