When Janice Kim first took an online math class at Normandale as a senior in high school, she never would have imagined her path ahead through the Nursing program. Janice recently started her second year in the program at Normandale, but it took patience, perspective and a conversation with her sister to realize nursing was a career path that was a great fit for her.
Janice was an excellent high school golfer and was recruited to go to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to be on the women’s golf team. When she started down that path, she quickly realized she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her future.
In a heart-to-hear conversation, her sister told her based on what she knew about Janice she would be great in the healthcare field. Janice took that advice, got her nursing assistant certification, and started working at Children’s Hospital and a few other hospitals around the Metro area.
“I quickly realized this is what my calling was,” said Kim. “It brought me so much gratification, joy, happiness and purpose. The next big step for me was to figure out what I wanted to do and where I should go to school for nursing.”
Even though her first experience was as a PSEO online student, Janice felt comfortable with the history she had with Normandale. She started taking prerequisite classes to get into the nursing program and got off to a good start. Janice was still struggling to process the journey that brought her back to Normandale, but those feelings quickly turned into excitement as she met more students and became involved on campus.
“The opportunities at Normandale became apparent very quickly to me,” said Kim. “I started slowly meeting people and became part of the student community. I realized there were so many people who had the same goals I did, were on similar paths and that they had a rich history and background that led them here. It was a really cool bonding moment for me.”
Janice appreciated the support of Normandale’s faculty and tight-nit cohort aspect of the Nursing program.
“I can confidently say that our faculty members have set us up for success in the best possible way,” said Kim. “Our curriculum is lined up across semesters in a way that one piece of information is layered on top of the next thing we need to learn. It is very conducive to a good learning experience, and ultimately preparing us to succeed in our careers as nurses.”
One of the things that Janice has appreciated about the nursing cohort is the diversity of the group. She feels like the many different backgrounds and experiences will help the whole group be more prepared to be better nurses when they start their careers.
“Because we have such a diverse cohort, there is so much knowledge coming from many different perspectives,” said Kim. “I think having that diversity helps bring all of our collective knowledge together. We are able to teach each other about things we wouldn’t have known without all of these different experiences represented. This allows us all to learn from each other, which will help us serve our patients in the best way we can when we are in the field.”
The nursing education track is such a demanding one it usually leaves little time for anything but studying and learning the material and training. Janice has always liked the quote “A fish will only grow as large as the tank it occupies”, and in the spirit of that thought process she decided to serve on the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society Executive Board during her first year in the nursing program. She admits it was a lot to take on, but still appreciated the experiences and everything she learned along the way.
“If I had the opportunity to go back do things a little differently I might, but I wouldn’t trade the experiences and everything I learned last year,” said Kim. “I knew it was going to be a lot when I signed up for the opportunity, but I also knew I wanted to capitalize on the time and energy I had at this point in my life. I grew so much as a person, met so many amazing people and gained a lot of knowledge and skills that I can use going forward to help others.”
As Janice continues her second year in the Nursing program, she has a few different thought processes about her career goals. From a big picture standpoint, she wants to work for an organization that helps provide healthcare for underserved communities. From a next step in her education perspective, she is deciding between pursuing a career as a nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant or possibly exploring a path to get her MD. She also wants to continue to build on the leadership experiences she gained last year, and feels like her nursing education and leadership roles help prepare to advocate others moving forward. In fact, that is part of what she feels is an important role for nurses in general.
“During my time in PTK I learned so much, and have realized not only how much it helped me, but how much our efforts helped other people,” said Kim. “I feel like as nurses, two of our biggest roles are to advocate for our patients and also educate them. I want to continue to learn, grow and be a leader when I can in those spaces.”
As Janice goes through her final year of nursing courses, she is excited about what is ahead, thankful for all of the amazing experiences at Normandale, and excited about what awaits her this year too.
“I am very lucky that I have had the experience to go through the Nursing Program at Normandale,” said Kim. “I have learned so much, and I have had so many great experiences with my instructors. Normandale has set me up for success. They have given me everything that I have needed within the past couple of years to spread my wings and take the next step.”
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