The Road From Here

I am a pediatric emergency nurse, I work part time (4 hours a week). I have been a nurse for 9 years and it has been time for a change for a very long time. That's one of the reasons I started this business. It gave me the freedom to work from home and the ability to work in the field that I love.

I am also a yoga teacher. I would have to say that triathlon and yoga are my yin and my yang. I love to teach. I love to share. I love to watch people grow.

Through the past 2 years I have asked myself the question... what do I want to do with my life?

Because I am in the medical field I naturally thought I should follow the path I am supposed to follow. Attain my Masters and become a Nurse Practitioner. And each time I thought about that my heart would sink.

I have watched too many people die. I have been abused by patients too many times. In the past 9 years I have been assaulted many times verbally and physically. By patients, bu their families. Once a gun was even held to my head.

I have held the hands of dying children. I have held their crying mothers. I have cried so many tears myself.

I have helped to save month old babies at 6am. I have been elbow deep in blood at 3am. Sometimes when you do what I do you wonder if the rest of the world know that this stuff even exists.

And I am tired of it.

What keeps me working there is the amazing team I have surrounding me. Regardless of how horrible it gets I look around me and there is a group of people who has my back, and I have theirs.

Yes I could work somewhere else. But it becomes the same shit, different place.

I have a son who is a considered to be a "Special Needs Child." He has some minor delays that have required him to receive Special Education. Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, etc. I have worked extensively with him at home, and we take him to the Sylvan Learning Center.

His progress over the past year has been astounding. I have fallen in love with teaching him. I have fallen in love with watching him grow.

One day in May it dawned on me.

I could become a teacher.

Thus began my 6 month research project. What kind of teacher, what would I need to do, how long would it take, how much would it cost. Day after day it felt right. And yes I was met with the "grass is greener on the other side" comments from other teachers. I remind them however, that they were talking to a burned out nurse who has found a passion and a love for teaching.

I have always been some sort of teacher and I have always loved it. This feels right. It would allow me to continue to run my business, it would allow me to do what I love. Share, teach, give.

I have decided to move forward with it. I will be a nurse for one more year. As I am 2 semesters away from my BSN and the University of Rochester, I will return to school in January to complete that. It means working a bit more, but with a year to go, I can handle it.

Come January 2009 I will become a full time student once again. I am looking at Nazareth, St. John Fishers, and Brockport. With a BSN the process of earning a second Baccalaureate and then Masters is much smoother. Much better than starting over. I will be able to run my business and teach yoga and attend school. All of the things I love to do.

Of course as always I will remain in the sport that I love. Likely drop from the Ironman distance in 2009... but I like to step away from 140.6 often.

Now we have a plan, we have a path. Of course no path is easy but if we always chose the easy way.... where would be really be?

Thanks for stopping by.

:-) Mary Eggers