CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
It was December when Melissa and I got on the road to head back home to Fresno. It had been over two years since I had left for nursing school, and I missed our house and our neighborhood very much. I sold off the couches, the beds, and the desk before leaving Columbia, but we still needed a U-Haul to move our remaining possessions back.
Melissa was driving our 2003 Toyota Camry with Kita in the back, while Mom and I were in my Chevy truck, towing the U-Haul once more. The most challenging part of the drive came right after we passed Kansas City, heading west toward good old Wichita. The roads were frozen and the snow was heavy, and I was driving in front of Melissa, so she could see what the conditions were like ahead of her. Although my truck had 4x4 capability, I didn't use it, so I could experience everything that she would experience on the road. I didn't want her to be at a disadvantage. Plus I had quite a bit of experience driving in snow from when we lived in Wichita.
Before long, we were barely making any progress. Our vehicles kept sliding toward the side of the road. Driving becomes very frustrating and scary because steering, gas, and brakes don’t have much of an effect on the vehicle. I really wanted to stop for a while, but there wasn't anywhere to pull over. A car sped past at twenty-five to thirty-five miles per hour, which seemed dangerously fast to me in those conditions, and sure enough, about fifty feet ahead of us it spun out of control. Everybody was okay, though.
We eventually made it to Fresno after three days of driving. We hadn't rented our house to anyone, so it was just as we had left it. Melissa’s family had come by frequently to check on our place while we were gone, which we very much appreciated.
It was great to be home and we were all in good spirits once we were out of the cars, including my great travel companion and best friend Kita.
I had made it. I had achieved my goal of earning a nursing degree and there it was, my diploma, right in front of me. With a sense of accomplishment and exhaustion, sleeping in my own bed had never felt as good as it did that night.
Once we had unpacked, it was time for me to prepare to face the boards. The National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) was the final step to getting my nursing license. The earliest time slot available was in Sacramento, which was about three hours’ drive north of Fresno. I booked my appointment and spent the night before at a nearby hotel, with Melissa and my mom.
The test was scheduled for early in the morning, and I was so nervous, I barely slept. The test took much longer than I expected, and the computer kept throwing more and more questions at me, which I knew wasn't a good sign. (You have to get a certain number right, and the exam ends once you’ve reached that point — if you keep getting questions like I did, it’s because you’re giving the wrong answers.) I could feel a rising sense of panic, which I knew was affecting my thinking. I was much too tense and, as a result, I failed the exam. I was disappointed in myself. The good thing was that I could take the test again, but I had to wait for forty-five days.
I was able to schedule my second exam in Fresno, on Palm Avenue, just a fifteen-minute drive from home. I was in a much better, more relaxed state of mind and had slept well the night before. This time, the computer stopped after seventy-five questions, which meant I had done either very poorly or very well. When I got my results, I saw that it was the latter. I was very happy to learn that I had passed and had been awarded my temporary nursing license.
Commentaires