Past, Present, Future Paper

Past, Present, and Future Paper

When I was a child, I knew that I wanted to be a nurse just like my mom. I started preparing myself by majoring in science, math, and typing in high school. I knew that these classes would one day prepare me for college. When I enter college at the University of Memphis after high school, I take all the prerequisites needed for the nursing program. Later, I entered nursing school at Baptist School of Nursing and I was well on my way to becoming a nurse. When I got in nursing school, I lost focus of why I was there and failed the nursing program. I decided to continue my education at Shelby State Community College (Southwest Community College) by retaking my biology classes to enter SSCC night nursing program.

Well I was going to college; I worked at Kroger part-time as a bakery clerk at night. There I meet my now husband at Kroger and we got married. Later, I entered SSCC night nursing program and started working for Kroger full-time as a cake decorator. I knew that nursing school, a full-time job, and a husband were going to be challenging, but I thought I could handle it. Everything was going fine until I was faced with a challenging issue. I was in my second Nursing class, Medical-Surgical Nursing, and I was pregnant with my first child. I thought once I had my child I would go back to Nursing School and finish. However, this plan did not work out, I knew that I could not work full-time, take care of a newborn and husband, and go to school full-time too. So, I gave birth to my daughter and never went back to school. I continued working in various jobs like Kroger, ToysRus.com, Sam's Club, Alabaster Cleaning Service, and now Super Target. In between the various jobs, I had a second child five years later.

On August 2003, I was hired as a cake specialist for the first Super Target in Memphis. I worked as a cake specialist for the first two years and later became a deli team leader. I knew that this job would be challenging and stressful at the same time. This was my first time managing a department. I had a lot to learn about managing other team member's performances, delegating responsibilities, effective planning, organizing, and communicating. The previous deli team leader C. H. was out of town training to be the ETL (Executive Team Leader) for the various departments such as Deli, Food Avenue, Bakery, Produce, and Starbucks. This new position was also going to be challenging for C.H. because this was her first time managing several departments because she lacked the food experience. So, we both had a lot to learn about managing. I knew that in order for me to be an effective leader, I needed to make some changes in my life.

One day, C.H. and I were talking about school and her bachelor degree and if she was going to get her mastered degree, and C.H. mentioned the University of Phoenix. She said that she was earning a mastered degree at the University of Phoenix. I asked her about the school, because I was thinking about going back to school to earn a bachelor degree. I told C.H. that I had 60+ hours at University of Memphis and would University of Phoenix accept all of my credit hours. C.H. did not know, but she said that it would not hurt to go and hear what the school has to offer. I know that I needed to lay a good foundation for my daughters by completing my education. How can I explain to my daughters about the value of a college degree without getting mine? During my childhood, I remember my father telling me to go to college and earn a degree. Now, it is go to college and earn a doctorate degree and maintain